books - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

What made Rich Strike's victory so incredible

Did Bum Phillips Ruin Earl Campbell?Like most Oilers—or “Earlers,” as they were known as their star galloped his way to Rookie of the Year and two MVP trophies his first couple of years in the league—Earl Campbell loved playing for the cowboy-hatted, easy-going Bum Phillips, who was always easy with a wisecrack. Bum once said of the t...

Jim Bouton Woke Up AmericaIn 1969 and 1970, two books were published that demystified two of the most hidebound American institutions—presidential campaigns and major-league baseball. By and large, both were exercises controlled at their very top by Penis-Americans who were so white that they barely cast a shadow. They were ...

Q&A: John Urschel On NFL Analytics, Two-Point Conversion Cowards, And <i>That</i> Math Problem

John Urschel spent three seasons as an offensive lineman for the Ravens. He’s also a candidate for a Ph.D. in mathematics at MIT—a pursuit he began in 2016, during his final season in the NFL. He’s also written a book, Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football, that’s being released today by Peng...

The Ballpark Is The Great American Public Space

Is a ballpark a place to watch baseball, a theme park, a microcosm of its city, or something else entirely? It’s an open question that stretches back to the late 19th century, when enclosed ballparks, flanked by cheaply constructed wooden bleachers, began the gradual evolution of ballpark constructi...

Tom Brady’s Shady Guru Alex Guerrero Isn’t Ready To Give Up His Pseudoscience Or His Control

The following is excerpted from No One Man Should Have All That Power: How Rasputins Manipulate the World, by Amos Barshad, out today. Published by Abrams Books....

The Best Things We Read In 2018

Let’s get this out of the way up top: Yes, I agree, you wouldn’t think a cultural history of Oklahoma City would make for a compelling book. (I’ve had this conversation a lot this year.) But Sam Anderson’s Boom Town is the most engrossing piece of writing I’ve read all year. The book weaves together...

Merril Hoge Doesn't Want You To Use Your Brain

To clear up any confusion, let’s get this out of the way: Merril Hoge and Peter Cummings, who co-authored a book called Brainwashed: The Bad Science Behind CTE and The Plot to Destroy Football, are not CTE deniers. They do not dismiss the scientific notion that repetitive brain trauma is a high-ris...