I don’t follow spectator sports, but I wouldn’t mind getting the rundown before major events such as the Super Bowl, World Series, Olympics etc.
Are there any websites or publications devoted to those who consider spectator sports a chore at best?
www.cnnsi.com is probably the best one.
Ouch.
I often find that non-sports publications can have fascinating articles on random sports I’m not interested in, as they usually go at it from an unusual angle. I’m blanking on any citable examples, but I do remember reading a political commentator’s take on various Olympic events and being enthralled.
The Economist Magazine used to have a section on sports, which I would read. No longer: I suspect that they ran out of obscure pastimes to write about.
Sports Illustrated: Ah, but that’s too much information. Recall that I don’t care about any of this: I just want to be able to fake it. (Thnx anyway though – it’s an obligatory link.)
I once heard of a newsletter for the wives of sports fanatics, but I can’t seem to place the name…
For magazines, these are the big 3 (that cover all sports):
ESPN
SI
Sporting News
And thats how I rank them, from worst to best. ESPN is like the kid section of USA Today. Lots of graphics and silly type, little substance. Almost half style half sports. SI is better. It basically wrote the bible on sporting magazines. They have a good mix between news stories and ‘cover’/human interest/feature stories. My favorite has been Sporting News. Somewhat because of their indepth baseball coverage, but mostly for their great writing.
If you just want something to read, I would try your local paper. I don’t know where you’re located, but I am lucky enough to have the Washington Post as our local rag. It has a very good sports section. It covers both local and national teams, as well as collegiate and high school level sports. Sprinkled in is international and and non-mainstream sports (skiing, horse racing, etc).
For someone who just wants to keep up in water cooler conversations, I would recommend checking out a daily newspaper. It has a wide range of coverage and is much less intimidating than a 80 page glossy magazine.
The online newsmagazine Slate has sports stories pitched at the level of someone who doesn’t follow sports daily.
I just do a quick readthrough of a daily paper sports section. The stories are usually brief and, unless the home town team is involved, pretty generic.