With the Olympics going on, it seems apt this issue reaches us all. A touch of fortius citius in August is all we need. Something to celebrate life and symbols of unity, endurance and exuberance of the human spirit. Sports teach us to live life and unite us in multiple ways--known and unknown. And Mothertroopers and punks always gel well--that's what has been keeping us going over the eons. Like SportsPunk, our forms may be varied, but the core essence remains the same. Ooorah!

Apparently, punk and sports aren't a great combination. And there are news of punks and jocks having a go at each other whenever they got a chance.

So, SportsPunk for all its myriad connotations, was introduced as a rebellion by the youth to popular sports like skiing, surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding along with the values it represents. This sub-genre is currently going on to becoming more mainstream, being corrupted by capitalism and commercialism as the SportsPunk rock groups are slowly conquered by corporate sponsorship.

We've the roller derby. Does it qualify as SportsPunk? Is there enough punk to be eligible? Probably, the aesthetics could be and the fact it's practically run by women could be detrimental to the punk characteristic. But together, along with SportsPunk, roller derby is immensely benefiting mainstream culture. Ten Yard Fight were already mentioned. Geoffrey Oi!cott is a cricket-themed band named after the Yorkshire cricketer Geoffrey Boycott.

There are some sports that have little or nothing to do with SportsPunk. Pure accents coupled with a wry sense of humor would be the only explanation for the existence of Geoffrey Oi!cott from Yorkshire, home county to the legendary cricket player, Geoffrey Boycott, from whom the band punned their name. Their cricket-themed punk songs, such as "(Cricket) Bat Out of Hell" (2011), "The Umpire Strikes Back" (2011), and "Pictures of Lillee" (2011), may have minimal interest beyond the region and it might make almost no sense—but the band additionally showcases the many intriguing wanderings of the this sub-genre punk virus. Louis Patterson, areporter at the wicket stated, "were he alive today, Charles Darwin might have a thing or two to say about SportsPunk impressive adaptability."

As an important part of the SportsPunk, hockey has been amongst the most featured punk. Along with Slapshot, the NoMeansNo spin-off The Hanson Brothers (named after the hockey-themed film), the unknown The Zambonis (named after the machine that resurfaces the ice), and Comeback Kid (named after Mario Lemieux). It might interest you to know that The Hanson Brothers represented Canadian hockey for decades before their recent demise in 2016. As a a side project of Nomeansno, with their mix of hockey-related lyrical themes prepared to Ramones-style themes has turned into legend stuff, particularly north of the US border. DOA had a number of hockey songs, with their favourite personal hockey version of "Pencil Neck Geek".

The French emo punk band SPORT went out of the way in their modus-operandi(MO) in having the songs of their first album "Colors" to be named after all the host cities of Olympic Games; with the songs of their second album "Bon Voyage" were eponymous late athletes like Ulrike Maier (Austrian downhill skier), Reggie Lewis (American basketball player), Eric Tabarly (French yachtsman) and Florence Griffith-Joyner (American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded).

A lot of SportPunks are ardent cyclists who blend punk and self-defense with ease. Many have made successful careers out of running self-run gyms, cycling, hiking, Jujutsu and Tai Chi. The physical activity reiterates the values and themes of SportsPunk as a way for individual and team empowerment--and not as a competition to rake in money by dividing the community into winners and losers.

Tony Hawk, a legendary skate punk, recollects the conglomeration of skateboarding and sportspunk, considering their aligned paths. "Like skating, punk was raw. It was real. It was energetic," said Hawk as he reminisced the sounds of the Sex Pistols and the Clash through the speakers at skate parks, and how he cut up his sticker from the mainstream radio station 91X, making an X sticker to apply to his board. According to him and his peers like Steve Alba, Tony Alva, Steve Olson, Steve Caballero, and Duane Peters, skateboarding, skateboarders and SportsPunk were affiliated by common habits of skating by day and slam dancing by night.

I've been searching the lengths and breadths of Wattpad for some SportsPunk recommendations, but I could find only one by one of our amazing mothertroopers .

Section F: The Arse-Kickers by Reffster

Summary: Defenceless, its heroes all gone, the world faces a new threat from the unlikeliest of sources.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and desperate measures call for Section F. But for all their world-saving and/or carb-handling credentials, Agents Peregrine and Fields can't tackle this situation on their own. They're going to have to find new heroes. And, just maybe, give the definition of the term something of a stretch...

Feel free to add some of your favourites in the inlines here-->

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

Return once again to the enduring account of life in the Mojo lane, to the Permian Panthers of Odessa -- the winningest high school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business.In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. With frankness and compassion, Bissinger chronicles one of the Panthers' dramatic seasons and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires-and sometimes shatters-the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms. Includes Reader's Group Guide inside. Now a major motion picture starring Billy Bob Thorton.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.

It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington's eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys' own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era.

Under the Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women's Soccer by Gwendolyn Oxenham

In 2004, journalist and award-winning documentary maker Gwendolyn Oxenham played futebol feminino for Santos FC, Brazil. The team hitchhiked to practice, shared their field with a horse and wore hand-me-downs from the men's team.

If this was Brazil, the mecca of futebol, what did the women's game look like in other countries?

Under the Lights and in the Dark takes us inside the world of women's soccer, following players across the globe, from Portland Thorns star Allie Long, who trains in an underground men's league in New York City; to Fara Williams, who hid her homelessness from her teammates while playing for the English national team. Oxenham takes us to Voronezh, Russia, where players battle more than just snowy pitches in pursuing their dream of playing pro, and to a refugee camp in Denmark, where Nadia Nadim, now a Danish international star, honed her skills after her family fled from the Taliban.

Whether you're a newcomer to the sport or a die-hard fan, this is an inspiring book about stars' beginnings and adventures, struggles and hardship, and, above all, the time-honored romance of the game.

The Optimist: A Case for the Fly Fishing Life by David Coggins

An "excellent" ( The New York Times ) modern tribute to an ageless pastime, and a practical guide to the art, philosophy, and rituals of fly fishing, by an expert, lifelong angler.

In The Optimist , David Coggins makes a case for the skills and sensibility of an enduring sport and shares the secrets, frustrations, and triumphs of the great tradition of fly fishing, which has captivated anglers worldwide.

Written in wry, wise, and keenly observed prose, each chapter focuses on a specific place, fish, and skill. Few individuals, for example, have the visual acuity required to catch the nearly invisible bonefish of the Bahamas flats. Or the patience to land the elusive Atlantic salmon, "the fish of a thousand casts," in eastern Canada. Pursuing these challenges, Coggins, "a confirmed obsessive," travels to one fishing paradise after another, including the great rivers of Patagonia, private chalk streams in England, remote ponds in Maine, and New York City's Jamaica Bay. In each setting, he chronicles his fortunes and misfortunes with honesty and humor while meditating on how fishing teaches focus, inner stillness, and a connection to the natural world.

Perfect for the novice, the enthusiastic amateur, and the devoted angler alike, The Optimist offers a practical path to enlightenment while providing "a rueful, thoughtful, and very funny examination of an elegant obsession" (Jay McInerney).

This is all for now. I'll meet you in September with a crackling new theme and sparkling issue ✨ I love reading your comments as they always make my day! ❤️ Love you and take care!

Cheers, Nab =]

Nablai