I’m reading Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World right now which is actually a pretty good read. Sports often offer a telling insight into a culture, and Foer is a great storyteller. Coincidently, the ESPN E-Ticket this week is about women’s basketball in Russia where Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are playing in the winters between WNBA seasons. They are getting paid 5-10 times what they make in the WNBA, have a free house, drivers, cooks, the whole nine yards. While both are born in the States, they play under an Israeli and Italian passport respectively, since Russian clubs have to have a minimum of Russian and European players. It’s a fascinating article.