Alternative Sports Awards 2023: Happy New Year SpoFites! A look back at the weird and wonderful moments across sports in 2023.
posted by owlhouse to general at 05:16 PM - 4 comments
Team Guides to the FIFA Women's World Cup: The Guardian are publishing these guides in the lead up to the opening matches on 20 July. One new national team is added each day. (And yes, I have tickets). :-)
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 01:08 AM - 4 comments
Cricket's Oldest Rivalry: Resumes tonight as the first of five Ashes Test Matches between England and Australia starts at Edgbaston (in Birmingham). And as a tribute to the game itself, this latest Bluey episode just dropped in Australia.
posted by owlhouse to other at 11:43 PM - 2 comments
Good Morning Football with Fin Taylor: Billed as the most awkward TV appearance ever, comedian Fin Taylor on the NFL in Britain, and other stuff.
posted by owlhouse to football at 09:15 PM - 3 comments
US World Cup Covfefe: "Fox’s coverage of the World Cup is so bad it’s become unmissable."
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 07:12 PM - 5 comments
Women's World Cup 2023: You're all welcome to join us down under in three years' time. Note that I only have a couple of spare rooms so book early. :-)
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 11:04 PM - 5 comments
Icarus: A new film exposes the level and scope of state sponsored cheating by Russia in the London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympics. And the limited ability of anyone to do anything about it.
The Table Never Lies: Are Brentford one of the first Moneyball-era football clubs, and can they make it work?
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 09:50 PM - 4 comments
From Computer Game to Professional Football Analyst: One young man's gaming obsession turns into a proper paid job.
Mud and Glory: "Of a wet and thunderous sodden Saturday they couldn’t put on any lights fifty-two years ago, there weren’t any to put on. It grew much darker and blacker in vilest intensity with coagulated punch-ups going oddly unnoticed due to the annoying and most profound darkness that at least cost nothing. The dark has always been on the house I think you’ll find. Dark and mud sponsored the game of life back then before the new artificial grass authorities put the kybosh on free thinking."
posted by owlhouse to culture at 04:38 AM - 3 comments
Tha Art of Coarse Cricket: For some of you, reading this might be akin to deciphering Linear B. But the article and the comments section are some of the funniest things I've ever read about sport.
posted by owlhouse to other at 04:38 AM - 3 comments
How Football Transfers Work: Player amortisation, agents' fees and broken fax machines explained.
FINA - as bad as FIFA? : The murky waters of international swimming.
Sport and the Olympics: A Lament: Gideon Haigh, a terrific writer on sport and culture, examines why the Rio Olympics might be the most unappealing in a generation.
Putting the Journey Into Journeyman: One man's path into professional football, from Manchester City to Tulsa.
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 04:23 AM - 0 comments
The Fall: It's ostensibly about diving, but that's like saying Moby Dick is about the whale. A great read about how football has changed and is still changing.
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 05:06 AM - 3 comments
Wenger's Arsenal : Jonathan Wilson goes totally postmodern, referencing Said, Shakespeare, Sophocles, Monet, Liszt, Rembrandt, Bach, Matisse, Foster Wallace, Becker and Freud. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad starting XI.
posted by owlhouse to football at 08:04 PM - 9 comments
The Rugby World Cup Final is on Saturday: between Australia and New Zealand at Twickenham. After over a month of pool matches, quarter finals and semi finals, the best two teams in the world get to slug it out. The winner will be the first three-time holder of the Webb Ellis trophy. Trans-Tasman rivalry at it's finest.
posted by owlhouse to general at 11:50 PM - 8 comments
Howard Kendall, the former Everton player and manager, died last week. : This isn't just about him, though. Some of these stories shared by Guardian readers have a way of getting in and warming your soul.
posted by owlhouse to soccer at 05:40 AM - 3 comments
Rugby (Union) World Cup Starts Tonight: As usual, the All Blacks will be favourites, but this time around it's a bit more open. England, Australia, France, South Africa and Ireland could all be in with a shout. Usually with Rugby World Cups, the pools are fairly predictable, and action won't get interesting until the knockout stages at the Quarter Finals. However, this year the Pool of Death (TM) means that one of England, Australia or Wales will be going or staying home early.
posted by owlhouse to general at 04:07 AM - 10 comments
Cheating in Sports: With computers and downloadable apps.
posted by owlhouse to other at 03:25 AM - 4 comments
Australian Rules Tactics: For a long time, they didn't seem to actually exist. A new book delves into the history of coaching, and tries to explain what's happening to the average punter.
posted by owlhouse to general at 10:28 AM - 0 comments
The Ashes. Explained.: England and Australia resume their 148 year old cricket rivalry.
posted by owlhouse to other at 12:30 PM - 6 comments
Matthew Dellavedova and the Australian Way.: “What the fuck are you staring at?” That’s the attitude Australia takes into the world, in sport as in much else."
posted by owlhouse to basketball at 12:20 AM - 6 comments
Yes, But Is It A Sport?: A landmark court case in Britain to judge whether Bridge is a sport or not. Significant lottery funding is at stake.
posted by owlhouse to culture at 05:11 AM - 4 comments