This week’s roundup also features rough weeks in football, an amazing Moto2 save, curling and plenty more1) A big week for the haka, whether it needed to be or not. Here’s World Rugby’s official page highlighting “England’s incredible response to intense New Zealand haka”. Before World Rugby fined England for it. Here’s some haka history … and some old-school action. But then there’s Auckland Grammar and King’s College and the Tall Blacks. Or when New Zealand and Tonga meet, with the Sipi Tau.2) A rough one for Holstein Kiel’s Michael Eberwein, conceding a penalty in the German second division match against Bochum. While warming up. In Japan, it was a bad week for this keeper. Meanwhile in Croatia, Slaven Belupo...
Nascar’s CEO always came off like he wanted no part of the family trade. As the season winds down, they’d be better off without himBrian France did not ask to be born into stock car racing’s first family. He did not ask to be the face of America’s most anachronistic sport. He did not ask for the mission of making Nascar great again. No, this is a life that holds him in thrall: it is not the path that he chose.Or at least that’s what the 56-year-old CEO and chairman of Nascar would have you believe, ever since his arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and illegal possession of a controlled substance back in August. The affair has hung...
Liberty Media’s $8bn acquisition of Formula One in January has given rise to fresh questions about the series’ intentions in the United StatesAbout an hour’s drive from where I live, in the coastal hinterlands of South Carolina, lies the city of Savannah, Georgia. And every so often I’ll cross the border for a taste of the big city.On one such excursion a few months back, while walking through a neighborhood on the fringe of Savannah’s tourist district, I found myself doubling back to examine a historical marker for something called the American Grand Prize. What’s its connection to Sunday’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas? Well, it’s the granddaddy, an early milepost on the way to Formula One as...
The most popular driver in Nascar, a sport wrapped up in conservative America, is also an eloquent commentator on injustice and racismDale Earnhardt Jr’s monopoly on Nascar’s most popular driver award has endured for 14 years, about as long as he has competed at the highest level. His winning streak owes less to voter fraud (and his legion of supporters cast their ballots early and often) than to his self-effacing southern charm and a freewheeling racing pedigree one degree removed from Nascar’s patron saint. That would be Dale Earnhardt Sr, the seven-time champion who died in the 2001 Daytona 500 while protecting his son’s position in the race. All of this means when Earnhardt Jr talks, Nascar and its fans...
The Wall Street Journal describes Nascar as a sport in free fall, but the rollicking spirit of mirth and community on hand in the Daytona infield is built to lastIn pictures: camping and carousing at America’s great raceCush Revette paced down the starting line with a checkered flag and a full handle of Coulsons Rum, exhorting to the crowd with a carnival barker’s brio.“Who’s next? I need two more dumb rednecks,” the 59-year-old from Tampa cried. “Speaking of two dumb rednecks, I see three right there.” Related: Kurt Busch wins first Daytona 500 title in crash-filled race Continue reading...