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More Than Mind Games

The 1929 FA Cup Final, With Sound

We have 11 minutes left of a film of the 1929 FA Cup final between Bolton and Portsmouth — enough time for a skilled film reader to see echoes of 1860s and 1870s long dribbling amidst the effects of the 1925 offside law; the near mythic Sir Charles Clegg chaperoning the Prince of Wales; the “almighty preponderance of [spectator] trilbies…[in] a supposedly flat-capped sport”; and thousands of rattles, a kinder, gentler kind of vuvuzela. (James Hamilton/More Than Mind Games)

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England and the Curse of Agincourt

Agincourt: The defining myth of England and its military triumphs…and the downfall of its football. What won at Agincourt or the Battle of Britain or against Greece in 2002 wasn’t heroism — it was superior firepower, strategy and Beckham’s dead-ball technique. The loss against Germany was England “once again framing the match in terms of heroics and last-ditches and a hundred clichés” and Terry and Gerrard out of position, trying to be heroes, as Germany flooded into the breach they left. (Paul Carpenter/It’s a Family Thing; HT: More Than Mind Games)

Well Struck: Deceptive Correlations, Card Waving and a Ball Tom Friedman Would Love

Did England’s early World Cup exit boost English tourism? Did the Jabulani make shots less accurate? Can a soccer ball boost business productivity? Click the headline for some great…click-throughs.

A Manifesto for Scottish Football

Once unbeaten in World Cup ’74, Scottish football is now “crap…run by a cabal of incompetent plonkers…crippled by vested interests…dying.” What would it take for Scotland to rise again? Bloggers including Rob Marrs, James Hamilton and The Scottish Football Blog are assembling a Bloggers’ Manifesto to revitalize the sport in that country…which might include comic strips, televised skills competitions, and more all-weather facilities per youth head than any other nation. (James Hamilton/More Than Mind Games)

Read of the Day: How Football Became British

How did football become a British national institution? At a time of explosive population growth at the turn of the 20th century, the football craze gave rootless Brits migrating to newly invented urban areas “a way to say ‘we are here, and this is us’” — not to mention a model for mass peaceable assemblage. It’s a moment of spontaneous local collective identity that will probably never come again for the sport. (James Hamilton/More Than Mind Games)

Reads of the Day: Somebody Got Hurt Sunday

Somebody Got Hurt Sunday: The best on Achilles’ rupture: Paul Hayward/Guardian; Ian Chadban/Telegraph; James Hamilton/More Than Mind Games; Matthew Syed/The Times…plus a golden oldie by Barney Ronay/When Saturday Comes.

Read of the Day: What Good are Soccer Books?

Long games with interruptions — baseball, cricket, golf — generate literature far more readily than does soccer. Is there something about football that resists long-form writing? Can football only explain so much? (James Hamilton/More Than Mind Games)