The SportsThink Weekly Review #41
April 2, 2021
Hello and welcome to the forty-first edition of the Weekly Review! With #41, I’m tempted to celebrate Laker semi-great, Elden Campbell, but I think we probably have to recognize Dirk Nowitzki or the late Tom Seaver as the best to wear the number, legends both. RIP, Tom Terrific.
On to the content!
Playing the Long Game
Yup, still plugging the upcoming Playing the Long Game Symposium, we’re 10 days out and very excited. I’m organizing this on behalf of my department at UT, in conjunction with Jim Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Rooney Consulting. We’ve got former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, WNBA legend Swin Cash-Canal, Washington Nationals minority owner Paxton Baker, Larry Miller who heads Jordan Brand, and many, many more thought leaders in sports. Free and open to the public, April 12-15, hope you can join us. And please, share with anyone who might be interested.
Inside the Lines: My Favorite Sports Reads of The Week
We Can Dance if We Want To, by Scott Jedlicka, via SportsThink. It’s a good feeling when I get to publish the best thing I’ve read on sports this week. I’d actually say this was my favorite piece in a good while. Jedlicka, a professor of sport management at Washington State sounds off on sport in US society at this particular moment in history, through the prism of a 112 year old essay on sport and decadence. Trust me, this is a different take than most you’ll come across. Heady stuff and well worth your time; exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to help get into the world when I started the ST project a year ago. Thank you, Scott.
Dave Kindred Goes Back on the Beat to Cover High School Girls Basketball, by Jon Wertheim, via 60 Minutes. A great feature on the legendary sportswriter’s career and perhaps unexpected late act covering high school sports. You can watch the feature or read the transcript here.
An Analysis of the Average Instagram Followings and Engagement Rates Per All-Americans Across Different Sports, by Andy Wittry, via his Out of Bounds newsletter. Alright, the title isn’t scintillating. But this is fantastic analysis from Wittry, whose work I’ve share previously. A great presentation of the data and implications for NCAA Name-Image-Likeness rights. I love these types of analyses that really challenge the wrongheaded narrative that ‘only a few football and basketball players’ would be impacted by these necessary changes.
Everything That’s Wrong About the Future of the UEFA Champion’s League, by Jonathan Wilson, via SI. Tremendous critique of soccer’s premier professional product.
Busy week for me, so no #5. Go read Scott’s piece from #1.
Keeping Up With The Sports Page
On the Supreme Court and the future of the NCAA
Looie the Lookout Was Abducted, but He’s Home Safe!
The Week on SportsThink
Back in action on the blog. Head over to read Scott’s piece and couple short takes from me on NCAA women’s sports.
Tweets of the Week
A great thread on the implications of the NCAA v. Alston.
And if you need something fun, this is pretty cool.
Non-Sports Reads
If you like smooth sounds, definitely check out ‘The Lost Prince of Yacht Rock’ on the fame that should have been, but never was, for Dane Donohue. Then go listen to the album on Spotify and have yourself a very groovy weekend!
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