A stunner of an ode to Serena, who came into the game on the heels of her older sister, but leaves it having changed it irrevocably. An exacting portrait of an unprecedented competitor. Part of Serena’s genius—competitively, personally—is that she never can quite be anything but herself when she’s desperate. And she’s desperate every time […]
Sports
Posted inEditor's Pick
Stephen Curry and the Spirit of History
One one hand, I’ll read any smart piece that dives deep on the transcendent play of the Golden State Warriors’ point guard — and even more so in the wake of Curry finally winning an elusive NBA Finals MVP honor. But on the other hand, I can’t remember any others in which a history scholar […]
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Inside Kyiv on the Night of Ukraine’s Stunning World Cup Qualifier Victory
“I came to Kyiv to watch a city watch a game.” Wright Thompson goes to the capital of Ukraine to watch the country’s football team play Scotland in a World Cup qualifier. It’s an emotional, poignant read about life during war, the power of football, and the incredible strength and spirit of the Ukrainian people. […]
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How Louie Simmons Defined the Extreme Sport of Power Lifting
Even if you’ve never tiptoed near the shrine of powerlifting, you’ll find something to love in Lauren Michele Jackson’s obituary of the iconic Westside Barbell founder. And if you have? The same — plus you’ll leave wondering why the writing about strength sports can’t always be this lyrical. The place became a home for big […]
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The Art of Passing
“When their heads are right, the best passers are the good-vibes guys of the league. Joy curators. Misters Congeniality. They make you happy. They let you touch the ball. They trust you. They think you’re good enough. They think you can help. Some combination of stunt-person, illusionist, actor, detective, and circus performer. They raise the […]
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How ‘Sex and the City’ Sent Me Down a Fake Baseball Rabbit Hole
“Lots of shows and movies include snippets of fake sports broadcasts as background noise. Yet this one had sounded conspicuously real. Instead of simply rattling off a score, the broadcast had included just the right level of specificity, all the textured banality of a random at bat. There seemed to be a whole booth involved […]
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The Secret MVP of Sports? The Port-a-Potty
“Tailgating had become a new American tradition, with attendance at college football games alone surging from 18.9 million in 1950 to almost 30 million in 1970, and a need for portable bathrooms was inevitable.”
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Truth Is Elusive in Attack on a French Soccer Star
“The story, with its hints of sporting jealousy, its echoes of Tonya Harding and its links to Paris St.-Germain, the reigning French champion and one of the richest soccer clubs in the world, quickly spread far and wide. But as details emerge — about marital infidelity; about accusations implicating other members of the team; about […]
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I Had a Chance to Travel Anywhere. Why Did I Pick Spokane?
“After 18 months of pandemic parenting isolation, the writer Jon Mooallem knew just where the cure might lie: a minor-league baseball game in eastern Washington.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Incredible Story of Ray Caldwell, the MLB Pitcher Who Survived a Lightning Strike to Finish a Game
“Caldwell is on his back, arms spread wide, out cold on the mound. The lightning strike had hit him directly.”