James Hamilton on Sport History and Psychology
Ignorance, cowardice, and for the exception to the rule, a glass ceiling. If he is proven right and a world-class performer lay wasted in the reserves of a club who were sinking deeper into relegation quicksand because his managers lacked the invention to make use of him, the shortcomings of certain English traditionalists will have…
Rumour has it that Steve McClaren will use the Spain friendly to continue his Grand Tour through the non-entities and also-rans of the Premier League. I don’t refer there to Barry, who, if included, will have earned his place for his recent genuinely international class showings, but to the likes of.. do I have to…
“Passion and Commitment” meet “Traditional Working Class Values”. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rbo__5f_28] Of course, I watched this kind of thing obsessively in the 1970s, absolutely agog and entirely unaware that there was anything ersatz about it. Disillusion was exemplary. But it’s given me a nose for the fake and the plastic, and this traditional-values stuff in football smells…
This film is where the Tour de France meets London to Brighton in Five Minutes, and rather encapsulates that old debate about courage versus foolhardiness. Which means it’s fun. Enjoy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKgeCQGu_ug]
Is the FA Cup in decline? The media seems to think so. And declining crowds for Cup games, combined with the second boring draw in succession, would indicate that they’re right. And they are, aren’t they? So, what’s happened, and what can be done about it? Until as recently as 1956, the FA Cup was…
Today, 30th January, is the anniversary of the execution of Charles I of England. Partly from my aversion to the death penalty, and partly out of a habit born in my pretentious early 20s, I’ll be marking the occasion with some solemnity. Nothing whatsoever to do with sport, but everything to do with these guys.
In a conversation yesterday with BBC Sport’s Charlie Henderson, I predicted better days around the corner for Paul Jewell’s men. You can read the rest of my thoughts, and Charlie’s take on the whole “losing cycle” experience, here.
Whilst assembling the previous post, I came across this marvellous 1973 film – warning: it’s long – and wanted to bring it to your collective attention. On-camera interviews probe the ambition and motivation of sports greats including Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Weiskopf, Jack Nicklaus, Malcolm Gregson, Dave Hill, and Graham Marsh. I…
It’s tax return day, so this is merely a reflection in video on some of the sporting events of the year I was born: 1968. It was an Olympic year – Mexico’s: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aodCkVOzj8g] It was a good year for Manchester United, too: Jackie Stewart beat Graham Hill in the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring…
Both at the same time, from the country that treats opera as country, if you see what I mean, in 1945. The football at the end is Roma v Torino, and is rather worth the wait. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0-3_APWA_Y]