Golden State Warriors basketball star’s appearance in the Ellie Mae Classic is borderline offensive to those battling in the tough world below the main toursImagine the scenario. Golden State Warriors are locked in a fierce play-off battle when Jordan Spieth – inspired by his brother’s basketball success and a capable player in his own right – decides he wants to feature in match five. Spieth’s overtures are accepted, thereby handing the golfer a key spot in another sport’s top domain.Ludicrous, right? It certainly should be but while the circumstances are not identical there is cause to wonder about the legitimacy of the web.com Tour’s dispensation as given to Steph Curry. The Ellie Mae Classic in California will feature Curry –...
This week’s roundup also features a cow and a bull; England’s greatest penalty shootouts; and darts referees in alphabetical order shouting ‘180’1) Need a Wimbledon mood-setter? Here’s 1961’s Pathé guide, featuring a trademark jaunty soundtrack, details on how the balls were made, and footage of a school chaplain training the ball boys. “Practice makes perfect, and for Wimbledon the preparations couldn’t be more punctilious.” See also Pathé’s 1954 “The Way To Wimbledon” documentary, which starts here. “There’s something besides the conflict of strings and tennis balls that extends Wimbledon beyond the simple courts into a function, a ritual and a challenge.” There’s plenty of vintage tennis action in the Pathé vaults too – including Helen Wills-Moody (“Invincible Helen”) winning again...
By the end of his reign in New York, the Knicks president was nothing like the free thinker who opened an era of new-age coachingDespite the misguided perceptions of many sports fans, running an NBA team is actually a grinder’s pursuit. The men charged with picking players and managing rosters must spend the time scouting, scheming and building. Phil Jackson, who was let go Wednesday as New York Knicks president, seemed to believe his own cult of personality was enough to make the league’s most dysfunctional franchise whole again. The message Jackson lost as he took a rich man’s millions and wasted three years of the franchise is that his entire name was built on the managing the brilliance of others. His 11...
An American in the yellow jersey would help erase painful memories of the Lance Armstrong scandal. But is the country turning away from road cycling?When the Tour de France starts on Saturday, cycling fans in the US will be without a serious home contender for the yellow jersey in the world’s best-known bicycle race. The omission of Tejay van Garderen from the BMC team’s lineup leaves the Cannondale-Drapac team fielding the three US riders in the race.While many will be glad to see Taylor Phinney belatedly debut in the Tour, where he and Nathan Brown will support the team’s co-leader Andrew Talansky, the best that can realistically be hoped for from this team is a frequent presence in breakaway groups...
For a non-contact sport, baseball appears to involve plenty of fights. What is it about the game that produces confrontations?In 1986 I had the privilege of sitting next to the great Scottish sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney during the NFL’s first American Bowl at Wembley Stadium. One of the topics we discussed was the fascination that British fans have with baseball brawls, highlights of which seemed to occupy an unusual amount of time on British television – more, it seemed to me, than on American TV. “It’s just refreshing to us,” McIlvanney explained, “to see most of the violence happening on the field instead of in the stands.” Continue reading...