1. “What used to be four radically different surfaces, requiring four radically different styles of play, have become increasingly homogenous.
“This is a major factor — arguably the major factor — in the current state of the game, particularly in men’s tennis, where it has helped shape both the Nadal-Federer-Djokovic-Murray golden age and the slow-paced, relentless, defensive tennis that more and more seems to define it.”
Brian Phillips‘ examination of tennis’ surfaces is as good as it is long, so put the kettle on and head over to Grantland.com.
2. “No wonder the Belgians adopted Sean Kelly, he was one of those mythical Flandrians you see in black and white, covered in mud, growling, being hard. He just happened to be born in Ireland”
Gerard Cromwell looks forward to Kelly’s new autobiography, Hunger for StickyBottle.com
3. “I grew up on the edge of a forested bog. I have an accent that many people outside of Kerry have difficulty understanding. Once I noticed that as I spoke to a friend of my girlfriends who I had just met, she was lip-reading me trying to understand me. So it is fair to say I am a bogger. And I’m proud of it.”
Everyone’s favourite bogger-turned-fashion-blogger tells us how it’s done on ThisisPaulGalvin.com
4. “We’ll bloody smash ‘em up front, these Aussie bloody bastids. Rob, 9? For me it’s Mike. He’s the best of the bloody lot.”
This imagined Lions team selection meeting on The Waisale Times sounds depressingly accurate.
5. “Now, we lap up the Kardashians. Rather than asking what they’re famous for, we see their attention-seeking and, more importantly, attention-getting, as a good enough reason to make them role models. We think the likes of Georgia Salpa and Rosanna Davidson and Andrea Roche are great for Ireland because we now have our home-grown heroes to worship.”
Ewan McKenna laments the rise of celebrity culture in and above sport for Eircom Sports Hub.
