the business of being swagg

For the modern sports fan, the double life of the gamer isn’t as hard to grasp.

target practice

Protection dogs, protective suits and the canine sport of kings.

high court

An oral history of master portraitist Barkley Hendricks and his almost forgotten “Basketball Paintings.”

wizard mode

Louise Wagensonner’s day job is finding a cure for AIDS. In her off hours, she's one of the world's best women pinball players.


Ascendant South African painter Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi uses the workaday routines of gymnastics to explore the performance of racial identity.

cod balls

A summer with the Orleans Firebirds in the most storied amateur league in baseball.

higher ground

Mother and son mountaineers chase glory, and each other, across the deadliest mountains of the Himalayas.

pit stop

Brehanna Daniels is making auto racing history. But making history isn't easy.

outside in

Elizabeth Cambage is the one of the WNBA’s biggest stars, long hailed as the future of the league. But is that enough for this force of nature?

amazing grace

It's one of the strangest sports movies ever made. The story behind it is even stranger.

national pride

The Kosovo Gymnastics Federation may not win gold any time soon. But sometimes, just getting to the Olympics is enough.

five dimes

Sean Creighton left West Virginia for Costa Rica and made a fortune as a bookie. Then he vanished without a trace.

there will be blood

Going to jail for armed robbery should have ended Nick Gage's career. Instead, it turned him into an indie wrestling icon.

queen of darts

Essen's Dutch Open was a chance to see stars Deta Hedman and Mikuru Suzuki in rare form. It was also one hell of a party.

Madam Ram

Georgia Frontiere had long been labeled a floozy. But when she became an NFL owner in 1979, she was labeled a murderer.

the last pinareño

San Cristóbal was once a soccer stronghold. And despite a sharp decline over the last decade, its citizens still cling proudly to this legacy.

cosmic cars

Detroit is famous for its cars and its music. The city's street racing culture spans both world. And it's ready to go legit.

the wrong man

Oghogho Ayo Agbonkpolo came to America to play college basketball. But the dream was never his to chase.

the brothers aguayo

Roberto and Ricky Aguayo were supposed to be a kicking dynasty. But the strangest job in sports is never that predictable.


Ohio State wrestler Kyle Snyder has Olympic gold and NCAA championships. But for Snyder, there's more to the sport than winning it all.

Do or Die

On the last day of the '78 season, George "Iceman" Gervin and David "Skywalker" Thompson battled for the scoring title in the closest race in NBA history.

serie nacional

The departure of a generation of players has left Cuba’s talent pool uncharacteristically shallow. But as two unlikely foes clash, the thirst for a title remains strong.

soccer at the end of the world

How does a nation with a tiny population and a frigid climate compete against the soccer superpowers? By cultivating its natural resources.

the riders

Racing bareback horses is a centuries old Native American tradition. Now, marketed as “America’s first extreme sport,” it’s reaching new audiences.

here come the knights

The Vegas Golden Knights were supposed to be the league's worst team. Instead, they're in the playoffs, with cast-off goalie Marc-Andre Fleury leading the way.

the perfect game

Super Bowl LII was as good as football gets. And that's because we may never stop talking about it.

ain’t this what they’ve been waiting for?

Meek Mill's "Dreams and Nightmares" has galvanized the Eagles and their city. But the rapper, currently incarcerated, may not even be watching.

eli manning, coming and going

When the Giants benched Manning, it was a reminder that all quarterbacks are mortal, writes David Roth.

always close enough

Tony Romo isn't afraid to get it wrong. And in the NFL, this makes him stand out.

the enthusiast

2 Chainz isn't the first rapper to mention bowling in his lyrics. But in his case, it's a perfect fit.

name of the father

A wiseguy’s son steps out of his father’s shadow—and into the boxing ring. But the legacy of organized crime isn’t so easy to leave behind.

ahead of ourselves

David Roth on how the Philadelphia 76ers and their fans learned to win by losing.

a political education

Ray Schoenke started campaigning for George McGovern in 1971 because he wanted to make a difference. The experience ended up changing his life.

harry edwards is not who you think he is

Dr. Harry Edwards' sociology of sports has defined and fiercely guarded the terms of "fair play" in America.

jumpin’ joe

Joe Caldwell was a star at the dawn of the modern NBA. Then the sport took everything from him.

the wow series

This World Series has been baseball at its best, says David Roth. It also shows us everything baseball could be going forward

to lose is to love

Rooting for the Clippers always ends in disappointment. But maybe that’s the point.

9 quarter circle ranch

Grandson of a Marlboro man, Kameron Kelsey moves his herd of horses up and down the Rockies the old cowboy way.

the bigger picture

The Warriors are already the NBA's next great dynasty. What's left for them to accomplish?

five a side

Watch the real-life inspiration for Argentinian artist Martin Gordopelota's football fantasies.

a league apart

David Roth on why we need the NBA more than ever right now.

a stranger comes to town

Josh Allen showed up in Laramie an unheralded quarterback prospect. Now he’s garnered national attention for making plays no one else can.

uganda’s hardball heroes

How one high school team put a nation on the map.

what the future is worth

David Roth on Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese phenom who could redefine baseball.

moving day

When the Falcons played their last game in the Georgia Dome, the parking lot was a party for the ages.

getting used to it

David Roth on what the NFL has to offer and what it really stands for.

a stadium scam moves forward

For months, a group of local Cleveland activists fought the city's plan. What changed?

venus on the verge

Chloé Cooper Jones on what a US Open win would mean for Venus and the sport she’s shaped.

money’s worth

Mayweather's self-appointed nickname speaks volumes about the values of the man.

the last peaceful place on earth

Filming Speed Week on the transcendent space-time plane of Utah’s Salt Flats.

that august feeling

David Roth on Jay Cutler's return to the NFL, the dog days of summer, and sports at the end of the world.

founding father

The grandchild of the self-described "photo-storyteller" Lucien Aigner looks back at his pioneering career in photojournalism.

born to ride

Born cycling royalty, Ignazio Moser walked away from the sport three years ago. Now he's back on his bike in Red Hook.

stadium club

The life, times, and art of Mark Mulroney's autograph chase.

double jump

For these world-class competitors, it's all checkers, no chess.

how putin hacked world football

Vladimir Putin has quietly taken control of the beautiful game using every trick and tactic in his locker, and World Cup 2018 will be his greatest work of political propaganda ever.


Argentine artist Martin Gordopelota's vision of fútbol celebrates the idiosyncratic neighborhood traditions of the beautiful game.

the deal of the draft

Whether it's new players starting their careers or familiar faces in new places, the NBA Draft is never low on action.

fight town

Inside Ghana's mythological boxing kingdom of Bukom with Malik “Bukom Snake” Jabir.

strong side

As we look forward to the Women's Rugby World Cup this summer, a look back at intimate portraits of the Brown University Bears all their rugged glory.

western front

The ways of an increasingly rare American species, the cowboy, are carefully maintained by the traditions of the Kelsey family dude ranch.

lebron is not at home

LeBron wasn't at his L.A. home when it was defaced with a racial slur this week. And the reality is, no level of achievement is enough to make people of color feel at home in America.

surviving the sixth

Anthony Joshua is a survivor, and because of that, the young boxer is now the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.


Every July, men and women come to a small town in the Chequamegon National Forest toting their handsaws, axes, chainsaws, and climbing spurs in search of glory at the lumberjack world championships.

a runner's will

On the eve of the 121st Boston Marathon, Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai sat alone in his hotel room and quietly prepared to race the greatest marathoners in the world. That included himself.

arise, winged lions!

After over a decade, Venezia FC are back in Serie B, Italy's second division. Their return has not been easy, but it has been spectacular, strange, and fascinating to watch.

homes of forgotten legends

Using film and a 4x5 view camera, photographer Andrew Dolgin points his lens at empty high school tracks that were once home to American Olympic gold medalists and world record holders in their format

the long game

Yes, baseball is the slow sport. And its future depends on playing the long game.

shattering the ice ceiling

The USWNT has scored an historic victory for hockey. We should all be grateful they did.

the costacos brothers

How a scrappy, independent label's posters changed the way we looked at sports forever.

becoming danny “the miracle man” jacobs

In the mid-2000s, director Nick Strini and Victory EIC Chris Eisenberg documented rising boxing star Danny Jacobs, "The Miracle Man."


When James Canty enters the McDonald’s on Chicago’s South Side, nobody takes notice. But the Master chess player is there on a mission.

fields of clay

Artist and filmmaker Azod Abedikichi introduces us to the weird, wild, and psychedelic world of sports claymation.

house of worship

Photographer Geoff Winningham documents the heady days of pro-wrestling on the local circuit.

fan fiction

The weird, true story of how writer Dave Tompkins inadvertently created his own version of fantasy football.

the cannibal

Eddy Merckx, "the Cannibal," is one of the greatest cyclists in history. He's also muse to two masters of cycling cinema. Here is their story.

let there be no exceptions

How an Olympian’s experience exposes the fragility of American immigration policy.

kyle lowry and the power of profanity

Kyle Lowry's weaponization of words in Trump's America.


What is the legacy of an Olympics? What happens after it's gone? Photographers Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit document the cities and towns as they adapt to the aftermath.

russ against the world

Nathaniel Friedman unpacks Russell Westbrook's complicated character.

american pastimes

What does Raymond Pettibon's sports art tell us about the American dream?

never die

Spencer Seabrooke wanted to break a slacklining record. The only problem was that if he failed, he'd die.

five hundred

Filled with idiosyncratic traditions and patriotism, the Indy 500 is one of the greatest spectacles in American motorsports. Antonio Santos photographed the massive raceway's most iconic moments.

the ballad of mike d’antoni

Watching the Houston Rockets this year, it’s easy to forget how narrowly Mike D’Antoni avoided coaching perdition.

siempre verde

Atletico Nacional and Chapecoense were to play the Copa Sudamericana final today. Instead they're united by tragedy.

knees & elbows

Once of interest only inside the country's borders, Muay Thai, the centuries-old martial art-cum-national pastime of Thailand is changing along with the global landscape.

donald trump is america’s first soccer president

Trump is trying to ruin soccer, but soccer is used to his brand of ruin.

toback vs mailer: the incident

Betting, boxing, and boozing: the weird, true story of the writer rivalry between Norman Mailer and James Toback.

blood sport

Cleon Peterson makes confrontational art that picks apart the power structures of violence, tapping into centuries of competitive combat, even as it looks at the world of today.

eye of the tiger

How did Joe Montana help Tiger Balm become a household name in the United States? Writer Benjamin Meadows-Ingram explores the history of the cult sports ointment and its most prominent champion.

life in a small town

Soccer is a way of life in the tiny town of San Marino. Big things are in their grasp, and each year is another chance to get closer to their dreams of succeeding on a national level.

ice age

Last year, Long Island's beloved Islanders made a controversial move to Brooklyn, but would their fans remain loyal? Photographer Nils Ericson was there to document their early days at Barclays.

the best last best plane ride ever

October 1986: the New York Mets beat the Houston Astros in the NLCS, in one of the most dramatic series ever. What happened after was a mind-boggling display of debauchery.

seeing daylight

Every year, New Yorkers flock to Madison Square Garden for the most unexpected spectacle: a gritty rodeo in the heart of Manhattan.

love bites

Finnish artist Riikka Hyvönen unlocks the secret language of roller derby bruises, and the stories they tell.

why does lebron james love america so much?

Writer Nathaniel Friedman dissects LeBron James' complicated relationship with America.

farmer’s son

Clay County, Kentucky's illustrious basketball program has a first family: the Farmers—but can they step out of the shadow of long gestating turmoil and controversy?

the trust

Photographer Daniel Arnold explores the unique relationship between the Green Bay Packers and their biggest fans—who also happen to own part of the team.

dust to glory

Bali's annual buffalo race celebrates the end of the rice harvest with specially bred, colorfully dressed buffalos and their jockeys careening around a dirt track.


Every winter, the crown jewel of the competitive dog circuit, the Westminster Dog Show comes to Madison Square Garden, giving the most well trained canines a chance to strut their stuff.

paul pogba deserves better

Paul Pogba can be the best player of his generation and bring titles back to Manchester United. This breaks writer Peter Macia's heart.


At the 2012 Olympics, Claressa Shields did what no one had ever done before: she became the first US woman to win a gold medal in boxing. Now, with everyone watching, she has to try to do it again.

flag bearer

Teddy Riner is a charismatic judoka. He's also an Olympian and a French icon. But how does a man that big move that gracefully? And what does it mean to carry the weight of a country on your back?


New Zealand's All Blacks can't stop winning, but why and how are they so good? Writer Phil Lutton and photographer Derek Henderson take a look at the U20 team that has come to define Rugby greatness.

russell westbrook still doesn’t care what you think

Writer Nathaniel Friedman examines what might have compelled Russell Westbrook to stick with Oklahoma City for another season.

the alternates

What does it really mean to be an Olympic alternate? Writer Tim Struby explores the hidden lives of the greatest athletes who might never compete for their country.

sepak takraw

The Thai sport of takraw crams the motions of soccer, the format of volleyball, and the scrappiness of hacky sack into a court the size of a motel swimming pool.

tour de force

Writer Carrie Battan explores how Misty Copeland is pushing the art of ballet and the human body into the future.

feast of burden

Each year, competitive eaters descend on Coney Island to do the unthinkable: eat as many hot dogs—and their accompanying buns—as humanly possible in just a few short minutes.

I don’t have to be what you want me to be

Iconic moments in Muhammad Ali's life told through the quotes that made him a legend.


Syrian Jewish tennis player David Mizrahi has a promising career ahead of him, but first he must decide between his chosen sport and religion.


In the Adirondack Mountains, a group of brave ski jumpers spend their summers perfecting their craft, launching off staggering jumps onto the grass and dirt below.


Writer Brendan O'Connor profiles John Ahearn, the New York-based artist whose sculptures found their way to a wall in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

American Lawn

David Mellor's Major League Baseball dreams were crushed on one unfortunate day. Then he found an innovative new way to change the game.

when the king held court

By the early '70s, Elvis Presley’s constant touring, hard living, and penchant for overeating had taken their toll. His personal doctor came up with the perfect solution: Take up racquetball.

Double Vision—Photographing Baseball In Cuba

Two photographers search for the beating heart of Cuban baseball, and come back with new perspectives on an old tradition.

Master of Puppets

After working with Jim Henson, Bonnie Erickson entered into an unexpected career in professional sports: creator of some of the most iconic mascots of all time.


The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge is one of England's most storied competitions, and it's gone largely unchanged for 186 years–until now.

The Decision

Thon Maker, the 7'1" Sudanese-Australian center, has been honing his basketball skills in snowy Orangeville, Ontario–with a promising future in the NBA all but guaranteed, his path is still uncertain.

North Siders

A city is never one thing. It can be good or bad, right or wrong. It changes from day to day and year to year, but in Chicago the consistency of failure is historic.A city is never one thing.

El Porvenir

Abelardo Olguín Cuevas still practices the brutal pastime of cockfighting that his grandfather taught him, as growing controversy and declining interest threatens to make the sport he loves extinct.

The Dawn Patrol

Huntington Beach High School's surf team is focused. They begin practice at dawn, and keep fine-tuning their technique until just before the first school bell rings.

Bruce Davenport Jr: The Game is Mine

From his home in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, artist Bruce Davenport Jr constructs a vibrant, dense world of boxing matches and marching bands.

Glory Days:
W.E. Nola

After losing everything to Hurricane Katrina, Warren Easton's Fighting Eagles entered the Louisiana Superdome for the second time, gunning for their first state title since World War II.

Patriot Games

Fifty miles north of New York City, along the banks of the Hudson River, future US Army officers dedicate what little free time they have to rigorous varsity sports.

The People’s Champs

Chicago's inner city baseball team Jackie Robinson West won the most heavily covered Little League World Series in years—and then it all started to fall apart.

Glory Days:
Wings II

The Bronx's Wings Academy reached New York's PSAL semifinals five times in its short history, but always fell short of a big win. In 2015, they made it for the sixth time.

Glory Days:
Lethal Leon

Leon Lawson III is on his way to becoming a world class boxer, but first he has to manage the expectations of his family of fighters as he gears up to represent the USA in the Junior Men's WC.

The Boys from Donetsk

FC Shakhtar Donetsk is one of the most successful football clubs in Europe—its youth academy among the finest in the world. But Shakhtar’s very existence and identity has been ripped apart...

Grand prix

More than most competitions, Formula I stands outside of time. David Rathman's watercolors of the 2013 Montreal race are testament, at once intensely focused and yet innocently pastoral.

Les Poneys

The most prestigious weekend in European thoroughbred racing takes place in early October, on the banks of the Seine.

Tennis for Savages

Handball was in Jerome Liebling's blood. The legendary photographer spent much of his life documenting its practitioners, from Brooklyn to Miami Beach.

The End of October

The final night of baseball's 2013 season was emotional for the city of Boston. There wasn't just a World Series to be won, but ghosts to be buried.


The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships is more heartland soul than big-ratings dance. In March 2014, photographer Nils Ericson went to Oklahoma City to witness the American gladiators firsthand.

LeRoy Neiman: Through Line

One of 20th-century America’s best-known painters was also an incredible sketch artist and sports journalist.


In September of 2014, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series brought the world’s best drivers to Delaware’s legendary Monster Mile.

Mersey Sides

Everton v. Liverpool is one of the oldest local rivalries in organized sports, and a hallmark of the English Premier League's season.

Football Files

NFL Films is pro football’s id. It helped create the sport’s heroes, and popularized them. It also kept one of everything.

Kite Fight

Look up! The skies above Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela, are teeming with pipa battles. Filmmakers Guilherme Tensol and Leandro HBL explored Brasil’s other great sporting culture.

The Squad

The same late-April weekend that the NFL holds its annual college draft, the Dolphins pick the women who will be the team’s cheerleaders for the upcoming season.

Fighting Eagles

Warren Easton is the oldest public high school in New Orleans. In the fall of 2014, its football team was in the midst of a renaissance when photographer Christaan Felber came to document the squa

The Legend of Panther Girl

Wrestler Ann Casey's life is the stuff of pulp dreams. She broke cultural barriers, kissed Elvis, was shot by drug dealers and came back to win The Belt.


Hope rarely shines in Bronx high-school basketball. Yet filmmaker Will Robson-Scott found a ray at Wings Academy, an unlikely contender for the PSAL crown.

The Game

The University of Michigan Wolverines vs. the Ohio State University Buckeyes. On November 30, 2013 their story took yet another turn.

Divine Stampede

The world's oldest horse race takes place on the Piazza del Campo in Siena, twice a summer. Alessandro Simonetti photographed the pageantry, intrigue and violence; Bud Schmeling added the words.


In May 2014, guard Tyrese Rice led Maccabi Electra of Tel Aviv to an astronomical 51st Ligat HaAl crown, and to upset wins over CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid in the Euroleague Final Four.

The Perfect 18

A short film by Mickey Duzyj about Rick Baird, who achieved a sporting feat more rare than pitching a perfect game in the Majors: shooting 18 in putt-putt.

Athleta Original

The brand that immortalized the canarinho kit of Brasil's national futebol team famous stands silent, filled with evidence of beautiful games and memories it inspired.

El Duque – “La Gran Fuga”

“The Great Escape!” The amazing (and true) story of how pitcher Orlando Hernandez defected from Cuba, before becoming a World Series hero.

Transition Game

Basketball's evolution, from all-white to African-American-dominated, coincided with the Civil Rights struggle; and art has quietly documented that historical occurrence, then and now.

Fast Eddie and the Boys

Transplanted New Yorkers find a fountain of youth on the handball courts of Flamingo Park, Miami Beach. This rediscovered short doc brings us deep into the universe glimpsed in

The Greatest

In 1966 and again in 1970, photographer Thomas Hoepker was granted almost-unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali.The results are a full-bodied portrait of one of the 20th Century's most iconic athletes.

the check heard ’round the world

January 1976. Philadelphia Flyers v. CSKA Moscow. The Cold War. The soul of hockey at stake. Story by Dave Hollander, drawings by Stephen Halker.

Jimmy Snuka – “Superfly”

Jimmy Snuka was a Fijian prince who in the 1980s became one of wrestling’s most admired stars, Superfly.

Texas Six

Deep in the heart of Lone Star, Friday night’s gridiron lights burn brightly—even amid the quietude of desolate places.

Young Lions

Is the future of African basketball being sown at a non-profit academy in a small Senegalese town? Photographer Alessandro Simonetti documented West African hoop dreams and realities.

First Month in Brooklyn

November 2012, the month that big-time basketball finally came to Kings County. Anthony Blasko’s camera documented the Nets, as the team made a new home at the corner of Atlant

Joutes Nautiques

The Mediterranean town of Sète is the de facto capital of maritime jousting, a sporting tradition that dates back to the 15th century. Photographer Christopher Anderson infiltrated th