“Mailer possesses the lyrical range and dexterity to put himself into the mind and body of a boxer and describe every aspect of the pugilistic art.” —Jeffery Renard Allen on The Fight www.thebeliever.net/sportive-rea...

“He had his wild strategic theories, but all of them allowed the players to play a loose, pass-heavy, joyful brand of basketball. Off the court, he had a style all his own.” —Joeseph Bien-Kahn’s profile of NBA Hall of Fame coach Don “Nellie” Nelson www.thebeliever.net/island-time/

“An almost-three-hour-long football soap opera on visual steroids? A garish melodrama about power, commerce, and exploitation? The form matches the content.” —from Beatrice Loayza’s Resurrector column on Any Given Sunday www.thebeliever.net/resurrector-...

“This is a sport that is about nation in a way that American sports are not and can never be.” —from Chris Almeida’s essay on the colonial roots of cricket in India www.thebeliever.net/an-avoidable...

“There is more awareness of the fact that women are beasts when it comes to marathons and ultra-experiences.” —open-water swimmer Amy Appelhans Gubser, interviewed by Bonnie Tsui www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

"I understood, the very first time I saw the painting, that wherever there was space, a ball, a hoop, and one human, there was the possibility of a miracle made possible by human ritual." —Kiese Laymon for @thebeliever.net

“People bring their kids to COPA to connect them with home while also exposing them to a sort of Silicon Valley engineering marvel that can happen only here.” —Chris Feliciano Arnold on a tech-forward elite soccer training facility www.thebeliever.net/bola-cheia/

“Michelle leans her head back and looks up toward the rafters. The best figure skaters and dancers are all actors, yes, yet I couldn’t help but read this as an unadulterated gesture of praise for the divine.” —Belinda Huijuan Tang on Kwan’s 2002 performance www.thebeliever.net/annotating-m...

“Recently I decided to find out in practical terms how a mountain is made. How the illusion is maintained and the sublime is simulated.” —from “How to Snow a Mountain,” by @elvia-wilk.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/how-to-snow-...

With help from a few friends, Kiese Laymon offers an aesthetic analysis of a fateful shot taken by Steph Curry in the 2024 Paris Olympics. www.thebeliever.net/the-worst-sh...

“I’ve never met one crazy tennis player. Well. Maybe one or two.” —professional tennis racket stringer Roman Prokes www.thebeliever.net/a-microinter...

Have you read our sports-themed special issue yet? Take a look at what else is inside. www.thebeliever.net/product/wint...

“In a way, life is sports—it’s something you are good at for a while, and then you plateau, and then you get worse.” —from Elisa Gabbert’s review of Rabbit Run by John Updike www.thebeliever.net/sportive-rea...

“Contemplating all that you don’t control is good for you.” —Thomas McGuane, interviewed by Mattie C. Govan www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“Rural Montana is not a sympathetic atmosphere for an artist. The assumption is that anybody who is indoors for any reason is a layabout.” —Thomas McGuane, interviewed by Mattie C. Govan www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“Shared fandom is a means of warding off cynicism; it requires us to be receptive, which in turn makes us more aware and compassionate.” —from Carrie Browstein’s latest advice column www.thebeliever.net/ask-carrie-w...

“[Oliver] Stone, who plays one of the film’s TV announcers, has said he is a football fan, which doesn’t stop him from launching one of the earliest—and still most searing—critiques of the industry.” —from Beatrice Loayza’s Resurrector column on Any Given Sunday www.thebeliever.net/resurrector-...

“Cricket is not a pastime in India. It sits above all other sports, all other entertainment, perhaps above everything.” —from “An Avoidable Incident,” an essay by @chrisalmeida.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/an-avoidable...

“I can know the sharks are there, but it’s not in the forefront of my brain.” —open-water swimmer Amy Appelhans Gubser, interviewed by Bonnie Tsui www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“A goal is a magical concoction of aim and force and luck. Like a life.” —from “Bola Cheia,” an essay by Chris Feliciano Arnold www.thebeliever.net/bola-cheia/

“Snowfall has never been regular, and it’s becoming less dependable every year. If you want a perfect winter, you have to make one.” —from “How to Snow a Mountain,” by @elvia-wilk.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/how-to-snow-...

“Indian Horse embodies the core paradox of sports: They have the ability to free us from daily concerns, but also reflect the unjust societies that have forged them.” —E. Y. Zhao on Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese www.thebeliever.net/sportive-rea...

“I look at reading season and writing season in the same way I would look at preseason, postseason, and season.” —Marcus Burke, interviewed by @jennitaur.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/no-one-gave-...

“Football is pretty much a perfect sport.” — @minakimes.bsky.social, interviewed by Sarah Enni www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“COPA is the most American way possible to train your kid to play soccer.” —Chris Feliciano Arnold on an elite soccer training facility www.thebeliever.net/bola-cheia/

“I am thankful for Steph Curry’s art practice. I am even more thankful for friends who can be moved by the sensual, serious work of witnessing the worst shot taken in the history of basketball.” —from “The Worst Shot Ever Taken” by Kiese Laymon www.thebeliever.net/the-worst-sh...

Need a last minute gift? Believer subscriptions are marked down and at your service! store.mcsweeneys.net/t/categories...

“The sublime is manufactured, which, to me, makes it even more sublime. I’m fascinated by just how unnatural that pristine nature is.” —from “How to Snow a Mountain,” by @elvia-wilk.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/how-to-snow-...

“Commodity traders sometimes ship metals and fuels across oceans to exploit price differences between markets. The same thing is happening with soccer players.” —from “Ferryman of Dreams” by Paul Collins and Andrew Nelson www.thebeliever.net/ferryman-of-...

“Learning to progress through something that involves observation and skill, while acknowledging luck, is key to this mysterious enterprise.” —Thomas McGuane on fishing; interviewed by Mattie Govan www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“Ultimate is the only sport whose name is an adjective, and it is a child’s game I’ve been playing competitively for the last several decades of my life.” —from Will McGrath’s latest Department essay www.thebeliever.net/event-the-us...

“What I think of as my mind is but one kind of subroutine in a much greater symphony of things that are going on cognitively, metabolically, and, man, I feel like running makes that so clear.” —Alexis Madrigal, interviewed by @jennitaur.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/no-one-gave-...

“My dad always wanted me to be the worst on every team, because that was my way of knowing I had to get better” —Natalie Nakase, interviewed by Alan Chazaro www.thebeliever.net/a-short-inte...

Really enoyed reading this @thebeliever.net interview with @minakimes.bsky.social, one of the smartest voices (and best senses of humor) in sports today.

“Live in the moment where disbelief hasn’t yet turned to praise, then let it fly.” —from “The Worst Shot Ever Taken” by Kiese Laymon www.thebeliever.net/the-worst-sh...

“The legacy of empire is a constant presence on the cricket pitch.” —from “An Avoidable Incident,” an essay by Chris Almeida www.thebeliever.net/an-avoidable...

“Sports fandom seizes upon our religious instincts, and demands a cocktail of faith and devotion.” —from @bealoayza.bsky.social’s Resurrector column on Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday www.thebeliever.net/resurrector-...

I enrolled my son in a state of the art soccer training center for all the wrong reasons. You can read about it in the new Sports Issue of @thebeliever.net. www.thebeliever.net/bola-cheia/

“My friend summed it up: ‘The worst people catch the best fish.’” —Thomas McGuane, interviewed by Mattie C. Govan www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“People are just much more capable of bridging differences when they’re both wearing Bears hats at a bar.” — @minakimes.bsky.social, interviewed by @sarahenni.bsky.social www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“Steph Curry’s Olympic shot… is undeniably the worst shot I have ever seen taken. It just happened to be taken by... one of the greatest artists in the history of earth.” —from “The Worst Shot Ever Taken” by Kiese Laymon www.thebeliever.net/the-worst-sh...

Enjoyed being interviewed by @sarahenni.bsky.social for @thebeliever.net about a wide variety of things, including my odd little career path, sports television, the NFL, etc Check it out here www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

Our first-ever Sports Issue kicks off today! Check this thread for the play-by-play on what to expect. www.thebeliever.net/product/wint...

“…a man Has knocked on my windshield, Assuming I’m stuck and asks To enter my car. He starts it As if he freed the key And looks at me And says I’m a car thief.” —from “Computer Assembly Plant,” a poem by Prince Bush www.thebeliever.net/computer-ass...

This week's Advent Sale deal: Take 5% off your order for every $25 you spend (for a maximum discount of 45%). Time to load up for the whole family. store.mcsweeneys.net

"This other thing that happens as this star is bursting and dying is there are these other colors that are in this record that I am so proud of. It’s like I’d been away on a long voyage and came home." —Rickie Lee Jones www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

“The world is a better place because of Afrobeats. It’s feel-good music. It’s a vibe.” —Victor Oladipo, interviewed by Alan Chazaro www.thebeliever.net/a-microinter...

Read the final installment of Rafael Frumkin's column on products created by cults, MLMs, and fringe groups. In this edition: Hunger of the Pine by Teal Swan. www.thebeliever.net/high-control...

"I had been fed mostly platitudes about race in America and I was hungry for real talk, so I was drawn to Malan’s impatience with empty gestures and his intolerance of pious pronouncements." —Eula Biss in "Love and Murder in South Africa" www.thebeliever.net/love-and-mur...

"A lot of fiction is trying to hide something... With autobiography, it’s like showing the paint strokes. At some point, you can’t hide." —Gabrielle Bell, interviewed by Tahneer Oksman www.thebeliever.net/logger/an-in...