The SportsThink Weekly Review #38
March 12, 2021
Hello and welcome to the thirty-eighth edition of the Weekly Review! The only #38 I can think of off the top of my head is Curt Schilling, but he’s a doofus, so let’s not celebrate him. I had to look it up, but it was also worn by hockey star Pavol Demitra, who tragically passed away far too young—along with all of his teammates—when the Lokomotiv Yaroslavi team plane crashed in 2011. He had a brief stint on a forgettable LA Kings team, but those are my guys. RIP Pavol.
On to the content! Only four sports reads this week, but they’re all worth your time.
Inside the Lines: My Favorite Sports Reads of The Week
How Do Athletic Departments Spend Increasing Revenue? by Andy Wittry, via his Out of Bounds newsletter. Deep and excellent analysis of college sport finances, with great visuals. A nice reminder that the claims that “college sports don’t make money” are largely a BS position to obscure accounting maneuvers. Wittry also looks at how some of this revenue might be shared with the impending changes to college sport. Speaking of that shifting landscape, here’s the first supreme court document I’ve ever shared in the newsletter: an amicus brief that comes out swinging and doesn’t stop.
Hockey Has a Gigantic-Goalie Problem, by Ken Dryden, via the Altantic. Ostensibly about what happens when pads get bigger and goals stay the same size, the NHL hall-of-famer’s piece is a great take on how sports evolve, for better or worse.
When the Clock Stopped, by Alan Blinder, Joe Drape, and many others, via the NYT. This week has brought a glut of pandemic anniversary pieces, but this is the sports one to read. Great oral history from a diverse range of sports figures on the three days where we all realized COVID was a very real thing.
The Ali-Frazier 1971 ‘Fight of the Century’ Provided Cover for a Mission to Expose the FBI, by Kevin Blackistone, via the Washington Post. Very cool piece of history. How the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI capitalized on the attention on the fight to break into an FBI office. Their efforts revealed the truth about Black Panther Fred Hampton’s assassination and more. Thanks to Tommy Hunt for sharing.
Keeping Up With The Sports Page
Olympians, Vaccines, and Chinese Soft Power
A Couple Cool Old Videos to Watch
Here’s Detroit’s pitch to host the 1968 Olympics. The title says 1965, but I agree with the top commenter that it might have been earlier.
And here’s the Arena Football League selling itself to potential investors.
Tweet of the Week
How many do you think you could get? I’d like to say around 40, but I’d probably play it conservatively and cash out between 15-20.
A Non-Sports Read
A Very Victorian Two-Penny Hangover, by Terry MacEwen, via Historic UK. On one possible origin of the term “hangover.” Pretty fascinating, even if this isn’t where we get the word.
As always, thank you for reading. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re having trouble accessing any articles, happy to send them directly your way. And, if you’re enjoying the newsletter, please consider sharing it with someone else who might like it.
See you next week,
Tolga