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Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
A Tale of Two Finals. The World Cup Final Pays $50 Million. Hurling's Pays Nothing.

Jul 19, 2026

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3 min read

A Tale of Two Finals. The World Cup Final Pays $50 Million. Hurling's Pays Nothing.

Spain and Argentina play for $50m today. Galway and Limerick will also play today, in Hurling's All-Ireland final, Ireland's national championship. It generates €130m a year. Players get nothing. That's by design.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Tadej Pogačar Made Sure the World Saw the Work Nobody Sees

Jul 7, 2026

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3 min read

Tadej Pogačar Made Sure the World Saw the Work Nobody Sees

Domestiques do work that's built to stay invisible. This week, two rival leaders made sure, in very different ways, that it didn't.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Why Jana Novotna Choked at Wimbledon, and Why We're Wrong

Jun 25, 2026

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3 min read

Why Jana Novotna Choked at Wimbledon, and Why We're Wrong

In 1993, Jana Novotna led 4-1 in the Wimbledon final and lost five straight games. The research says she didn't crumble. She started thinking. Expertise doesn't protect you from this kind of failure. It creates it.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
The Miss That Made Him

Jun 11, 2026

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3 min read

The Miss That Made Him

Everyone saw the same image. Not everyone drew the same conclusion. Roberto Baggio missed the 1994 World Cup final penalty. Juventus and Milan moved on. Bologna signed him anyway, and got his best season ever.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Victor Wembanyama, Value Multiplier.

Jun 2, 2026

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3 min read

Victor Wembanyama, Value Multiplier.

The Spurs didn't just find a great player. They found a different kind of variable.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Luke Littler Didn't Raise the Bar. He Revealed It.

May 26, 2026

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3 min read

Luke Littler Didn't Raise the Bar. He Revealed It.

Professional darts spent years calibrating its ceiling. Then an eighteen-year-old showed it was a floor.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
The Moat Leinster Rugby Built Before Anyone Was Watching

May 22, 2026

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4 min read

The Moat Leinster Rugby Built Before Anyone Was Watching

Bordeaux hired the architect of their academy. The cohort he built didn't come with him.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
The Choice That Built Nadal's 90.5% Clay Record

May 18, 2026

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3 min read

The Choice That Built Nadal's 90.5% Clay Record

His clay record is famous. The choice that created it is not. Nadal had a 90.5% win rate on clay and 77.4% on hard courts. The same player, different surface. What that gap says about competitive advantage and the deliberate choice that made it.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Outcome Bias: Why Teams Learn the Wrong Lesson After a Loss

May 14, 2026

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4 min read

Outcome Bias: Why Teams Learn the Wrong Lesson After a Loss

When the outcome is good, no one audits the decision. That's exactly the problem.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy

Basketball

The Market Caitlin Clark Made

May 11, 2026

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3 min read

The Market Caitlin Clark Made

She's back, healthy, and playing every game on national TV. Whether she built something lasting for the WNBA, or whether she is the thing, is what 2026 will finally begin to answer.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Still Not Stalling

May 6, 2026

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3 min read

Still Not Stalling

Every competitive rule was built for specific conditions. Knowing when those conditions have changed is harder than learning the rule.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Optimised to Fail

May 1, 2026

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3 min read

Optimised to Fail

The Metrics Were Right. That Was the Problem.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
The Cost of Going First

Apr 28, 2026

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3 min read

The Cost of Going First

This is a story about how sometimes moving second, can help you finish first. The pioneer pays for the proof, and someone else collects the record.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Ronnie O'Sullivan, Faster than Measurement

Apr 23, 2026

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3 min read

Ronnie O'Sullivan, Faster than Measurement

You can track everything Ronnie O'Sullivan does. You still won't know how.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
LeBron's Assist Came in 2019

Apr 21, 2026

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3 min read

LeBron's Assist Came in 2019

The Lakers won Game 1 because of a reinvention made six years before anyone asked for it.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Playing Not to Lose

Apr 16, 2026

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4 min read

Playing Not to Lose

What nearly beat Rory McIlroy at Augusta wasn't his opponent. It was his lead.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
The Price of Having One

Apr 14, 2026

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3 min read

The Price of Having One

He lost there eleven times. He never changed a thing.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Zero Failures. Zero Proof.

Apr 11, 2026

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3 min read

Zero Failures. Zero Proof.

At the Grand National, the plans that held were the ones that had already broken. Yours hasn't.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Built on the Portal. Nearly Beaten by It.

Apr 7, 2026

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3 min read

Built on the Portal. Nearly Beaten by It.

Michigan won the 2026 NCAA Championship with an all-transfer roster. The man that left for UConn nearly stopped them.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
The Hard Part Wasn’t the Plan

Feb 9, 2026

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2 min read

The Hard Part Wasn’t the Plan

Super Bowl LX and what happens when everyone knows what to do.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
When chasing speed makes you slower

Feb 3, 2026

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3 min read

When chasing speed makes you slower

What the men’s downhill at the 2018 Winter Olympics reveals about risk, optimisation, and leaving room when conditions change

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Why Football Clubs Sack Managers in January and Why It So Often Feels Right

Jan 27, 2026

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3 min read

Why Football Clubs Sack Managers in January and Why It So Often Feels Right

Pressure, perception and the short-term momentum that shapes early-January decisions

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Evolution, Not Revolution: The Quiet Brilliance of Arne Slot

Apr 29, 2025

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3 min read

Evolution, Not Revolution: The Quiet Brilliance of Arne Slot

Replacing a legend is football’s hardest job. Slot succeeded by knowing exactly what not to change.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Draft Day Decisions

Apr 22, 2025

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3 min read

Draft Day Decisions

A perfect example of what happens when preparation isn’t paired with execution. A lesson in decision making under pressure.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
Reframing Rory

Apr 15, 2025

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4 min read

Reframing Rory

A subtle shift in perspective after a devastating miss helped transform Rory's mindset, and potentially his legacy.

Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy
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