Which sports book are you reading at the moment?

[cactus jack]

Just downloaded The Power and The Glory on audible. Love Wilson as a writer.

Angels with Dirty Faces is a must read for any football fan. It's about the history of Argentinian football, but it's also a history of the times and places of said football. One of the best sports books I've ever read.

I'm not a football man by any means but Wilsons book on football tactics is great too

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

I'm not a football man by any means but Wilsons book on football tactics is great too

Agreed, read it a few years ago.

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Read these two recently in between all the highbrow stuff



Both are excellent - I knew Moneyball would be good but Cav's book was way better than expected.

There's a fair bit of The Nerd's Gazette about Moneyball - and even if you have a reasonable knowledge of the game, you'll still need to brush up on your terms and will need to learn how a specific stat influences the outcome of a ball game or a season. However, the story is engrossing and any sportsfan will love it. There's enough of the personal stuff in there too - and humanity beams off the page throughout.

Cav's book is a revelation - it seems to have been written around 15 minutes after he got off the bike having won his second and final Maillot Vert in 2021 and it really benefits from that immediacy. The first half of the season is covered early in the book - as well as how he got back on the QuickStep team - and then there's a chapter for each stage of the 2021 Tour. Those stage chapters are the best - really takes you inside the mechanics of how a grand tour works and how the team worked for him throughout. No shortage of effort from the Manxman either. There's a believeable honesty to the story - it won't change your life but it's an excellent insider view.

He covers the whole taking over from Sam Bennett part as well - obviously it's one man's view but in between the lines you can see how Cav has 53 GT stage wins and SammyBe has 8. His love and sense of awe for the Tour de France shines off the page throughout. You'd defo think more highly of him after reading this.

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

The Power and The Glory by Jonathan Wilson

It's the history of the World Cup, with a chapter on each of the world cups held so far. Only half way through, but have no problem recommending it. Wilson has hit the spot with this book again. Obviously in one chapter, you can't cover everything about the WCs, but he doesn’t try to. He focusses on on 3 or 4 characters of said WCs and some funny stories, such as the Jules Rimet Trophy going missing in 1966, and being held for ransom. The trophy itself had a scrap value of about 50 quid.

Some interesting history too such as Mussolini using Italy's 1934 win for propaganda, how Germany's 1954 win was a boost for them while they were still reviled around the world and still ashamed of the nation, after the whole Nazi thing etc etc.

We were offered a place in the 1950 World cup, yes offered, and we turned it down. If only they'd bloody known! Another thing I didn't know (or had forgot), was Matt Busby was going to be in charge of Scotland at the 1958 WC if Munich hadn't happened. The physio took charge instead, which will tell you a lot about how seriously these islands took the World Cup.

 

[BlackpoolTerrier]

Some interesting history too such as Mussolini using Italy's 1934 win for propaganda, how Germany's 1954 win was a boost for them while they were still reviled around the world and still ashamed of the nation, after the whole Nazi thing etc etc.

It's gas the way the non-sporting media go on about Trump using the World Cup as an electoral boost, comparing him solely to that Mussolini propaganda in the 1930s. LOL, as if no other regime had the audacity to do it. Videla in 1978, Alfonsin in 1986, Chirac in 1998, Berlusconi in 2006 - even Merkel used the German hosting of the tournament and run to the semis in 2006, Lula using it in 2002 as a "symbol of the new Brazil", er, Charlie Haughey in Paris in 1987 etc.

LOL, every regime that was ever in power in a World Cup winning country or a World Cup hosting country tried to leverage it as best they could - it's just that some were better at it than others.

 

[skybluebarry]

The Jonathan Wilson books are on Z library if anyone is interested

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Finished The Power and the Glory yesterday. It’s a sad state of affairs when the first thought in your head after putting it down is

"FIFA are some bunch of cunts".

And they are. As I said earlier, there's a chapter on each world cup, but towards the end of the book (say 2002 to 2022), each chapter had more and more about the hosting rights process than the football. By the time the book got to 2022, over half the chapter was about the corruption and workers being treated as slaves (that's not an exaggerated to make a point btw, I mean actual fucking slavery), having no rights, payments (meagre as they were) being withheld, if they were getting paid at all, and having no health and safety rights worth speaking about. They were being worked 20 hours a day as the tournament and the pressure to complete the infrastructure grew.

And then you have that cunt Infantino acting like he's the love child of Gandhi and Maya Angelou.

The World Cup is the pinnacle of football. It's a wonderful event that brings joy (and heartbreak !) to billions of people every four years. The stories, Pele seeing his father crying after Brazil lost in 1950 and turning those tears to joy in 58, Diego in 86, Gazza's tears in 00, our joy in 1990 etc etc etc. It's just awe inspiring.

But sadly, a lot of the people that organise this should probably be locked up and have the key thrown away. Because they're absolutely despicable.