José Mourinho quit his position as manager of the Chelsea Football Club last week. Or Roman Abramovich fired him. The parting of ways was described as mutual but I tend to doubt that. Whether Abramovich actively sacked Mourinho or gradually created an unsuitable working environment, the owner meant to dismiss the manager. Irrespective of the reason why, I was fairly certain that “the Special One” was finished with the club after a listless 1-1 draw at home to Rosenborg in the Champions League. From afar, it appears that Abramovich erred, becoming involved with Chelsea personnel and tactical decisions one time …
The Breaks of the Game
During his career, David Halberstam wrote two books about the National Basketball Association: The Breaks of the Game and Playing for Keeps (concerning the break-up of the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers and the construction of the 1990s Chicago Bulls respectively). Halberstam’s two works – written roughly seventeen years apart – cover a dramatic shift in the game of basketball, a change from a marginal sport without a full television contract to the second most popular sport in the world. The 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers may have been the last true team (greater than the sum of its parts) to win …