One of the reasons I created my Deviate podcast was to occasionally explore cultural and intellectual themes that go beyond the travel issues I typically write about. Since I’ve been intrigued with sports since my preschool days on a summertime swim-team (and, later in my youth, soccer teams and running clubs) in Wichita, many Deviate…
This Sunday I’ll be watching the Patriots and Falcons play Super Bowl LI via wee-hours live-stream in the southern African beach town of Swakopmund, Namibia. This game-day ritual is a time-honored tradition for me: Since I first traveled overseas 20 years ago, I’ve followed Super Bowl games from 16 different cities in 9 separate countries…
Sports commentary: As a die-hard fan, seeing your team lose in the postseason is a rich source of speculation and mythology. Seeing your team win it all makes for a much better story, save one key conundrum.
Sports commentary: During Kansas City’s inspired 2014 playoff run, social media only heightened the gloriously irrational, neurotic nature of baseball fandom.
Long-form reportage: In September of 2012 a Kansas small-college football player was beaten to death outside a late-night house party, allegedly at the hands of players from a rival school. Rolf takes an investigative look at the 125 years that led up to the murder, and how small prairie-town colleges stay alive through sports, often importing inner-city kids to fill out rosters.
Whenever Rolf tells people how he learned to windsurf on Israel’s Sea of Galilee, he’s usually met with a bemused pause, as if a Bible-themed punch line should come next.
Jeu de Paume once dominated every level of French society. Today, only about 200 players remain. From the 16th arrondissement of Paris, Rolf reports on the lingering vestiges of the game that gave birth to modern tennis.
From the shores of a Thailand resort town, Rolf explores what happens when you mix rich men, elephants, and polo gear.
Rolf reports from Thailand on the difficulty of taking part in a time-honored American custom — watching the Super Bowl — while traveling in Asia.
