Exploring the imagination of sports in books, history and culture
Also In This Issue: Diego Maradona; Brett Favre; The Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits; Tommie Smith; The Lawyer Who Made the Pac-12; The NFL and Black Coaches; The Balk’s Linguistics; Baseball and the Supreme Court; Saving A Negro Leagues Ball Park; Minstrel Songs and Southern College Football; Dick Ebersol; Remembering Carl Yarbrough
A couple weeks after Serena Williams called time on her historic tennis career, Roger Federer has done the same.
Both were expected, but even for those of us who’ve witnessed these moments from other legends many times before, they’re still difficult to fathom.
Both Williams and Federer bowed out with losses. On Friday in London, Federer and Rafael Nadal were defeated in a men’s doubles match at the Laver Cup.
To invite your iconic rival to share the stage sums up what Louisa Thomas of The New Yorker called “A Generous Farewell.” After the match, the two combatants wept.
After 20 Grand Slam singles title, Federer promised he wouldn’t be a ghost at major events—a reference to the reclusive Bjorn Borg. | Order “The Master”
At The Guardian, Tumaini Carayol wrote that “There is no perfect farewell. Federer entered the O2 Arena physically compromised after 14 months of trying to return as a full-time player and he later said that he wasn’t always sure that he would even be healthy enough to play doubles. By the end, though, it didn’t matter. He has already given so much, for himself and the sport alike, and he leaves at 41 having accomplished a career as full as any.”
A Few Good Reads
‘22 Goals’: Diego Maradona, 1986 World Cup in Mexico—The Ringer
How the Champions League final descended into chaos—The Guardian
‘Balk’: A Pitcher’s Feint, a Hindrance or a Hesitation—The Wall Street Journal
How the NFL Blocks Black Coaches—The Washington Post
Brett Favre is an example of NFL hero worship gone wrong—Yahoo! Sports
The Lawyer Who Made the Pac-12—Throwbacks
Books & Reviews
‘The Cup They Couldn’t Lose’ Review: Trans-Atlantic Turnaround—The Wall Street Journal | Order Book
An Athlete and Activist Shares His Story With Kids—Kirkus Reviews | Order “Victory, Stand!”
Sports History Files
Baseball and the Supreme Court—Society for American Baseball Research | Order ”The Baseball Trust”
NJ Jackals Pick Paterson as Pro Baseball Returns to Hinchliffe Stadium—New Jersey Monthly | From 2020: Saving Hinchliffe Stadium, one of the last remaining Negro League parks—The Athletic
Arts & Film
Minstrel songs like ‘The Eyes of Texas’ were once common on college football Saturdays in the South—Andscape | Order “Fight Songs”
‘60 Cycles’ remembered: Bodies, bikes and groovy music propel this stylish classic film from 1965—Aeon
Women's Rowing stamp illustrator Nancy Stahl Interviewed by Denise Aquino of Rowing in Color—row2K
Collectibles
Derek Jeter to Start New Trading-Card Venture as Market Booms—Bloomberg
Media
Dick Ebersol Reflects on Lessons Learned From ‘Saturday Night Live’ to ‘Sunday Night Football’ in New Autobiography—Variety | Order Book
Veteran NFL writer Bob Glauber retires—Newsday
IndyStar sports director Jenny Green retires after 35 years in news—Indianapolis Star
Noted Western New York sportswriter Bill Wolcott passes—WNY Papers
Passings
Carl Yarbrough, 65, who shot 1998 Olympic skiing cover photo of Hermann Meier for Sports Illustrated—Sky-Hi News | The Fall ... And The Photo ... Of A Lifetime: Revisiting Hermann Maier's Olympic Crash—Sports Illustrated
Greg Lee dies; UCLA basketball player under John Wooden who became a beach volleyball star—Los Angeles Times
The Sports Biblio Reader e-mail newsletter is delivered on Sunday. You can subscribe here and search recent archives. The full archives for Sports Biblio Digest can be found here. This is issue No. 251, published Sept. 25, 2022.
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