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Posts by

Alex Bennett

Articles & features

Latest Articles

The Shelf

Books Covered

Season of Life Book
Non-Fiction

Season of Life

Season of Life follows a football programme that asks a different question of its players: what kind of people are they becoming? Jeffrey Marx…

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Playing the Enemy Book
Non-Fiction

Playing the Enemy

Playing the Enemy examines a rugby tournament as an opportunity for political imagination. John Carlin follows Nelson Mandela's effort to make the Springboks part…

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The Sports Gene Book
Non-Fiction

The Sports Gene

The Sports Gene challenges the easy choice between calling an athlete naturally gifted and crediting everything to practice. David Epstein investigates how inherited characteristics,…

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The Inner Game of Tennis Book
Non-Fiction

The Inner Game of Tennis

The Inner Game of Tennis starts with a familiar contradiction: a player can know what a good stroke should look like and still interfere…

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A Life Well Played Book
Biography

A Life Well Played

A Life Well Played presents Arnold Palmer through the stories he chooses to pass on about golf and the life around it. The book's…

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The Shelf

Movies Covered

Next Goal Wins Movie
Documentary

Next Goal Wins

Next Goal Wins finds its sporting stakes in a team that has become famous for losing. American Samoa's players do not need to resemble…

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The Way Back Movie
Drama

The Way Back

The Way Back follows a former basketball standout whose return to the gym does not erase the life waiting outside it. Jack Cunningham can…

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Breaking Away Movie
Comedy

Breaking Away

Breaking Away gives a young cyclist an unusual way to escape his surroundings: Dave imagines himself Italian. His devotion to European racing is funny,…

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Bull Durham Movie
Comedy

Bull Durham

Bull Durham understands the peculiar cruelty of a development team: the person who knows the most may have the least future. Crash Davis can…

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Slap Shot Movie
Comedy

Slap Shot

Slap Shot finds its hockey story in a town that cannot count on keeping either its jobs or its team. The Charlestown Chiefs discover…

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Eddie Movie
Comedy

Eddie

Eddie turns a loud basketball fan's confidence into an unexpected professional test. Once Edwina Franklin moves from the stands to the New York Knicks…

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The Shelf

TV Series Covered

Break Point TV Series
Documentary

Break Point

Break Point approaches professional tennis through players trying to make their place in a sport with very little room at the top. Its strongest…

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Shoresy TV Series
Comedy

Shoresy

Shoresy turns a fiercely competitive hockey personality into the centre of an ensemble comedy about a team that needs more than confidence to become…

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Welcome to Wrexham TV Series
Documentary

Welcome to Wrexham

Welcome to Wrexham begins with an improbable ownership story and becomes more interesting when the club's supporters enter the frame. Ryan Reynolds and Rob…

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The Shelf

Music Covered

6 Man by Drake Music
Hip-Hop

6 Man by Drake

A closer look at the basketball reference in 6 Man by Drake, including its meaning, context and connection to sports culture.

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