With a lackluster NBA playoffs, I find myself thrown back on my memories. A Fairchild poem understands how I feel.
The thuggish way that the Chicago Bulls ended the Miami Heat’s streak recall Oliver Wendell Holmes’s “harpies of the shore.”
An old Taoist poem may capture some of the seemingly effortless transcendence of the greatest athletes.
Between the motion and the act of my tennis game falls the shadow. Translation: too much thinking.
Posted in Eliot (T.S.), Robinson (Edward Arlington), Shakespeare (William) | Also tagged "Hollow Men", "Minniver Cheevy", E. A. Robinson, Hamlet, Marshall McLuhan, T. S. Eliot, tennis, William Gladwell, William Shakespeare |
Michael Harper’s “Makin’ Jump Shots” has echoes of escape from slavery.
Edward Hirsch’s “Fast Break” captures the seamless beauty of a perfect fast break.
Lebron James is to opponents as the gods are to King Lear.
The Harbaughs’ Super Bowl Rivalry brings to mind the sibling rivalry in Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.”
Belichick and Saban resemble Jean Cocteau’s “Infernal Machine” and Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit.
In 2010 Carol Ann Duffy compared Beckham to Achilles after he went down with an injury to his Achilles tendon.
RGIII, Russell Wilson, and Andrew Luck are escape artists in the mode of Mac the Knife.
Posted in Gay (John), Harris (Joel Chandler), Homer, St. Vincent Millay (Edna) | Also tagged "I burn my candle at both ends", Andrew Luck, Beggar's Opera, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Football, Homer, Joel Chandler Harris, John Gay, NFL, Odyssey, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson |
In Alan Sillitoe’s vision, running can put us in touch with our inner pain.
Boxer Orlando Cruz has just come out, bringing to mind Shakespeare’s hyper-masculine gay characters.
The San Francisco Giants would make their 1960′s forebears proud.
Seeing “the Captain” Derek Jeter break his ankle conjures up Whitman’s “captain” poem.
One our ideal, Lance Armstrong has proved to be more like Kurtz in “Heart of Darkness.”
In this topsy-turrvy baseball season, as in Midsummer Night’s Dream, all things are possible and the Baltimore Orioles are a game out of first.
Andy Murray and Serena Williams were warriors as they won the U.S. Open, bringing to mind poems by Robert Burns and Tony Hoagland.
Peyton Manning and Roger Federer, in the twilight of their careers, bring to mind Tennyson’s Ulysses.
The strange case of Stephen Strasburg–missing the playoffs if he exceeds his innings pitched limit–has parallels with the Balzac novel “The Magic Skin.”
Caleb Gardner’s subtle but poignant tennis poem is about more than tennis.
In protest against laboring children, Scott Bates imagines the letter “L” going on strike.
Like Shakespeare’s Puck, Usain Bolt toys with his opponents.
Beowulf engages in a swimming contest of Olympian dimensions.
The opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics were rich in literary allusions.
Posted in Barrie (J. M.), Blake (William), Shakespeare (William) | Also tagged "Jerusalem", Children's literature, James Barrie, Olympics, Peter Pan, Richard II, Tempest, William Blake, William Shakespeare |
David Foster Wallace’s ode to Roger Federer comes the closest to capturing his beautiful game.
In the immortal words of Muhammad Ali, Roger Federer floated like a butterfly, stung like a bee as he won his 7th Wimbledon title yesterday.
Posted in Ali (Muhammad), Pope (Alexander), Shakespeare (William), Tolkien (J.R.R.) | Also tagged Alexander Pope, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Muhammad Ali, Rape of the Lock, Roger Federer, Tempest, tennis, William Shakespeare, Wimbledon |
