1. Writing for Sports Illustrated, Sid Lowe takes an in-depth look at whether Leo Messi really did break the goals-scored-in-calendar-year record recently.
Naturally, Messi’s record occupied newspaper covers and media reports everywhere. And then, suddenly, someone spotted Chitalu. The record, according to the Zambian FA, was never officially recognized. Now, some in Spain and abroad took it upon themselves to make sure that it was. The identity of those that did was predictable; the identity of those that rejected the claim was, too. It was not so much that Chitalu might hold the record that mattered as that it might mean that Messi did not.
AS newspaper’s Madrid-supporting columnist Tomás Roncero was first out of the blocks. Armed with a printout from Wikipedia, he took the claim to the TV show Punto Pelota. Across the floor, his Catalan counterpart shouted: “That doesn’t count! That doesn’t count!” The next morning, Roncero had written a page in his newspaper, under the headline: “The record is not Messi’s, it is Chitalu’s: 107 goals.” The opening line spoke volumes: “After all the fanfare and the fireworks and the over the top eulogies for the alleged record of Messi…”
2. A fantastic piece of writing featured in ESPN, focusing on some troubling data relating to the NFL and concussions.
The NFL’s initial data suggested that less than one concussion occurred per game.
Dustin Fink, a certified athletic trainer in Illinois who has been tracking NFL head injuries on “The Concussion Blog,” described the explanation on the discrepancies as “beyond ridiculous.”
“What this information tells me is that the league does not have a solid/reliable way to account for concussions all season long,” Fink said in an email to ESPN. “& Their numbers the past two years show they do have an internal set that is beyond the official injury reporting system the public sees.”
3. The fallout from last Sunday’s match between City and United continues, as CNN provocatively ask whether fans’ behaviour in recent years constitutes a new dark age or a new dawn.
But there is another view to counter this week’s media hysteria — namely that football is only now facing up to realities deep at the heart of its foundations to which society has turned a blind eye for years.
What’s more, this could be a vital turning-point in trying to eradicate behavior that would not be tolerated in everyday life.
4. If you’re wondering how exactly the shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year is chosen, this informative article from BBC Sport should help you out.
I had the privilege of chairing the meeting; marshalling the debates in order to secure a consensus of opinion from around the table.I started by asking the panellists for their views on the various awards – and the first point of consensus was just how difficult it would be to leave some very worthy candidates off the lists.
5. This piece in the Globe and Mail comparing the NHL lockout with similar problems encountered by American football and basketball is well worth a read.
Mediation isn’t a surprise at this point. Both the NFL and NBA went through it during their lockouts in 2011 and, other than consuming a few days, the non-binding process didn’t solve much. The NBA experience was particularly relevant as it came almost exactly 12 months ago during what was supposed to be the early portion of that league’s regular season.
George Cohen, the mediator in that case, coaxed the league and players into three marathon days of meetings that were kept largely out of the media. The end result, however, wasn’t much progress.
6. Richard Williams is in fine form as usual, in this account of the hard times experienced by Mario Balotelli of late:
In the sixth minute the Italian struck a free-kick that, deflected by David Silva’s heel, forced David de Gea into a scrambled save at the foot of a post. That was as good as it got.
Four minutes later he met Gaël Clichy’s excellent cross, delivered from the byline after a lung-bursting run, with a negligent volley that soared into the stand. Soon he was losing the ball to Jonny Evans’s simple tackle and reacting with an unpleasant foul that led to Evans’s departure after half-time.
