Sport Archives

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS GRATUITOUS MAN LOVE. Imagine two men. One capable of changing history with drift and turn from the rough, the other capable of making it riveting to those who think drift and turn from the rough was illegal in Tasmania until 1997. Imagine they meet, one as artist, the other his subject. Imagine no longer. I will say from the outset that I think Gideon Haigh is the... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC5eP49owLE&rel=0]  The Booktopia Book Guru asks Matthew Mitcham Olympic Gold Medallist and author of Twists and Turns Ten Terrifying Questions  ———————— 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? All in Brisbane. QEII (coopers plains... Read more

Twists and Turns People kept remarking on how they were surprised that a gold medal and fame hadn’t changed me. I always responded, ‘Why would I change? Being me is the easiest person to be.’ I was lying. It wasn’t. At the Beijing Olympic Games, he made history with an unforgettable dive, the first to ever score perfect tens from all four judges, and won gold for Australia. Grinning with pride ... Read more

My name is Andrew Cattanach, and my family home had a cricket book wall. Many of them, in fact. When I was growing up I noticed my walls had a different look to them than other family homes. Sometimes there were tasteful awnings, feature walls drowned in colour, even red bricks peering through the paintwork. But no other home had a cricket book wall. So it was like smelling my mother’s cookies ... Read more

In time for AFL Grand Final Day, Booktopia has a Swans guernsey and cap both signed by Micky O to give away. Just order Micky O: Determination. Hard Work. And a Little Bit of Magic from Booktopia before midnight Tuesday 2nd October 2012 to go into the draw. How does that sound? Oh, and may the best team win… (Go Swannies!) Click here to order Micky O from Booktopia, Australia’s No. ... Read more

In a world where sportsmen fight, drink and tweet their way into trouble on a daily basis, Parramatta, New South Wales and Australian great Nathan Hindmarsh is a different breed. The softly spoken people’s champion is now playing his last season for his beloved Parramatta Eels. Sadly he will end his career never winning a premiership, but in Old School he has released one of the best auto... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Michael Winkler editor of Kick it to the Shithouse: Great Sporting Quotes Ten Terrifying Questions ———————————– 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I grew up in country Victoria then moved to Melbourne aged 17. At the ... Read more

What’s going on you ask? You’re watching morning TV and the newsreader is reporting on the weather in Perth from a London bus. Uncle Toby’s ads are on every 16 seconds. The local paper is selling boxing kangaroo badges and Laurie Lawrence is doing a speaking tour. Yes Booktopians, the Olympics are nearly upon us. A show of global unity for some, national disunity for others, t... Read more

England, Summer 1975. The Australian cricket team, visiting for an Ashes series, fields players who will become legends of the game Ian Chappell, Rodney Marsh, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson against celebrated English power-cricketers Tony Greig, John Snow and Phil Edmonds. It is the pinnacle of the game of cricket the two oldest enemies in the game going head to head. At the beautifully green gro... Read more

Ears to the ground. Do you hear the gentle caress of a forearm to the face, the whimsical thud of a scrum engagement, the glorious stroke of leather boot on synthetic rubber? Yes Booktopians, here we are, halfway through another Rugby season, and with it mid-year tests for the Wallabies. Rugby has been a major force in the Australian sporting landscape for over a century with teams now based in... Read more