Lost in the shuffle of the past eventful week is the 60th anniversary of the Rome Olympics. The 1960 Summer Games were a watershed in numerous ways, particularly as France experienced its “zero hour” in sports.
The Enduring Emissary of American Democracy
Resumption of Rivalries: Women's Football in France a Year After the World Cup
Yesterday the world’s most dominant football club returned to square-off against its biggest rival in a grinding match, delayed by a power outage but finally won at the nail-biting end on penalties. The footballeuses of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) Féminin clenched their ninth Coupe de France title, eeking past Paris Saint-Germain Féminine as the rain streamed down in Auxerre, and earning their 30th championship trophy, according to L’Équipe’s statisticians. But has the pandemic pause negatively impacted women’s football in France, stunting the momentum of last summer’s FIFA World Cup?
Basketball Is Back
When we last saw the NBA in action 141 days ago on March 11, the international spotlight fell on Utah Jazz All-Star center, French international Rudy Gobert, whose positive coronavirus test result effectively shut down the league. Tonight is a very international restart. Eighty-nine players from 34 different countries will participate in the 22-team bubble in Orlando, and according to NBA International, some of the players have opted to wear social justice messages on their game jerseys in their native languages.
African Basketball: Development, Gender and Migration
Earlier this month, I had the honor to speak on some of the early findings from the recent Basketball Diplomacy Africa project at the Sports Africa Live panel, “African Basketball: Development, Gender and Migration.”
His Airness Spins the World: Michael Jordan and Basketball’s Global Growth
Michael Jordan is an unlikely revolutionary, but one whose drive and ability to market his image and brand changed the game, the NBA, and basketball culture around the globe. Now, in a new era of protest to push for the end of systemic racism and social injustice, one of the game’s GOATS finally takes the microphone to push for an end to racism as some of his predecessors did (and continue to do)…
"This Storm Is What We Call Progress"
In more normal times, we’d be in the midst of the 2020 European Championship, but instead this week the Football Scholars’ Forum continued our Summer Series dissecting David Goldblatt’s new tome, The Age of Football: Soccer and the 21st Century, with yours truly as moderator for the chapter on European football.
A Teachable Moment From #TalkingSport
I appreciated this insightful panel and the speakers’ thoughtful points. You can read my Tweet thread of highlights, which notes several key aspects I noted, and watch the highlights on YouTube. But for me, one of the discussion’s biggest value added was the speakers’ diversity of global views.
When Basketball Meets Diplomacy in Africa
Today the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy launched “Basketball Diplomacy in Africa: An Oral History, From SEED Project to the Basketball Africa League (BAL),” a SOAS University of London-funded Information and Knowledge Exchange project. Here are a few points that struck me.
