That Giant Sucking Sound from Edmonton

3 Big Soccer Transfers We’re Predicting To Happen In Spite Of COVID-19

With the leagues halted and crowds dispersed, our soccer itch can only be scratched by one thing: transfer talk. Some would argue coronavirus has left teams too reserved to splash the cash. But some players are just too talented to miss out on. Here are three major transfers about to happen, in spite of Covid-19. Timo Werner With Bundesliga resuming amidst the pandemic, it’s clear Timo Werner’s final days at RB Leipzig will be behind closed doors. The 24-year-old German international is a consummate goal-getter with lightning-quick pace: scoring 88 goals in 123 appearances. And his surprisingly low £52 million […]

Midcourt, Tenfold, Bodexpress Joins the List For Reserved Runners in ‘20 Pegasus

The horse racing events continue to grow more prominent this year as the Pegasus World Cup is about to start, a perfect opening salvo for 2020.

Boxing Could Face Future Olympics Knockout Blow

The Olympic Games have long been regarded as the highest standard in the sport of amateur boxing, with fighters from all over the world battling through years of hard work to just make it to the tournament that only rolls around every four years.

Olympic post-mortem

Personally, less viewing was more fun. It was a shame though, to see "home-cooking" in the Men's 500m short-track race, where a Canadian judge made a marginal call to disqualify my countryman and elevate his onto the podium. If that's what "own the podium" means, the podium's not worth owning. So I'll join England's temporarily pro-American Simon Barnes in sending a somewhat sardonic "Well done, Canada" to our neighbors up North. But why wasn't there an English judge available? Here at TSE in the past few weeks, we've been riffing on the psychological impact of athletic competition. At the Montreal […]

Internalizing Fan Externalities

The out-of-control fan problem has concerned me for quite a while. Taking two teenage daughters along to many sporting events is about the equivalent of taking them to a frat party -- I can't tell who is more uptight, them or me. The recent venture to the USC-Ohio State game serves as Exhibit A. Recent articles, one in the WSJ (sub required) and one the the LA Times, discuss attempts by the Philadelphia Eagles and LA Dodgers to reduce the negative externalities, including violence, imposed on other fans by the unruly ones. Around both college and pro sports, many measures […]

Competing for basketball and football players

In its written response to a Congressional inquiry over its tax-exempt status, the NCAA reveals that it spends more than twice as much per male basketball student-athlete in Division I ($158,000) than it does for a football student-athlete ($75,000). Is it possible that the larger size of football teams accounts for all of this, or is something else going on? Certainly scale economies play a role. Separate locker rooms and training facilities exist, but costs are spread over more players in football, even though more space is needed for the latter. Average cost of transportation probably also declines with team […]