THE WARMUP

Welcome to Volume I, Edition I of The Sunday Back Page.

This is your Sunday morning sports section — built for the inbox and made for independent creators. Every week, the best sports writing, podcasting, and storytelling from people who own what they build. No institutions. No legacy outlets. No algorithms deciding what you see. Just great work. Every Sunday morning.

Note: This week's email came from Beehiiv. That's where Sunday Back Page emails will live going forward. If you prefer Substack, every edition is still available on the website and in the app — just update your notification settings there.

THE LEAD

If the Ides of March served as a bad omen for Julius Caesar, today it’s an idyll for sports fans. 

Selection Sunday is here. For 132 teams, it is a day for celebration. 

You’re in the tournament. 

While 68 men’s teams and their fans eagerly await the selection show on CBS this evening, 64 women’s teams and their followers wait another two hours for the women’s selection show on ESPN. All schools, some biting their nails to see if they earned a bid, will find out the name of their first opponent and the time, date and location of that game.

The Sunday Back Page Selection Committee also convened to make massive and no less difficult decisions this weekend. 

There were more submissions on the SBP bubble than teams in the same situation in NCAA basketball. And fewer bids are available. 

What’s not so crazy is that you’ll find a fair share of this week’s selections penned by women… about women. That was before the specter of Women’s History Month even entered the conversation. 

Just like we should remember Charlotte Smith’s name alongside Kris Jenkins. Or Morgan William’s name in the same context as Keith Smart. We should feel the same about the bylines among today’s picks in this newsletter. 

Women's basketball has been worth watching since long before Caitlin Clark stepped on a court. The same can be said for sports writing. 

Growing up and working my first sports journalism job in Connecticut, where UConn women’s basketball and its coverage are much like that of the men’s program, gives me a healthy perspective on this. 

Still, the most impressive team I ever covered was the 1998 Trumbull (Conn.) High School girls soccer team. 

That team completed the season unbeaten, untied and unscored upon. More Invincible than Arsenal ever was. I could write a book about that team, and some chapters would fill a Sports Gossip Show episode for co-host Madeline Hill. 

But back to March Madness. 

For years, CBS was obligated to air the women’s national semifinals before the men’s on Final Four Saturday. It was the only way some college basketball and casual fans were exposed to the game. 

After Smith’s game-winning buzzer-beater in 1994, the dawning of the UConn-Tennessee rivalry gave room for the sport to grow away from the men’s game. 

ESPN signed on to air each women’s tournament game in 2003. The Women’s Final Four now gets its own standalone days.  

And, of course, 34-0 UConn are the favorites to win back-to-back and a record 13th national title this year.

— Ian Powers

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.

Our take: Kwame writes Pattern of Play, which is exactly what it sounds like, and it is so different from most of my reads. This collab with Monica Leyva takes it a step further: They use football's scanning science to explain why healthcare teams miss things right in front of them. The Xavi stat alone is worth clicking..

Our take: 21,490 in Philly — Jane McManus was there. Storied Sports, which exists to help women athletes own their stories, sent her to the largest crowd ever for a professional women's basketball game. Her prescription: put a hoop in the tour bus.

Our take: Every January and every summer, the football transfer window turns Fabrizio Romano into the most followed man in sports media. He has 121 million followers across social media platforms hanging on his every post. Nick Harris of Sporting Intelligence spent a week pulling on that thread — and the Christian Atsu story is where it unravels.

Our take: Lucy Montgomery isn't a beat reporter. She works at Bloom, at the intersection of talent, capital, and organizational design. She watched the US-Canada gold medal game at a women's sports bar in New York and spent the flight home writing down the six companies nobody has built yet. This is what independent sports business writing looks like in 2026.

Our take: Adam Silver killed lemon pepper wings. Carron Phillips wrote for The Contrarian that he would like a word about DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Miles Bridges, and Jaxson Hayes. Phillips has made a name for himself calling out truth to power in sports. Phillips courted controversy at Deadspin, especially with right-wing media, but it didn’t stop him from writing pieces like this.

THE LISTEN

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

Chris Lee | Outside Write

Our take: Chris Lee at Outside Write has Mark Biram on to discuss Mundiales — a South American history of the World Cup, written by two people who think Europe has been telling the wrong story for 96 years.

THE WATCHES

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

Tracey Lee Holmes | The Sports Ambassador

Our take: While the Iranian women's football team was in Australia on the Gold Coast, three players disappeared from the team hotel. Five others received humanitarian visas overnight. Iranian state TV called them wartime traitors. Tracey Lee Holmes, The Sports Ambassador, was following the story in real time — video by video, update by update.

Our take: When Solène Mazingue opened the email from the U.S. Center for SafeSport and realized it was the final decision — a permanent ban for the man she accused of sexually assaulting her — she started shaking. Then felt nothing. Lori Ward at Broken Ice sat with her through what justice actually feels like when the pain is already there. Here is a clip from the video behind the paywall.

THE PRESSROOM

Doug Roberson covered Atlanta United for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was part of a round of layoffs there that didn't get the attention some others did. His first post on Soccer with Doug landed this weekend — player ratings from Atlanta United's 3-1 win over Philadelphia, with Miguel Almiron picking up three assists to become the franchise's all-time leader. He didn't miss a beat.

THE ROSTER

We want to celebrate as many independent creators on The Sunday Back Page as possible. Here are all the people who submitted their work for consideration 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.

Adam Firebaugh | Chuck Hixson | Jason Krump | Baseball Scoops | Jordan Deller | Othersports | Josh Liddick

Here are some March Madness follows: Eamonn Brennan | Ken Pomeroy | Benjamin Michael | JDB College Hoops | Jett Hatch | Basket Under Review

Want to see your independent publication featured here? Let us know.