I believe that as I grew up through adolescence, this capacity to run without pain or discomfort became part of me, and it found its expression in running in cross country races, running with friends, for the sheer enjoyment running across the countryside. Running, not walking, and, eventually this became a track event with more and more people watching and people concerned with stopwatches. | | | | Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier on May 6, 1954.
(Norman Potter/Central Press/Getty Images) | | | | | | “I believe that as I grew up through adolescence, this capacity to run without pain or discomfort became part of me, and it found its expression in running in cross country races, running with friends, for the sheer enjoyment running across the countryside. Running, not walking, and, eventually this became a track event with more and more people watching and people concerned with stopwatches.”
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| | rantnrave:// Fifty-three years ago Saturday, ROGER BANNISTER ran a 3:59.4 mile. It was one of the great sporting accomplishments of modern times. Many have run faster miles since, but in breaking the four-minute barrier, Bannister achieved a feat that some thought wasn't physically possible. JORDAN and ALI and RUTH, et al., were great athletes, the best in their sport. They transcended sports. Bannister transcended something else: the limits of the human body. In a display of perfect timing, Saturday could bring us another running marvel. NIKE's push for a sub-two-hour marathon continues that day in ITALY with three runners trying to accomplish that magical feat -- or at least come close. ELIUD KIPCHOGE's agent promised he'll run under 2:01, which would obliterate the world record of 2:02:57. The quest to break two hours doesn't have the same allure as the Bannister's feat. This is as much a brand push and marketing campaign by Nike as it is sport, but it's still cool. Strip away the publicity aspect and just think of what could happen. I won't buy a new pair of Nike running shoes if Kipchoge actually does it (NEW BALANCE, probably) but his feat wouldn't be any less spectacular. All runners, after all, are trying to push their own bodies past their limits, too.... What BILL GATES learned from playing tennis with ROGER FEDERER... Goodbye, SPORTS REPORTERS. The show was an early forerunner of today's sports debate culture. The debut episode starred, among others, JACKIE MACMULLAN and RALPH WILEY, but DICK SCHAAP soon became the face and host of the program. The final show will air Sunday and JEREMY SCHAAP shared his memories of a life growing up with the show... LONZO BALL debuted his first shoe Thursday and the reviews for the ZO2:PRIME are positive so far. But design will be only part of the issue for his family's BIG BALLER BRAND. The Balls can make shoes but can they market them, get them to stores and scale? The first shoe retails for $495. Will anyone pay that much for a signature shoe for a player who might not go No. 1 in the NBA DRAFT and isn't attached to a big shoe company? I hope the Balls succeed -- anyone bucking the system deserves some applause -- but the shoe game is difficult for athletes. Maybe there's a reason the STARBURYs haven't been duplicated. | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
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| There will be too much senseless heartbreak in this story, so let’s open with the joy the cyclist surely felt in the last hour of his life. It was two days after Christmas in 2014. The cyclist had spent the early part of the day with his family -- his wife, Rachel, and his children, Sadie and Sam, 6 and 4 at the time -- and his wife urged him to go for a ride. | | |
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| Kyle Schwarber's rise to stardom, return from catastrophic injury and emergence as a team leader can all be traced back to a scout who Schwarber swears to play for every day. | | |
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| “It is not worth it at all. I should have stayed quiet.” | | |
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| High school wrestlers don't have to wear singlets anymore and that's a good thing. | | |
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| The media's new heroes are cowboys. No, not the NFL team. But the real-life cowboys of Professional Bull Riders (PBR). | | |
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| Based on new ESL rules, banned player KQLY is allowed to compete again in some tournaments. | | |
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| People/EW will also expand its video offerings. | | |
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| t’s true that Last Vegas loves a big, juicy risk--it’s in the DNA of the town. But is a pro hockey expansion team a leap too far? Jason Gay talks to the marketing man trying to sell the NHL’s big bet on Sin City. | | |
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| After some F.C. Porto ultras joined a lower-division team in Portugal, opponents -- citing on-field violence and off-field threats -- boycotted it. | | |
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| Lesser quarterbacks have gotten contracts while the controversial former 49er waits. | | |
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| For the first time in 40 years, the Wizards have a core the city can proudly rally behind. | | |
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| Bill Gates shares what it’s like to team up with Roger Federer on the tennis court. | | |
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| The amateur boxer is breaking new ground, one punch at a time. | | |
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| Today's cheerleading uniform prizes athletics -- and glam. | | |
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| A look inside Leonard Fournette's NFL Draft Day, from LSU star running back to Jacksonville Jaguars rookie. | | |
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| Oklahoma State had two big positions that could derail its playoff hopes. Like many other schools, it hit college football's free-agent market where grad transfers are reshaping college football. | | |
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| Saturday's (May 6) Kentucky Derby offers a unique opportunity to remember -- and freshly appreciate -- what might be the greatest losing effort in the history of a race that stretches back to 1875. | | |
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| The A’s starting rotation is stocked with impressive young arms, and Stephen Vogt is tasked with ushering them toward their potential. | | |
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| In praise of N’Golo Kanté. | | |
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| Walking across the stage in Philadelphia was not his style. Garrett spent draft day in his Texas hometown with family, best friends, old coaches, a couple of NFL legends and Guitar Hero. Then he got the call from Cleveland that he’d been waiting for. | | |
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