Tweet Nick Paumgarten has a terrific post at The New Yorker about the stylishness of golden age Soviet hockey in spite of the rigid Communist political system that spawned it. Anatoli Tarasov was appointed by Stalin after World War II to develop a powerhouse national program from scratch, and he … [Read more...]
Savoring the things that matter the most
Tweet After cranking out so many sports-and-culture posts on this blog and elsewhere in recent weeks, I+ACY-rsquo+ADs-m going through some serious anxiety about whether to continue staking a claim in these debates. Well then, anxiety is a strong word, and I hesitate to say I+ACY-rsquo+ADs-ve reached the point of … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker: Why sports isn’t about ‘respecting’ you
Tweet Last week I wrote for The Cauldron, a new sports vertical on the Medium platform, about Hope Solo, gender and domestic violence and the excuse-making that has surrounded the discussion of a female athlete being charged with physical aggression. Here+ACY-rsquo+ADs-s what I wrote about the … [Read more...]
A sports site for ‘nerdy jocks and jockish nerds’
Tweet Glad to see The Allrounder, a new site devoted to examining deeper issues in sports, finally go live last week. The creator is Bruce Berglund, the host of the excellent New Books in Sports podcast and a history professor at Calvin College in Michigan. The contributors are mostly academics, … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker: Sports Gods and antiheroes we think we know
Tweet +ACY-ldquo+ADs-Try as we will to weigh him down with meaning, the athlete remains one step ahead of us.+ACY-rdquo+ADs +ACY-ndash+ADs Stephen Amidon, +ACY-ldquo+ADs-Something Like the Gods+ACY-rdquo+ADs +ACo +ACo +ACo +ACo +ACo +ACo +ACo +ACo Has the contemporary sports star finally been caught in the grasp of social media mobs who scrutinize, judge and … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker: If the news from the gridiron has you down
Tweet The Ray Rice story and the continuing angst by many Americans about the National Football League and the game of football is snowballing into a truly disturbing heap, and this probably will not stop anytime soon. It+ACY-rsquo+ADs-s too soon to know if these events reflect some kind of tipping point in … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker: It’s hard to call it labor when it doesn’t feel like work
Tweet Labor Day in the United States is being observed today, and I thought I+ACY-rsquo+ADs-d use the occasion to select some blog posts that I truly enjoyed putting together. What I discovered wasn+ACY-rsquo+ADs-t surprising: The posts that were the most fun to write and ponder were those that best exemplified the … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker: In defense of the culture of football
Tweet It+ACY-rsquo+ADs-s getting harder, if not impossible, to defend the culture of football, and the raw expression of masculinity that comes with it. Concussions, brain trauma and other crippling injuries suffered on the gridiron are blamed for the suicides of players, some famous, some not. The names of … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker on the increasingly guilty pleasures of the football fan
Tweet On Monday my post is generally related to a sports topic prominently in the news, is focused on the business of sports or covers a sports subject at random. This week I am devoting posts to the upcoming American football season, college and pro, with a focus on new books and writings on the … [Read more...]
Wendy Parker on the baseball strike, 20 years later
How I enjoy and perceive the game of baseball changed forever 20 years ago this week, when well-heeled major leaguers went on strike. A month later, as pennant races should have been coming to a climax, MLB cancelled not only the regular season, but the playoffs. There would be no World Series for … [Read more...]