On top of all those strange new rules, there’s another twist to baseball this March: the return of the World Baseball Classic, the always-entertaining tournament that is essentially baseball’s equivalent of the World Cup. (The rules are similar, too, with a 20-team group stage followed by an eight-team knockout round.) Thanks to the pandemic, it […]
When Argentina and France met in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the two traditional soccer powerhouses produced the most exciting game of the tournament. It had everything, from a breathtaking 80-yard run that resulted in an early penalty, to a 30-yard wonder strike that leveled the score at 1-1 […]
Each time a World Cup rolls around, pundits and fans predictably focus on a few recurring narratives. What country has the best odds to go the distance? Which player will be the breakout star of the tournament? Who will win the Golden Boot? What about the Golden Ball? Will there be a “Hand of God”-like […]
Deciding what’s a “football school” or a “basketball school” is an inexact science. Longstanding tradition — not wins and losses — often determines whether most fans’ hearts belong to the gridiron or the hardwood. Culturally, Florida State didn’t stop being a football school during its recent stretch of substandard performance, nor did Michigan adopt the […]
The chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen announced last week that he will not defend his world championship next year. There are two ways to look at this news: One is with shock, given that Carlsen is maybe the greatest chess player of all time, at arguably the peak of his powers, with a good chance to […]