THE WARMUP

Happy Sunday. The Back Page is open.

This week, Father's Day collides with the U.S. Open, the USMNT is through to the knockout round, the Knicks' first title in 53 years gets a Father's Day footnote of its own, and a few San Francisco Giants decide on their own messaging on Pride Night.

Grab a cuppa and settle in.

THE LEAD

My father blamed my birth for ruining his golf game.

He said it like a joke, but it wasn't really a joke.

I was 5 months old, in a backpack, behind the 10th green at Winged Foot. June 16, 1974. Father's Day.

The U.S.G.A. had decided to make the field pay for what Johnny Miller did to them the year before, when he shot a final-round 63 at Oakmont.

So the Open in '74 became the Massacre at Winged Foot. Narrow fairways. Greens like marble. Miss either one and you were not just punished, you were humiliated. Hale Irwin won at 7 over par.

My father had tickets. He brought me, and I stayed quiet throughout.

Gary Player's group came through. As he prepared to putt, a woman in the gallery would not stop talking. Player stepped away, looked at her, and told her she could learn something from the baby over there (moi).

After his round, he came over to say something kind to my father about it. It was part of the giddiness of my father's storytelling.

My father adored Jack Nicklaus, and I vaguely remember him celebrating the Golden Bear's win at Baltusrol in 1980. And I watched with him in 1982 at Pebble Beach, when Tom Watson chipped in from the rough on 17 to beat Nicklaus by one.

The Open lands on Father's Day weekend each year, which is either a coincidence or the reason golf became our sport. After my parents split when I was 14, we made it a tradition. Play a round early in the day, then get home in time to watch the leaders come down the back nine.

He coached my soccer teams, too. He took me to major sporting events. Sports was the language he was fluent in, so it became the language we used with each other and later, my life's work.

My own kids don't speak it back to me the same way. We've gone to a few Mets games at Citi Field on Father's Day. They care more about the Wiffle ball field, the team store or getting a picture with Mr. and Mrs. Met.

I used to think that meant something was missing. Now I think it just means they're building their own version of what I built with my father.

I thought about all of this while watching the Knicks win their first NBA championship in 53 years. Jalen Brunson celebrates his title with his dad, Rick, an assistant coach for the Knicks, and his daughter, Jordyn, who hasn't turned 2 yet. She'll have the footage. Photos, video, her father lifting the trophy with her on his hip. I only have what my dad told me, which means I have his version, not mine. Hers will be the opposite.

The group-winning USMNT's roster has its own catalog of father-son stories: Christian and Mark Pulisic, bonded over golf the way we were. Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter, sons of fathers who played in previous World Cups for the U.S. — Gregg Berhalter's among them, as a coach, and I won't relitigate what happened between those two families except to say it happened. Alex Freeman, scoring at this World Cup with a father who scored a touchdown in a Super Bowl. Tim Weah, whose father George won the Ballon d'Or and became president of Liberia. So much more, if you go looking.

My father is gone now. The U.S. Open is still on every Father's Day (and Wyndham Clark is chewing up Shinnecock Hills in near-Miller-esque fashion), and I still watch the back nine when I can, and some years that's the closest I get to him.

— Ian Powers

THE QUESTION

Hale Irwin won the 1974 U.S. Open at Winged Foot — "the Massacre" — at 7-over par. How many U.S. Opens did Irwin win in his career, total?

See answer below 👇

THE READS

Each week, we curate 4-6 of our favorite reads from this week. The selections came from our own curation and from dozens of submissions by our readers. Thank you so much, and keep them coming.

Chris Rodriguez, a former professional pitcher who now writes 9 Inning Nomad, spent his mornings in the backyard with coffee and eleven bird feeders matching all thirty MLB teams to actual birds he watches, scored on the 20-80 scouting scale for fit rather than quality. The Mets get the rock pigeon. The Yankees get a Canada goose that's fully convinced the yard already belongs to it. (9 Inning Nomad)

Joe Pompliano breaks down how FIFA's mandatory hydration breaks across all 104 World Cup matches created new advertising inventory, with Fox charging up to $750,000 for 30-second spots in USMNT matches. FIFA frames it as player safety. The numbers tell a cleaner story about who actually benefits. (Huddle Up)

Neal Ternes and Sam Ehrlich, writing for Matt Brown's Extra Points, dig into the legal fight that almost was, before Brendan Sorsby bailed for the supplemental draft and mooted the whole case. The smartest explainer on a story most outlets only covered as drama. (Extra Points)

Oren Weisfeld, writing for Poynter, traces how teams, leagues, and athletes built their own media operations strong enough that they no longer need journalists. The gap between what powerful people want you to know and what's actually happening has never been bigger, especially in sports. Required reading for anyone covering this beat for a living. (Poynter)

Jonathan Wilson takes a hard look at Cristiano Ronaldo's drag on Portugal, tracing it back to Qatar 2022, when Portugal's best performance of that tournament came in the one match Ronaldo didn't start. (Wilson's World (of football))

Wendy Thurm's take, and it's a sharp one. Five Giants players sat out the team's Pride Night activation this year. Strong opinion, clearly argued, worth your Tuesday whether you end up agreeing with her or not. (hanging sliders)

THE LISTEN

Each week, we curate 1-2 of our favorite podcasts. The selections came from our own curation and from submissions by our readers. Thank you so much, and keep them coming.

Andrew Gundling and JJ Devaney break down the USMNT's 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle. The mood matches the moment. (Caught Offside).

THE WATCH

Each week, we curate 1-2 of our favorite videos. The selections came from our own curation and from submissions by our readers. Thank you so much, and keep them coming.

Johnny Harris, through his channel Search Party, breaks down how a record eight Arab nations qualified for this World Cup, double the four that made it in both 2018 and 2022. (Search Party).

THE PRESSROOM

David Cone — five-time World Series champion, now a respected voice in broadcasting for YES Network and ESPN — has joined Substack. Worth watching what he decides to do with the platform.

BBC Sport is running a live bracket projection that updates throughout the group stage, showing exactly who your team would face in the round of 32 if the groups ended right now. Useful for tracking how one result shifts the whole picture. (BBC Sport).

THE ROSTER

We want to celebrate as many independent creators on The Sunday Back Page as possible. Here are all the people who either submitted their work for consideration or were considered independently this week. Many of these creators deserved a place in this newsletter, and we hope they continue to submit their work. Please keep them on your radar.

Let’s Talk Football | The Full Scope | Jack Greven | Heart of a Fan | Jason Clewes | Rohan Ajit | Joey D’Urso | Kwame Twumasi-Ankrah | West Ham Fan | Astor Henriquez Cooper | Andrew M. Werners | Wayne Coffey | Eric Lusk | Jack Carnefix | Kyle Glaser | Jon Lane | Salvador Rodriguez | Daniel Feuerstein | Kartik Krishnaiyer | Paul Grech | Dan Leydon | NB’s Football | Clemente Lisi | Tevin Morris | Michael Caley | Off the Post | Will of the Giants | More Than a Game

Want to see your independent publication featured here? Let us know. There are hundreds more baseball Substacks out there. Give me a shout!

THE ANSWER

3. 1974 at Winged Foot, 1979 at Inverness, and 1990 at Medinah, where at age 45 he became the oldest U.S. Open champion ever.)

THE SCORECARD