New Movie Times: win

Sunday, 4 August 2019

Bayern Munich Had No Answer For Jadon Sancho

Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos (Getty Images)

Super Cup matches are usually glorified friendlies—unless your team wins, then they’re vastly important—but they can still tell us something about the upcoming soccer season. This is doubly true when two bitter rivals battle over a trophy no one cares about, and so I’m prepared to declare Jadon Sancho the best player in Germany after he single-handedly steam-rolled Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup.

The Borussia Dortmund wonderkid has been unstoppable since cementing his spot in the starting XI, finishing with 12 goals and 14 assists in the Bundesliga last season. What he did to Bayern on Saturday was just plain rude, though. During a 20-minute stretch in the second half of the Super Cup, Sancho pulverized the Bavarian giants with two perfect solo runs on the counter-attack, resulting in an assist and a goal that gave Dortmund a win over their hated domestic rivals.

The run for the assist was more impressive, and it came first, so let’s start there. Taking the ball just past midfield, Sancho drove straight at the back-pedaling Bayern defense, dribbling past the corpse of Jérôme Boateng, before being four defenders collapsed on him at the top of the box. No matter, as Sancho slipped a nutmeg pass through Corentin Tolisso’s legs that found goal-scoring machine Paco Alcácer, who coolly slotted a low shot past Manuel Neuer:

The second Sancho moment came about 21 minutes later: he received a pass in almost the same area as the first, with acres of space in front of him and both Alcácer and Marco Reus driving alongside with him. The presence of those two goal-scorers drove Bayern defender Niklas Süle away from Sancho; this was a mistake, because the 19-year-old Englishman kept it, blasted a shot through Neuer’s legs, and essentially sealed up the tie for Dortmund:

Again, a Super Cup is not usually a great game from which to extrapolate any lasting assessments, but Saturday’s match was played at an intensity befitting a Bundesliga showdown between the two best teams in Germany. Bayern will surely rue all of their missed chances in front of goal, while the Black and Yellows will be thankful that their superstar youngster played as well as he ever has to bring the trophy back to Dortmund for the first time since 2012, when they also beat Bayern.

Dortmund will be looking to Sancho to help them win the Bundesliga this season, something they came agonizingly close to doing last year before collapsing at the end. Die Borussen have loaded up in hopes of bringing the challenge to Bayern’s door, but it sure looks like they’re ready to focus on Sancho as their superstar, particularly now that the Christian Pulisic show has moved to London. Sancho is young, but he is for real, and everyone should get on board now before one of the big teams in England comes knocking for the most exciting English talent in the world.

From "Win The Moment" To "He Said She Said" To "Tuff Perception World": How Urban Meyer And Ohio State Reacted To The Zach Smith News

Photo: Jeff Gross (Getty)

Ohio State released more than 2,000 pages of records on Friday related to its investigation of former head football coach Urban Meyer and what he and others on his staff knew about the repeated reports to authorities over the years by Courtney Smith that she had been abused by her then-husband and then-OSU assistant coach, Zach Smith. Brett McMurphy first reported on July 23 of last year that Courtney Smith had gotten a protection order against Zach Smith, who was fired later that day. Meyer was suspended for three games, all at the start of the season, then returned and retired afterward.

The document dump was emails and text messages going back several years and included everything from extended chats about recruiting athletes, to emails from Ohio State fans insisting Meyer not be fired, to updates on Zach Smith’s fantasy football team. Tucked in there were message sent between Meyer, athletic director Gene Smith, then-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, and others around the time that McMurphy first broke the story and the days following. Here is what they show.

(The documents were released with heavy redactions. While overall exemptions were cited in the email announcing the dump—such as medical history and student privacy—individual redactions were not labeled, meaning there is no way know for certain why each redaction was made.)

First are these messages from May and June. They show concerns being expressed about Zach Smith, but why isn’t said. That month, Zach Smith was cited by Powell, Ohio, police for criminal trespassing after fighting with Courtney Smith.

These are dated July 20. One of the people in the conversation is labeled as “Zach/courtney smith” but it’s doubtful that it was Zach Smith or Courtney Smith on the other end given the conversation the topics are “Zach and the legal issue” as well as athletic recruits. This is three days before the McMurphy report:

The day the Facebook post goes up, Meyer gets a text from Jerry Emig, the associate athletic director for athletics communications.

Illustration for article titled From "Win The Moment" To "He Said She Said" To "Tuff Perception World": How Urban Meyer And Ohio State Reacted To The Zach Smith News

It’s followed by another message with a link to the Facebook post.

From there, work on a statement begins.

And this is what Meyer texts, with a reminder to “Win the Moment.”

Around that time Meyer also gets this text message with a suggestion for a new hire.

Meanwhile, someone wants to talk about this fiasco and a reporter is reaching out for comment.

Another person reaches out to offer Meyer comfort. Meyer responds the next day saying the “stuff vs Zach will get legally dropped ... tuff perception world we live in.”

That day, July 24, Meyer sends this message saying the “legal issues with Zach will b dropped.”

Smith’s legal issues were not dropped. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, and Courtney Smith received a domestic violence protection order that lasts three years.

Hours later, Meyer has this text chat. It contains a reference to Earle, which likely means Zach Smith’s grandfather, Earle Bruce, a legendary Ohio State football coach and mentor of Meyer. Meyer calls what happened a “he said she said.”

Meyer also texts someone asking for guidance on what to do.

At some point, Meyer has this discussion. He again says “win the moment” and there’s talk about how to message this.

There’s a gap in the messages, and they pick up again here.

Athletic director Gene Smith tells Meyer to “stay the course.”

Assistant coach Greg Schiano reminds Meyer to “WIN THE MOMENT!!!!”

And by July 25, two days after the story broke, Meyer gets a text message that tells him “this too shall pass.”

A month later, Meyer gave a press conference after an earlier wave of documents were released. During the entire press conference, Meyer only addressed Courtney Smith once when an ESPN producer asked him directly about her. In December it was reported that Meyer would teach a class at Ohio State. The topic of the class? Character and leadership.

Correction (9:53 p.m.): This post has been updated to reflect a text message was received, not sent, by Meyer saying “this too shall pass.”

Deadspin staff writers Patrick Redford and Lauren Theisen contributed to this report.