Episodes

Sports gambling addiction has become an epidemic in North America, and is showing no signs of stopping its growth. In this episode of Sports Literati, we lament the prominence of gambling in today’s sports landscape and the way our favorite sports have changed. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

In this episode, the Sports Literati discuss the simple-titled book, Football, by Chuck Klosterman. The discussion then turns to the differences between the NFL and the CFL as well as to rugby, eventually veering to the intricacies of American culture in general. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

It’s time for another episode of Sports Literati, this time on Sean Pronger’s book, Journeyman, which goes over his career in the National Hockey League as a “guy on the fourth line,” one of those players that constantly needs to prove himself in order to stay on the team. The Sports Literati reflect on his relationship with his brother, a more successful NHL player, and the wit Pronger displays on the page. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

In this week’s episode, the Sports Literati mourn last year’s devastating Blue Jays World Series loss while they discuss Joe Posnanski’s book on the history of baseball. They also discuss whether they could write their own “50 Moments” book — on college basketball or American football. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

This week, the Sports Literati take a look at one of the books that originated Dave’s obsession with sports books — A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein. This classic in the sports genre deals with Bob Knight’s leadership of Indiana’s college basketball team, his short temper, and his successes as well as his failures. Check out Dave’s Substack for more! https://davidmhsu.substack.com/

The Sports Literati convene to discuss Premiership soccer through Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg's book about the history of the economics of the Premiership. They take a look at the business of premiere league football and how English soccer transformed itself in the early 90s from the unruly days of English hooliganism to one of the most polished, dominant leagues in all of sports. Music: Sergei Rachmanioff Prelude in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 32 performed by Justina Sam.

This week, in a special collaboration with Medhum.org, The Sports Literati sit down and discuss The Tennis Partner, a masterpiece of medical humanities that just happened to be a sports book!

This month, the Sports Literati convene to discuss Arnold Schwarzneggar's classic sports memoir about his early days as a bodybuilder and his quest to go from Mr. Universe to Hollywood.

This month, the Sports Literati sit down to ponder and ruminate over one of the most high brow, intellectual books they have ever read. Okay, maybe not. But it just might be one of the most fun books they've ever read.

This month on the Sports Literati, we get out of our comfort zone and test our range by reading David Epstein's ideas about the power of diverse groups and why early specialization might not be great for children.

The Sports Literati reconvene to talk about the beautiful game, through the lens of Franklin Foer's classic soccer book How Soccer Explains the World, first published in 2004.

The Sports Literati revisits one of the seminal sports books of the 1990s: The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith. A close examination of the 1990-91 Chicago Bulls, we talk about an up and coming Michael Jordan and how misery just might breed success.

The Sports Literati convene to discuss how the United States 8 man crew rose from the depths of the Great Depression to take down the big, bad Nazis at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Sports Literati enter the world of mixed martial arts for the first time, as they dissect the memoir of Rickson Gracie, the undefeated legend of Brazilian Jujitsu.

The Sports Literati take a look at Kent Babb's fly-on-the wall account of the 2019 Edna Carr high school football team as it sought a fourth consecutive Louisiana state championship. The book examines the hopelessness afflicting young, urban, blacks in a city with one of the highest rates of gun violence in America, but only a stone's flow from the affluent tourist neighbourhoods of New Orleans. Intro and Outro Music: Sergei Rachmanioff Prelude in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 32 performed by Justina Sam...

The Sports Literati convene to discuss John Krakauer's seminal classic about an ascent on Mount Everest that goes horribly wrong. What constitutes a sport? How do intelligent human beings manage to make such a series of bad decisions? Join us as we make an ascent into the world of mountaineering.

This week, the Sports Literati convene to discuss Linsanity, one of Dave's favourite topics (try to guess which Dave!). Matthew Salesses is a Korean American writer who has written, as far as we know, the first literary novel based on Jeremy Lin's epic period of wonder with the New York Knicks in 2012. Join us as we take a look at this novel and discuss the impact of Linsanity on race, literature, and basketball.

The Sports Literati turn back the pages on a hockey classic, Peter Gzowski's The Game of Our Lives, a behind the scenes account of the 1980-81 Edmonton Oilers, led by a young Wayne Gretzky. They also discuss hockey as Canada's national myth, and whether it is still at the core of Canada's national identity today.

This month, the Sports Literati reconvenes to discuss the memoir of their collective, favourite basketball player of all time! And no, it's not Lebron James!

This month, the Sports Literati reconvenes to discuss Mike Tyson and his totally raw and visceral autobiography Undisputed Truth. Is Mike Tyson a good guy or a bad guy? Who's the biggest villain in Tyson's life? Join the Sports Literati as they go deep on one of the most famous and infamous athletes, if not people, of his generation.

This month, the two Daves convene to discuss America's past time. They reminisce about their own memories of baseball and listening to games on the radio before diving into Jared Diamond's book about how the new science of hitting has revolutionized the game in the last decade.

The Sports Literati sit down to talk about Scottie Pippen, the 1990s Chicago Bulls, and that big, bad, bald elephant in the room, Michael Jordan. If you're a casual basketball fan who only knows about Michael Jordan, or a basketball diehard who wants to know where Scottie Pippen ranks in the list of all time greats, this is the show for you. Intro and Outro Music: Sergei Rachmanioff Prelude in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 32 performed by Justina Sam.

The Sports Literati sit down to talk about America's Team, also known as the Greatest Sports Team of All-Time according to Dave Hsu, the 1990s Dallas Cowboys. They break down the behind the scenes antics, the Jerry Jones/Jimmy Johnson feud that tore the team apart, and celebrate the much maligned Barry Switzer on this trip down nostalgia lane.

The Sports Literati returns after a hiatus to discuss The Sports Gene by David Epstein, a book that examines the science and genetics behind elite level sports performance. Intro and Outro Music: Sergei Rachmanioff Prelude in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 32 performed by Justina Sam.