Finished an interesting book yesterday. Against Football: One Fans Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond. He sorta pulls into one book all the aspects of Americas favorite sport that have been disturbing recently - domestic violence, head injuries, racism, homophobia, the big business of College sports, cities using taxpayer dollars for building stadiums, the tax-exempt status of the NFL and the specific stories of such players as Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Darryl Stingley/Jack Tatum, Jim Mcmahon, Dave Duerson, Richie Incognito, Pat Tillman, Michael Sam and Michael Oher, among others. (It was published just a little too early for thoughts on Ray Rice...) Yet, he writes as a rabid fan. As he says, “Mostly, this book is a personal attempt to connect the two disparate synapses that fire in my brain when I hear the word football: the one that calls out, Who’s playing? What channel?, and the one that murmurs, Shame on you. My hope is to honor the ethical complexities and the allure of the game. I’m trying to see football for what it truly is.” Although it has flaws, it really touches on some important issues that conflict with our (my) intense fandom. Its making me think a lot about the game. Has anyone else read it? againstfootball.org
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 01:59:09 +0000