ISSUE #79 - August 2nd, 2019

ONE

NOSTALGIA - The National Sports Collectors Convention, AKA, the Great Gathering of Sports Dorks (of which I am a member) is happening this week in Chicago. I went for work a few years ago and it was mostly fun. The Lowlight: I couldn't get a vendor to sell me this Robert Parish signed SI issue for $15 when he had it listed for $20.*  The Highlight: I got to spend a significant amount of time next to Dr. J at his booth while he did his signing. We chatted a little between his small talk with fans and I got this cool photo of him signing a jersey. It was an awesome afternoon and whenever I think of him I pull up this Top 10 Dr. J Highlights Video on YouTube... Numbers 2 & 3 are my favorite.  *Bargaining is par for the course at the NSSC and I found the Parish cover in a box of about 200 other magazines that had all been sitting there for years not selling. I calculated the odds of someone from Boston actually being at the NSSC, finding this small booth and then sifting through the box to find the Parish issue and out of principle, there was no way I was paying $20 for it when it was worth $0 unsold. I offered $15. He said no. I walked. Sorry, Chief (get it?).

TWO

 BOOKS - Last year I recommended David Epsteins' fantastic book, The Sports Gene, here in the FF5 and many of you wrote me that you got it and enjoyed it also. One of the cool parts about this e-mail is that publishers and PR people often hit me up to send me books to potentially review or recommend. (Was that a flex on behalf of the growing power of the FF5? Yes, yes it was. Ha.)  I turn down at least 75% of the offers for review copies and of the ones I receive, I choose very few to write about. That being said, when Epstein's publisher reached out to send me a copy of his new book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, I jumped at the chance to get it because Epstein is one of the very best writers/researchers we have and I planned on buying it anyway. And it's no surprise that this book is thought-provoking and brilliant. From comparing the upbringings of Tiger Wood and Roger Federer to a guy hell bent on raising chess masters to understanding 'the outsider advantage' and 'lateral thinking', this book is outstanding. You'll start to reassess how/why you do what you do by about page 20. Check it out here.

THREE

MOVIES - Sometimes films are unforgettable because of one line or one scene or one outstanding plot twist or performance. Other times, a film sticks with you because of an overall feel that lingers in your brain long after you stop watching. Brawl in Cell Block 99 is that kind of movie and the feel is grit and brutality and violence and...simplicity.  To be clear, this movie is not for everyone. It mainly involves a hard ass / smart ass Vince Vaughn unleashing his measured wrath on people in increasingly raw, powerful and sometimes comically grotesque ways...so, yeah, it's a good time. But it's also a good movie that unwinds slowly and painfully for Vaughn's character. It's almost like a video game, with Vaughn having to level-up (more violence, more rage) every few scenes to get where he's going. Here's the trailer. It is available on Amazon Prime now.

FOUR

PHOTOGRAPHY - A long time ago I started taking pictures of basketball hoops I came across in random and unexpected places. I always wonder... Who put it up? How long ago? Who played there? Who plays now? Who was the best ever here? I think they’re cool and this week I posted a picture of one that popped up next to a parking lot near a bank.  And since we live in a connected world, people immediately made me aware of an Instagram account from a photographer called 'Shooting Hoops', which I instantly loved because of the double entendre and also the really cool photos of basketball hoops from all over the world like this one.

FIVE

A DEEP QUOTE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY

"“The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.”  – Andy Warhol  (Not sure this applies to pictures of basketball hoops, but I like the quote anyway.)