By Jesse Spector
I never had the fortune of meeting Grant Wahl in person, but count me among the vast community whom he went out of his way to help when he didn’t have to, and I want to note that he’s part of the reason Willets Pen exists today. I had been reading The Blizzard for a while and got an itch to do something similar, and I sent Grant a DM to ask him if he knew Jonathan WIlson, the English writer who started it. Of course he did, and of course he set us up on email the next day. It took another eight years for Willets Pen to eventually launch, but I will forever be grateful to Grant for being an encouraging voice at every step, and even did an interview with me once for a story about media access.
Grant’s Substack is its own trove of excellence, and while he left us with one hugely important story, the one I’m going to want to keep going back to is one of my favorite sports stories that I’ve ever read, about FC Sheriff in the breakaway Moldovan state of Transnistria.
I did get to meet Christian Stone in person once, when he was nice enough to answer my letter as a high schooler and had me up to see the Sports Illustrated office and offer some career advice. He wrote about Grant for the Los Angeles Times, and that’s the remembrance to read.
On a happier soccer note, I really enjoyed Sid Lowe’s interview with Jorge Valdano, I think partly because I just love the passion…
As if being a genius wasn’t enough, time made him wise. Against Australia, it was like the essence of his 1,000 games, the aroma of everything he’s been. Even as a madridista, I’ve always thought that whoever doesn’t love Messi doesn’t love football.
…but also because there’s this common thread that runs throughout sports, and I love seeing the different ways that it manifests.
It’s wonderful seeing Mbappé, who seems to have time for everything: he can do it all, and then score the goal. Whereas with Leo, it’s about his brain identifying the opportunity to make his talent tell, even without the physical condition. He has less but is giving more.
To me, Messi vs. Ronaldo was never really a debate, not after the year when Messi essentially broke the sport.
The contrast of their twilight years, thrown into stark relief by this World Cup, should put the question to bed once and for all as to who the king of men’s soccer is for the first quarter of the 21st century.
There’s also something in this that’s why I’m excited about the 2023 Mets and their extremely veteran, but still highly capable roster. Just as it’s easier to appreciate Starling Marte and Eduardo Escobar when you see them play every day, there’s going to be a lot to learn about the game from watching a rotation with wizened Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander fronting it, supported by advanced versions of José Quintana and Carlos Carrasco, while Kodai Senga makes the transition from Japan in his prime. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow.
We Can Pod It Out 6: Misery