Global Club Soccer Rankings | FiveThirtyEight
My beloved Birmingham Legion are the 559th best soccer team in the world. Hammer Down! -B
My beloved Liverpool are the 2nd best soccer team in the world. You Never Walk Alone! -Also B
How Shot-Tracking Is Changing The Way Basketball Players Fix Their Game
Since this category has been renamed from Basketball to Disc Golf I now feel comfortable including basketball stories in it. -B
Oh, OK Brian. I can't believe the tool is called Noah, but I'm all for it. Now I suppose they just need to come out with the disc golf equivalent for putting, and call it Moses (BECAUSE BASKET BOOOOM) -C
World's Best Disc Golf Courses 2021: #1-#100
Number 20 is a private course north of Memphis, along the Mississippi River, called Bud Hill, named after a long deceased favorite hunting dog but also a fortuitous wink at some of the danker corners of disc golf culture. I first played Bud Hill in 2004 and last played it 10 days ago. Bud Hill is the passion project of a gentleman named Danny who is one of the sweetest, most generous people I've ever met. Danny, a retired landscaping crew manager, has sculpted some of the hilliest land near Memphis into a place disc golfers from all over the country come to experience the closest thing Disc Golf has to Augusta, but open and welcoming to all. Weekends and holidays routinely host pot luck grill outs and "$5 flip up" rounds. Any tournament in Memphis that has Bud Hill as tournament central is going to be excellent. And any trip to Bud Hill that includes running into Danny, mowing on his tractor, putzing around in a side by side, or just sitting on the porch with his ubiquitous green glass bottled Heineken in his hand is made all the more precious- a brush with whatever disc golf sainthood looks like. If you disc golf you need to find yourself at Bud Hill as soon as possible. -B
The Rise of the $10 Million Disc Golf Celebrity
Calvin and I, as you are aware, are both pretty deep into the disc golf these days. I've renamed this category appropriately.
Paul McBeth (who is the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity from the linked article) recently lost to James Conrad in a major tournament to what some are calling the greatest shot in disc golf (or maybe all golf) history. If you haven't seen it you have to check it out... it is epic and wild -B
Calvin started this newsletter without me. Calvin only likes basketball. This category is thusly named Sports (Basketball). I joined this newsletter later. I like almost every sport except basketball. Thusly we have people in medieval plate mail whacking each other with sticks in our basketball category. -B
At One With the Disc: How the Pandemic Taught Me to Love (Real) Golf’s Casual Cousin
A zillion years ago I got hooked on disc golf. When my kids were born I got unhooked. After they grew up a little I got hooked again. And somewhere in there I dragged Calvin and some other of our friends into the addiction. We love disc golf. I at least daydream about it when I'm not playing it. I watch other people play it on Jomez Youtube on a regular basis. I own way too many frisbees. And need (errr want) more. And if you haven't played it yet hit one of us up. We'll get you setup with your first hit for free just to see if you like it. -B
The NBA’s Social Justice Dilemma: Do Sports Distract and Detract From Activism?
I love what the NBA and players have been doing. I think it's admirable that they are using their platform to try to amplify other voices and empower people. This essay asks a great question: now that the NBA has voiced its support, what's next? How can they move from verbal support to consistent action? I'm excited to see what happens next. - Calvin
Is Disc Golf a Team Sport? A Look at Our Current Disc Golf Team Culture
For some reason they’ve closed the parks in Birmingham so I haven’t been able to play in a bit. I’m mystified by this... as long as you’re social distancing what is the obsession with not letting people use the parks or go outside and walk or run or just sit in the sunshine. I worry that finding ways to shame other people is becoming the new religion of the western world. -Brian
Hilaree Nelson, Jim Morrison Make First Ski Descent of Lhoste
Amanda recently went to Vail "for work" and that trip plus this article makes me wonder, "Why do people go outside when it's cold?" I just don't get it. - Calvin