Lazy Sunday Reads: Connecting You With Great Sportswriting

In Lazy Sunday Reads, The Big Lead will steer you towards sportswriting — both new and old — that’s worth delving into. If you feel something you’ve read or written at any time deserves inclusion, please do not be shy about passing it along.

In a five-part series for SB Nation this week, Classical editor and SBN columnist David Roth wrote about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. If you have a bunch of downtime over the holidays (or even if you don’t), the whole thing is worth firing up on a tablet and getting enlightened by. In Part IV, Roth explained how Qatar got the bid (corrupt FIFA + cash, duh) but also — and probably more significantly — why:

At Grantland, Brian Curtis looks back on Mack Brown’s time at Texas:

In a November 1998 edition of Sports Illustrated, former Arizona State basketball star Hedake Smith discusses his participation in point shaving:

Every week, VICE editor Harry Cheadle writes an exceptionally observant football picks column for The Classical:

And in these parts, Jason Lisk explores the accuracy of the Pro Football Reference win probability charts: