A Letter From Our Managing Editor: Spectator Sport
I know everyone claims to like to eavesdrop, but I take it to lengths that nearly constitute professional sport. And like all good sportsmen, I have my equipment: headphones (muted, offering a sense of privacy to surrounding gossipers) and a good book (again, a prop, or a valuable backup plan if the conversation doesn’t pique my interest). In the city, I rarely ever have to resort to my book, and even less so in the summer. After months of social hibernation, conversation tends to pour out as liberally as Aperol spritz on a west-side patio.
Earlier in the spring, I travelled to Brooklyn to partake in another (more conventional) sport, running the Brooklyn Half-Marathon with a pair of friends. We took a few days off after the race to revisit the city. Of course, once the race was over, I reverted back to my primary sport — headphones in, volume down, book out, black Americano in hand.
By and large, no matter where I travel, there are a few common threads of conversation: dating is impossible in [insert city name], the neighbourhood (any neighbourhood) was better a few years ago, and everyone is stressed about their sports team. The last one feels especially resonant, both at home in Toronto and New York. As I write this, both the Leafs and the Knicks are on the precipice of breaking painfully long championship droughts. By the time you read this, the dust will have settled. We’ll be in the dog days of summer, with the NHL and NBA calendars wrapped up. But for now, from my ears to this letter, sports are the talk of the town.
It should be no surprise, then, that they’re also the talk of this issue. From Rolex adding a new entry into its iconic roster of sports watches to Mercedes’s limited-edition AMG that lets its owners live out their F1 dreams, sports continue to be the focus of the world’s most discerning brands. This year alone marked such a wealth of sports watch releases that it was a task to select a roster of 10 for this issue’s watch shoot.
The fervour makes sense, of course. Whether it’s the spectacle of Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet at Madison Square Garden or the high-stakes adrenalin of an F1 weekend, sports are an unrivalled vehicle for storytelling. Take our cover star, Damson Idris, and his breakout role alongside Brad Pitt in F1, for example. Filmed throughout the real Formula One Grands Prix, F1 is slated to be the blockbuster of the summer and the launching pad for Idris’s stardom. “It definitely feels like a big step,” Idris says to SHARP. “But at the same time, it was something that I prayed for. I remember saying to myself, ‘I’m ready.’”
While the adrenalin rush of F1 fills the seats, we also have plenty to offer those eager to embrace those aforementioned dog days. From our golf guide filled with course reviews and gear recommendations to our profile on Peter Dager, who stars alongside Owen Wilson in Apple TV+’s latest feel-good comedy, Stick, we take time to celebrate the slower side of sports.
Of course, if sports aren’t your bag, there’s always more to find in the pages of SHARP — music, style, food, Father’s Day gift guides, et cetera. On a bustling patio this summer, you might even find yourself turning your volume down, propping up your copy of SHARP Summer, and using us as the veil for your own eavesdropping excursions. Don’t worry, we take no offence — it’s all in good sport.
— David Stol, Managing Editor
Feature photo by Luis Mora. Suit by BOSS.
