February 7, 2012 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
“Sports”
01/24/12
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This Sporting Life

A Beginner’s Guide to the Word “Cundiff”

Now that the dust has settled on Sunday’s Ravens-Patriots game, it’s time we took a closer look at its lexical legacy—the word “cundiff.”

Thanks to Billy Cundiff’s game-losing missed kick from just 32 yards out, the surname has taken on a life of its own, a brand-new word with unique meaning: inexplicably failing at a routine task, with catastrophic consequences.

Suddenly, we’re hearing it everywhere—not surprising, since it happens all the time. And to show how useful the new piece of vocab truly is, we’ve put together a few prime examples after the jump…

A beginner’s guide to cundiffing»
 

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11/09/11
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The Hard Knocks of Joe Frazier

Life is hard for the underdog.

Imagine, for example, a world-class boxer who spends his whole career—his whole life, even—in the shadow of one of the most flamboyantly gifted individuals in the history of organized sport.

But now that the dust has settled on the taunts and the hype and the politics, we’re ready to join the chorus saying it: Joe Frazier was a fascinating guy.

The iconic Mr. Frazier…»
 

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10/31/11
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High and Tight

Out With The Pink, In With The ‘Mo’

Maybe it’s because there were five Sundays in October (NFL’s breast cancer awareness month), but it’s hard to remember a time when professional football players weren’t wearing pink.

It’s an important cause. Women should get yearly mammograms. Men should help them do so. We’re totally on board.

It’s just… well, after five weeks of our supposedly fearsome football stars looking (and in some cases playing) like Barbie dolls, we’re thrilled that Movemeber – a month in which mustaches are grown to raise awareness for men’s health issues – is upon us.

That said, our first nominee for Movember Athlete of the Month is not in the NFL…»
 

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10/21/11
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What's What

Celebrating The Streaker

Boy do we love streakers.

No, we don’t condone lawlessness, and of course we realize the security risk associated with deranged stalkers coming in contact with professional athletes.

But you have to admit, there’s something glorious about a good-natured fan sneaking onto the field of a nationally televised sporting event, shedding his (or her) clothes and running in circles whilst commentators deem him a “knucklehead” and stadium security attempts, fails and eventually succeeds in tackling him to the ground.

Which is why we particularly enjoyed last night’s UCLA-Arizona football game…»
 

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09/21/11
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The Past

Dusting Off: White Socks

As connoisseurs of history, we sometimes find styles, habits and turns of phrase from the past that we wouldn’t mind bringing back to the present, Doc Brown-style. This time around, we’re dusting off white socks.

The usual line on socks is pretty simple: gray, blue, brown or black. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can get into crazy patterns and fluorescent hues, but that’s pretty much the limit of blog-approved style.

It wasn’t always this way. In the Kennedy era, the tube sock was one of the great American staples alongside crewneck sweatshirts and pressed khakis—but somewhere along the line, the snow-white tube sock became a sartorial faux pas. By our lights, it’s due for a revival.

Rehabilitating the tube sock…»
 

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09/07/11
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The Past

Dusting Off: Manual Scorekeeping

As connoisseurs of history, we sometimes find styles, habits and turns of phrase from the past that we wouldn’t mind bringing back to the present, Doc Brown-style. This time around, we’re dusting off manual scorekeeping.

We live in a world of convenience. So it’s only natural that when we find ourselves at a sporting event—or watching on TV—there’s always some sort of device there to tell us who’s winning.

Even if we might be better off figuring it out for ourselves.

Allow us to elaborate…»
 

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08/08/11
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What's What

THE REENTRY: Monday, August 8th

Uncle Sam

Safe to say you let a few things slip through the cracks over the weekend – your driver’s license, your mother’s birthday, “weekend needs” from the boss. So you’re feeling a little out of touch. Confused. Vulnerable.

Your first order of business: hire a personal assistant for the day. Your second order of business: ask yourself these questions, study the answers, take a deep breath and prepare to reenter society…

Q: Can you believe S&P downgraded America’s credit rating for the first time in history?
A: After reading today’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal, well, yes. “Is there anything that Standard & Poors said on Friday that everyone else doesn’t already know?” At the same time, we’re with Krugman: S&P should hardly be considered an authority given all that went down in 2008. We also find it hard to believe that Liechtenstein, Guernsey, and The Isle of Man – all of which have AAA ratings – are better bets than US Treasury Bonds. Where’s Hugh Carey when we need him?

Here’s what you need to know…»

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07/13/11
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Filmic

A Beach and a Camera

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Since we’re still feeling for surfboards, we thought we’d take a spin through an underrated pastime: the surf film.

The classics are Endless Summer and the exhaustive doc Riding Giants, both of which are good to have on deck for your next Sunday afternoon. (They also both happen to be on repeat at Montauk’s Surf Lodge, if you’re passing through.)

But we’re talking about something a little more casual and a little less well known: the string of sun-dappled flicks that emerged out of acid-era southern California. They’re less about a coherent narrative than beautiful shots of surfers in mid-wave. We’ve gathered together a few of our favorites after the jump, for a little wave-riding by proxy.

Check out clips from the best of late 60s and early 70s surf film»

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04/25/11
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This Sporting Life

The Jerseys of Yore

Postcard

Baseball ain’t what it used to be.

We’re not talking about steroids, designated hitters, bloated payrolls, abbreviation nicknames or the troubling scarcity of Pavano-style mustaches. We’re talking about something even more important: the uniforms.

Allow us to elaborate…»

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04/06/11
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The Past

Dusting Off: Sports on the Radio

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As connoisseurs of history, we sometimes find styles, habits and turns of phrase from the past that we wouldn’t mind bringing back to the present, Doc Brown-style. This time around, we’re dusting off listening to sports on the radio.

It’s the oldest predicament in sports: You care about your team, but you’re not going to make it to every single game. So you check out the sports page, or the highlight reels, or the steadily updating scores trickling onto your phone. You check every few innings, and accept anything else as lost in translation.

Unless you happen to have a radio.

Allow us to elaborate»

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01/21/11
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This Sporting Life

Out Come the Wolves

grandodyssee_crop.jpgDenis Balibouse/Reuters

File this one under “more intense than football.” The Grande Odyssée dogsled race finished up yesterday, after eleven days and more than 600 miles of canine-powered trekking over the French and Swiss Alps. The winner was a Slovakian rookie named Milos Gonda, the dog-sledding equivalent of the Green Bay Packers.

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10/13/10
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LinkOut

Daria Werbowy Has Really Let Herself Go

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Just Kidding: Zach Galifianakis brings his distinctive brand of crazy to the pages of Vanity Fair. [Vanity Fair]

Postcards from the Sideline: A sports agent comes clean on a career’s worth of crimes and misdemeanors. Jerry Maguire this ain’t. [Sports Illustrated]

We’ve Seen the Future: The most convincing prediction for the future of the internet we’ve heard so far. It involves lots and lots of sensors. [Mashable]

Nothing is More Attractive Than a Woman Menacingly Swinging a Baseball Bat: The video for Sleigh Bell’s “Infinity Guitars” is the coolest thing we’ve seen in quite some time. [Lost at E Minor]

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09/24/10
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This Sporting Life

For the Birds

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Done right, a birdman rally can be a celebration of human potential, a DIY tribute to the power of flight. Done wrong, as in the most recent rally in Jiangmen, China, it’s spectacular . In sum, two well-constructed ultralights managed to glide the required 50 meters while no less than half of the 34 contestants plummeted directly into the water in crafts like a dragon head, a cardboard television or an immobile statue of a horse. Please, someone get these people an ESPN deal.

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05/14/10
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Sound & Vision

30 is the new 25

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Television can have a hard time keeping our attention. Unless it’s sports. Or a very compelling story.

Luckily, ESPN has managed to package both into the downright awesome documentary series 30 for 30.

Let us count the ways»

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04/23/10
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Conversation

LaDainian Tomlinson Has Heard Good Things About Jersey Boys

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In honor of the shiny ties and eye-popping suits of the NFL Draft, we were lucky enough to catch up with one LaDainian Tomlinson, both one of the better-dressed gentlemen in the game and a surefire winner for any fantasy football team lucky enough to have him. We found the new Jet at a recent Gatorade event in Tribeca to talk New York, California and musicals.

Meet the man»

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04/09/10
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Object

Extra Protection

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Safety glasses have a certain geek-chic that’s never quite made it to the mainstream, but that may be about to change. These tinted glasses from Wintercheck Factory are based on a vintage woodworking goggle (note the guards on the side), which means they should stand up to just about any form of punishment you put them through. So if you don’t want to risk your Clubmasters on the basketball court—and you shouldn’t—they might be a good substitute.

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03/04/10
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Big Picture

Magic Time

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Andrew Bangs inspired us to a little digging through the Sports Illustrated archives, where we found this snap of an NCAA-era Magic Johnson. The kicks are pretty fantastic, but mostly we’re glad he’s not afraid to show a little ankle.

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01/20/10
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Good Idea

The Pitch

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One of the pleasures of gentlemanly life is the opportunity to watch obscure sports—particularly the ones with high laundry bills. Which is why we’re thrilled to hear that Indian Premier League cricket is making its way to YouTube. Matches will start live-streaming when the season begins in March, giving you just enough time to do some reading and pick up a few white polos.

If you’re not familiar, here’s a refresher: It’s a heavier, slower version of baseball, which means it has the capacity to stretch out mid-afternoon lounging for days on end. And, providing you choose the right team to root for, you might be in for some pretty spectacular cricket whites. If you feel the need to join in, you might pick up one of these, but no pressure.

Here’s hoping polo’s next up.

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10/30/09
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Art Threat

Ready to Rumble

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Unless you’ve got an unusually thorough sports calendar, you may have missed one of the most important boxing anniversaries on the books. 35 years ago today, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman converged on Zaire for the Rumble in the Jungle—cementing Ali’s legend and unleashing Don King on a more or less unsuspecting public.

In honor of the occasion, New York’s No Mas is taking a break from their usual diet of vintage-styled tees to produce a trio of animated shorts about the Rumble, including a spirited faceoff between Ali and a jumpsuited James Brown. Using live radio transcripts, audio collage and oil paints, it might be as close to the feeling of the real thing as we can get…at least on the internet.

See the videos»

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07/20/09
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LinkOut

Out of This World

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Spaced: For the Apollo anniversary, WWD posts a few space-age outfits. The pickup lines write themselves… [WWD]

Vroom: Tesla Motors’ first east coast showroom lands in Manhattan. [NYTimes]

It’s a Trap!: Entourage has been getting pretty dark lately… [The Awl]

The Final Countdown: Rick Reilly counts down the top 10 sporting events to see live. No Euro Cup? [ESPN]

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05/18/09
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LinkOut

Laying Down the Law

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Give Me Your Answer, Do: Daisy Lowe prefers casual swimwear. [Fashion Copious via Refinery29]

Courtside: The American Apparel/Woody Allen kerfuffle is settled, with Dov Charney on the hook for $5 million. Something tells us the judge was an Annie Hall fan. [Reuters]

World Champions: According to the Toronto Star, Indianapolis is the winningest city in the world, shortly followed by Boston and Vancouver. Mostly, we just feel bad that L.A. was edged out by Anaheim. [Toronto Star]

Silver Rocket: A ’57 Ferrari pulls in $12 Million dollars at auction. Judging by the pics, we’re willing to say she’s worth it. [Jalopnik]

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02/10/09
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Current Affairs

The Sport

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Alex Rodriguez has never been popular—at least not in New York—and this isn’t likely to help…but it’s worth considering what exactly we want from athletes.

Yankees in particular have been jittery, nervous creatures over the past few years, which has a lot to do with having some of the most vicious sportswriters in the country breathing down their necks, but the PR game of professional athletes has become too calculated to be likeable.

It’s so long ago that most ESPN-watchers wouldn’t remember, but the perfect athlete used to be called a “sport.” A sport was someone like Jack Johnson or Mickey Mantle who lived it up in his off-hours, dressed as flashy as they could, and generally made the full use of their ridiculous salary. Think wide lapels and diamond stickpins, as Randy Roberts would describe it, or the more recent NFL popularity of the plaid suit.

If he were a little flashier, we would have let A-Rod get away with a lot more.

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01/02/09
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Kate’s Spread, Empty Seats, and Quiet Malls

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The Magazine Reader: Kate Winslet takes a break from playing Nazis and willful housewives to pose for Elle UK. [FashionIndie]

The Cheap Seats: The economic collapse should mean cheap tickets for sports fans…but the halftime show will be two hobos wrestling for food. [DailyIntel]

Retail Hell: The indoor mall may be going the way of the automat. But where will we keep our food courts? [Luxist]

Old Vegas: Some Sinatra memories from Wayne Newton, of all people. How anyone confused him with a mobster is beyond us. [Esquire]

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10/02/08
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Object

Zebras

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When people think of sports-inspired clothing, they’re usually talking about the players, not the refs.

This cardigan is one of the less obviously retro points in golden boy Andre Benjamin’s Benjamin Bixby line. The NFL-style “B” on the back makes the reference even clearer. It’s not an easy look to pull off, by any means—we might even recommend layering it under a jacket to cover up the back—but the thick vertical stripes are a lot bolder than most of what we find in Barneys, and its more eye-catching by half.

If there are any aspiring dandies out there looking for a challenge, consider yourself called out.

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09/16/08
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Booze, Beyonce & The Art Economy

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Just Because Jay-Z Does It: Do you think Beyonce will look back and be sated by an engagement tattoo? Why Bristol Palin, Tommy Lee and Jigga are bleeding ink all over tradition [NY Times]

For What Ails You: Queer Eye expatriate Ted Allen finally cracks a compelling case in his gastro show Food Detectives. Instead of identifying ambiguous mushrooms, his culinary genius finally serves your hangover, not your taste buds. [Men.Style]

Winning Season: GQ takes a crack at updating Brett Favre for autumn style in New York and, hopefully, dancing in the end zone. [GQ]

What Recession?: Controversial commodity Damien Hirst sells $127 million worth of art. Including that Indiana Jones-looking skull. [Yahoo]

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