David Kohn
David Kohn is the author of four sports books, including titles on football, cricket and rugby and his recent The Best and Worst of the Olympics, featured on BBC TV and radio. He is also an accomplished podcaster, having recorded a six-episode series based around his book, alongside a number of series relating to his professional life in retail.
He is a voracious reader of sports writing, and owns a extensive collection of signed autobiographies as well as the last 50 years of the Wisden Cricket Almanac. A subscriber to Sky Sports, TNT and Amazon Prime it is a rare occasion indeed when he is found watching anything other than televised sport.
He claims to have played most sports “to a reasonable level” but, sadly, none to a particularly good one. This lack of prowess, however, has not got in the way of his obsession with sports facts, figures and history. And that’s what this website is about – an attempt to dig through the history of a sport, a team or an event and select not only the best ever moments but also the worst. Whether you agree or disagree, the articles should hopefully spark some thought, some ideas of your own and some memories. Enjoy!
The idea behind ‘the best and worst…’
If you’re a fan of any sports team – be it club, country or even your local kids football team – you obviously take great pleasure and joy from your team’s successes. The promotions, the giant-killing acts, the classic goals or tries, and even the occasional championship. You may well have been there when you beat your hated local rivals at their ground for the first time in years. You can remember exactly what it felt like when you got your first taste of silverware, even if it was only the Zenith Data Systems cup. You still recall the first time you put on a replica shirt and scored in the back garden against your younger sister.
But true fans tend to remember the failures just as vividly. The near misses, the refereeing injustices, the idiotic sendings-off, the last minute collapses, the ridiculous own goals – they’re as big a part of your club’s history and legend as the good things … in fact for most clubs, they’re by some distance the bigger part! Living through these has made you the fan that you are, sometimes crying, often laughing, frequently moaning, but still supporting your team through thin and thinner.
So, on this site we celebrate both the good times and the bad times. We’d love you to contribute your thoughts and memories, even if you disagree vehemently with ours. And we’d love your feedback either way. Cheers!