The Weekend Reader
Sporting Edition
The new The Print Edition is out now and it’s the sports issue. Here are some favorites stories about the sporting life if you’re heading on spring break or (laughs nervously) stuck in line at security.
-Web of the Game. Roger Angell’s wonderful 1981 New Yorker piece about the college playoff game at Yale Field. It turns into one of the great pitcher’s duels between two legendary players and remains as good as sports writing—as good as any writing—gets.
-Related: Any Angell book, like Summer Game, turns out to be utterly absorbing, even when they’re about the long-departed 1969 season. You may think, How can there be suspense reading about old World Series? You’d be surprised.
-The Atlantic Assignment. Michael Williams (I believe you know him) and I went to Iceland last summer to work on a story, if work is the word, for Atlantic Salmon Journal. Iceland is incredibly scenic and Michael’s photos are terrific. Read the story in the new issue of ASJ (free when you donate to Atlantic Salmon Federation, which you should do).
-Related: The Spawning Run by William Humphrey. A delightful, thin 1970 book about salmon fishing in Wales. Combines obsession and the comedy, which any salmon angler can appreciate.
A common sight: Me not catching a salmon in Iceland.
-The Return to Golden Gate Fields. Here’s another 1981 New Yorker piece (what a vintage for the magazine!), this is about horse racing. Bill Barich writes about life at the track, about superstition, betting theories, the eccentric characters attracted to racing and, like anything related to gambling, human frailty.
-Related: Barich’s wonderful 1980 book Laughing in the Hills, most of which first appeared in the New Yorker (those were the days). Barich is one of the great writers who’s a bit under the radar these days. He could easily be your writer of the summer.
-Secret Trout Fishing in Spain. I just wrote a story for Air Mail about the tremendous fishing in the Pyrenees. This was one of the great fishing trips I’ve been one—visits to 12th century hilltop towns, incredible views into river valleys and superb food. Works well if you’re with people more into the culture than fishing. Salvelinus, the outfitter owned by Iván Tarin, has been running trips in the area for 25 years, and can arrange everything. High endorsement.
-Related: I can’t recommend Blood Knots by Luke Jennings enough. This memoir touches on English schoolboy life and war history (neither with any sentimentality), but it’s tied together by fishing stories, also handled in a very personal way. The writing is so good it’s heartbreaking.
-The Breaks of the Game. Some books never age. David Halberstam covers the 1979 Portland Trail Blazers, a team you probably don’t think much about, unless you’re a Bill Walton completist. An American classic (also good on audiobook, if you’re revisiting on a road trip).
-The Sweet Science. We love A.J. Liebling for his masterful Between Meals, but he loved boxing almost as much as he loved French cooking. This is the era of Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis, when boxing was at the center of American culture. Even if you’re a casual boxing fan, Liebling is the ideal interpreter.
The Print Edition is out now, you can find it at newsstands or subscribe.
I’ve familiar with the 1979 Trailblazers solely because Dave Twardzik, whom I am not related to but often asked about, was on the roster. The other vaguely known Twardzik I get asked about is Dick Twardzik, a jazz pianist best known for introducing Chet Baker to heroin. Whether someone brings up either when meeting me says a lot about the person.
The Bill Barich "Return to Golden Gate Fields" is perfection. Lulugal!