Some Great Reads on Life, Sochi and the 'Who Cares' Crowd

Here are links to three great articles from the past week. They don't need much introduction from me.

Roger Angell of the New Yorker is 93. He will receive the J.G Taylor Spink Award for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing" during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Cooperstown in July.

This isn't a piece about baseball. It's about life and aging and...well, I really can't write any words that will do it justice. It's fantastic.

This Old Man, The New Yorker, February 17, 2014 



Bonnie D. Ford writes about Olympic sports for ESPN.com. Covering this Olympiad generated some different emotions for her. And for me, to be honest. Detached would be a good starting point. Was it because of Putin and Russia's stance on homosexuals? Was it because it was eight time zones away? Was it because the Olympics have seemingly morphed into the X-Games? I'm sure it was a combination of all of those factors and some others. Bonnie does a great job spotlighting what is being left behind and raises some unsettling questions about what happens next.

All That We're Leaving Behind, ESPN.com, February 23, 2014



Sunday night, when he took the court for the Brooklyn Nets against the Los Angeles Lakers, Jason Collins became the first openly-gay athlete to participate in one of our four major sports. Collins came out back in April 2013. He was a journeyman at the end of the road. His not being signed for the 2014 was more a sign of his talents than his sexuality. Collins quietly receded into the background as the season got underway and he didn't have a job.

When NFL draft prospect Michael Sam publicly announced he was gay earlier this month, he was thrust into the headlines and it looked as if Collins would just be a historical footnote. He isn't. And as Jason Gay rightly points out, he shouldn't be.

Someday soon these stories won't generate headlines. That's a good thing. That doesn't mean we can't celebrate them now.

Jason Collins, the Nets, and The 'Who Cares' Crowd, The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2014