Phil the thrill unmasked

The MBC returns; Antoine Dupont might not be human; some great cricket feedback and big BYC news

Title: Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar

Author: Alan Shipnuck

Publisher: Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster (2022)

Genre: Unauthorised biography (duh, it’s in the title!)

Reviewer: Me

Phil is a triumph of major proportions.

It’s enough of a biography to give you a sense of the forces that created both Mickelson the person and the golfer, without getting bogged down in the minutiae of his life. To mangle a popular phrase: it’s all thriller, no Philler.

This was a three-sitting book for me.

What Shipnuck has done is taken Mickelson’s life and career and distilled it into a tabloid masterpiece. In this case, ‘tabloid’ should not be read as a pejorative but as a swashbuckling style that perfectly captures the essence of the southpaw golfer who has six major championship wins and a litany of headlines behind him.

The rivalry with Tiger Woods is explored here, not just on the course (where there’s a clear winner) but also in terms of the popular and probably false positioning of Mickelson as the people’s champion compared to the soulless winning automaton that Woods undoubtedly was.

It does not take long before you realise that Mickelson’s life (and what will be his subsequent legacy) is complicated. It’s not just his defection to the “scary motherf****rs” funding LIV Golf, but also his obsession with money (that is not always scrupulous) and rampant egotism that fuels his detractors.

On the other hand, he is also a highlights machine, playing and, perhaps more importantly, attempting shots that few can conceive.

Perhaps the greatest triumph of Phil, is that Shipnuck lays it all out but is never preachy. If you’re a Mickelson fan, you put down this book and think, “Yes, that’s why I love the bloke.” If you think he’s a complete melt, you’ll find plenty of ammunition.

If you’re in the middle ground… who am I kidding, this is Phil Mickelson - there is no middle ground.

***

This marks the semi-regular return of this feature, thanks to…

The Midweek Book Club is powered by Unity Books Auckland, which has a brilliant range of sports books - and an absence of crap!

Dupont’s wonderful chemistry

France halfback Antoine Dupont has wowed critics with his performance in Les Bleus' remarkable humbling of England at Twickenham.

The linked story is quite short, but within it he is compared to:

• Dan Carter;

• Lionel Messi;

• Cristiano Ronaldo;

• Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Terminator;

• Zinedine Zidane;

• Chevrolet bull.

The last one cracks me up. I suspect the transcriber has misheard Charolais as Chevrolet, but regardless, that’s quite a roll call.

As Wales assistant coach Alex King says:

“He is quite remarkable and his skill-set is phenomenal. I suppose Dan Carter in his prime with the All Blacks had a similar influence on games.”

Cricket feedback

I’ve had an opportunity to trawl through a few back issues of Notes from the Oval and there’s a bunch of great cricket feedback in there. What I love about it is the tone reflects the state of the match and it can vacillate wildly between despair, hope and admiration.

I often think about this as I write NTFO: “If ‘x’ happens tomorrow will this suddenly look silly?” While worrying about that is natural, it almost entirely misses the point. The reason watching test cricket remains the favourite part of both my work and play life  is the potential for the kind of ridiculous plot twists we have seen over the past 10 days of Black Caps cricket.

It’s a game that taxes the analytical side of  your brain and toys with the emotional side; a richly aesthetic sport that somehow finds room for the likes of Neil Wagner to flourish.

Like some of my subscribers, I had got to the point where I felt a home series loss to Sri Lanka could have been a net-positive if it expedited “The Great Reset”. I might look back in a year’s time and wish it had happened anyway, but in this moment those back-to-back thrillers are Exhibits A and B for why we watch sport.

As Stephen Harrop (an old club and Taranaki teammate, now a judge) said:

There is no finer game than test match cricket.

It is a glorious soup with ever-changing ingredients including: a range of cricketing skills, a mix of venues, personalities and cultures, fine judgments and misjudgments by players and umpires, good luck, bad luck, changing pitch and weather conditions, national pride, passion, character, team spirit, the joy of triumph, the chastening of disaster , the courage needed to deal those “twin imposters”. And, through it all, abiding respect for the opposing players and the traditions of the game.

And that’s just the players.

In the crowd and the listening/watching audience there is every age group represented, from those boys and girls still young enough to aspire to emulate their heroes and represent their country on the cricket fields of the world, to those who never made it but still love the game and appreciate all the more the skills of those who have been selected to perform in the match they are absorbed by.

Andy, probably my most regular correspondent, chipped in with this (abridged):

What a finish. Had the whole family grouped around the TV sweating on the last two overs, great fun. NZ batted superbly... That was a hell of an innings [from Mitchell] but I just can’t stop thinking about Kane’s contribution. Gone are the sparkling cover drives and he looks more susceptible on a fourth stump line than ever before but I think we are now witnessing Kane Mark II - a guy who is operating like a true pro within his new limitations.

Dave Byrne made a point worth further consideration (abridged):

Having watched the last two tests and comparing them with those in India, it makes me wonder if we produce the best surfaces in the world now? Maybe not quite enough spin late in the game but still infinitely better than those seen in the last two tests of the India/Australia series. All this serves to infuriate me even more that those countries seek to ringfence cricket for themselves.

And so did Matt (abridged):

Amazing win, I'd written them off on day 3. Yes we may have seen the end of the golden generation but at least this motley crew is putting up a fight and not rolling over and getting their bellies patted.

Keep it coming, one and all. 

There’s an election coming up… VOTE BYC!

Despite spending quite a bit of time talking nonsense and trying to get Jason Hoyte to pronounce names wrong, The BYC has been nominated for Best Cricket Podcast at the global Sports Podcast Awards. You can vote here.

Our latest effort covers New Zealand’s head-spinning win at Hagley, plus the staphylococcal state of the ACC’s wardrobe.