The job of sports broadcasters is to help viewers see the order and intention where the untrained eye sees only chaos. We expect broadcasters to be experts of the game. (By “broadcasters” I ...
Dazzling offensive plays are the pop music of sports. Like catchy tunes, they are hard not to love. Even more, they are like the vocals and the melody of pop-music hooks. (You can sing these your...
https://thissportinglife.net/2010/07/20/soccer-vs-american-sports-part-3-going-with-the-flow/
In Part 1 of this little series, I argued — well, asserted — that an appreciation of the individual and team defensive plays and strategies is an essential component of sports connoisseurship...
https://thissportinglife.net/2010/07/15/soccer-vs-american-sports-part-2-in-praise-of-defense/
The NHL playoffs wound up a couple of days ago, and the World Cup starts in about an hour. Here are a few thoughts on the former, as we move from the season of the fastest “flow” sport to tha...
https://thissportinglife.net/2010/06/11/a-few-thoughts-on-the-nhl-playoffs/
I’m watching my beloved Montreal Canadiens trying to defend a 2-goal lead in a game 7. As Andrew Potter observes, the worst cliche in hockey is the idea that the 2-goal lead is the most dangero...
https://thissportinglife.net/2010/05/12/the-dreaded-2-goal-lead/
I’m obviously making this up as I go along; but if you’ve read Why is hockey analysis (almost) always so lame? Part 1 and Part 2, thanks for bearing with me. So far I have talked mostly about...
https://thissportinglife.net/2010/05/10/why-is-hockey-analysis-always-so-lame-part-3-its-hard/
I don’t remember a world without instant replay; although I was born into such a world. After clever but misbegotten attempts to use instant replay from the mid-1950s on, it is generally conced...
My friend Andrew Potter (author of the sizzling new book The Authenticity Hoax) tweeted a link on Friday to a compelling contrast between the two biggest stars in the world of ice hockey, the ...
https://thissportinglife.net/2010/05/04/why-is-hockey-analysis-almost-always-so-lame-part-1/