Sports Poets Society

di Christian Giordano, Eurocalcio «Nacque destinato a lustrare scarpe, vendere noccioline o borseggiare la gente distratta. Da bambino lo chiamavano “Ninguém” – niente, nessuno, ndr – (…) Fece il suo ingresso sui campi correndo come può correre solo chi fugge dalla polizia o dalla miseria che gli morde i talloni. E così, tirando e zigzagando, divenne Campione d’Europa a vent’anni. Allora lo chiamarono la Pantera». Nera. Ecco come l’uruguayano Eduardo Galeano descrive il leggendario Eusébio in «Splendori e miserie del gioco del calcio», autentico testo sacro di ogni devoto a calcio e letteratura. Tra grandi, si sa, ci s’intende. Eusébio da Silva Ferreira nasce nel gennaio 1942 in una modesta dimora di Mafalala, “bairro” alle porte della capitale mozambicana, che per liberarsi del passato coloniale (quasi 500 anni di dominazione portoghese) ha barattato il nome da esploratore, Lourenço Marques, con quello di un fiume, l’attuale Maputo. Sul giorno di nascita, esistono poche cert...

Dopo quello di Romero e di un intero popolo, un altro abbraccio aspetta Carlos Tévez al suo ritorno a casa. Pardon , al Boca: che per lui è la stessa cosa. "L'abrazo del Pueblo", ha titolato in prima pagina Olé  l'indomani della semifinale conquistata ai rigori dall'Argentina, a oltranza, con il penalty decisivo del suo giocatore più amato del dopo-Maradona. Lo stesso Diego, che pochi giorni fa ha dato l'ultimo saluto al papà, lo ha ripetuto all'infinito: è lui, Carlitos, il giocatore in cui l'ex "Pibe de oro" si è più rivisto. Non la Pulce, ma l'Apache. Perché a differenza di Messi, anche Tévez, come el Diez , è un villero , uno del barrio ; e che la camiseta azul y oro ce l'ha sulla pelle. Ma quale Tévez e quale Boca si ritroveranno alla Bombonera, undici anni dopo? Un leader 31enne con ancora tanto da dare e una squadra che potrebbe perdere Osvaldo, il cui prestito dal Southampton scadrà il 30 giugno 2015. Di sicuro la Doce n...

di Simone Basso Indiscreto | 9 giugno 2015 Tempo di NBA Finals, un’opportunità per viaggiare con la Macchina di HG Wells. Come immaginare l’androide di Akron di questi playoff nel 1975, con il pallone biancorossoblù, il numero trenta e la maglietta dei Pacers che furono… Quarantuno anni fa uno degli showdown più appassionanti di sempre, forse il più significativo degli anni Settanta, penalizzato dallo scorrere – impietoso – della clessidra. Altri scontri dell’epoca sono rimasti maggiormente nell’immaginario collettivo, rispetto a Celtics-Bucks 1974 e il motivo è banale: i New York-Los Angeles, mediaticamente, erano imbattibili. La realtà è che, se volete vedere una partitaccia, sopravvalutata e deludente, potreste rivolgervi alla (celeberrima) Gara7 Knicks-Lakers del 1973, quella dell’eroismo di Willis Reed. Quella Milwaukee-Boston fu invece una serie straordinaria, sul filo dell’incertezza e col fattore campo che saltò ben cinque volte. Segnò il ritorno della Gang Green ai ma...

FACT FILE Age: 25 Height: 176cm Weight: 68kg WT ranking: 14 Wins in 2015: 2 Career wins: 14 Days racing in 2015: 31 Best Tour GC finish: 11th KM raced in 2014: 6,185 Form rating: +++ World champion Michal Kwiatkowski is a proven one-day racer as the rainbow bands show, but the extent of his full talent is yet to be seen. Kwiatkowski finished 11th at the Tour de France on his debut in 2013 and while the yellow jersey is not a consideration for him this season, the diverse rider has shown he has the potential to go for it in the future. The 2014 Polish national time trial champion is set to, along with Tony Martin, be afforded his own opportunities at the Tour in a team that may otherwise prioritise Mark Cavendish. That shouldn’t be a problem for Kwiatkowski, who demonstrated his ability as a tactician at the Worlds last year, where he exhausted national team-mates early in the race before making a strong move within the final 10km. Kwiatkowski had a triumphant Ardennes Classics campaig...

FACT FILE Country: Slovakia Team: Tinkoff-Saxo Age: 25 Height: 1.84m Weight: 73kg WorldTour ranking: 20 Wins in 2015: 6 Career wins: 71 Days racing in 2015: 43 Tour stage wins: 4 Km raced in 2015: 6,675 Form rating: +++ Some riders might be given a year’s grace when they move to a new team, but not triple maillot vert champion   Peter Sagan. Sagan signed with Tinkoff-Saxo for a reported €4 million and with that came an expectation of results, firstly at the Spring Classics, where the Slovak prodigy was only there or thereabouts.   Outspoken team owner Oleg Tinkov wasn’t impressed, not seeming to take into consideration that riders can sometimes take a season to properly gel in a different squad.   Sagan apparently got the message in time for the Tour of California in May, which, following two stage victories, he won on a time bonus. The 25-year-old has been unbeatable in the green jersey competition at the Tour that he has won three times consecutively but cannot...

FACT FILE Age: 27 Height: 183cm Weight: 78kg WT ranking: 8 Wins in 2015: 18 Career wins: 42 Days racing in 2015: 51 Tour stage wins: 2 KM raced in 2015: 8,403 Form rating: +++++ Alexander Kristoff has been the stand-out sprinter of a season in which he has so far amassed an impressive 16 victories. The versatile fastman may not be able to beat Marcel Kittel or Mark Cavendish in a 200m drag-race but his ability to climb should deliver at least one stage win at the Tour. Kristoff had a breakthrough at the race last year, winning two stages and finishing second in the points classification behind Peter Sagan, in what was only his second race participation.   “I have learned I have this strong attack; I don’t always need to sit on the wheels,” he observed earlier this year. The 27-year-old has continued that success in 2015. He was celebrated at the Spring Classics after winning the Tour of Flanders as well as Scheldeprijs, the latter in the absence of his major rivals, and co...

FACT FILE Age: 30 Height: 175cm Weight: 70kg WT ranking: NA Wins in 2015: 13 Career wins: 133 Days racing in 2015: 39 Tour stage wins: 25 KM raced in 2014: 7,243 Form rating: ++++ Mark Cavendish will go to the Tour de France with a point to prove this season. The 30-year-old is a legend of the race as his 25 career stages — and the green jersey at the 2011 edition — attests. However, Marcel Kittel has since 2013 superseded the ‘Manx Missile’ as the man to beat, and Cavendish is determined to show he is not bound for retirement yet. Cavendish is out of contract with Etixx-Quick Step after this season and his performance at the Tour, and ability to re-establish No.1 status, may impact on contract value, thus providing further motivation. Added to that incentive is his early exit from the race last year following a highspeed crash on day one in Harrogate. The mercurial fastman has been consistent this season despite suffering a stomach virus after a trip to South Africa with hi...

FACT FILE Age: 25 Height: 1.80m Weight: 63kg WorldTour ranking: 13 Wins in 2015: 2 Career wins: 11 Days racing in 2015: 44 Best Tour GC finish: Third (2014) KM raced in 2015: 6,062 Form rating: ++++ Thibaut Pinot has stayed out of the limelight for much of this year. What we have seen, though, has been promising. The young Frenchman has put in good showings at Tirreno-Adriatico (where he finished fourth, ahead of Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali), the Tour of the Basque Country (10th), and the Tour of Romandy, where an excellent win on the penultimate stage saw him claim fourth place overall, and the Tour de Suisse. His Tour performances so far are promising too, finishing 10th on his debut in 2012 followed by a spot on the podium last year. Pinot’s first shot at La Grand Boucle showcased some serious talent when he stayed with Chris Froome as the Sky rider moved away from Bradley Wiggins on La Toussuire. Pinot then outsprinted Froome to take second place on the stage...

FACT FILE Age: 24 Height: 1.84m Weight: 65kg WorldTour ranking: 30 Wins in 2015: 1 Career wins: 3 Days racing in 2015: 43 Best Tour GC finish: Sixth (2014) KM raced in 2015: 6,553 Form rating: +++ The man who has spent the last few years juggling his burgeoning cycling career with studying for a diploma at the Grenoble School of Management had not, until recently, claimed a single WorldTour win . Ag2r, however, saw enough in 2014’s stirring sixth place at the Tour (and a string of other strong results last season — fourth in the Tour of Catalunya, fifth in the Critérium du Dauphiné, 10th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège ) to sign up the 24-year-old until 2018 . At this year’s Dauphiné, he showed why he was worth that investment , with an expertly controlled descent off the treacherous Col d’Allos to take victory on stage five . Even more significant is the fact that the win took place at Pra Loup, on a stage that is virtually a carbon copy of what faces the riders on stage 17 of thi...

FACT FILE Age: 25 Height: 1.67m Weight: 59kg WorldTour ranking: 15 Wins in 2015: 2 Career wins: 21 Days racing in 2015: 36 Best Tour GC finish: Second (2013) KM raced in 2015: 5,254 Form rating: +++ The sight of Nairo Quintana riding away from his rivals on Monte Terminillo in driving snow at Tirreno-Adriatico dispelled any doubts over the Colombian’s physical or mental toughness. The stage win sealed the overall impressively, ahead of a shell-shocked Alberto Contador. A consummate climber, Quintana returns to the Tour this year having been sent to the Giro in 2014 — which he duly won. He may have taken the Tour by storm in 2013, but his Movistar team made the dreadful decision to back Alejandro Valverde at the race in 2014. Quintana returned to the Classics this year, as he had before finishing second in the Tour in 2013. His experience at Flèche Wallonne in particular should help him on this year’s third stage, which will finish on the Mur de Huy. Alongside a solid fourth ...

FACT FILE Age: 32 Height: 1.76m Weight: 62kg WorldTour ranking: 2 Wins in 2015: 4 Career wins: 61 Days racing in 2015: 44 Best Tour GC finish: Winner (2007, 2009) Km raced in 2015: 7,291 Form rating: ++++ From one angle, two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador’s season is coming to the boil at the perfect time. After a quiet start to 2015, he brushed off an early crash at the Giro d’Italia to throttle the life out of the race in its final week, and his single-minded drive up the Mortirolo on stage 16 was something to behold. His main Tour challengers, though, were elsewhere. While he left a Quintana in his wake in Italy, it was Dayer rather than older brother Nairo; and it was the latter who took the honours at Tirreno-Adriatico in March, when the Spaniard could only manage fifth. Chris Froome beat him at the Ruta del Sol, and Richie Porte and Alejandro Valverde saw him off in Catalonia. Reason enough to worry? Maybe not. Contador remains a formidable rider when he hits the front — ...

FACT FILE Age: 30 Height: 1.81m Weight: 65kg WorldTour ranking: 105 Wins in 2015: 0 Career wins: 30 Days racing in 2015: 35 Best Tour GC finish: Winner (2014) Km raced in 2015: 5,641 Form rating: ++ Last year’s Tour victory was a surprise to those who saw Vincenzo Nibali as consistent but unspectacular. One of just six riders to have won all three Grand Tours (after adding the Giro in 2013 to his 2010 Vuelta triumph) there should be little doubting the Italian’s class. He has gone under the radar again this season, with his best result a forgettable 10th at the Tour of Romandy, behind Chris Froome, Thibaut Pinot, Nairo Quintana and Romain Bardet. At Tirreno-Adriatico he was 16th overall, again failing to mount a challenge to his Tour rivals. It was, however, a similar story in the build-up to last year’s Tour when he went on to spend just two days without the yellow jersey on his shoulders. He seized control of the race before Froome hit the deck on stage five and Alberto Cont...

FACT FILE Age: 30 Height: 1.86m Weight: 69kg WorldTour ranking: 16 Wins in 2015: 5 Career wins: 26 Days racing in 2015: 27 Best Tour GC finish: 1st KM raced in 2015: 4,225 Form rating: ++++ Chris Froome had kept a comparatively low profile in the lead-up to the Tour de France this season, until his Critérium du Dauphiné victory last week reaffirmed his Grand Tour ambitions. Rivals have noted Froome’s less auspicious build-up in terms of his results this season compared to those in the run to his 2013 yellow jersey victory . The 30-year-old had 3 wins to his name, four if you include the points classification at the Ruta del Sol , prior to the Dauphiné, in contrast to 8 in 2013 , and he has raced less.  Nevertheless, Froome is the major favourite for the Tour and will have a devoted Team Sky, who have been on song, at his disposal. The Kenyan-born Brit has been unequivocally focused on the Tour since the off-season where he trained for a period with ...

Playmaker e tiratori in sostanza, giocatori che andranno ad occupare gli spot di 1 e 2: D’Angelo Russell , il play di Ohio State che non scenderà oltre la 4 (Lakers alla 2, 76ers alla 3 o Knicks alla 4?), e di  Mario Hezonja , l'ala/guardia del Barcellona, con ogni probabilità i top nei rispettivi ruoli. Andiamo a dare un’occhiata a Mudiay, Booker e Payne, ma non solo… di Davide Fumagalli , Basketcaffe.com Emmanuel Mudiay (PG; Guangdong Southern Tigers, Cina) Un anno fa, dopo il Nike Hoop Summit 2014 dove aveva dato spettacolo, il playmaker texano di origini congolesi era considerato la numero 1 di questo Draft. Poi le sue quotazioni sono scese, un po’ per la crescita di Okafor, Towns e Russell, e un po’ per la decisione di rinunciare al college a SMU da coach Larry Brown (non si sa se per problemi di eleggibilità a livello NCAA o se per contribuire da subito all’economia della famiglia), firmare un contratto di sposnosrizzazione da 10 milioni di dollari con la Under ...

Grande curiosità attorno ai lunghi: salvo sorprese i primi chiamati saranno Karl-Anthony Towns e Jahlil Okafor, ma non saranno i soli. Tra gli altri il rim protector Willy Cauley-Stein (Kentucky), il tecnico Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) e il progetto dal potenziale semi-infinito Myles Turner (Texas) di Davide Fumagalli , Basketcaffe.com WILLY CAULEY-STEIN (C, Jr. - Kentucky) Centro di oltre 210 cm per 110 kg da Kentucky, è un atleta spaventoso, con braccia lunghe, verticalità infinita, coordinazione e grande velocità nel correre il campo, doti che ha conservato dall’esperienza come wide receiver del football. Nelle tre stagioni a Kentucky con coach Calipari non è mai andato in doppia cifra per punti o rimbalzi però, in circa 25 minuti di utilizzo medio, ha prodotto almeno 8 punti con 6 rimbalzi, quasi 2 stoppate e circa il 60% al tiro. Non rientrano nei numeri però la "presenza" nei pressi del ferro, in difesa e in attacco, i tiri alterati, la mobilità, gli aiut...

di Davide Fumagalli, Basketcaffe.com Justise Winslow (Duke), Stanley Johnson (Arizona) e Trey Lyles (Kentucky) dovrebbero andare entro le prime 15 posizioni, Dekker, Oubre e Looney nel primo giro, addirittura entro le prime 20 Justise Winslow (SF, Fr. - Duke) Ragazzo di Houston, mancino e grande fan di James Harden, è destinato ad una solida carriera come ala piccola NBA . Non diventerà una star ma è un giocatore solido, capace di fare tutto, alla Andre Iguodala : il freshman texano è stato forse il migliore è più continuo nella cavalcata di Duke verso il titolo NCAA dove il suo fisico e il suo atletismo si sono rivelati immarcabili prima per Gonzaga e poi per Wisconsin. Ha braccia lunghe e sfiora i due metri, in attacco sa tirare da tre (deve diventare più sciolto e sicuro), attaccare i recuperi e andare verso il ferro grazie al collaudato euro step . In difesa è molto mobile, stoppa, è un notevole rimbalzista (6.5 in stagione) ed è bravissimo a giocare sulle linee d...

1. Stanley Johnson - #11 INDIANA SF / 6-7 / Arizona / Fr. - 13.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.7 apg The Pacers are said to be targeting Willie Cauley-Stein and may look to move up a few spots to grab him. Another option would be Cameron Payne , who's seen as a younger version of George Hill. They are mentioned as a team that will also look to trade out if the player they want is not available. Johnson would give Indy, or a team trading into this spot, a versatile wing capable of becoming an excellent defender with intriguing ability to create off the dribble . Twitter:  Comparison: Metta World Peace Global Ranking: 11th Salary: $1,964,800* ------------------------------------------------ 2. Sam Dekker - #12 UTAH SF / 6-9 / Wisconsin / Jr. - 13.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.2 apg The reality for Utah is that they have to take into consideration which players will take to living and playing here, as Salt Lake City's low-key community just isn't for every player. ...

Mock: 1  Minnesota - 7-0  250 C/Fr. Kentucky Karl-Anthony Towns     Birthday: 11/15/95     NBA Position: Center     Class: Freshman     Ht: 7-0     Wt: 250     Hometown: Piscataway, NJ     High School: St. Joseph's     NBA Comparison: Andrew Bogut/Vlade Divac Strengths: Center prospect with the size and skill set to make a strong impact at both ends of the floor in the NBA ...  Hard worker, smart kid, with strength of character ...  Shows desire and a competitive nature ...  Possesses a great feel for the game ...  Offensive game oozes potential with a text book shooting form, great touch and ability to hit outside and mid range jumpers effortlessly and consistently ...  Has even implemented a steadily improving hook shot into his repertoire ...  His length and strong body gives him excellent ability to re...

Karl-Anthony Towns (born November 15, 1995) is a Dominican-American basketball player who played his senior season for St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey during the 2013–14 season and college basketball the University of Kentucky . He was named to the Dominican Republic national basketball team Olympic squad as a 16-year-old . - Early years Towns was born in Piscataway, New Jersey to an African American father Karl-Anthony Towns, Sr. and a Dominican mother Jacqueline Cruz .  He attended Lake Nelson Seventh-Day Adventist School , he then went to Theodore Schor Middle School after transferring in from Our Lady of Fatima School in 2009. Towns’s father played basketball for Monmouth University and coached basketball at Piscataway Technical High School, where the precocious Towns practiced with the junior varsity team as a fifth grader. - High school career As a freshman at St. Joseph High School, Towns led the basketball team to a state championship ...

Sporting News' Sean Deveney releases his latest NBA Mock Draft as of Monday, June 22. 1  KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS C Kentucky -  Minnesota Timberwolves  We’ve held out as long as we could with Jahlil Okafor as the top overall pick, and there are still scouts who insist Minnesota would make a mistake to pass on his polished, deft offensive game. But Towns’ athleticism and potential makes him worthy of the No. 1 spot, too, and either way, the Timberwolves figure to have an impressive young big man to go along with Gorgui Dieng . 2  JAHLIL OKAFOR C Duke -  Los Angeles Lakers  The Lakers will consider Kristaps Porzingis and D’Angelo Russell with the No. 2 pick, but it is unlikely that they could pass on the consensus top-two pick. Okafor has a smooth interior game that should help bolster the Lakers’ rebuilding quickly.  Okafor wants to set the NBA back 20 years 3  KRISTAPS PORZINGIS PF  Sevilla -  Philadelph...