Sports Poets Society

https://open.spotify.com/episode/07F6mGNimchFuIeIeJqqTZ Pogačarissimo . Cinque vittorie nello stesso Tour, 11 nella doppietta Giro/Tour nello stesso anno: come Eddy Merckx '70. "I regali si fanno a Natale", recitava il mantra del Cannibale originale. E Tadej Pogačar , il suo erede gentile, non ha fatto sconti né doni a Jonas Vingegaard, il suo rivalissimo di questi ruggenti anni Venti. Hai voglia Gianni Bugno e Claudio Chiappucci a dire che il troppo stroppia, e il gruppo non dimentica. Valeva magari ai tempi loro e del re magnanimo Miguel Indurain. E' il ciclismo moderno, bellezza. E vige l'unica legge: quella del più forte. L'onore delle armi, per il grande sconfitto ma non battuto, è stato trattarlo da pari. Tappa spettacolare sulle salite della Parigi-Nizza, che per "Pogi" e mezzo gruppo sono di casa. Qui, sul Col de la Couillo le , lo sloveno aveva già vinto nella "corsa del sole" 2023, su David Gaudu e proprio Jonas Vingegaard. Richar...

di CHRISTIAN GIORDANO © Sky Sport © L’Urlo.  Nell’arte Edvard Munch, nella letteratura Allen Ginsberg, nel calcio Marco Tardelli. Il suo, sull’Alpe, è però diverso. Vittorioso e liberatorio sì, ma più la rabbia e l’orgoglio che un inno alla gioia. A metà tra il furore iconoclasta del Maradona invasato a USA ’94 – occhi spiritati in camera dopo il suo 3-0 alla Grecia – e la tormentata estasi dell’altro Marco, l’azzurro-mundial di Madrid ’82. E liberato non a braccia levate ma a pugni alzati, che è «altro». Una storia diversa. Una seconda vita. L’angoscia esistenziale e l’agonia mentre il mondo attorno si deforma – il disperato, alienato Skirk del “folle” norvegese – sarebbero piombate sì, con la loro «torrida tristezza» ma due anni dopo. A Campiglio ’99, sopra il giorno di dolore che uno ha. Quello sull’Alpe d’Huez ’97, da lui domata per primo al Tour per la seconda volta in due anni, è più Urlando contro il cielo. Un lacerante grido di protesta – come The Owl, dedicato al...

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5LpBQib7xSTncdCvR2DP7M Poker-čar.  Dopo Valloire, Pla d'Adet e Plateau de Beille, il quarto di nobiltà del re sole del Tour. Di un giallo così intenso da rifulgere per i posteri, più che per la contemporaneità. Tadej Pogačar - di fatto - il suo terzo Tour lo aveva già ipotecato nel tappone del 14 luglio; ma a Isola 2000, dove si è allenato nel mese intercorso tra il trionfo al Giro e il Tour, vi ha posto il 18° sigillo. Il suo record di vittorie stagionali, una in più del 2023. La 15ª in carriera al Tour, la 24ª nei grandi giri. Capìta l'antifona, la Visma-Lease a bike di Jonas Vingegaard puntava almeno alla seconda tappa-regina: 4374 metri di dislivello con tre GPM tutti oltre quota duemila: i due hors-catègorie (Col de Vars e Cime de la Bonette, con i suoi - artificiosi - 2806 mt il tetto d'Europa) e l'arrivo ai 2024. E ha sganciato subito Wilco Kelderman, Christophe Laporte e Matteo Jorgenson, l'americanone vincitore quest'an...

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/larry-brown-names-the-first-goat-before-michael-jordan-and-dr-j?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1TgEK_w0sHsJfQCSD9O8HrJdWZkdRb5WXz-EI6X1fUPtF58hc9oHzB7Hc_aem_05zmVdZ_YDqr2G9LOKvclg Apparently, one player already earned the GOAT title prior to Dr. J and MJ. JOHN JEFFERSON TAN JUL 14, 2024 4:56 PM EDT START CONVERSATION Hall of Fame NBA coach Larry Brown witnessed Connie Hawkins's greatness firsthand during his playing days in the ABA, and he often speaks highly of the Hawks' impact on the game. In fact, Brown strongly believes that Hawkins was the greatest individual player of all time before Julius Erving and later Michael Jordan . "He was Julius before Julius. He was Elgin before Elgin. He was Michael before Michael. He was simply the greatest individual player I have ever seen," Brown once said on ESPN Classic's Sport Century profile of Connie Hawkins. Connie was ahead of his time Many may not have heard of Hawkins, but ...

https://vault.si.com/vault/1974/04/22/it-was-death-in-the-afternoon BUT NOT FOR THE BULLS OF CHICAGO. AFTER YEARS OF TRYING TO GET PAST THE FIRST ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS, THEY FINALLY MADE IT, LED BY A MOST UNLIKELY HERO WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN WEARING ANOTHER TEAM'S UNIFORM SI STAFF TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT An unlikely hero was acclaimed last Saturday afternoon in Chicago . Until his stunning play against Piston Center Bob Lanier in the seventh game of the playoffs, a 96-94 victory that clinched the NBA Western Conference semifinals for the Bulls , the high point of Clifford Ray's career had come when he was identified as the only man in America who looks like Anthony Quinn, Bill Cosby and a buffalo all rolled into one. Outrebounding Lanier and outscoring him for most of the deciding game did not change Ray's appearance at all, but it certainly altered his image. Suddenly he seemed to be a rebounder more like Wilt Chamberlain than Zorba, a defender more like Bill Russe...

Kobe Bryant (left) talked to his father, Mr. Bryant,  as they watched a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., in 2009. JAE c. HONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE  17 Jul 2024 - The Boston Globe ASSOCIATED PRESS PHILADELPHIA — Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the father of the late Basketball hall of famer Kobe Bryant, has died, his alma mater announced Tuesday. Mr. Bryant, who spent eight seasons in the NBA with three different franchises, was 69 . The Philadelphia Inquirer , citing La Salle coach fran Dunphy, reported that Mr. Bryant recently had a massive stroke. “We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the school said in a news release. “Joe played for the Explorers from 1973-75 and was a member of our coaching staff from 199396. he was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.” Kobe Bryant, his daughter gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in January 2020 in Calabasas, Calif., as the group was making its way to a ...

Jae C. Hong / AP Kobe Bryant (left) and his father, Joe, at a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., in 2009.  Their relationship later became strained. JOE “JELLYBEAN” BRYANT, FATHER OF KOBE, HAS DIED AT AGE 69 17 Jul 2024 - Philadelphia Daily News BY MIKE SIELSKI - msielski@inquirer.com  The lasting and most tragic scene from Joe Bryant’s life materialized a month after the death of his son, Kobe. Hundreds of people had filed into the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 25, 2020, for the memorial service for Kobe and his daughter Gianna. Joe, his wife, Pam, and their daughters, Sharia and Shaya, sat near the front of the arena, but none of the ceremony’s speakers had mentioned them or Wynnewood or Lower Merion High School or much of anything about Kobe’s early life. It was as if Joe and Pam were not there. Then, once the service ended, Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer and Jeremy Treatman, an adviser and confidant to Kobe , rushed through the crowd down to Joe and Pam, old friend...

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4usG6IYzJA1saJ2lom6shM It Must Be Jelly ('Cause Jam Don't Shake Like That) It must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that It must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that Oh, mama, you're so big and fat (...) Must be jelly 'cause it ain't like jam It ain't jam, I don't know what it am Sure looks like jelly to me    - Gleen Miller & His Orch. (vocal: The Modernaires) - 1942 Non dev'essere stato facile essere Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. Il papà di Kobe. Come non lo era stato essere figlio di Big Joe, il capostipite dalle grandi mani carnose, e la faccia rotonda che si apriva in quel sorriso contagioso trademark di famiglia. Da Pop Bryant, un omone di uno e novanta che, come tanti afroamericani, a inizio ventesimo secolo aveva lasciato il profondo sud e la Black Belt della Georgia per costruirsi un futuro a Philadelphia, Joe non aveva ereditato solo il torace possente e la corporatura massicc...

Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, right, has a laugh with his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant,  prior to participating in a pickup basketball game at Loyola Marymount on July 5, 2007.  Joe Bryant has died at 69.  (Branimir Kvartuc / Associated Press) https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-07-16/joe-bryant-dead-kobe Known as ‘Jellybean,’ player and later coach forged his own legacy in basketball circles. By Steve Henson Staff Writer July 16, 2024 Updated 12:32 PM PT Joe Bryant , a former NBA player and WNBA coach with a colorful nickname, has died at 69, four and a half years after his son, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant , granddaughter Gianna Bryant and seven other people died in a helicopter crash . Fran Dunphy, the coach at Joe Bryant’s alma mater La Salle, told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday that Bryant recently suffered a debilitating stroke. A teammate at John Bartram High School in Philadelphia nicknamed Bryant “ Jellybean ” because he had a vast array of moves despite bein...

https://vault.si.com/vault/2012/05/14/where-does-greatness-come-from YOU MIGHT ASSUME THAT KOBE BRYANT INHERITED HIS TALENT FOR BASKETBALL AND HIS BURNING NEED TO DOMINATE FROM HIS FATHER, FORMER NBA AND ITALIAN LEAGUE PLAYER JOE (JELLYBEAN) BRYANT . BUT JOE AND KOBE ARE SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT, AND WHILE THE SON GOT SOME GIFTS FROM HIS FATHER, HE GOT HIS FIRE FROM AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE CHRIS BALLARD TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT It is 1981, and Kobe Bryant is three years old. He runs to his room, grabs his Clippers jersey and yanks it over his head. Then he steps into a pair of shorts, grabs a mini-basketball and heads to the living room to watch the Clippers game on TV. When Joe Bryant steps onto the court, Kobe mimics his father's every move. When Joe shoots a jumper, Kobe fires one at his plastic Dr. J basket. When Joe uses his guile to get to the hoop, Kobe slides by imaginary defenders, faking out the couch and the lamp. Kobe takes a seat when Joe does, grabs a towel whe...