Sports Poets Society

Éric Cantona (à gauche) et Jean-Pierre Papin lors de leur  dernière  sélection  en équipe de France, le 18 juillet 1995, à Utrecht. Il y a trente ans, Éric Cantona et Jean-Pierre Papin jouaient pour la dernière fois en équipe de France, lors d’une victoire en amical aux Pays-Bas (1-0).  Quelques jours plus tard, JPP était opéré du genou gauche, et Canto se lançait dans le kung-fu. "En fait, c’était l’opération de la dernière chance.  Je souffrais beaucoup, et cela devenait compliqué"    - JEAN-PIERRE PAPIN 17 Jan 2025 - L'Équipe VINCENT DULUC Personne n’a songé une seconde que l’histoire allait s’arrêter là, dans le petit stade d’Utrecht, un soir de janvier 1995. Au matin de cet amical Pays-Bas - France, les jeunes Nantais étaient à la mode, c’est vrai, au coeur de l’une des plus belles saisons d’un champion de France, mais l’avant-centre des Bleus était toujours Jean-Pierre Papin, 31 ans, Ballon d’Or 1991, et leur capitaine demeurait Éric Cantona (28a...

LE DUEL DES COACHES AU TOP 17 Jan 2025 - L'Équipe R. Laf. Le coach de Lille et celui de Nice parviennent à tirer la quintessence de leur groupe. Au point de lutter pour le podium, malgré des moyens plus limités que les quatre gros poissons de la Ligue 1. Carlo Ancelotti, Diego Simeone, Mikel Arteta : les «big boss» du banc de touche ont presque tous subi la loi d’une équipe de Bruno Genesio ou de Franck Haise, ces dix-huit derniers mois. L’entraîneur du LOSC épate l’Europe malgré un calendrier démoniaque et ne se rappelle plus ce que le mot défaite veut dire, tandis que son homologue de l’OGCN a amené les Aiglons à un point du podium malgré un effectif décimé en automne par les blessures, après avoir fait de Lens le dauphin du PSG au printemps 2023. Le duel entre les deux entraîneurs français du moment promet une rencontre emballante, dans le sillage d’un match aller qui avait vu les Nordistes l’emporter aux points mais pas au tableau d’affichage, avec une égalisation niçoise de To...

Gus Williams in maglia Sonics nella stagione 1978-79 -  GETTY Gus era soprannominato “Il Mago” per le sue doti. Vinse l’anello nel 1979 e fu uno dei primi registi realizzatori Simbolo Scelto al Draft 1975 da Golden State, con i SuperSonics superò 4-1 in finale Washington 17 Jan 2025 La Gazzetta dello Sport - Lombardia Di Antonino Morici Il Mago sapeva come far sparire il pallone dalle mani degli avversari. Del resto a Seattle hanno sempre saputo come mettere pressione agli avversari (ricordate negli anni Novanta Gary Payton, detto il Guanto?). Gus Williams, “The Wizard”, è morto ieri a 71 anni. La sua specialità era tirare e rubare palla agli avversari. Vincendo. È stato uno dei giocatori-simbolo nella storia dei SuperSonics insieme con Payton, Shawn Kemp e Ray Allen, con la sostanziale differenza di un anello, quello del 1979, che i suoi successori nella Emerald City  non riuscirono a vincere. Precursore   Williams ha vissuto gli ultimi anni della sua vita combattendo co...

Book had spent his footballing life turning out for Bath City for £4 a week. He was already 28 going on 50 16 Jan 2025 - The Guardian Simon Hattenstone Tony Book. Mr Manchester City. Skip. One of our greats. Yet few fans have specific memories of him playing. Not necessarily because we didn’t see him play, just because he went about it so quietly. He wasn’t known for dashing overlaps or canny underlaps; flair or vision; passing or dribbling. And he certainly wasn’t known for his goals, though he did score four – or was it five – in his 315 games. Booky was a solid, tough-tackling rightback with a fair bit of pace, despite looking as if he should be on standby for a Dad’s Army XI. When we were kids, City fans wanted to be Franny Lee, “King” Colin Bell or Mike “Buzzer” Summerbee. Nobody wanted to be Book. Yet his was the most remarkable story by far. Anthony Keith Book, who died this week aged 90, represented possibility. The triumph of hope over expectation. The ultimate football dream....

WITH ITS STAR GUS WILLIAMS SIDELINED BY A CONTRACT DISPUTE, SEATTLE IS SUB-SONIC ROY S. JOHNSON TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT For the first 11 years of their existence, the Seattle SuperSonics were simply the other team that wore Kelly-green uniforms . Then, in 1979, the Sonics suddenly turned super and ran away with the NBA title. In the championship series, Seattle's little guys—6'2" Gus Williams and 6'4" Dennis Johnson—fast-broke Washington into oblivion . They out-scored, outrebounded and outdefensed their Bullet backcourt counterparts and, in a game so dominated by redwoods, Williams was the series' leading scorer and Johnson its MVP. Ah, those were the days. These aren't. On Jan. 20, Coach Lenny Wilkens' now less-than-super Sonics stumbled all the way into the Pacific Division basement . At times this season their play has been reminiscent of their expansion days. During last week's East Coast swing, the Sonics blew a 10-point lead in los...

https://vault.si.com/vault/2001/06/11/gus-williams-super-sonic-june-11-1979 SUNNY WU Sports Illustrated -  JUNE 11, 2001 As a child, Howard Graves often returned home to find the furniture knocked over and his father in a rage. Howard slept in fear, not knowing when he might awaken to a flurry of fists. Graves escaped this terror in 1975 when he left his hometown of Plainfield, N.J., for college, but he kept his painful childhood a secret. In the mid-'80s, he finally revealed his story to a friend, former NBA All-Star Gus Williams . "I was shocked," says Williams, who had met Graves in '78, when Graves's mother, Anita, was Williams's business manager. "People keep abuse to themselves and don't know where to seek help." In 1997 Williams helped Graves start Champions for Families, a Deltona , Fla.-based for-profit company that provides mentoring and online resources for children and families victimized by domestic or substance abuse. Says Williams...

Gus Williams waves to the crowd before a game between the Sonics  and Denver Nuggets in Seattle in March. (Rod Mar / The Seattle Times) https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sonics/gus-williams-who-lead-sonics-to-nba-championship-dies-at-71/ Jan. 15, 2025 at 7:34 pm  Updated Jan. 15, 2025 at 8:58 pm By  Tim Booth Seattle Times staff reporter Gus Williams, the point guard “Wizard” who helped lead the SuperSonics to their only NBA championship in 1979, died Wednesday nearly five years after suffering a stroke. He was 71. Nicknamed “the Wizard” for his combo of speed, athleticism and scoring , Williams spent six seasons of his NBA career with the SuperSonics . He was a dynamic score-first point guard at a time that kind of player wasn’t a regularity in the professional game and evolved from being a second-round pick out of college at USC into one of the best guards of his generation. Williams’ career ended after spending the 1986-87 season with the Atlanta Hawks and his care...

Dai Kennedy a “Unità” e “Fatto”: ha vissuto tante vite straordinarie Protagonista - Estraeva storie sui Beatles e sui presidenti americani. E fu il solo a salvarsi da un disastro aereo: caso unico » Antonio Padellaro 15 Jan 2025 Il Fatto Quotidiano Furio rispondeva a tutti i lettori (anche alle cartoline) perché, diceva, sono brave persone che ci comprano e meritano gratitudine. Io non riuscivo sempre a farlo (pur ricevendo molta meno posta di lui) e memore della sua lezione mi sentivo pigro e irrispettoso. Agli albori dell’unità, lo raggiungevo al bar dell’hotel Plaza, a due passi da Montecitorio (un tocco di Fifth Avenue e due di generone romano) e lì sui divani morbidi immaginavamo un giornale della sinistra: duro, puro e con una spruzzata di seltz. UN GIORNO ricevette non so quale collega americano con cui si mise a parlare in uno slang incomprensibile per chi si era fermato al secondo corso dello Shenker . Se ne accorse, non fece una piega e per togliermi dall’imbarazzo cominciò ...