Sports Poets Society

Cinquantaquattro-e-cinquecentoventisei (54,526 km). Che sollevo, sollevarla. In quella bici - speciale e leggerissima appena 7 chili - c'era tutto il peso del mondo. Perché di tutto il mondo aveva gli occhi addosso.  Settemila bilgietti spazzolati in 7 minuti, e lì nel velodromo olimpico di Londra 2012. Il luogo in cui, da ragazzino, veniva a sbirciare i grandi della pista. Allora, in UK il ciclismo non era che un fenomeno di nicchia, una stravaganza in cui eccellevano quelli al di là, e non al di qua, della Manica. Non aveva bisogno del Record dell'Ora, Sir Wiggo. Nel Gotha c'era già salito per quanto fatto in pista e su strada. Ne aveva bisogno per sé. Per un'altra sfida, l'ennesima di una carriera già leggendaria che si chiuderà inseguendo un altro oro olimpico a Rio 2016. Adesso, a 35 anni, è anche nella ristrettissima élite di chi ha vinto il Tour e battuto il record dell'Ora: Coppi, Anquetil e Merckx. Ha migliorato di quasi un chilometro e s...

Forward Justise Winslow averaged 12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 22.6 minutes in 39 games with the Duke Blue Devils Quick: Who was Duke's leading rebounder in the Blue Devils' victory over Wisconsin two months ago in the NCAA championship game? No, it wasn't Jahlil Okafor, who seems a lock to be the first or second player drafted later this month. It was Justise Winslow, who stands five inches shorter than Okafor at 6-foot-6 but should still be a standout performer in the NBA. After he began seeing extended playing time at power forward, Winslow played the best basketball of his only season at Duke and had 9 rebounds and three blocked shots against Wisconsin to make up for a subpar shooting performance. But it will be at the small forward position where his future lies. Winslow, who turned 19 in March , is strong enough to hold his own in the post and speedy enough to run with guards. "I'm someone who can come in and instantly make an ...

by Ken Hornack, Fox Sports Florida Stanley Johnson is the latest instance of a likely lottery pick in the NBA draft whose brief but largely stellar college career ended with a thud instead of a bang. As was the case with Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker , the first two selections a year ago, Johnson did not conclude his freshman season in resounding fashion . After leading Arizona in scoring all season, the 6-foot-7 forward was held to 6 points and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes before fouling out as the Wildcats lost to Wisconsin in the finals of the West Regional . Johnson went 1 of 12 from the field a week earlier against Ohio State, a performance which was overshadowed for the most part by D'Angelo Russell's dreadful 3-of-19 outing for the Buckeyes. But while Russell seems a cinch to go no worse than fourth in the draft , Johnson's prospects aren't quite as clear or bright. The No. 3 recruit in his class coming out of high school , Johnson arrived at Arizona w...

by Ken Hornack, Fox Sports Florida   Before Pau Gasol was taken third in the 2001 NBA draft, he averaged a relatively modest 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds a game for a team in his native country of Spain. Kristaps Porzingis spent last season in Spain and put up numbers comparable to those Gasol had back then. While he's not expected to go quite so high in the draft June 25, the 7-footer from Latvia is regarded as the top power forward available and could well be the first foreign-born big man with no college experience to crack the top five since Enes Kanter and Jonas Valanciunas went third and fifth in 2011. His combination of size, skills and mobility could make Porzingis, who won't turn 20 until August, as intriguing of a prospect as any one-and-done college player. But that might require a team willing to be patient with him. Kanter started only two games in his first two seasons with the Utah Jazz and didn't really flourish until they traded him in February t...

From left to right: R.J. Hunter, Devin Booker and Rashad Vaughn May 30, 2015, 9:00 am by Sean Kane, CSNPhilly.com 1. Mario Hezonja, 6-8/215, guard/forward, Croatia Hezonja could be considered a shooting guard or a small forward, but for our purposes we are placing him in the shooting guard category. His shooting stoke and athleticism make him one of the most intriguing prospects in the draft. Hezonja is only 20 years old but has been on the radar of NBA scouts for a while thanks to his blossoming career in Croatia. He's played the last several years against some of the top competition in Europe, going head-to-head with players significantly older and stronger than him. Like most international prospects, his offensive game is well-rounded but there are questions about his ability and effort on the defensive end. Those questions aside, Hezonja's youth and wide array of offensive skills make him very appealing to NBA executives and scouts. Draft Projection:  Hez...

D'Angelo Russell (left), Emmanuel Mudiay (center) and Cameron Payne (right) are the top available point guards in the 2015 NBA draft. May 28, 2015, 9:00 am by Sean Kane, CSNPhilly.com 1. D'Angelo Russell, 6-5/180, Ohio State Russell gets the nod over Emmanuel Mudiay as the top point guard in the 2015 NBA draft thanks to a more polished offensive game. He averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his one season at Ohio State. Russell shot 45 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range. He's a very efficient outside shooter, but his best attributes are his passing and court vision. Russell excels at finding the open man and setting his teammates up for easy baskets. There are questions regarding his athleticism and ability on the defensive end, but his offensive skills overshadow those concerns. The NBA is a point guard's league, and Russell has all the makings of a future star. Russell will fill up the box score for whatever te...

From left to right: Stanley Johnson (Arizona), Justise Winslow (Duke) and Sam Dekker (Wisconsin) Sunday, June 7, 2015 - 12:00pm by Sean Kane, CSNPhilly.com   1. Justise Winslow, 6-6/225, forward, Duke I consider Winslow the fifth best prospect in this year's draft behind big men Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns and point guards D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay. Winslow played small forward and power forward during his one season at Duke, but he translates best to the pro level as a small forward. Winslow measured shorter than expected at the pre-draft combine, but he plays big and is an underrated shooter. Winslow averaged 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds while playing a key role in guiding Duke to its fifth national championship under Mike Krzyzewski. He shot 49 percent from the field and an impressive 41 percent from three-point range. He played his best in the biggest games — he averaged 16 points and nine rebounds in Duke's final five games of the N...

Cinquantadue e novecentotrentasette. Quello del britannico Alex Dowsett è solo l'ultimo di una serie interminabile di record dell'ora tentati, nell'era moderna, a scadenza ormai sempre più ravvicinata. Dal 2000 - quando l'UCI ha sancito la divisione tra "Miglior prestazione umana sull'ora" e "Record dell'ora", fissando per quest'ultimo i 49,431 e la bici di Merckx '72 - la caccia all'Ora, dopo un lungo declino, è tornata di moda. E il campo dei coraggiosi si è allargato, a volte troppo, a specialisti di ogni genere: dai pistard classici ai cronomen puri. Annullate le rivoluzionarie misure di Moser '84, dei rivali britannici Graeme Obree e Chris Boardman nel triennio 1993-96, degli stradisti Indurain e Rominger nel '94 e infine dello stesso Boardman nel 2000, il record dell'ora sembrava un anacronismo destinato all'oblio nel bulimico calendario del ciclismo moderno. Vuoi per l'avvento del Passaporto biologico...