The SportsThink Review #115
October 11, 2024
The SportsThink Review highlights my favorite sport-related content.. Most things I share are recently published, but some are not; the only rule is that I’ve read or encountered them recently. Some are relevant to my day job as a professor teaching courses on the business, history, and philosophy of sports. Others are just plain interesting, relevant to my lifelong obsession with the games we play. I also occasionally share articles and assorted musings on Twitter. The newsletter is free, but comes with two requests. 1. I’m always open to suggestions, so send me the good stuff that you read! 2. If you enjoy the newsletter, please share it with other folks who might enjoy it as well. Finally, I try to focus on non-paywalled writing, but if you find yourself unable to access anything, just hit reply to the email and I’ll do my best to get you a copy. Thanks for reading!
Howdy folks, happy Friday. It doesn’t feel like fall yet in Texas, but we are very much in the blissfully overwhelming stretch of the sporting calendar. Peak Sports. An insane day of college football last weekend, F1 is interesting again, the Raiders are sad, MLB playoffs have been a blast (go Dodgers), WNBA playoffs have been great, and so on. Hope your teams are doing well and you’re not abdicating all familial and professional obligations while trying to keep up. A potpourri of reads this week, no clear themes, but some interesting bits and pieces. Hope you enjoy.
The Rites of Autumn (Gary Cartwright, Texas Monthly, 1977)
On the occasion of Texas-Oklahoma (Hook ‘Em). A lovely piece from the past, poetic but not too syrupy, on an all-time great rivalry. Worth a read, even if you’re not invested in the outcome of the Red River Shootout Rivalry, Cartwright speaks to rivalry game mania in all of us. Phenomenal photos as well.
The Ball is Not For Turning (Kit Harris, Wisden)
Harris discusses the decline of spin bowling in English first-class cricket, noting how changes in pitch preparation and rules over the years have reduced opportunities for spinners. At least, I think that’s what he’s doing, because I don’t totally understand cricket, or most of this article. I mean: “At Trent Bridge, as August became September, Nottinghamshire spinners Liam Patterson-White and Farhan Ahmed did something strange: armed with a Kookaburra ball, they bowled unchanged through all 53 overs of Surrey’s second innings.” I know some of those words. Kookaburra!
But still, I share! I like this for it’s insight on the evolution of the game, how technique and playing field and nature and policy and tradition intersect to change things. Definitely will share this with my innovation class in the spring.
2028 Olympic Games Fiscal Impact Analysis For Santa Monica (some lawyers and consultants)
Ok, this is an unusual share, but I think it will be of interest to some folks. And yes, I’m sharing a document labeled “confidential attorney-client privilege,” but it looks like the city of Santa Monica posted this on their website and it’s not so privileged anymore. I stumbled on it from this tweet. While I can’t exactly endorse this as fun weekend reading, it is absolutely fascinating to get a look under the hood of the Olympic organizing and hosting process. Basically, Santa Monica is weighing the pros and cons of hosting Olympic volleyball, the type of opportunity romanticized for municipalities: there will be money and visitors and visibility, that sort of thing. The analysis here effectively says….it’s probably a losing proposition.
Did you really just share a 36 page consulting report? Yes. To make up for it, here’s a video of cute kids complaining about their sports parents. Relevant after last week’s newsletter.
Plugging my upcoming events
Austin, October 17
Washington, DC, October 21-22
As always, thanks for reading. Please keep sharing good stories with me and sharing the newsletter far and wide!
See you soon,
Tolga