The SportsThink Weekly Review #47
May 14, 2021
Hello and welcome to the forty-seventh edition of the Weekly Review! As with last week, I can’t think of a notable #47. And I’m refusing to cheat and google! A busy week as we wrap up the semester at UT, but I still found some time squeeze in some reading. Only 4 sports reads this time around, but they’re all good (aren’t they always?)
On to the content!
Inside the Lines: My Favorite Sports Reads of The Week
Breanna Stewart Finds New Perspective Atop the World, by Mirin Fader, via the Ringer. On the occasion of the new WNBA season and the launch of Stewart’s signature sneaker (just the 10th woman ever to have her own shoe), this is a great profile. I’ve featured Fader’s profiles before; she’s really got a knack for the form and is probably the best in the game at the moment.
‘A Lot of Us Are F----- Up’: Inside the Devastating Gig Economy of Relief Pitching, by Tom Verducci, via SI. On the nature and effects of playing a fungible position. It makes me happy to live at a time where we’re beginning to take mental health more seriously, especially in sports, where seeking help has long been wrongheadedly conflated with weakness. Nice one from Verducci.
The PawSox Moved, but Pawtucket Has Yet to Move On, by Dan Berry, via the NYT. Nice essay. On what it means for a town to lose a team and more generally on the shifting landscape of minor league baseball. “Business is business” for better or worse.
The Strange Tale of Donald Trump’s Biking Extravaganza, by Kevin Hogan, via Politico. From 2016, found this via Axios. Most sports fans are familiar with Trump’s involvement in the USFL, but the “Tour de Trump” was another ill-fated sports venture from the former President. Good history here.
Keeping Up With The Sports Page
A-Rod May Have Lost J-Lo, But He’s Picking up a Basketball Team
The Olympic Headache Continues
Tweet of the Week
I LOLed.
Non-Sports Reads
This sports-adjacent piece on the effects of computing on the body will probably become a class reading next semester. And this is fascinating: Native Americans and Polynesians apparently made contact as early as 800 years ago. Pretty wild.
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