The SportsThink Weekly Review #49

May 28, 2021

Hello and welcome to the forty-ninth edition of the Weekly Review! Drawing a blank on any notable #49s, respond with a comment or send me an email if you’ve got one! A shorter list of reads this week, but some really good and long ones. Hopefully something to enjoy over the holiday weekend.

Without further ado…on to the content!

Inside the Lines: My Favorite Sports Reads of The Week

1. Son, Ghostwriter of Late Senator Say Trump Intervened to Stop Probe of Patriots' Spygate Scandal, by Don Van Natta, Jr., via ESPN. A pretty convincing investigative piece, exploring the allegation that Donald Trump (acting on behalf of Patriots owner Robert Kraft) attempted to stop Senator Arlen Specter’s investigation into the teams video-cheating scandal. I’m conflicted when the government invests resources in policing pro sports. On the one hand, it seems there are more pressing issues for legislators to worry about. On the other, the leagues enjoy ample government protection, so it seems like oversight and inquiry are warranted. In the words of the late Specter: The NFL has a very preferred status in our country with their antitrust exemption. The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. Seems like a sound argument.
   

2. Inside Youth Baseball's Most Notorious Dad-On-Dad Rivalry, by David Gauvey Herbert, via Esquire. Excellent piece on the extremes of sports parenting. Friendly reminder that American youth sports are…pretty fucked up. Worth the time to read this one.
   

3. One Man’s Amazing Journey to the Center of the Bowling Ball, by Brendan I. Koerner, via Wired. Another good and long one. On Mo Spinel, an iconoclastic genius who revolutionized bowling balls and bowling. Nerdy and very interesting.
   

4. How Becky Lynch Became ‘The Man,’ by Molly Langmuir, via Elle. Definitely the first SportsThink piece from Elle! (which is cool, I think.). Great profile of Lynch’s rise to the top and the rise to prominence of the WWE’s female stars.

Keeping Up With The Sports Page

California Traffic Might Be The Only Thing That Can Stop Shohei Ohtani

The Tokyo Mess Marches On

IndyCar Tries to Diversify

Tweet of the Week

I normally reserve this space for something funny or amusing, but I think journalist Howard Bryant’s response to Naomi Osaka’s refusal to engage with the media at Roland Garros is worth reading through. I’m not sure I totally accept Bryant’s argument, but he brings up a lot of important points about the symbiotic—if evolving—relationship of athletes and sports media.

Full Dissident @hbryant42

I have thoughts re Osaka...Soooooo. My overall feeling is that since athletes have been positioning themselves as “entertainers” no different from musicians or movie stars, refusing press was inevitable. They perform. Once it’s over, they’ve fulfilled their public obligation.

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