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Sportswriting
By DAN ACKMAN
Great Gridiron Getaways
September 2, 2009 – The Wall
Street Journal
The living room couch
can be a fine place to spend an autumn Saturday afternoon. College football
is on display and any chores can wait until Sunday, when the mechanized
professional version of the game takes control of the dial. But for those
whose souls are overtaken by a damp, drizzly November (or September or
October), here are five road trips to glory, where the college-football fan
can escape for a week and, thanks to a day-long drive between the stadiums,
see two of the best games of the season. THE WHOLE
STORY
Ping Pong on the Vegas Strip
July 7, 2009 – The Wall Street Journal
One school of ping pong purists holds that the game was ruined in 1952
by a man named Hiroji Satoh. Mr. Satoh was a
then-unknown member of the Japanese national team who showed up at the World
Championships in Bombay wielding a paddle fashioned with a layer of sponge on
both sides. Using this mysterious and powerful instrument, Mr. Satoh cruised
to the world title, beating U.S. hopeful Marty Reisman
en route. The sponge paddle quickly became the standard, and the game was
never the same again. THE WHOLE STORY
Ivy-League Cornell Takes On College Wrestling’s Giants
March 12, 2009 – The Wall
Street Journal
Arising from the east may be the most
prodigious group of red wrestlers since the fall of the Soviet Union -- and
the least likely. Cornell University, coming off its third straight victory
in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association tournament held this
past weekend in Philadelphia, has the second-ranked wrestling team in the
nation. Rarely has an East Coast team been ranked so high; for the Ivy
League, it is unprecedented. THE WHOLE
STORY
Now No One Plays for Keeps
June 25, 2009 –The Wall Street Journal
This week, the 86th annual
National Marbles Tournament is being held just off the boardwalk in Wildwood,
N.J. With 25 boys and 19 girls, the contest is smaller than it was a decade
ago and much less celebrated than it was in the 1920s, when young marble
shooters -- or mibsters, as they are known --
became local and even national heroes. But an enthusiastic if dwindling band
has reason to keep the tournament going. THE WHOLE
STORY
Egyptians
Have Cornered the Squash Racket
October 3, 2007– The Wall Street Journal
Squash, at least in the U.S., is a game associated with
men’s clubs and prep schools, so the idea that the world’s best squash
players hail from Egypt, an impecunious country not known for its sporting
tradition, seems remarkable. But it’s true.
THE
WHOLE STORY
Sultan
of Stats
June
20, 2007—The Wall Street Journal
After 25 years on the outside, Bill James was invited to take a seat at the
center of the baseball universe. Since his hiring by the Boston Red Sox in
2002, Mr. James, the statistical oracle and author of the Bill James Baseball
Abstracts, the team has broken the Curse of the Bambino, won the World Series
and is currently tearing up the American League.
THE WHOLE STORY
The King
and Prince of High-School Hoops
January 24, 2007– The Wall Street Journal
From 1972 until 2004, Bob
Hurley enjoyed every success imaginable. Coach Hurley won more than 800
basketball games and 22 state championships, while besting 90% of his
opponents at tiny St. Anthony High, a school without its own gym, and which
can be found by making a hard left out of the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City,
N.J. THE
WHOLE STORY
Birds
Flock to These New York Islands
July 13, 2006–
The Wall Street Journal
Floating between the Bronx and Rikers
Island, just north of Hell Gate, is an island that was once home to Typhoid
Mary and is now a world-class breeding ground for egrets and herons.
The
Winners Wore Camouflage
May 2, 2006 –
The Wall Street Journal
If you spend the day running in full body armor, racing
through obstacle courses, battling with pugil sticks,
shooting machine guns, and jumping out of helicopters, what do you do in the
evening to wind down? If you’re an Army Ranger fixing to be the best Ranger,
you might go out and march all night with a 45-pound rucksack in the pouring
rain. Fall behind and you’ll miss the next day. And that also means missing
the next night -- another all-night march, this time through the muddy
Georgia woods, orienteering through the darkness with map and compass. THE
WHOLE STORY
At
the Cyber Games, Even Virtual Excitement Is in Short Supply
September 13, 2005
-- The Wall Street Journal
New York -- Cyber games may be small-time now, but Peter Weedfald has seen the future and the future is Korea. In
Korea, top videogamers can earn six-figure salaries
and have the status of sports stars. The “gamers” and their games are the
subjects of two 24-hour cable television networks devoted to gaming the way
ESPN is devoted to sports. “You’ll see [gamers] on a box of Wheaties,” Mr. Weedfald says.
Shooting Pool in Grand Central
October 7, 2004 --
The Wall Street Journal
If the the
rat race has a starting line, it might well be Grand Central Terminal. There,
700,000 commuters scurry daily from the baronies of Westchester and
Connecticut to their places of gainful employ. There are those who opt out.
Danny Basavich, a professional pool player and
unabashed hustler, is one. But last weekend he, too, was at Grand Central.
And Mr. Basavich, aka Kid Delicious, stayed to
work.
THE WHOLE
STORY
A Day
After At The Races
June 8, 2004 - The Wall Street Journal
On Saturday, more than 120,000 fans attended
Belmont Park to see Smarty Jones win the final leg of horse racing’s Triple
Crown -- and he almost did. The crowd was by far the largest ever, and the
third straight 100,000-plus crowd for the Belmont Stakes. Hipsters joined the
throng, sensing that this was the place to be, and they were right as Birdstone, a 36-to-1 shot, beat Smarty Jones by a length,
covering the mile-and-a-half in 2:27.50, the best time since Tabasco Cat won
in 1994.The next day the scene at Belmont told a different story
Causing a
Racket in Grand Central Station
February 24, 2004 - The Wall Street Journal
Squash is a tough sell. There is little or no television coverage here, and
even the thickest sports section rarely finds room for it. So, with little in
the way of media to draw people to the sport, John Nimick
has been bringing the sport to the people. THE WHOLE STORY
From Iowa to Caspia: World
Freestyle Wrestling
Sept. 17, 2003 - The Wall Street
Journal
New York -- For years, he was invincible. In college at Iowa State, he won
and won again, trashing records in his wake. On his way to four NCAA
wrestling championships, he won 101 straight matches, breaking the record for
consecutive wins set by the sport’s icon Dan Gable. Then he kept going,
winning another 58. His final record -- 159 victories, zero defeats -- made Cael Sanderson arguably the most successful college
athlete in any sport ever. THE WHOLE STORY
Honolulu
On The Hudson
July 30, 2003 --
The New York Sun
New Yorkers along the watery parts of the city may have
been startled to spot dozens of outrigger canoes racing in the harbor on
Saturday, darting between ferries and past tugboats. The boats, however, were
there with a purpose: They were paddling in the Liberty World Challenge, New
York City’s own Hawaiian canoe race.
1,200 New York Triathletes
Try Something New — A Duathlon
Aug 11, 2003 -- The New York
Sun
Yesterday at dawn, Odd Sangesland
started running north along the Hudson River. He had expected to be 100
yards west, in the Hudson, swimming, however. Why do either at 6:30 a.m. on a
Sunday?
Do Clones
Dream Of Winning the Triple Crown?
June 6, 2003 - Forbes.com
It might be possible, but it won’t happen. In
horse racing, it’s “natural service” or nothing. THE WHOLE STORY
Nothing But Air? Shooting Skills Waning in NBA
June 3, 2003 - The Wall Street Journal
As the National
Basketball Association finals get under way tomorrow, the players will be
celebrated, quite rightly, for being faster and quicker than ever. But the
game itself has rarely been slower, and shooting the basketball, the game’s
most basic skill, seems a lost art. THE WHOLE STORY
Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An
Unfair Game
May 28, 2003 - Forbes.com
Michael
Lewis has a gift: He can walk into an area already mined by hundreds of
writers and find gems there all along but somehow missed by his predecessors.
Lewis did this in the The New New
Thing, his book on the Internet and the new economy. Now he does it with
Major League Baseball in Moneyball: The Art of
Winning an Unfair Game. THE WHOLE STORY
And
in This Corner, The Insurance Broker
August 21, 2002 - The Wall
Street Journal
There is a sign on the wall at Gleason’s, Brooklyn’s
storied boxing gym, posting an invitation from the poet Virgil: “Now whoever
has courage, and a strong and collected spirit in his breast, let him come
forth, lace up his gloves, and put up his hands.” THE WHOLE STORY
Cycles
on Wall Street
August
6, 2002 - The Wall Street Journal
Cyclists in Manhattan have to dodge potholes, maneuver
around buses and face traffic that is all stop and go. For the Pro Cycling
Tour race in the financial district on Sunday, organizers fixed the cracks
and cleared the streets to the point where the race was all go.
Manhattan
5-0
July
2, 2002 - The Wall Street Journal
The world’s most
important outrigger canoe race takes place just where you’d expect: in
Hawaii. Called the Molokai, the course crosses the 41-mile channel between
the islands of Oahu and Molokai. But perhaps the third most prestigious race
took place on Saturday, where you’d least expect it, off the island of
Manhattan.
The Trouble With Horses
June 2, 2002 - New York Times Week In Review
AIRPLANES are getting faster. Race cars
are getting faster. Computers are getting deliriously faster. So what is the
trouble with horses? THE WHOLE
STORY
Banned in
the Bronx
Nov. 1 2001 - Web Exclusive
I got a call yesterday from my law school buddy Bill Fredericks, an avid
Yankee fan, asking me if I wanted to go to the World Series. Bill knows I am a Met fan, so he put
a condition on the offer: I could not be emotionally neutral. THE WHOLE STORY
Baseball
in the Land of Pure Possibility
Summer
2000 - Web Exclusive
If you take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry and then board the S-62 bus,
and ride it to the end, and then walk east another half mile or so, you will
see something that may surprise you: a field of dreams.
Baseball’s
Best--And Best For The Buck
April 19, 2002 - Forbes.com
We
rank the best players in the majors and say who among the heavy hitters are
truly earning their keep. THE
WHOLE STORY
The Gaming Of The Olympics
February 25, 2002 - Forbes.com
NBC
says it scored at the Olympics. But are the games at risk by getting too
close to the network? THE WHOLE STORY
In Baseball, A Season For The Ages
October 6, 2001 - Forbes.com
Even
apart from the stunning play of Barry Bonds, several players this year are
among the all-time best. THE WHOLE STORY
XFL Exterminated
May 11, 2001 - Forbes.com
NBC
and WWF may know marketing, but they don’t know sports. Result: The XFL goes
bust in one year. THE WHOLE STORY
Most Ballplayer For The Money
March 29, 2001 - Forbes.com
Baseball’s
back! We evaluate each team and more than 300 players. Who offers the best
value in baseball? THE WHOLE STORY
Take Me Out To The Ballpark
October 25, 2000 - Forbes.com
Purists
argue that this year’s subway series pales in comparison to the last all-New
York series in 1956. One thing is certain: Today’s game is much more
expensive. THE WHOLE STORY
In
Money Terms, The Subway Series Strikes Out
October 21, 2000 - Forbes.com
The
subway series is great for Gotham’s psyche, but not so great for its economy.
Politicians, eager to please club owners, are trying to prove otherwise. THE
WHOLE STORY
A Passion For The Game--And Its Numbers
October 3, 2000 - Forbes.com
Harold
Richman, inventor of the Strat-o-matic board game,
now competes with computer game giants. How does he do that? “Sheer realism,”
Richman says. THE WHOLE STORY
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