The NBA’s French Connection
I’ve been terribly remiss about updates over the past few weeks winding down a project, but wanted to post this fascinating examination by Yann Casseville of Basket Le Mag of the NBA’s deep roots, which I helped contribute a few ideas to.
Women’s World Cup Countdown
We’re finally here, one week before the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off in France. And all eyes are on Les Bleues to see if they can continue the magical journey begun last summer by their male counterparts in Russia.
Looking Good: The FFF Turns 100
Bonne anniversaire to the French Football Federation (FFF) – it’s certainly looking good for a centenarian!
Sports Diplomacy Part 2
What happens when you bring global perspectives to two angles of the sports and diplomacy nexus?
The Grande Dame of Hoops Courts
Celebrating 125 years of basketball in the rue de Trévise, the world’s oldest original hoops court.
Sport Diplomacy + Digital Diplomacy: Part I
A brief rundown of “Sports Diplomacy: A Vision for the Future” confab on what happens when the sports diplomacy world collides with the digital diplomacy one.
Global Hoops: Superpower and Growing Superstar?
What happens when hoops goes global—and why was the First World War such a major accelerator for this global game?
Conjuring good fortune on West African pitches is more complex than mere superstition
When soccer news from outside of Europe penetrates the global consciousness, it is often some outlandish item, a curiosity of the can-you-believe-it variety. Two of the more famous incidents to come from West Africa since the turn of the millenium include the February 2002 arrest of Cameroon head coach Winfried Schafer at the Africa Cup of Nations for allegedly planting an amulet on the field and, in the summer of that year, the wild ride of Senegal’s team at the World Cup, where their success was rumored to be aided by the country’s marabouts, which are similar to shamans.