Hang Up and Listen: The Going Mouth to Mouth Edition
Slate’s sports podcast on the World Cup quarterfinals; the Wimbledon finals; and the agony, ecstasy, and gluttony of competitive eating.
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In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca discuss the tournament-changing injury to Brazil’s Neymar, penalty shootout gamesmanship, and the brilliance of Argentina’s star Lionel Messi. They also interview Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times about Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon win, Roger Federer’s near victory, Serena Williams’ mysterious withdrawal, and proper attire at Wimbledon. Finally, they talk to Major League Eating CEO George Shea about this year’s edition of the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, the history and marketing of the sport, and the controversy surrounding past champion Takeru Kobayashi.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
- The media have already started to select the 2018 U.S. World Cup team.
- In the New York Times, Sam Borden wondered if Neymar’s injury was “payback” for Brazil’s cynical play against Colombia.
- Brazilian fans had strong words for and about Colombian defender Juan Camilo Zúñiga after his foul injured Neymar.
- In Forbes, Bobby McMahon pushed back on some of the claims about Brazil’s “dirty” tactics.
- This World Cup has seen fewer yellow and red cards than ever before.
- Costa Rica drew a huge number of offside calls.
- Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul employed an unusual, but ultimately successful, strategy when he took the field for the penalty shootout.
- In Slate, Ken Early explored Argentina forward Lionel Messi’s relative lack of movement on the field, and FiveThirtyEight’s Benjamin Morris decided, after looking at the statistics, that Messi is impossible.
- At Wimbledon, Roger Federer re-emphasized his serve-and-volley game, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Novak Djokovic.
- Martina Navratilova wants to know why Serena Williams was allowed to play.
- In the New York Times, Ben Rothenberg wrote about Wimbledon’s newly strict enforcement of its white-on-white dress code.
- There was some hopeful news for the future of American tennis at this year’s Wimbledon.
- Listen to Ben Rothenberg’s and Courtney Nguyen’s podcast No Challenges Remaining.
- Joey Chestnut claimed his eighth straight mustard-yellow belt at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
- George Shea has turned marketing hot dogs into a competitive art.
- A disagreement over marketing and money continues to rob competitive eating fans of the Kobayashi-Chestnut matchup they want to see.
- Gersh Kuntzman can tell you all about competitive eating.
Hang Up and Listen’s weekly gyozas:
Mike’s gyoza: Judging the judges of All-Star snubs.
Stefan’s gyoza: The violence, confusion, and traffic lights that inspired soccer’s red and yellow cards.
Josh’s gyoza: The self-professed dirty old man who invented the “honey shot.”
On this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Josh Levin, Stefan Fatsis, and Mike Pesca talked about what SOURCES! have to say about NBA free agency. Slate Plus members get an ad-free version of this podcast with bonus segments. Visit slate.com/hangupplus and try it free for two weeks.
Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo. Links compiled by Chris Laskowski.
You can email us at hangup@slate.com.