The Story of Alex Villaplane, France's First World Cup Captain:
13 July 1930 Captains France in their first ever match at the World Cup finals, a 4-1 victory over Mexico.
26 December 1944 Shot by firing squad having been condemned as one of the most despicable traitors in his country's history.

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 04:14 PM - 9 comments

Hull City Comes Out Against Diving: .

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 08:49 AM - 10 comments

The Profound Stupidity of Football: A review of the new book, Why England Lose and Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained. [psst: they mean "soccer"]

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 08:09 AM - 16 comments

How Not to Write a Sports Column: Everybody has bad ideas. The trick is to forget them before you publish them in a newspaper.

posted by yerfatma to culture at 04:06 PM - 47 comments

"Essentially, this site is what I'd have been doing when I was 12 years old had the Internet and Photoshop been available to me in the eighties.": Baseball + Infographics = Flip Flop Fly Ball.
[via Cafe Hayek & my dad]

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 02:44 PM - 8 comments

The Truth Hurts: Clearly Kevin Youkilis' at-bat music should be Bob Seger's "Night Moves". Please help this important cause by joining yet another meaningless Facebook group. [via]

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 02:52 PM - 24 comments

Was the 1970's Boston Globe Sports Page the Greatest of All Time?: "Ryan would write about umpires,Gammons would write about wars and symphonies, and you'd need a third f----- guy for game talk."

posted by yerfatma to culture at 08:12 AM - 4 comments

HAHAHAHAHAHA!: and part 2 of an interview with former ESPN personality and current Boston Bruins' TV announcer Jack Edwards. Edwards is perhaps the most polarizing announcer in hockey for his homerism (8 minute youtube clip) and his . . . lack of sympathy for the Flyers. It sounds like Jack will be returning to ESPN just as soon as hockey does:

So, for those of you that hope that hockey gets back on ESPN, that’s what you’re gonna’ get. That’s where it belongs in ESPN’s hierarchy, because there are some bozos sitting in the accounting department in a bunker in Burbank, California running Disney, who look at the numbers and completely ignore the passion of hockey fans. They say “Poker gets better ratings because we can attract more compulsive gamblers to the screen than we can passionate hockey fans, so just for the sake of that number, we’re gonna’ run poker instead of hockey. We’re gonna run women’s basketball instead of hockey.”

posted by yerfatma to hockey at 03:53 PM - 12 comments

Does that make Adalius Thomas Che Guevara?: Michael Felger on the hidden meaning of Thomas' labor remarks last week.

'In reading Thomas’ remarks, I’m reminded of “The Godfather, Part II,” when Michael Corleone witnesses a Cuban rebel blow himself up on the streets of Havana. To his cohorts, it was an isolated incident. But to Michael, it was a harbinger.'

posted by yerfatma to football at 11:24 AM - 15 comments

"OK, I’m going to feed you, and I’m going to get you half-looped, and then we’re going to move this restaurant.": The story of long-time spring training fixture The Pink Pony. It can be yours if the price is right.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 02:56 PM - 6 comments

The good news: if you're the worst team in baseball is the first pick in this year's draft looks like a keeper. The bad news is that his agent, Scott Boras, already has his right-hand media man, Jon Heyman, on the case.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 12:29 PM - 20 comments

Let's Play the Feud!: On Sunday night's broadcast, Joe Morgan suggested (once again) Ernie Banks' career statistics were inflated by the "basket" in Wrigley's outfield. This being Joe Morgan, the basket was installed in Banks' final year with the Cubs and accounted for, at most, 6 of 512 career home runs. This being Joe Morgan, Cubs fans will have to get in line behind a number of computers before they hear an apology.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 01:20 PM - 19 comments

What franchise has the best run of players at one position in history?: Batter's Box says it's Left Field for the Red Sox, but plenty of other arguments appear in the comments.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 01:33 PM - 14 comments

David Stern Explains Late NBA Start Times: "That's what you jerks want.": It's not advertising dollars, it's the insomniac nature of NBA fans that's driven the NBA to schedule even weekend games to start at 9PM EDT.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 12:48 PM - 19 comments

Does speed kill?: A thorough analysis of PitchFx data reveals some interesting things about fastball speed.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 07:20 AM - 15 comments

Does Evan Longoria's new contract : indicate a change in approach to cost certainty for baseball management?

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 03:10 PM - 4 comments

A Short History of the Baseball Played in a (Small) Coliseum: With the Red Sox and Dodgers set to play three in LA, a little back-story to the field.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 03:36 PM - 6 comments

The Red Sox and Oakland open the season in Japan with Dice-K returning home to start.: Usually these trips result in a lot of grousing by the players (most famously, Mike Mussina), but there's not a lot of sympathy when you're getting $40,000 for your troubles. Except if you're not: the MLB has announced that while players and managers will receive the stipend, coaches will not. Red Sox players are threatening to walk off the field today if the MLB does not reverse its reversal of its original stance.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 09:03 AM - 50 comments

Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden:
Every material on earth is, at the initial level, constructed from b-balls. Carbon is b-balls. The blood flowing through our b-ball veins is made of b-balls. Every star in our cosmos is b-ball in origin. Understand this, and you may begin to understand Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden. Once you've digested that, download the game. [via]

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 06:51 AM - 7 comments

Pat Riley's scouting trip: reminds Bob Ryan of a trip he took with Dave Cowens back in 1979.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 08:55 AM - 4 comments

Bob Ryan on the Rebirth of the Regular Season:

"Do not listen to people who say it's only about championships and only about the playoffs. It can't be if there is to be any meaning to this whole thing known as fandom. The fact is that the playoff dynamic is quirky. Luck and circumstance play a large role. If you invest in a sports team for the sole purpose of seeing it through to a championship, and for no other reason, the overwhelming odds are that you will be disappointed."

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 12:38 PM - 9 comments

How QPR Will Conquer the World: and drape it in cashmere. A profile of new Rangers' co-owner Flavio Briatore. That jersey I picked up on clearance last year is looking like a brilliant investment.

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 12:00 AM - 6 comments

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss?: This NYT profile of the Brothers Steinbrenner by the author of The Bronx is Burning includes Hank's insistence that "Red Sox Nation" is a media creation. Login info for the NYT

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 08:29 AM - 71 comments

Cavs Acquire Ben Wallace and Wally Alphabet for Playoff Run. : Eleven player, three team deal between Cleveland, Chicago and Seattle. TrueHoop's thoughts.

posted by yerfatma to basketball at 05:11 PM - 20 comments

Why do African teams need European coaches?: Paul Doyle reflects on the African Cup of Nations.

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 07:24 AM - 7 comments