But maybe it isn't so weird. It turns out the Manziels are a much more colorful and interesting bunch than any of the profiles thus far have indicated. Their fortune was indeed made in oil—wildcatting, specifically—but there were also family sidelines in cockfighting, small-time grifting, match-fixing, and, if you believe the federal indictments, cocaine-trafficking and murder. In fact, the first great sporting success under the family name wasn't Johnny Football; it was the Manziel grey gamefowl, bred by Johnny's great-grandfather. The Manziels arrived in Texas after cockfighting was outlawed, but they wound up with a breed named after them anyway.
That's the story of the Manziels in America. It's the story of making money just this side (and occasionally that side) of the rules.
some random norwegian dude got called for a tryout with the detroit lions based on this youtube video. was two for two in field goal attempts in a preseason game with kicks of 49 and 50 yards.
the wormwood star
Via DHM FB
flicked on the tv to catch the back nine of the pga championship. my tv was tuned to the new(ish) nbcs(ports) network. flipped it on the other day for the first time as they have the rights to the upcoming english premier league season. thus far ive seen a couple of minutes of a sailing event and, just now, a polo tournament. kind of reminds me of the early days of espn when they would broadcast bowling, billiards and whatever else they could get the rights to. nbc is not quite so desperate with soccer, hockey and the olympics but there are a lot of hours in the day. although espn is mostly chatter at this point. i always thought an olympic network was a no brainer, so maybe nbc will take that under advisement.
oh, and england beat the us at polo in overtime. champagne for everyone! up next, summer at saratoga. horsies!
curbesque original feature from larry david tonight at 9 on hbo.
list price: $190,000,000
not sure how this becomes a dramatic series over the long haul but looking forward to seeing Masters of Sex starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan on Showtime this fall.
just what the world needed, though i couldnt tell you if it was a music column about soccer or a soccer column about music. either way, the writer has a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of both from his perch in the uk than i ever will. im mostly in it for the name, Some Goals Are Bigger Than Others.
It’s about time football was afforded the same courtesies as the cultural mediums it often dwarfs for popularity, social impact and emotional agency – factors commonly used to try and legitimise other activities as worthy arenas of expression and artistic merit. A bi-monthly column on Drowned In Sound is the least we can do to level the playing field. After all, with their fetish for the obscure and esoteric, football geeks and hipsters are the new musos.
Sous Vide set to get a lot cheaper. The Kickstarter project has surpassed its' goal. Test units have been produced and favorably reviewed. Will supposedly ship in October for $199.
tonight is the night. its the Guinness International Champions Cup final in miami!!!
whats that? youve never heard of the Guinness International Champions Cup?
well, neither had i until i just googled it but it is one of the most important least important summer tournaments ever conceived as a warmup for football in the fall. yes, i said 'football'. deal with it, america!!
the matchup tonight between real madrid and chelsea, two of the teams with the deepest pockets and not coincidentally the deepest rosters, is particularly interesting because the former real madrid head coach burned his bridges in madrid and then scooted over to chelsea where he had formerly worn out his welcome but was brought back this summer with open arms and open checkbooks.
9 o'clock on fox soccer channel, soon to be fox sports1 since they lost the rights to most of their soccer coverage. but thats a post for another day. (what a tease.)
See it anyway.
if the nfl couldnt get a stadium in manhattan i dont see how the mls could. this would be at houston st.
comment about the boston redsox owner buying the boston globe for $70 million...
To put things into proper perspective, John Henry just agreed to a contract with Dustin Pedroia for about 100 million.
Amazon launches Amazon Art Marketplace with over "40,000 pieces of fine art from over 150 dealers and galleries." I'm not sure anybody actually wants to "demystify the world of art," but we'll see.
Superbaby’s story is one among a number of tales of athletic irregularity in “The Sports Gene,” a new book by David Epstein, who holds a masters in environmental science but now covers the science of sports for Sports Illustrated. Like a good academic, Epstein weaves a thicket of studies and double-blind tests into anecdotes like Superbaby’s. Beware, those who enter seeking a quick answer to whether or not your son or daughter has an athletic scholarship in his or her future: the book is heavy on talk about stop codons and VO2 maxes and bivariate overlap zones, and short on easy answers. It is, however, long on difficult questions. Can nature predict athletic performance? What about nurture? Is it possible to create a Superbaby from scratch? If we can, should we want to?
The answers, in brief, are “yes,” “yes,” “not quite,” and “ask your conscience.” But a bit of exploration of each proves fruitful.
geneology roadshow on pbs this fall.
Mycelial information networks:
When some plants are attacked by sap-sucking aphids, they emit volatile compounds into the air. These volatiles serve as a defense mechanism, and in more ways than one. First, they serve to repel the aphids attacking the plant. Second, they attract the aphids natural enemies, wasps. But there’s more to that: a team from the University of Aberdeen and the James Hutton Institute show that some plants use fungi to communicate the presence of aphids, allowing those plants to emit wasp-attracting and and aphid-repelling volatiles even before they have been physically attacked.
