Karra Porter’s “Mad Seasons: Th Story of the First Women’s Professional Basketball League, 1978-81″ is an in-depth account of the first women’s basketball league in America. The W.B.L underpaid its players, was unorganized, and only lasted a few years. None of this takes away from the fact that it was a pioneer for professional women’s sports in America, however.

The July 4th semifinal game between Germany and Italy has Bill Littlefield thinking about the justice and beauty of soccer–not diving actors or unfair penalty shootouts. If only every game had this much power…

The Shots Heard Around the World; School de France; Soccer Against the Enemy; The Transplant Games; Charlie Pierce; Kokoyaku: High School Baseball