I saw half a dozen media articles last week that suggested that Nathan Cleary is considering a possible future career jump to the Super League. Really? The Super League? I doubt it. He’s a talented bloke and, no doubt, money isn’t everything to the best Rugby league player in the world, but do the pundits seriously expect us to believe that Nathan would be willing to halve his … [Read more...]
So Easy To Make Hasty Judgements – Angel Reese vs Catilin Clark
How easy is it to be racist? Maybe it’s easier than you think! This is going back a few months, but my hasty judginess still stings. The first indication I had that the 2022-2023 NCAA Women’s basketball season had concluded, was a video-clip on Twitter showing LSU player Angel Reese mocking Iowa star player Caitlin Clark with a series of hand gestures at the conclusion … [Read more...]
Magnificent French Men’s Football Team – Or is it?
Ever seen this French television commercial from the telecommunications company Orange promoting the magnificent French men's national football team? It shows Gliezmann, Mbappe and Girout in their finest form. Or does it? Perhaps it challenges our perceptions about the supposed performance gap between elite male soccer players and their elite female equivalents. Take a look at … [Read more...]
Didn’t see that coming! – NRL Grand Final 2023
Socrates doesn't normally comment on common, garden variety, pro sports news... but he got his analysis so wrong, on this occasion, that he couldn't keep himself away from his keyboard. How did your prediction go? Did you predict the NRL Grand Final scenario? Over to Socrates for his description of the one he got wrong. The third scenario… the one I didn’t see coming… was … [Read more...]
Penalty shoot-out? Nah. Let’s play Murderball!
The League Cup is over, and Liverpool wins the comp on penalties, 11-10. When I read a post on Instagram that puts the victory down to Liverpool’s exemplary data driven approach, I slap myself in the side of the head, grunt “derr”, and make a silly incensed reply stating what seemed to me the obvious - that the “data-driven approach” had little to do with a win that was … [Read more...]