A Sports Blog – Because You Asked!*

Hello, friends. This is my third attempt at a blog over the last couple of weeks — and God willin’, this one might just make it out into the blogosphere.

I knocked out a couple earlier blogs and then immediately marched them into solitary confinement. One was an angry diatribe with a political bent in which I railed against the stupidity of social media in general and stupid social media conspiracy theorists in particular – and that blog was inspired by a baseball card Facebook group I joined, of all things.

The other blog was about my life as a stay-at-home Dad, which has become quite the popular trend this decade, according to a recent New York Times article. Being an OG at this kinda thing, I figured I’d pitch in with my thoughts.

Both of those blogs remain imprisoned in my computer until I choose to parole them.

What happens is, I write these blogs, then have a nap or something, and then wake up and wonder why I bothered writing them. Who really cares about my thoughts on these topics? Who is my readership? Why should they be remotely interested? If I were them, would I be interested?

I finally came to the conclusion that I mainly write blogs for myself, just to get the thoughts out. So rather than publish them, I push them to the side to marinate for a while.

When we were living in London, I felt like this blog had a purpose. I could write about my life as an expat – and people were interested in that. Or, I could write about my new novel (buy it here!), or short works of fiction that got published, or my life as a fiction writer. People were interested in that, too.

But I no longer live in London – I live in New Jersey, which holds zero fascination for people outside of New Jersey, or even those inside New Jersey. I haven’t written any fiction in a year or so because the other writing assignments suck up all my time now, so that topic is not relevant these days, either.

Even so, I still write blogs. I just mostly write them for me and keep them for me – unless I feel like others might enjoy them. Which leads me to….

This blog! About sports! Something the whole world loves! (Well, maybe not the whole world).

Anyway, here are some recent thoughts about sports

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I recently bought a book called “The Football 100,” authored by Mike Sando, Dan Pompei and the NFL staff of The Athletic sports media site. It’s a fairly new book, published in 2023, that lists the 100 greatest players in NFL history. When I saw it advertised online I knew I had to have it. I love books, and I love the NFL, and I love lists, so this was a natural purchase for me.

The individual player chapters are listed in descending order, from No. 100 to No. 1, and I am not peeking ahead to see the rankings. I won’t know who is No. 1 until I finish the book (please – no spoilers!).

I just started reading it a few days ago and recently finished the chapter about the player ranked No. 98 on the list, current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That ranking already seems hilariously outdated. Even the authors acknowledge that Mahomes will likely move quickly up the charts as his career progresses. He is only 28 years old, and could have another decade left to play.

In fairness, the book was published before the recent 2024 Super Bowl, in which Mahomes once again led his team to victory. It was Mahomes’ fourth Super Bowl appearance in seven years as the Chiefs’ quarterback, and the third time he led them to a win. But that understates things considerably.

Mahomes doesn’t merely lead his team to wins – he is the reason they win. He has an almost superhuman ability to will his offense down the field when it is most needed, late in the game, with the outcome on the line. He has a hundred different tools in his toolbox to conquer the opposition. The scariest sight in the NFL must be Patrick Mahomes looking back at you across the line of scrimmage, in the fourth quarter, needing a touchdown to win the game.

Mahome’s athleticism is off the charts, but forget that. He is one of those rare players whose brain outthinks the collective brains of everyone else on the field – coaches included. He can see plays before they even develop, and create opportunities where none exist. He’s like a master jazz musician, constantly improvising and staying a step ahead of the beat.

I have never seen a player like Patrick Mahomes. Tom Brady is the pro football GOAT, and I have a feeling he will land at No. 1 in the book I’m reading. That’s as it should be. But if you ask me to choose one NFL player to win one game, and my life were on the line, I would go with Mahomes, hands down.

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For as long as I can remember – 50-plus years – certain Americans have predicted that soccer (aka football) will one day be as big in the United State as it is everywhere else in the world. That hasn’t happened yet, not even close. In terms of overall fan interest and media coverage, soccer in the U.S. still ranks behind football, basketball, and baseball. But the gap is closing.

I’m no expert at these things, but I have a feeling in a decade or so soccer will finally surpass basketball, if nothing else. I say that partly because my hometown of Charlotte (NC) has a new MLS club – Charlotte FC – that drew an average of 35,544 fans to its 17 home matches in its inaugural 2023 season. That figure ranked second in the 29-club league to Atlanta United FC (47,536).

Now, 35,000 fans might not seem like a lot when compared to Premier League clubs like Man United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal that regularly attract 60,000-plus fans to their matches. But you have to remember – soccer is the only major team sport in the UK (and much of the rest of Europe). Okay, there’s rugby. But in my experience living in London, the Premier League is so much bigger than the Rugby Super League it’s almost like comparing high school football to the NFL. For what it’s worth, average attendance at Super League matches is less than 10,000, though the crowds are growing.

Anyway, back to soccer in the USA….

Soccer has to compete with three other major team sports, and yet the MLS overall still draws an average of about 22,000 fans to its matches. That’s more than any single NBA team. Yes, soccer matches are played in huge outdoor stadiums and the NBA is played in cozy indoor arenas. But I wonder how many fans the NBA would draw if all its games were played in huge indoor stadiums. I’m guessing about the same.

American demographics keep changing. The nation is now home to a lot of first- or second-generation Latinos, eastern Europeans, Asians and Africans who couldn’t name 10 NFL players but could probably name the backup goalkeepers for West Ham, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

The fact that Lionel Messi chose to close out his storied career with Inter Miami in the MLS says a lot about where soccer stands in the nation’s pecking order. He’s maybe the most famous athlete in the world, and he’s in now in Miami (and earning a whole s**tload of money, it must be said).

Stay tuned, soccer fans….

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For the first time ever, no men’s professional tennis player ranked in the world’s Top 10 uses a one-handed backhand. The highest ranked male player with a one-hander, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, is currently ranked No. 12 in the world after spending years in the Top 10. He is followed at No. 13 by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dmitrov, who also has a one-handed backhand.

After that, you have to go way down to No. 26 (Lorenzo Musetti of Italy) and then No. 41 (Dan Evans of the UK). As for female players: According to the TennisAbstract website, only three women ranked in the world’s Top 100 have a one-handed backhand: Tatjana Maria of Germany, Diane Parry of France, and Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.

This development is both sad and inevitable. I grew up playing tennis in the era of the one-hander, during the 1970s. But even way back then you could foretell the rise of the two-handed backhand because it was used by a top young female player (Chris Evert) and a top young male player (Jimmy Connors). In those days, a two-hander was an oddity. Fifty years later, the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction.

A one-handed backhand is a thing of beauty – the long, elegant sweep of the racket, and the extended follow-through. It allows for freedom of movement and encourages on-court creativity. Among male players, the two most visually pleasing players in my lifetime have been Roger Federer and John McEnroe – both of whom had one-handers. The most exciting and creative female player to me was Martina Navratilova, who also had a one-hander (though I was a die-hard Evert fan).

In contrast, the two-hander is a blunt instrument with a much shorter swing and very little eye appeal. However, it’s a more powerful weapon – by a long shot. You can get a lot more pace on the ball. You can attack with it. You can lace screaming ground strokes down the line or up the middle or crosscourt. It is more conducive to the modern game, with its high-powered equipment and speedy courts.

That’s why players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray (and, more recently, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannick Sinner and Daniil Medvedev) have dominated the top of the rankings over the past 15 years or so. The only consistent exceptions have been Federer, Stan Wawrinka, and Dominic Thiem.

We will never go back to the days of the dominant one-hander. The only chance that it will even become relevant on a large scale is if they change the equipment and courts again. We’ll see how that goes.

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Speaking of tennis…

Another major change from a few decades ago is the size of the players. If I have the stats right in my head, the highest-ranked male player in the world under 6 feet tall is England’s Dan Evans (ranked 41) at 5 feet 9 inches, or about 175 cm. Next is Marcos Giron of the USA, at 5-11. That’s two players in the world’s Top 50 and maybe a couple more in the next 50.

The last male player under 6 feet tall to crack the Top 10 was Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman (5-7), who rose to No. 8 in 2020. He is now out of the Top 100. The last male player under 6 feet tall to reach a major championship final was Japan’s Kei Nishikori (5-11), who made it to the US Open final in 2014 before losing to Croatia’s Marin Cilic (6 feet 6).

Today’s game rewards tall players who have the height and length to hit powerful serves and ground strokes, and who can extend their arms further to return balls all over the court.

You don’t HAVE to be a giant to be a top player – Alcaraz is “only” about 6-1, and a few other Top 10 players are “only” 6-2: Djokovic, Denmark’s Holger Rune, and Russia’s Andrey Rublev. But you are seeing more top players at 6-6 and taller, and that trend will continue.

I often wonder what we will see next: A male player winning a major championship at under 6 feet tall, or one winning a major at 7 feet or taller. I still favor the former. But the odds are rapidly favoring the latter.

*OK – nobody asked

Photos: Google