Book review: Sport in Modern Life looks at how great sporting moments lifts life above the ordinary

Some years ago, my brother and I travelled to a remote rural cottage to pay our respects to a deceased man whose son had shown kindness to our late father. Looking back, I can’t remember the dead man’s name or the location of his tiny home.

But what I vividly recall is how the only item displayed in his open coffin was a 60-year-old GAA medal, carefully placed between his entwined fingers. He was the ...