Sweaty lunkheads vie for glory.
There have been a number of films lately — and are likely to be more, as I continue to get older and things I think of as happening in the not-too-distant past become ancient history — in which things are fictionally re-created that I remember as vivid memories. Nothing really …
I don’t remember the Battle of the Sexes; I was far too young for it to penetrate my consciousness at age five, or to make anyone in the suburban enclave where I grew up to have much of a stake in it. But I do remember hearing about it, and, given the …
Today’s question: how good can a show about wrestling be if the wresting in the show isn’t very good? The answer, at least if the show under discussion is Netflix’s new series GLOW, is…well, pretty good, actually! Maybe that’s because of the show’s many other strengths, or maybe it’s because of …
The results, so far, of the latest ‘season’ of my long-running fantasy wrestling league. Enjoy, nobody! INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING 2017 EVENT SCHEDULE Season 57: Colluctatio Ergo Sum Friday Night Fights I: Sic Infit [So It Begins] Friday, Jan. 6th, 5:00am CST; Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan (All-Japan) All-Japan Light Heavyweight Qualifier: …
In professional foot-ball’s “Super Bowl”, the New England Patriots, owned by a man who vocally supports a rich, horrible billionaire authority figure, defeated the Atlanta Falcons, vocally supported by an owner who is a rich, horrible billionaire authority figure. This brings to a close America’s most recent sporting season; until such …
In this spot, which all three of you have been breathlessly refreshing all throughout the election cycle, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the sportification of politics — the way that people, especially ones with the least to lose from the actual policies being enacted by winning parties, …
Imagine the boy. He is twelve years old. Like many victims of poverty and racism, he has learned early on that there is very little space for him in the great white world. He knows that those who get out are able to get out because they can either make …
The Funny Names Foundation has often faced accusations of excessive focus on each year’s new crop of professional athletes, while ignoring the rich historical vein of people in sports-related support positions who, while not necessarily athletes themselves, still have names that sound like they should instead have been a porn …
SERGEANT’S DUTY LOG Week ending 04/29/2016 31 incidents of jawin’ with intent to slanderfy 26 incidents of reported sinful doin’s involving minors, blood kin, livestock and tree hollers 16 incidents of a-whoopin’ and a-hollerin’ 9 lynchings without a permit 8 incidents of Katie-bar-the-door Saturday night dust-ups 6 incidents of ee-legal …
It’s baseball season, and that, friends, is the best of all seasons. Baseball writers, who, given their love of a game that has historical weight over all other American sports, tend to be a poetic and sentimental lot, even more obnoxious than people who mark out over other sports. They’re …
It’s New Year’s Day. For millions of people, it is a day of resolutions: of promises to one’s self or one’s loved ones to be healthy, to meet new goals, to expand one’s understanding of the world. Many will make today the day they dedicate themselves to becoming better spouses, …
It’s time we all sat down and had a little talk about rooting interests. Now, I warn you in advance: this is all completely subjective. What I am going to say here — what I am going to lay down as universal law that should be followed, with the punishment …
Last night, the Chicago Cubs were swept out of baseball’s post-season after being completely manhandled by the New York Mets, and today, they will prepare to do what they have done for the last 107 years: watch two other teams play in the World Series. I enjoyed watching the Cubs …
It’s the dog days of August, when baseball teams are either in the head of a pennant race or sweating it out in meaningless late-season games after falling out of contention. Basketball and hockey are over, football seems like a cold, distant winter mirage, and Americans still don’t give a …
One of the advantages of making a sports documentary, at least in theory, is that you avoid the pitfall of so many other types of non-fiction film: the lack of footage. If you’re making a movie about a band or a performer, there may be relatively little filmed evidence of …
