The Drug Runners
The Tarahumara became famous for running incredibly long distances. In recent years, cartels have exploited their talents by forcing them to ferry drugs into America. Now they’re running for their lives.
Showing 25 articles matching sports illustrated.
The Tarahumara became famous for running incredibly long distances. In recent years, cartels have exploited their talents by forcing them to ferry drugs into America. Now they’re running for their lives.
Ryan Goldberg Texas Monthly Jul 2017 30min Permalink
When confronted with reports that a doctor to top gymnasts was sexually abusing women and girls, most did nothing. And the abuse continued.
John Barr, Dan Murphy ESPN Jan 2018 20min Permalink
In the 1980s, Billy Ray Bates, once dubbed “the Legend,” drank himself out of the NBA and ended up playing in the Philippines. For a few wild years, his legend grew—both on the court and in the bars.
Rafe Bartholomew Deadspin Jun 2010 15min Permalink
Maine adopted Kenyan runner Moninda Marube as a symbol of human trafficking’s invisible casualties. But a close look at his case raises hard questions — and illustrates the challenge of investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes.
Kathryn Miles Down East Jun 2018 25min Permalink
The former NHL tough guy tells his story of head trauma, depression, and his search for peace.
I don’t want to die. But, you know, nothing is for certain. And I’m tired of keeping quiet.
Nick Boynton The Players' Tribune Jun 2018 20min Permalink
"The functionality, the quantity, the aesthetics of your bathrooms is critical. It seems unremarkable to most people, but, trust me, you invite 70,000 people to your house and you get the bathrooms wrong—you've got a huge problem."
David Fleming ESPN Feb 2019 15min Permalink
In 2007, NBA ref Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to betting on games he officiated. But it was never proved that he fixed them—until now.
Scott Eden ESPN Feb 2019 50min Permalink
I cannot burden my family with worry, because to be a burden worse than not being family at all. Like everyone else, I came to the ballpark to get away from something.
Malt Schlizmann Deadspin Oct 2019 15min Permalink
Andy Burcham is navigating his first season as the on-air replacement for his best friend, a beloved college football announcer named Rod Bramblett who was killed with his wife in a car crash. But a bigger change is at home, where the Burchams are raising the Brambletts’ son.
Sam Borden ESPN Nov 2019 25min Permalink
Antonio Carrion was headed for the NFL when the voices started and he drifted away. Then his estranged mother finished her time for robbery and saved him from a system that’s unkind to the mentally ill.
Vince Beiser Los Angeles Magazine Dec 2019 20min Permalink
After 20 years of long-distance competition, I ran my fastest. All it took was tech, training, and a new understanding of my life.
Nicholas Thompson Wired Apr 2020 30min Permalink
Myth, storytelling, and lore in the most disappointing clubhouses of America’s pastime.
Rolf Potts Medium Oct 2016 15min Permalink
Against all odds, it really was a refuge of competence, normalcy and transcendent play. But the outside world has a way of sneaking in.
Sam Anderson New York Times Magazine Sep 2020 20min Permalink
Mike Schyck and hundreds of other Ohio State University athletes suffered sexual abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss. Schyck and many others believe then-OSU assistant wrestling coach Jim Jordan—now a congressman from Ohio—knew about it.
Scott Raab Esquire Feb 2021 30min Permalink
Sunken by grief, Alenka Artnik found herself alone on a bridge, contemplating suicide. Ten years later, she is the world’s greatest female freediver and getting stronger with each record-breaking plunge. How one woman emerged from mental health struggles to push the limits of the human body.
He sawed out the bottom. Nailed the crate to the telephone pole out in front of the house. New hoop. ... I’d be out there shooting until 10 at night. That’s when I started getting really good. The pole was round so you couldn’t bank the ball in. And you weren’t getting a friendly bounce on a square rim. You had to hit it dead-on, wet.
Damian Lillard The Players' Tribune Dec 2019 25min Permalink
In 1999, “original superagent” Leigh Steinberg represented 86 NFL athletes. His life today:
At age 63, Steinberg -- for years hailed as the real-life Maguire -- now finds himself a bankrupt, recovering alcoholic, plotting a comeback from the bottom. And before 10 p.m. tonight, as mandated by the California Bar Association, he must show that his urine is clean.
Daniel Roberts, Pablo S. Torre Fortune Apr 2012 15min Permalink
Three years ago, college football was rocked by a domestic violence scandal that ended with Ohio State firing assistant coach Zach Smith and suspending head coach Urban Meyer. Both men have since reinvented their images and careers. But what about Courtney Smith, the woman who said she had been abused for years by Smith while he coached at Ohio State? This is her story.
Diana Moskovitz Defector Sep 2021 Permalink
With the biggest bout of his career looming, Andre Ward — who some consider the world’s best boxer — opens up about his family and his faith.
Brin-Jonathan Butler The Undefeated Aug 2016 20min Permalink
How three generations of a Brazilian family evangelized for and fought over the sport of Gracie jiu-jitsu as it moved from the Amazon to Hollywood to the UFC.
David Samuels Grantland Aug 2015 1h5min Permalink
‘‘Just imagine what it was like to be him,’’ Walton added. ‘‘It was 50 years of him being 18 inches taller than everyone and having the brain that he had. Imagine being this jazz head coming up during black power. This is just a dude who has a different head.’’
Jay Caspian Kang New York Times Magazine Sep 2015 15min Permalink
“Colin Kaepernick is inconvenient. To persist is to show strength, but also to be unpredictable, hard to define, impossible to control. And to grow stronger with every lash is to become dangerous—a threat not only to power, but to inspire others to follow suit.”
Rembert Browne Bleacher Report Sep 2017 40min Permalink
In 2017, the Hall of Fame Louisville coach’s career collapsed under a string of scandals, leading to his firing from the school he had coached for 16 years. Now, Pitino is finding himself in Greece, coaching Panathinaikos, working for a self-styled Bond villain, and enjoying a new chapter of his life.
John Gonzalez The Ringer Feb 2019 30min Permalink
From Detroit to Greece, pro sports to Hollywood—a collection of articles about going broke.</p>