Posts by
Alex Bennett
Articles & features
Latest Articles
The Shelf
Books Covered
Book
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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Book
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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Book
EXTRAordinary! A Little EXTRA to Reach BIG Dreams
Caitlin Clark’s debut picture book celebrates family, friendship and teammates, with illustrations by Adriana Predoi. Published November 3, 2026, for ages 4–8.
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Book
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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Book
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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Book
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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Movies Covered
Movie
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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Movie
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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Movie
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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Movie
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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Movie
Movie
The Shelf
TV Series Covered
TV Series
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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TV Series
The Dynasty: New England Patriots
The Dynasty: New England Patriots examines a successful organisation through three people who could each make a substantial claim on its achievements. Tom Brady,…
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TV Series
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers begins by reversing the old underdog story. The Ducks have become the team that decides a child is not…
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TV Series
Last Chance U: Basketball
Last Chance U: Basketball follows players for whom a roster place is also a chance to revise an interrupted future. At East Los Angeles…
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TV Series
TV Series
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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Music Covered
Music
Green and Yellow by Lil Wayne
A closer look at the american football reference in Green and Yellow by Lil Wayne, including its meaning, context and connection to sports culture.
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Music
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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Music
LeBron James by Yo Gotti
Yo Gotti's LeBron James, released on I Am in November 2013, is a status boast rather than a biography of the Heat star. Its…
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Music
Michael Jordan by Kendrick Lamar feat. ScHoolboy Q
What the sports reference in Michael Jordan by Kendrick Lamar feat. ScHoolboy Q means and why it matters in sports culture.
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Music
Basketball by Kurtis Blow
A closer look at the basketball reference in Basketball by Kurtis Blow, including its meaning, context and connection to sports culture.
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Music
Magic Johnson by Red Hot Chili Peppers
A closer look at the basketball reference in Magic Johnson by Red Hot Chili Peppers, including its meaning, context and connection to sports culture.
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