Welcome new readers! The SportsThink Weekly Read highlights my favorite sport-related article of the week. On the last Friday of each month, I send out the Monthly Review, a longer digest of readings and other content of interest. Most articles are recently published, but some are not; the only rule is that I’ve read them within the past week (or the past month, in the case of the Monthly Review). 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 life-long 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!
The Weekly Read
As a Teen He Filmed His ‘Mighty Ducks’ Scenes at the L.A. Kings’ Arena. In His 30s He Slept on the Ground Outside. (Brandon Sneed, Sports Illustrated)
As a kid, I loved the Sports Illustrated “where are they now?” issue, an annual look at the lives of what athletes were up to in their post-retirement lives. I also, really, REALLY, loved the Mighty Ducks movie franchise. (I suspect, if you are reading this, you either grew up with these films or had a children who grew up with these films. I think my son is ready to dive in as well.) Given these two loves, coming across this article was bittersweet. Of all the charming characters in the Might Ducks, Goldberg the Goalie may have been the most charming. Sadly for Shaun Weiss, the actor who played Goldberg, life in the years since he peaked as a child star has been decidedly less charming. Weiss spiraled, hard: drugs, crime, jail, etc. You may remember when TMZ posted his shocking mugshot; the lovable, plump kid of our youth looked about 1,000 years old. But the mugshot was the beginning of a redemption story, which Weiss is still working quite hard on. A heavy read, but uplifting in its own way and definitely worth a read if you still fantasize about lining up a knuckle-puck.
As always, thank you for reading. Please share the newsletter!
See you next week,
Tolga