Listen to Hang Up and Listen with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab
Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed
Become a fan of Hang Up and Listen and join the discussion of this episode on Facebook here:
In this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca talk with Slate contributor Daniel Engber about whether the movie Concussion depicts the complexity of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the NFL, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. They also discuss the state of NFL refereeing, and Sports Illustrated’s Tim Layden joins the show to discuss horse fans’ outraged reactions to the publication’s nonequine choice for its 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
- Sepp Blatter looks a little worse for wear as he addresses FIFA’s finding that his continued presence is not possible (for eight years at least).
- Whimsy watch: Panthers cornerback Teddy Williams did not tie ties or play football in college.
- Daniel Engber’s piece for Slate on what the movie Concussion gets wrong about the NFL and head injuries.
- Jeanne Marie Laskas’ piece for GQ on Dr. Bennet Omalu, “How One Doctor Changed Football Forever.”
- Screening of Concussion for former NFL players makes for a dramatic reaction.
- Alan Schwarz’s award-winning concussion coverage for the New York Times.
- Stefan and Dan’s 2013 Slate debate on football and head injuries.
- Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman tussled throughout Sunday’s Giant-Panthers game, leading ESPN’s Adam Schefter to proclaim that it was NFL referees’ worst game of the year.
- The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore looks at the data behind this season’s ref errors.
- ESPN reports that the ref slump coincides with personnel turnover.
- The Seahawks’ Richard Sherman has a four-point plan to improve NFL refereeing.
- Bill Belichick’s proposal: Make everything reviewable.
- The NFL says the on-field referees will consult with VP of Officiating Dean Blandino during this year’s playoff games.
- Serena Williams was Sports Illustrated’s 2015 Sportsperson of the Year.
- Tim Layden’s piece for Sports Illustrated on the Achievement of the Year, the Triple Crown win by American Pharoah.
- Brian Zipse of the website Horse Racing Nation lets Sports Illustrated know its “agenda is showing.”
- Horse lovers mourned the death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
- People get very emotional about animals, as Josh knows from his Hurricane Katrina reporting.
Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Green Raiders:
Mike’s Green Raider: Sirius Satellite Radio’s NFL offerings can’t quite quit the clichés. (And Vikings announcer Paul Allen delivers time and again.)
Stefan’s Green Raider: Did Roy “Wrong Way” Riegels run toward his own end zone in the 1929 Rose Bowl because he had a concussion?*
Josh’s Green Raider: Robert Duvall got his turn as a star athlete on the 1975 competition show Celebrity Superstars.
On this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca revisit segments from the recent past, including conversations about the Philadelphia 76ers, the Golden State Warriors, and Kobe Bryant. Visit slate.com/hangupplus and try it free for two weeks.
Podcast production and edit by Zack Dinerstein. Our intern is Christina Cody.
You can email us at hangup@slate.com.
*Correction, Dec. 22, 2015: This post originally misstated that a 1928 medical journal article claimed that Roy Riegels ran the wrong way after suffering a possible concussion. The claim was made in newspaper articles.
