Happy Hump Day! As a reminder, Full Court Press is using sports to remind us of what once was good, and what could be again. We’re playing horse today, quickly hitting a bunch of moments around the world of sports from the last week. Care to match me?
Let’s Play H-O-R-S-E!
H is for History
This picture will go down in history. It exemplifies so much in one shot - joy, patriotism, pain, sacrifice. Inspiring finish to the Olympics!
If you missed the finish to USA’s 2-1 win over Canada in the Gold Medal game on Sunday, here’s a link to watch.
Also, I had a dentist appointment on Monday morning. The first words out of my hygienist’s mouth… “did you see the hockey guy yesterday?”
O is for One Year Later
Francisco Seco / Associated Press
In January of 2025, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were two of the 64 people onboard who tragically passed away when a commercial flight collided with a helicopter in Washington DC.
One year later, their son, Maxim Naumov, debuted at the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
His parents being decorated skaters themselves, Maxim grew up around the rink and dreamt of the moment he skated on Olympic ice. The most important people in his life just didn’t get to see it.
“This competition felt totally different,” he told TIME following a practice session two days after the event. “Obviously the stakes are high and it’s the biggest stage, but in all honesty, I felt calm and comfortable.”
If you missed his skate, give this a watch.
R is for Restraint
Back to hockey, Team Canada lost after dominating the last 30 minutes of regulation. A gut-wrenching way to go out, accepting a Silver Medal as a consolation.
Missing from the Gold Medal game, though, was Sidney Crosby. Injured earlier in the knockout rounds, one of the most decorated Canadian hockey players of all time (and scorer of the overtime, Gold Medal-winning goal for Canada in 2010) sat and watched while his team lost in what might’ve been his final Olympic game (he’ll be in his 40s in four years).
“…it was about what's best for our group and what gives us the best chance to win. And it becomes pretty clear at that point if I'm not able to go, then I'm not going to compromise our team or put myself out of that. It might have crossed my mind, but ultimately, that's not how you make your decision."
I’m nowhere near the best hockey player, best newsletter writer, best anything of my generation, but Sidney is. Ultimately, he’s the only one who could’ve made the call to not skate.
He skated on Saturday with teammates saying he looked good. But, on the day of the biggest game of the tournament, he just didn’t have enough to push through it. They couldn’t decide that for him.
An incredible show of leadership and sacrifice - the restraint that it must’ve taken for him to sit out and not even try to get a shift in.
I’m just picturing the reaction if someone like LeBron decided to sit with an undisclosed lower body injury in the Gold Medal game vs France in 2024…
S is for Soccer
Taking the soccer, er, football world by storm the last few weeks have been a ragtag group from Norway2. FK Bodø/Glimt plays wayyyy up north!
map courtesy of Google Maps; illustration courtesy of Brandon
Here’s their list of Champions League games played since January 20th:
Defeated Manchester City 3-1
Defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1
Defeated Inter Milan (1st Leg) 3-1
Defeated Inter Milan (2nd Leg) 2-1
Ever seen a playoff game in Buffalo? Try a Champions League knockout stage in Bodø! They had to get snow off of the pitch to even play the 1st Leg against Inter!
Norway doesn’t exactly produce excellent football teams. This is really cool to watch.
Keep an eye out for them as they progress - we love tracking underdogs at Full Court Press. Might have to dig deeper into their story.
Bonus: this passage of play is really fun to watch. Talk about an ideal flow state!
E is for Every Day Matters
What a gift it is to be able to sit around talking about sports.
A gift to cry while watching another sweet story unfold at the Olympics.
To laugh with friends as you bond over a game you’re watching.
Feeling grateful for this community that’s building here at Full Court Press.
There’s a lot of bad in the world. It’s what drives clicks and divides people. Sports bring people together (and drives rivals apart, but we’ll allow it) 365 days a year.
I’m curious to hear from you - what have you enjoyed so far? What stories resonated the most? The deep dives or the quick hitters of what’s happened lately?
Please reply back and let me know so I can continue building this with the reader in mind!
Your Simplest Win of the Day
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Using Winter Olympics moments, today's newsletter made me feel like...
Thanks for reading my newsletter! I never use AI to type this out for me. Can you believe how strong my fingers are1?
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Please reply with your feedback and I’ll get back to every response in my inbox. I hope you’d consider sharing it with a friend who enjoys one or more of the following:
Gold Medals but when you bite into them it’s just chocolate
birthday cake in the shape of a ball (football? baseball? gimme gimme)
NFL Combine drama
dropping Lake Placid in casual conversation
Blessings,
Brandon
1 s/o Typeracer
2 the team is actually almost all players of Norwegian descent with a couple from Denmark and Russia. My favorite player is the lone Nigerian - his name is Gift Sunday. Incredible.
