The Politics of Sport - The Superbowl. America's Crucible

By Shane Thomas

So, it turns out that I couldn't indulge in my yearly tradition of having no chill towards Peyton Manning for the final time. This won't be a breakdown of the Denver Broncos winning Super Bowl 50 - best to leave that to the likes of Bruce Arthur and Bill Barnwell - only to say, that we should be wary about reverting to the cliche of defense winning championships, as it's a lot easier for that good defense when the opposing offense is non-existent.

The Fall Of Tebow Gives America Its Very Own Black Mirror

By Shane Thomas

This week's sporting metaphor concerns Charlie Brooker's brilliant television mini-series, Black Mirror. In the first episode, "The National Anthem", the plot centres around the British Prime Minister (Michael Callow) being forced into a situation where he has to have sex with a pig on live television (this blog post will contain spoilers for the aforementioned episode).