Sports

15. Will, Bunts (8 Sep 2018)

by kurto

A collection of baseball essays written over 1970-2000, reflecting on the sport’s seminal figures and movements, and how ‘America’s pastime’ reflects the country’s life. Games are a ‘space for ordered living’, according to Bart Giamatti, made not by nature but by free choices. Unlike football or basketball, baseball is played with a rhythm alternating between concentration and relaxation, as befits a 162-game season. Since teams will generally win and lose 40 percent of the time regardless, it’s the habit of the quotidian athletic performance that helps them achieve results in the balance – the thesis of

    Men at Work

. Donald Kagan denigrates the thesis as unheroic in a

    Public Interest

review republished herein; Will responds this is a Romantic fallacy, lionizing will without disciplined, sustained effort. (Elsewhere he comments that because sport compresses life’s trajectory, sports writers often display facile pathos.) As the author notes, the Greeks considered sport a moral undertaking: by witnessing grace, the soul learns to beauty, by seeing fair competition, the passions are educated. In ‘Good Character, Not Good Chemistry’, he sets forth the case against steroids (and other types of cheating). Winning is valued for praiseworthy attributes, while becoming better (self improvement) implies not only improvement but also the loneliness of the individual regimen. The purpose of umpiring is to regulate striving, not to eliminate violent effort but to regulate it, enabling excellence to prevail. Fans, for their part, are to derive enjoyment for the whole of the contest since pleasure cannot be predicated on outcomes (i.e., losing) that will so often be negative. Will often makes the case that the game has in fact improved. New York teams won 41 of 102 pennants from 1903-53, and 20 of 50 World Series, while there were no teams south of Washington DC or west of St. Louis, whereas since the fall of the reserve clause, very few teams have been repeat champions. As further evidence, he cites attendance: in strike-shortened 1995, 5 teams outdrew Cleveland’s record 2.6 million in 1948; average game attendance [probably tickets sold] in 1954 was 13,000. But the case mainly rests on the feats of the players, which are generally comparable – notwithstanding ‘live balls’, the introduction of the designated hitter, and steroids. There are sociopolitical essays on Jackie Robinson and Curt Flood, the former including the observation that Larry Doby may have been more important than Robinson because he was ‘merely’ talented (by comparison with the surreal Robinson). Will echoes the view that blacks are ‘underrepresented’ in baseball because of the game’s historic connotation with the color line – similar to rugby and apartheid – but does not observe that this helped opened the door to Latin Americans. On Pete Rose-Bart Giamatti, he writes that the important result was baseball’s institutions (i.e., the commissioner’s office) maintained its integrity rather than succumbing to supervision of federal judiciary. Less predictably, he is generally hard on owners during the labor turmoil of the 1990s. John Miller, then broadcasting for the Orioles and Washington DC layer Earl Bennett Williams, is lauded for attention to details: his ‘respect for listeners’ includes fastidious scorekeeping and absence of hyperbole. By contrast, Billy Martin (and Rose) is excoriated for violating baseball’s equipoise – he couldn’t sustain a winning culture. Some nuggets: the introduction of better fielding equipment in the 1880s change the game from a contest between fielder versus hitter to pitcher versus hitter, as prior to, 1 in 2 runs was unearned; players left gloves on the field through the 1940s; the Penn Law Review found the infield fly rule would be superfluous if baseball were to emulate cricket’s sporting ethic – but in America the purpose is to win; a winning team scores more runs in 1 inning than the loser does in 9; the end of the American League umpire’s chest protector lowered the strike zone, but the AL zone remained smaller than the National League’s. In all, the columns hold up well some 30 years later, and Will’s Aristotelian thesis (‘we are what we repeatedly do’) looks no worse for the wear either.

13. Reason, Victorious Lions (13 Jun 2020)

by kurto

            A tart, triumphant account of the 1971 British Isles tour of New Zealand: the Lions posted an unbeaten provincial record and 2-1-1 test series win. Carwyn James’ insightful coaching, which converted author John Reason to the innovation, encouraged running via counterattack and made better use of personnel than New Zealand’s old-style committee system. Though mainly narrative, Reason focuses on violence and refereeing standards. As in 1966, the Canterbury match was marred by fighting; forward Sandy Carmichael’s fractured cheekbone forced him to leave the tour. Hawke’s Bay also was violent. Selections condone thuggery, Reason thunders, although he seems contradictory on whether crowd contribute (p107) or want it stopped (p171). Televising matches in the UK reduces foul play, he suggests. Regarding playing style, the New Zealanders overemphasize rucking while training unopposed slights defense. The Lions warmed up with ball in hand, and tight fives were chosen on the basis of contributing to open-field play (i.e., handling). In an era when the ball was in play and continuity were much lower, the NZ referees are berated for allowing foot up, crooked feeds, and forwards offside at scrummage as well as being inalert to quick throw-ins; also Kiwi players were allowed to berate refs. Ultimately he concludes refs watch tourists more closely and calls for international referee exchanges. The Lions’ best game was Wellington; after Auckland the tourists chose their strongest side to nail down the series win. JPR Williams’ drop goal famously put the game four out of reach. Williams, Barry John, Gareth Edwards, and Mervyn Davies (important to denying lineout ball to Colin Meads and controversially recalled Brian Lohore) are the heroes.

19. Gorman, Heartland (30 Oct 2020)

by kurto

            Narrates Queensland’s rising fortunes in Australian rugby league since 1980, asserting an underdog mentality and ‘racial reconciliation’ are mainly responsible the state’s pulling level with New South Wales. Though Queensland’s traditional game, closely associated with Labor and Catholic schools such as Brothers, league inevitably lost its best players south, mirroring professional migration in business, the arts, and politics. Upon debut, State of Origin, reclaiming locals for the languishing interstate series, was an instant sensation. The 1982 Commonwealth Games and 1988 Expo also boosted Queensland’s self-esteem. In the 1990s, commercial development north of the border gathered momentum through the brash Brisbane Broncos and later the regionally iconic North Queensland Cowboys. But concentration undermined Queensland’s country clubs and regional competitions, Brisbane being closer to Sydney than Townsville, and in 1997 rival professional codes nearly sundered the sport nationally. Team culture (including consistency of selections); a succession of iconic players and coaches including Artie Beetson, Mal Meniga, Alf Langer, Darren Lockyer, Jonathan Thurston, Wayne Bennett, and Meniga again; and more black players in the team explain the Maroons’ series dominance. ‘Us versus them’ is colorfully explicated; racial reconciliation raises more questions than answers. The book would benefit from a broader purview, for example league in the context of Australian sport or Queensland culture contrasted with other Australian states (not simply Sydney).

21. Reason, Unbeaten Lions (17 Nov 2020)

by kurto

The 1974 British Isles tour of South Africa, insistent on forward play and tactical kicking, shortchanged its potential by ignoring the UK’s world-class backs, thereby settling for inferiority to the 1971 Lions, Wales of 1970-71, and even the English South African tourists of 1972. Syd Millar, given the opening soliloquy, compares unfavorably with Carwyn James; his captaincy choice of lock Willie John McBride over center Mike Gibson showed not only the coach’s determination but also Ballymena conceit. Apartheid boycotts since 1970 contributed to the Springboks’ falling from first-class status, confirmed by the tour’s second test, a 28-9 match in Pretoria. Thus the undefeated tour flattered to deceive. Gareth Edwards was the tour’s key player; the ‘99’ call effectively sidelined African pugilism. There was little art in the Lions’ test selections; but the Springboks’ choices completely lacked strategy, revealing the bygone deficiencies of the selectorial system. (Reason also suggests the custom of visiting teams’ choosing referees from the host national nation have become an anachronism.) Springbok scrummaging was very poor; lineout lifting a novelty. Lock JG Williams should have been used to upset the British Isles’ dominant possession, as did New Zealand’s Peter Whiting in 1971. Danie Craven is described as the most influential man in world rugby, without elaboration. In 1971 John Dawes observed running was necessary to stop soccer’s inroads in rugby-playing nations, whereas the 1974 Lions never asked how good they could be. Transvaal is described as the one of the world’s richest sporting organizations, despite very poor grandstands. Reason unpersuasively sketches how black and coloured players might be integrated into the domestic game.

3. MacCambridge, America’s Game (~ Feb 2005)

by kurto

Shows how pro football surpassed college gridiron and then baseball to become America’s leading sport. Key to the league’s success was its collegial business administration. For example, TV revenues are pooled and shared, so that competitive merit is the distinguishing characteristic. In earlier postwar years, visiting teams received a share of the gate. The chronology includes closeup views of the Rams, Browns, Colts, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Raiders. Technology and savvy use of electronic media played a key role, as did the accidental commissioner Pete Rozelle. TV, including Monday Night Football, also was a key driver — the NFL supplanted boxing and mastered the medium long before baseball grasped the possibilities. Football gained from the shifting cultural mores of the 1960s, but did not escape labor problems of the 1980s and 90s. The draft remains a key source of talent and public interest, although the rival AFL used superabundance of talent (athletes) to its advantage. The NFL now is an economic and social phenomenon as much as it is a sporting contest.

Rough water philosophy

by kurto

In the pool, speed is ne plus ultra. In rough water, the priority is order of finish.

Speed, or pace, is therefore a means to the end. Other objectives include navigation, drafting (efficient pace), and positioning. To execute well, the athlete must gather contextual evidence and make good decisions.

Sources of evidence include course features (e.g., turn buoys), conditions, other athletes, and one’s own state. Of these, the latter is the noisiest.

The key to rough water success is sidelining background noise, in order to gather evidence and make good decisions.