Bob Long was a chess publisher who knew what club-level players needed to read. One of the smartest things he ever did was to buy the rights to Cecil Purdy’s work. Purdy was the best chess teacher for students and average players. There are really two levels of chess teacher: The teachers who turn masters into grandmasters, and bad players into good players. Chessplayers are delusional halfwits who think they need the books written by the first type of teacher, when what they actually need is the material written by the second. Cecil John Seddon Purdy was the best of …
Category: media
Two immortal performing artists and one chess teacher
There’s a comedian named Al Lubel. He talked about enjoying the sound of his own name. So he repeated it: “Al Lubel. Al Lubel. Al Lubel. Al Lubel. Al Lubel.” He’d do this for minutes. Then he demonstrated a sense for the right time to say: “Isn’t it funny that the more I say it, the more you wonder ‘who is this guy?’.” I think that’s one of the funniest things I ever heard, partly because when he broke to say “Isn’t it funny that the more I say it”, I was thinking “what the fuck, how long will he …
On the Internet, Sparks coach Roberts fired, and Sparks wing Jackson traded
Los Angeles Sparks wing Rickea Jackson missed three games in May under the concussion protocol. She returned for losses to the Lynx and Dream, making as many fouls and turnovers as points. Jackson took time off, citing personal reasons. Los Angeles coach Roberts said: “Rickea is a big part of our organization and our team. She’s taking personal time, and we support her. We’re excited to get her back when she’s ready.” There followed pregnancy rumors on the Internet — which Jackson might have fueled herself — and the removal of her team affiliation on a social media profile. It’s …
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
One of my biggest peeves regarding modern sports media is how they formulate questions for interview subjects. In ancient times, we asked questions for two reasons: 1) To get an explanation or ascertainment; or 2) To get color. In “Bull Durham”, Crash Davis taught Nuke LaLoosh to expect nothing but the second type of question. (They think they’re throwing hardball when they ask “what was the gameplan?” or “what was the mindset?”, but those are from the LaLooshSpeak playbook, total bullshit because the answers never change.) While the conversations got as soft as ice cream in the sun, media also …
The spirit of Howard Cosell lives on at ESPN and during WNBA broadcasts
I applied for a press credential for Golden State at Los Angeles three nights from now. The application form was autocompleted with my publication’s name as Flack the Pac, from the days when there was a Pac to flack. A new field asked for a description of the work the application would do. The example provided was: “I will write game preview”. I filled it with: “Post-game reevaluation of my life decisions”. Which is true, because the WNBA isn’t an environment for reflective writing. The Valkyries use fireworks during their player introductions. People are generally dumber than they were 20 …
I just ask other people’s questions now
A chessplayer asked me if I thought Los Angeles coach Roberts would retire Saturday as the only WNBA coach in history with a spotless WL record. Roberts and the Sparks are 1-0 following their 84-67 win at Golden State Friday. Chessplayers have a strange sense of humor about such things. When the “rapid” time control became a thing in international chess around the turn of the ’90s, my first rating at that time control was 2560, and some friends said I should quit. I said about Roberts: “She’ll think about it, because it’s funny, but she won’t.” What I left …
How’s that wine bottle? 18604?
CalTrain was packed with baseball (A’s visiting the Giants is a bigger occasion than it used to be, since Oakland ate shit again at keeping a sports team) and basketball goers, which makes it tough to disembark. A fellow said to his mate: “When those people go, follow them. That’s our strategy.” “Their strategy should be to follow a big guy like you”, I said. He didn’t get that, if his first idea didn’t clue you in to his savvy. “Why do you have a sign that says ‘Media’?” he said. “I was working the Valkyries game”. “That’s the women’s …
The Caitlin Clark Effect reaches the magazine racks
I don’t care if it’s good or not — the fact that it exists means having to put my $16 in, so there’ll be more like it in the future (and if I’m writing it, then it’ll be better). Wait. $16?! Yeah, said the kid. Magazine prices are going way up. Maybe it’s the cost of the paper, some think it’s the inks, I dunno. But graphic novels, they still cost the same. Graphic novels cost too much 10 years ago, I said. The other things are just catching up.