Author Archive for:

Hymns and Arias – Rugby in Wales

The Left Hook

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“Rugby is a wonderful show: dance, opera and, suddenly, the blood of a killing.” Richard Burton – Welsh actor There’s this old gag. Elvis Presley, James Brown and Tom Jones go fishing together in a small ...

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FINIS: THE WORLD CUP STORY – Part IV

The Left Hook

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The money people, FIFA and the Qatari rulers must have been full of glee after the final on Sunday. It was indeed an exciting match. All of the hype played itself out, the major superstars, Lionel ...

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For The Shoeless- The World Cup Diary (Volume 3)

The Left Hook

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(Written on Saturday night, December 10, 2022) In the rarified upper atmosphere of professional international football, Morocco’s successful march to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals is a welcome break from the usual script. What is even ...

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World Cup Chapter Two – The Football Saga Continues

The Left Hook

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(This was written on Saturday night, November 26. Tonight’s results might paint a different canvas, but I am not very good at the prediction business. This is about what has happened so far.) Well, towards the ...

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Kick off

The Left Hook

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For football (soccer) fans, the big moment is upon us, the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Hard Crackers is on the beat, and there should be tons of raw material to write about. Are you ...

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A Few Thoughts on the Euro 2020/2021 Football Contest

The Left Hook

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It’s been a bit of a lifesaver, telly wise.  The alternatives, mostly bad news, have been Biden’s bipartisan and useless or harmful this and that, and a collapsed building in Florida…and rotten weather, never rule that ...

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The Forward Pass – An International Recollection on Professional Sport Protest from the Bottom Up

The Left Hook

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The national insurgency against police brutality and murders has finally infiltrated the elevated ether of professional sports in America, quite spectacularly too.  It is both surprising and not so at the same time.  I want to ...

Did Bernie Sanders Go Through This?

The Left Hook

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Heads up on my day.  I just got home and my phone has run out of juice.  It took about two hours and twenty minutes, courtesy of the car service, local Sheepshead Bay Russians, but that’s ...

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UPDATE ON THE 2019 CRICKET WORLD CUP (as of June 15, 2019)

The Left Hook

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You won’t see anything about this in the NY Times, so I am taking responsibility for giving you yesterday’s news today or is it tomorrow’s news yesterday.  This is all about the Cricket World Cup, currently ...

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Italian Auto Workers Demand Red Card

The Left Hook

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The mega-rich Italian Agnelli family has bulging coffers.  They own the Fiat Chrysler Corporation, Ferrari, and have a controlling interest in Turin’s Juventus football team, one of the premier clubs in Europe.  The Agnellis aren’t exactly ...