The Weekly Roundup

As we arrive at the conclusion of another week, the team at TPT wanted to take a moment to reflect on a few of the posts that we’ve put up on the site that you might have missed (it’s okay, these things happen) while also highlighting a few other stories from around the web that caught our eye. Here’s our Weekly Roundup:

“Mailbag: Derek Jeter”

This week, Founding Publisher Derek Jeter kicked off a new Players’ Tribune series called “Mailbag,” which is just what you think it is: an athlete answering questions directly from fans. From the toughest part about playing Major League Baseball to the age-old debate of Biggie vs. 2Pac, the fans lob the questions, and Derek knocks them out of the park.

“What You Don’t Know About: Being a Striker” by Chris Wondolowski

Have you ever been cornered and asked, “What do you do?” Sometimes it can be tough to explain. We all know what pro athletes do … or do we? In another new Players’ Tribune series, MLS All-Star Chris Wondolowski of the San Jose Earthquakes explains what it really means to be a soccer striker. No cliches allowed.

“Well, in two sentences: I’m a striker. My job is to score goals. Easy, right? If I ever forget, fans scream my job description at me all the time. “Just put it in the net, man!” But in reality, it’s a little trickier than that.”

“Katrina: 10 Years Later” by D.J. Augustin

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard and New Orleans native D.J. Augustin remembers the false alarm before Katrina, the phone call that saved his grandfather’s life and what he calls “one of the great American cities” both before and after the storm.

“If you’re from New Orleans, you’re used to evacuating. It’s normal … Hurricanes were part of your childhood like ghost stories. But to me and my siblings, we had never really been through a bad one.”

“The Wave” by Johannes Vall

The day after Christmas in 2004, Swedish soccer player Johannes Vall was vacationing with his family in Thailand when the tsunami hit. He shares his incredible story of survival, and how it motivated him to become the player he is today.

“The last thing I remember is holding on to someone’s hand and having to crane my neck to see the top of the wave. It was more than 30 feet high and coming at 400 miles per hour.”

“The First Day of the Rest of My Baseball Life” by Todd Frazier

As the 2015 Little League World Series winds to a close this weekend, Reds third baseman Todd Frazier remembers his Toms River team that won it all in 1998.

“There we were, goofy kids from a relatively unknown town in New Jersey, about to play in front of 40,000 people the next day, in a game that would be broadcast internationally. We kept pinching ourselves. ‘Hey, we’re playing for the World Championship tomorrow!'”

Five Good Reads from Around the Web

1. The Cut Man: Life as the Bearer of Bad News in the NFL (Bleacher Report)
2. Williams Sisters Leave an Impact That’s Unmatched (The New York Times)
3. After Loss and Injury, Is Javier Baez Finally Ready for the Cubs? (ESPN the Magazine)
4. If You Believe Every Year… (MMQB/Sports Illustrated)
5. Darryl Dawkins, Lovable N.B.A. Figure and Fierce Dunker, dies at 58 (The New York Times)

One Fine Vine

Pic of the Week

An athlete competes in the Men’s Decathlon Long Jump during day seven of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)