1. “It seemed to be about betting, first and last. And if it was about betting, then it was about money. And if it was about money, then there were alternative delights more worthy of prising open the velcro on a teenager’s wallet. My dad wasn’t against gambling or anything but he used to say he’d look at a 20-pound note for a long time before he’d put it on a horse. “Sure the horse might fall,” he said.”
Malachy Clerkin muses on Cheltenham as a great sporting cathedral, for the Irish Times.
2. “Of course not every day was a good one and like many saints, Casillas became a victim of persecution. Although renowned for his modesty, generally mild off-field manner and mantra of “never, ever forgetting where you came from”, he has a touchy, spiky side and his patience was tested to its limits by the pernicious dressing-room influence of José Mourinho. The pair clashed repeatedly and matters came to a head when Casillas was left out of the first team amid rumours of his involvement in dressing-room leaks…”
Barry Glendenning bids adios to the marvellous career of Iker Casillas, in The Guardian.
3. “The problem of keeping players home and recruiting new ones means availing of every natural advantage and digging deeper and going further than before. The Kiltane junior team includes a player from Dubai. A Polish girl is playing for the ladies football team. The policy is simple and unambiguous. “If they’ve got two legs,” says O’Hara, “they can play for Kiltane.”
Michael Foley paints the sporting landscape in Rural Mayo in the time of Covid, for the Sunday Times.
4. “Some of the game’s more well-rounded scorers, like Beal and Damian Lillard, have used it to make their offensive repertoire even more dangerous. When the one-dribble 3 is wielded by a stationary shooter, it’s a parachute. When someone like Kemba Walker has it in their bag, a single dribble becomes a choose-your-own adventure that leaves the defense guessing.”
Michael Pina charts the rise of the one-dribble three-pointer as the NBA comes to the boil in the bubble, for The Ringer.
5. “Best’s agent at the time, remembers the departure from LA well. By the time 1978 rolled around, Best had started missing training more frequently. In “Blessed,” Best describes his morning routine in Los Angeles around that time like so: wake up, grab a copy of the LA Times and head to the beach. By 10:30 he’d be parked at the bar at Fat Faced Fenner’s Falloon, an establishment that catered to those with a “mid-morning thirst,” as Best puts it.”
