Welcome new readers! The SportsThink Review highlights my favorite sport-related reading and related content. Most things I share are recently published, but some are not; the only rule is that I’ve read or encountered them recently. 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 lifelong 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!
Howdy folks, happy Friday. Happy back to school for those who celebrate and happy Labor Day weekend to the US contingent of readers. The start of a school year means I’m generally all over the place and I feel like this week’s content somewhat reflects that state of affairs. Some good and interesting things to read, but a bit random and without any overarching themes. A “potpourri,” as Jeopardy! used to called it. Let’s get to it.
The Chicago Cubs Really Were Hurt By Playing Day Games (Nicholas Decker, Something to Consider)
Fascinating statistical analysis. The Chicago Cubs are historically famous for 2 things: losing and being the last MLB team to play night games. Over the years, it’s been suggested that these two things might be related. Decker argues that they absolutely are. The stats he presents are a little advanced, but he lays it all out pretty well, landing here: The Cubs really were harmed by their late adoption of night lights. The effect is small, but statistically significant. While the primary reason the Cubs were unsuccessful lay in the cheapness of the Wrigley family and the Tribune Company and the notoriously poor farm system, the wearying effects of playing in the summer heat contributed to their late season collapses.
There’s a bit more to it than that and it’s worth a read. Especially of interest for sport management folks who are challenged to consider how to balance on-field performance with the fan experience.
In Praise of Defensive Football (Yonatan Raz Portugali, translated by Josh Friedlander, Popula)
Just a heads-up, this is round football, not pointy football. A nice, sometimes poetic, contemplation of the value of a defensively oriented approach to soccer. Useful to reconsider the classic American trope of the game as a boring affair where no one ever scores, but also a challenge to some corners of the soccer-obsessed world where only “beautiful,” attacking soccer is considered worthy of our attention.
Three Days At Fanatics Fest, Michael Rubin’s Hollow Monument To Sports And Culture (Alex Shultz, Defector)
If you’ve never heard of Fanatics Fest before, don’t worry, because I hadn’t either. And, given what I do, I gather that an event promising to be the critical meeting point between sports and culture should have been on my radar. Thankfully, Shultz attended on our behalf and his diary suggests that we didn’t miss much.
This should not come as a surprise to those of you who share my growing resentment of Fanatics, a company that has come to effectively consolidate and dominate the sports merchandising space. For some sort of disclosure: I walk by a Fanatics subcontracted store on my way into work every day. The store sells a 40 dollar stuffed hot dog doll. If you saw the news about the awful, nearly-transparent MLB uniforms? That was Fanatics. If you’re wondering why your favorite teams’ merchandise is increasingly generic, uninspired, poorly made, and overpriced…well that’s Fanatics too. Clearly the company is good at the game of business. Fair is fair, etc. But I just want some good shirts to wear and I’m tired of having to troll the dark corners of ebay to find them. (and if you have any vintage, XXL Dodgers/ Raiders/ Lakers/ Kings/ Horns /Haverford Black Squirrel gear lying around, holler.)
Anyway, back to the event and Shultz’s recap. It’s well done, entertaining, and worth a read. Love his closing lines: Like the company's other offerings, Fanatics Fest carried the imprimatur of prestige and authenticity. It was big, it was expensive, and there were so many famous people there. But once I got close, the frayed edges and sloppy execution were impossible to ignore.
As always, thanks for reading. If you enjoy the newsletter, please share it. And send me the good and interesting things that you come across online.
See you soon,
Tolga