Sports Poets Society

109.5 km | Sunday July 26 | Start 16:15 – Finish 19:04 CET STAGE FACT The Tour used to do a dead turn at the top of the Champs-Elysées but moved to circling the Arc de Triomphe in celebration of the Tour’s 100th edition in 2013. This is the annual finale into central Paris, a procession followed by 8 high-speed laps up and down the cobbles of the Champs Élysées . Countless chancers will briefly entertain the idea of outfoxing the sprinters one last time. The last time that actually happened was 2005, when Alexandre Vinokourov gave the bunch the slip. Look out for… The yellow jersey riding alongside the race director’s car drinking champagne; the smallest rider in the race riding the biggest guy’s bike and viceversa. The early miles of the final stage always come with a ‘last day of term’ feel. Does this stage matter? Formulaic it may be, but the Tour de France isn’t over until you’ve crossed the finish line . Accidents can happen, and no one is officially bound by the ge...

6-4, Senior, Chaminade College Prep (St. Louis, Mo.) College: Florida Beal combines Ray Allen-like accuracy with a strong upper body, which allows him to be virtually unguardable. He went for 40 points in a 76-58 nationally televised win over McCluer North in February, and averaged 32 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals per game this season. He was also named the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, after winning Gatorade Player of the Year in Missouri for the second consecutive year. Brad Beal SG, Chaminade College Prep (St. Louis, Mo.), 2011 Deadly from deep with a strong upper body to fi nish in the lane, Beal’s game is reminiscent of Eric Gordon. He led USA Basketball’s U17 team in scoring during its gold medal run at the FIBA U17 World Championship, averaging 18.3 points for the tournament and dropping 19 points and fi ve triples in the gold medal game win over Poland. Committed to Florida.

So many people want to speak on behalf of Chris Paul these days, that when the idea was hatched to put him on the cover of Dime for the third time since he burst onto the NBA scene in 2005, we decided to let CP3 tell his own story. After his Hornets started the season 4-0, the best point guard in the world penned this story… WORDS. CHRIS PAUL, Dime, Dcember 2010/January 2011 What up, world! Here I write from “The Big Easy.” That’s right: New Orleans. I’ve been back for a while now, getting better each day to make this season one of our best. Dime has given me an amazing opportunity to write my own cover story. Can you believe it? Well, let me get to it before they take the offer back. All summer long, I thought about how I was injured last year and couldn’t help my team on the court. Being hurt, missing the playoffs, not being able to play, it was one of the most difficult experiences of my career. I don’t want to go through that ever again. Thinking about that pushed ...

THE MERE MENTION OF MICHIGAN AND OHIO STATE IN THE SAME SENTENCE USUALLY AWAKENS THE BEAST THAT IS THEIR HEATED GRIDIRON RIVALRY . BUT FOOTBALL WON’T BE THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN THIS YEAR WHEN THE WOLVERINES AND BUCKEYES SQUARE OFF DURING BIG TEN PLAY. YOU CAN THANK TREY BURKE AND HIS LONGTIME FRIEND JARED SULLINGER FOR THAT ONE. W O R D S . D Y L A N M U R P H Y, Dime , August/September 2011 PLENTY OF WIDE-EYED, over-confident recruits are swallowed up and ruthlessly spit out by lofty goals and higher expectations. Maybe it’s the pressure. Maybe it’s the attention. Or maybe it’s just a matter of mental moxie. Whatever it is, no one who knows Trey Burke is worried. He’s calm, well-mannered and disciplined. Humble with confidence protruding. A self-aware optimist . There’s a good chance that you don’t know Burke, and there’s an even better chance that you would scoff at his goal of 17 points and 10 assists per game for his upcoming freshman season at the University ...

110.5 km | Saturday July 25 | Start 13:15 – Finish 16:32 CET STAGE FACT A plaque on each of Alpe d’Huez’s hairpins counts down the number of bends to the top and commemorates the various stage winners on the climb. Do you remember the stage in 2011 when Alberto Contador attacked almost from the gun, the race blew to bits on the first climb and Pierre Rolland broke away to win? Well, this stage is identical — a lively blast of 110 km that does away with any preamble and smacks the bunch up with a triple whammy of Alpine icons. Same again then please Maybe, maybe not. With less than two weeks to go before the Tour’s start it looked like the Col du Galibier — the highest climb of the race — would be taken off the parcours following a landslide this April. If the stage is rerouted it’s likely to go over the Col de la Croix de Fer before the ascent from Bourg d’Oisans up the infamous 21 hairpins of Alpe d’Huez, arena of some of the Tour’s most famous moments . What makes Alp...

16 July 2015, 09:30 The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced today the full rosters for the first NBA game in Africa, which will take place August 1 at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.   The sold-out NBA Africa Game 2015 will feature a Team Africa v Team World format and will be played in support of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children’s Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation . The game will air live in the US on ESPN at 9:00 a.m. ET and in Africa on SuperSport at 3:00 p.m. CAT. Team Africa , comprised of players born in Africa and second-generation African players, will feature team captain and two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng (#9 Miami Heat; Great Britain; born in South Sudan),  Al-Farouq Aminu (Portland Trail Blazers; US; parents from Nigeria),  Giannis Antetokounmpo (#34 Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; parents from Nigeria),...

IT TOOK ALMOST TWO SEASONS FOR THE SIXERS’ EVAN TURNER TO FIND HIS FOOTING IN THE NBA. NOW THINGS ARE FALLING INTO PLACE AND PHILLY’S DO-EVERYTHING RISING STAR IS READY TO TRULY BREAK OUT. W O R D S. P A T R I C K C A S S I D Y A RECURRING THEME OF THIS ISSUE is the weight of great expectations . After being selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Sixers’ Evan Turner is all-too familiar with the pressures that come with soaring promise. After a turbulent two seasons in the League, it appears as though Turner is finally on the verge of his own breakout. Down the stretch of the Sixers’ surprising run in this year’s playoffs , Turner found himself in Philly’s starting lineup , leading the charge and taking the Boston Celtics to a hard-fought 7th game in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals . His minutes (34.5), points (11.2) and rebounds (7.5) all took a major jump in the playoffs, and he is now poised to do big things in 2012-13. I caught up with ...

Dime magazine #66, November 2011  As the second overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft , Evan Turner didn’t exactly live up to expectations last season. Though the Sixers surprised some people with their stellar play late in the year, Turner struggled to get minutes and was seemingly lost in translation.  Philly is loaded with solid wing players, but need a guy who can spread the floor and shoot a decent percentage from three; Evan Turner is that guy . After spending his summer working with Hall of Fame coach Herb Magee to tweak his shot, Turner knows that he’ll improve upon his averages of 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 23.0 minutes a game. And with the ability to create for himself off the dribble , look for him to make the leap this year.

After building up his name with one hustle play after another, Kenneth Faried, the breakout star of last summer’s Tem USA squad, has big-time NBA success in his sights, too.  by Peter Walsh, Slam magazine #186, April 2015 It’s days before the Denver Nuggets open the 2014-15 NBA season, and Kenneth Faried is fnally taking a minute to reminisce on the summer of a lifetime. “My career-defning moment thus far is winning Gold with Team USA,” says Faried, who did more than any other player to improve their personal stock at the FIBA World Cup, averaging 12.4 points and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game in the US’ nine-game march to the Gold in Spain. “That really just showed everybody who said, ‘Hey, why is Kenneth at the camp?’ Or, ‘Why is Kenneth playing for Team USA?’ Or, ‘He’s not going to make it past the camp.’ Or, ‘He’s not going to make the team.’ Or, ‘He’s not going to get any minutes or even start.’ What I did and what we did over there really helped sho...

Blessed with the ability  to do a little of everything on  the BasketBall court and determined  to keep getting Better at all of it, MARC GASOL has become one of the game’s most valuable players. By y aron Weitzman by Yaron Weitzman, Slam magazine #186, April 2015 He won’t share many details, but the remnants of his pregame snack do. They’re scattered around his unkempt Barclays Center locker on this blisteringly cold January night. A small box of GoPicnic hummus and crackers is nestled underneath some shorts, a yellow wrapper that once held gluten-free crackers finds itself trapped under a folding chair leg, a blue and white container with the words “METABOLIC DRINK” printed on it leans against the wooden locker’s left wall. It looks like something Neil Armstrong might have brought with him to space. At the moment, Marc Gasol is out on the court warming up. It’s about an hour before tipoff of what will turn out to be a relativ...

by Rick Telander, Slam magazine #186, April 2014 There have been lots of brothers who have played in the NBA, which makes sense. If the guy who pounded you constantly as a kid on the family basement sock-basketball court has the genetics and temperament to play in the bigs, why not you? Just a short list of siblings who have played in the League includes Harvey and Horace Grant, Bernard and Albert King, Jim and John Paxson, Mike and Willie Sojourner, the trio of Jon, Brent and Drew Barry, and even the fabulous Jones quartet: Caldwell, Charles, Major and Wil. But right now, beside the towering Lopez brothers, Brook and Robin, we’ve got big men Pau and Marc Gasol showing how brothers can dominate on the foor. Seven-foot, 250-pound Pau, 34, who earned two Championship rings with the Lakers, is in his frst year with the Bulls and playing as well as he ever has in his 14-year career. Seven-one, 260-pound Marc, 30, is in his seventh season with the Grizzlies and is playing far be...

Milwaukee's Giannis Antetoukounmpo has already risen from unkown prospect to fan favorite... and at 20 years old, he's just getting started. by Peter Walsh, Slam magazine #185, March 2015 The Milwaukee Bucks have just beaten the Brooklyn Nets in a marathon triple-OT game at the Barclays Center and the visiting locker room is abuzz. Though it’s only November, the halls of Barclays are swarming with enough groupies, media members, hangers-on, agents and the like that it feels like a big late season win. Jason Kidd’s son, TJ, ecstatic to see his father earn a win in the head coach’s return to Brooklyn, is dapping up every Buck in sight. In one corner of the locker room, OJ Mayo does his best Birdman impression and let’s out an audible, “Rich Gang!” And coming from an unseen section of the locker room is the sound of young forward Giannis Antetokounmpo singing and laughing loudly.  Emerging from the showers and moving gingerly across the locker room after playin...

138 km | Friday July 24 | Start 13:20 – Finish 17:45 CET STAGE FACT Start town St-Jean-de-Maurienne is home to the iconic Opinel knife — an item that’s become emblematic of French culture. Today is all about the big guns slugging it out up big mountains . And we assume no one will be telling Chris Froome to slow down when he hits the final climb of La Toussuire this time round. It was here in 2012 that he put his own raceleading team-mate Bradley Wiggins on the back foot and created a tension between the two that never really got settled. Pierre Rolland won the stage. Memories, eh?  Floyd Landis will also have painful recollections from the ski resort. The disgraced American blew up big time here in 2006 to lose his yellow jersey . He doped his way back to a most improbable recovery the following day but was caught shortly afterwards. What other climbs are there today? The stage opens with an up from kilometre zero. The Col du Chaussy is new on the Tour itinerary, a...