A summer of outsiders and also-rans
#10: Brilliant Olympic losers, a depraved Kentucky Derby, cauliflower ears, stunt performers, champion chefs, flying discs, overhead kicks, and Arsene who?
Tales from the fringes of sport and society…
Since the last edition of this humble newsletter, we’ve witnessed performances that prove sporting heroism need not be confined to its winners.
There was Ludvig Aberg’s coming-of-age performance at The Masters, qualifier Jak Jones making his mark in the World Snooker Championship final and, perhaps the most memorable of the lot, Coventry City well and truly putting the woollies up Manchester United before the cruellest of FA Cup defeats.
Sporting history has regularly provided reminders that the vanquished can be just as worthy as the victors. Olympic years are especially fruitful for this.
Upon being awarded Olympic gold in 1932, British fencer Judy Guinness promptly corrected a scoring mistake, handing the medal to her Austrian opponent, Ellen Preis.
At the Winter Olympics in 1964, Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti came to the rescue of his rival British crew, loaning them a bolt to fix their damaged sled. As the Brits claimed gold, the Italian made do with bronze. “They didn't win because I gave them the bolt,” claimed Monti. “They won because they had the fastest run.”
At the 2004 Games in Athens, judoka Friba Rezayee lost her first-round match without earning a single point. But, as the first woman to represent Afghanistan at an Olympics, her toughest fight had already been won.
The likes of Eddie the Eagle and Eric the Eel have provided lighter moments that prove that strength of character can outlive strength of performance.
Some noble actions are forgotten because they don’t fit history's prevailing, often binary, narrative. Jesse Owens was the unquestionable hero of the 1936 Olympics, as the defiant black American whose four golds infuriated Hitler in his Berlin backyard.
But after two faults saw Owens one leap away from disqualification in the long jump, the American welcomed some unexpected advice on adjusting his run-up. His selfless guide certainly knew a thing or two: it was the man who’d end up finishing second. Behind Owens.
The silver medallist was a blonde and blue-eyed German called Luz Long. He was meant to be the face of the Fuhrer’s Olympiad. Few may consider Long a sporting hero, but Jesse Owens was among them, “You can melt down all the medals I have, and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four-carat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment."
So as more champions are crowned in this bumper summer of sport, spare a thought for those who won’t be afforded the same place in sport’s history but who have contributed to its wonderful drama and ensured its moral compass remains intact. Sometimes it’s possible to glisten without gold.
You’ll find more outsiders, misfits, and also-rans among this month’s selection of stories. Enjoy the read, and do consider sharing it with a friend.
Flying discs and overhead kicks - the next Olympic sports?
The Paris Olympics are just months away, with breakdancing set to be the latest sport to make its debut under those famous five rings. Four years later in LA, flag football will join the Olympic movement for the first time. It comes after sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding joined the party in Tokyo last time around.
In the hope of appealing to an increasingly distracted Generation Z, the IOC is opening the door to fast-growing sports, both new and niche. But what does it take to become an Olympic sport, and what might next make the grade?
In my new article for BBC Sport, I delve into the intriguing world of fringe sports, speaking to athletes and officials from teqball, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, and the IOC to shine a light on the decades-long journey towards Olympic recognition.
Heroes & Humans: The rise and fall of Arsene Wenger
It might sound odd to say these days, given that he is now a central figure within the stuffy corridors of FIFA, but Arsene Wenger was football’s ultimate outsider when he landed on British shores in 1996. An unremarkable footballer whose most recent managerial post was in Japan, Wenger’s unexpected arrival at Arsenal prompted the now infamous Evening Standard headline: “Arsene who?”.
Yet when he departed North London 22 years later, he’d fundamentally changed the sport. I wrote about his nutritional revolution in the chapter on performance chefs in my book Unsung, but this fantastic two-part podcast on the rise and fall of the Frenchman goes into every area of the game that Wenger’s pioneering methods improved. Before tracking his downward spiral as he was overtaken by the acolytes who copied him.
Overseen by the Unsung podcast’s talented producer Matt Cheney, Heroes & Humans of Football is a brilliant new addition to the podcast landscape. Hosted by journalists Simon Kuper and Mehreen Khan, episodes explore football's most fascinating characters, treating heroes as humans and delving into their lives on and off the field.
The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved
This month saw the 150th edition of the Kentucky Derby, which describes itself as “the greatest two minutes in sport.” It’s the perfect excuse to revisit this famous piece of immersive journalism from the pissed-up king of Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson.
Any Thompson fans will likely know the piece published in 1970, a 7,000-word monster for Scanlan’s that focuses more on the drunken debauchery at the side of the track than the racing itself.
This ‘director’s cut’ over at Grantland adds intriguing additional context, noting that editor Warren Hinckle only commissioned the piece three days before the race. It was also the first collaboration between Thompson and British illustrator Ralph Steadman, a partnership that would go on to experience its fair share of fear and loathing.
“Steadman was already in the press box when I got there, a bearded young Englishman wearing a tweed coat and HAF sunglasses. There was nothing particularly odd about him. No facial veins or clumps of bristly warts. I told him about the motel woman’s description and he seemed puzzled. ‘Don’t let it bother you,’ I said. ‘Just keep in mind for the next few days that we’re in Louisville, Kentucky. Not London. Not even New York. This is a weird place. You’re lucky that mental defective at the motel didn’t jerk a pistol out of the cash register and blow a big hole in you.’ I laughed, but he looked worried.”
Ted Toleman obituary
Motorsport fans will recognise Toleman's name as the team boss who gave Ayrton Senna his F1 debut. Others may remember him as the man who, in the mid-80s, joined forces with Richard Branson in a bid to break the powerboat speed record. In both arenas, he left his mark despite failing to hit the heights he'd strived for. Toleman died last month and this Guardian obituary from Richard Williams gets to the heart of Toleman's underdog spirit.
“In 1985 he teamed up with Richard Branson to captain the Virgin Atlantic Challenger I, built with the objective of setting a new record for the fastest surface crossing of the North Atlantic. The 65ft, 4,000-horsepower boat had covered 2,973 nautical miles and was 130 miles from the finish when it sank after hitting a submerged object off the Isles of Scilly. All nine crew were rescued by a passing banana boat.”
The Fall Guy stars: 'I'd love to see stunts get an Oscar'
Next up, the unsung heroes of film. Inspired by the new movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, this excellent BBC Newsbeat article by Shaun Dacosta and Riyah Collins features a handful of stunt actors describing their career challenges.
Such is the respect that actors have for their body doubles, that Gosling isn’t alone in calling for stunt performers to have their own category at the Oscars."They dress like us, they do the dangerous things for us. They take the hits for us, they put themselves in harm's way for us."
The beautiful and grotesque honour of cauliflower ear
In the UK we tend to associate cauliflower ear with scrum-happy rugby players, but this ESPN piece focuses on the wrestlers and professional fighters who see the condition as a badge of honour.
I especially enjoyed the theory that, given the now mainstream popularity of tattoos, the only true way to know if someone is a badass is to look at their ears. If they look like they’ve fallen out of a packet of frozen florets, you know not to spill their pint. Written by Ryan Hockensmith, this is a cracking read on that rare band of sportspeople happy to rebel against facial symmetry.
"For combat people cauliflower ear isn't a lifelong injury. It's a sign of a life well led."
The man behind the Masters menu? He’s feeding a hungry world
The winner of The Masters doesn’t simply get to own a snazzy new green jacket and a lifetime pass to the most hallowed course in golf. They also get to knock up their very own dinner menu the following year, laid on for all previous winners. This year’s returning champ, Jon Rahm, opted for a selection of tapas and Basque ribeye steak.
But as much as we’d like to think of the Spaniard turning up in a food-speckled apron and knocking up a storm in the kitchen, the truth is that Rahm enlisted the help of a pro.
This Golf.com feature profiles chef José Andrés, who has not only served up a champions dinner before (for Sergio Garcia following his 2017 Augusta win) but who’s admirable involvement in World Central Kitchen - the non-profit he founded in 2010 that has since served over 46 million meals in Gaza - means that he’s even got the White House on speed dial.
Thiry-One Nil: On the road with football’s outsiders, James Montague
“Such is the paranoia of the regime in the capital Asmara that it is virtually illegal for Eritreans to leave the country. One of the only ways out is to represent Eritrea in sport. Once out, however, Eritreans tend not to return. The entire national team disappeared and claimed asylum in Kenya while at the regional CECAFA Cup in 2009. Thirteen members of Red Sea FC, Eritrea's leading club side, fled four months ago. That was the last time Eritrean footballers were allowed to leave the country. This is the national team's, the Red Sea Boys, first match away from home in two years. Or it will be if they arrive.”
The scoreline in the book title refers to American Samoa’s infamous loss to Australia in 2002 (an interview with the deluged goalkeeper from that match has previously featured in this newsletter), but James Montague’s intrepid adventure covers the travails of more than two dozen unfancied international teams as they bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The journalist, nicknamed football’s Indiana Jones, travels with embattled outsiders from the likes of Palestine, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Haiti, and Eritrea, and he’s not afraid to broach the socio-political challenges involved off the pitch. Many writers might find such topics daunting but in the safe hands of Montague you’ll find a superbly-written and gripping travelogue that introduces readers to some memorable football underdogs and misfits.
Thanks for reading May’s edition of Off-Field. If you enjoyed the read, why not share it with a friend who might enjoy it too. The newsletter is, and always will be, free.
If you’d like to recommend anything for a future edition, give me a shout via alexisnjames@gmail.com. Until next month, three cheers for the also-rans…