Pitch

Inside every issue of Pitch magazine you will find stories, long and short, covering at least 30 different sports. There’s football, cricket, rugby – both types – golf, MMA, boxing, athletics and F1. And loads of others. Because ultimately we are sports fanatics.

FOURTH AND LONG-HAUL

FRONT ROW / CONTRIBUTORS

Pitch

FLAG SWAG

In 60 Seconds… with Will Irvine. • FROM ROWDY CAR PARK TAILGATING TO HIS EARLIEST SPORTING MEMORY, DAYTIME TV'S SCOTTISH ALT-ROCK FRONTMAN SHARES HIS LOVE FOR SPORT IN ONE MINUTE.

Rated. • Walk the walk in Gridiron's sterling sporting stash.

SCHEMATICA • The New Highmark Stadium Home of the Buffalo Bills

ATHLETES THAT OUT-PERFORM THEIR SPORT Tyrann Mathieu

Basic, Better, Best… THROUGH HISTORY • Since popularised by William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry in 1985, the number of 300lb-plus players in the NFL has increased 100-fold. Of those masters of ‘brotherly shove’, who stands out as the best to max out the scales? And does bigger always mean better?

PUB GOER'S GUIDE TO… Tailgating • The American ritual where the parking lot is the party. Mostly.

…Fantasy draft. • Like you mean it.

Backyards – No.14 Michigan Wolverines @ The Big House

FIRST-TIMERS… No.8 – The Hail Mary • Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach reaches for the sky.

Alt. Icons. SPORTING RITUALS • America's athletically ambiguous undercard.

Playbook(s) • Jade Craddock reviews the latest books worthy of making sport's final roster.

THE 80S In 10 Characters, or Less… • Regarded by many as the NFL's golden era, here are the Pitch personalities that defined the time.

A Bluffer's Guide to the Super Bowl • Pitch sucks the marrow from the biggest day in sport. Fact.

MOVING HOUSE • SOME TEAMS REMAIN ROOTED IN THE COMMUNITIES THEY STARTED WITHIN. SOME, QUITE SIMPLY, HAVEN'T. PITCH PLOTS THE JOURNEY.

LOVE & HATE • THREE DECADES ON THE JOB, BRENT DOUGHERTY SPEAKS TO PITCH ABOUT BROADCASTING THE TRIBAL, TORTURED, AND UNSHAKEABLE RELATIONSHIP THE AMERICAN SOUTH HAS WITH FOOTBALL.

PUNT! • Still in Tennessee, Phil Turner speaks to two-time All-Pro punter, Brett Kern, about the global game, his experience playing in the UK and whether Harry Kane could make it in the NFL…

ELVIS, NIXON, and AMERICAN FOOTBALL • THE KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MEETS THE 37TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE OVAL OFFICE. IN THIS COMING TOGETHER OF WORLDS, PAUL SIMPSON BUILDS A STORY OF POLITICS, POP CULTURE, AND A SHARED LOVE OF GRIDIRON. IT ALL STARTS WITH ONE FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH.

I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby! • Andy Afford sets out the key moves in the making of a global sporting dynasty.

THEY'VE GONE AND DONE WHAT? • Nine maniacal global sports team owners, according to Pitch

PRIME TIME • IS DEION SANDERS THE NFL'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PLAYER OF ALL TIME? A GENUINE TWO-SPORT STAR, AS WELL AS AN OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE FORCE, IT'S HARD TO ARGUE OTHERWISE. SAM BOWLES STATES THE CASE FOR THE PLAYER.

Architects of the Future • From the lofty heights of Huddersfield to the cliffside in Qiddiya City, architectural building behemoth Populous has redrawn the very purpose of modern-day stadia and their design. One of the firm's Global Directors explains why sport's future is a 365-day-a-year proposition.

Game Of Zones • IN THIS EXTRACT FROM ANDRES MARTINEZ'S BOOK ‘THE GREAT GAME’, HE EXPLORES A TALE OF TWO FOOTBALLS AND AMERICA'S QUEST TO CONQUER GLOBAL SPORT. THE NFL'S PLANS FOR WORLDWIDE EXPANSION.

SHOWREEL • SPORT'S LEADING CREATIVES TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK, HOW THEY GOT THE SHOT, AND WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT THEIR FAMOUS POINTS OF FOCUS.

SHOT(S) • THE VERY BEST PHOTOGRAPHS FROM A MAGNIFICENT SUMMER OF SPORT…

OBITS...