I don’t think now is the time to jump into the Patriots- it’d be like jumping into Breaking Bad for the last two episodes. Wait for Bill to retire, and then tune in for Better Call Saul.
The Panthers might be a fun one, at least for this year. The Baker Redemption Arc, it’s a team without a *ton* of history and they’ve got a scrappy underdog vibe relative to the Bucs and Saints.
Maybe the tact is to find an interesting team each year to follow, like Hard Knocks without the needs of a reality show.
I really liked the football 101 stuff. I was a football fan before I was a baseball fan, and I've always felt like the personalities of great football players were more interesting that great baseball players.
Baseball demands a certain level headedness that football does not. You think that Pete Rose was relentless? Man, he'd be average on a pro football team. His motor? In football terms, meh. In football, the different positions demands such different things from players, and even among a particular position, there is so much variance. And then you combine the incredibly physically demanding violence of football with the fact that it is only played once a week? Players need to be so complex to be able to get up for games and NOT be psychopaths the days of the week. Some of them even succeed at that.
I get the elegance of baseball. I feel the fascination. But baseball is obsessed with all those numbers because it lacks the drama and passion of football and of the football life. Football is both more intellectual and more violent. It is more strategic and more animal.
Other than Joe Montana, name another great football player was just boring. Can you? I cannot. We thought Marvin Harrison was, but it turns out...
Yeah, there history of race in America in the last 100 years in America is clear there in baseball. But it's there in football, too. It's still there.
I grant you that the international nature of baseball just doesn't exist in football. That Spanish-English thing in baseball is fascinating, but even you don't much write about it. Is there any sportswriter who REALLY dives into the sociology of that stuff? Has there been a Ball Four (or anything like it) for THAT stuff? Sure, football doesn't have that, but baseball writing doesn't really dive into what it means, not even today. I know more about Japanese-English lines in baseball than about Spanish-English lines.
So, give us more football. Give us more of your great writing about football. The sport demand so much of players -- the pain, the amount of practice, the study, the recovery. Man, there's got to be LOADS to write there.
Why isn't football writing as good as baseball writing?
I’ve enjoyed reading both the baseball 100 and the football 101 series. I wonder though if the lesser engagement with the football posts has something to do with timing.
For me, football is very much a fall thing. Maybe some attention to the NFL draft but between the Super Bowl and start of the regular season I really have little interest. Baseball’s offseason is shorter, and there’s still some interest with free agent signings in December, the HOF voting a month later, and then spring training, which as much as anything it’s for me about thinking of warm weather and winter ending.
I like the Football 101, and look forward to it. Speaking of Football, the Chiefs are the right choice. You have family that are already there. You have a history. They are fun as hell to watch. They are going through changes, getting young on defense and replacing the cheetah with a committee, so I have no idea what they will do. They could be back hosting the AFC championship game or .500 and I would not be surprised either way. You can still root against Denver (shame on the person who suggested the Broncos - you might as well ask him to become a Yankee fan.)
Also, according to "experts" they are apparently playing in the toughest division by far in football and have (on paper - those pre season schedule toughness things sometimes don't turn out the way they think they will) the toughest schedule in Football. Lots of marquee matchups, ups and downs etc.
I’m a huge baseball fan and barely a football fan any more, but the Football 101 was probably the biggest reason I subscribed. I love reading about the old school guys and the newer guys who I didn’t really appreciate at the time. So count me among the disappointed.
Loved the Baseball 100-all three versions actually. I lived and died Baseball when I was young. Football fan too, but it’s history just isn’t as compelling. That said I loved the football 101 (I’m hoping some day you’ll explain the significance of “101”)- especially players from the olden days pre- 1960’s. Most of them I had heard their names but knew so little about them. Those were actually my favorites. One of my favorite Baseball 100 players was Arky Vaughn- I mean I had never heard of this guy. Same was true for a few of the Nero league players but Arky Vaughn was an all time MLB player and after reading his story I was shocked how I could have been so ignorant of him.
I have been surprised that the Football 101 has not generated as much enthusiasm as I’ve had for it. I’m guessing the lacrosse 73, rugby 19, cricket 206, curling 11, and badminton 7 will be much more successful in terms of reader enthusiasm. Which one do you plan to do first?
Actually since I’ma tennis player and fan I’d love that. But he’s was on on a podcast with Jeff Sackmann who is currently doing the Tennis 128 that is fantastic, He acknowledges that Joe was his inspiration. Fabulous stories almost usually include short video clips of each respective player, which are really fun to see stuff from the 30’s thru the 50’s. He generally picks a theme for each player - why they were so good, or underrated, etc.. Joe is my favorite writer but this guy really knows tennis history. I actually don’t think Joe could match him for detail.
Interesting to see you share your revised thoughts on The Football 101. I love your writing (hell, I can even read about golf by you) and I have loved a number of the football pieces, but I think you're onyo something with the short bursts. We don't get to obsess over a particular player on any play for more than 3 seconds. Even the QB drops back and
- BAM - play over. There are few opportunities to establish a rhythm over long stretches. Watching an entire Willie Stargell AB 4 or 5 times a game cements perceptions over Stargell, builds anticipation. There is a rhythm to it. In football it's all - BAM - about the moments.
Disappointed by the Football 101 being shorter essays, but not surprised after how it’s sputtered out. Interesting to hear it wasn’t resonating, I thought some of those essays were great and gave insight to players people aren’t as familiar with like they are members of the baseball 100.
Joe - you can become a Denver fan. Sure, there are all of the past less than fond memories you’ll have to repress, but look at it this way: the team has been borderline incompetent for years now, so you can hate-watch them, and John Elway is barely involved with the operations anymore.
If you start having technical problems with this site, it may be because you have suggested to Joe the one thing he couldn’t abide doing and he takes it up himself to generate a little Bronco karma your way.
Joe, there's no choice to be made. You live in Charlotte, and the Panthers aren't that good so there's no bandwagoning associated with it. Come join us!
Except, as Joe has explained, they wanted to sign Watson too. It's not that they have higher ethical standards than the Browns, it's that they got outbid. So that probably knocks them out of the running.
I don’t think Joe will pick the Panthers for the reason stated above. But I vote that his first week diary be on the Panthers. With the game against the Browns and Baker playing for the Panthers it just seems too auspicious not to. And if the browns win as the Panthers blow a game they seemingly had won, it would be right up Joe’s alley. Easy transition to blogging on other teams.😅
[trying to be reasonable about the Pats]
I don’t think now is the time to jump into the Patriots- it’d be like jumping into Breaking Bad for the last two episodes. Wait for Bill to retire, and then tune in for Better Call Saul.
The Panthers might be a fun one, at least for this year. The Baker Redemption Arc, it’s a team without a *ton* of history and they’ve got a scrappy underdog vibe relative to the Bucs and Saints.
Maybe the tact is to find an interesting team each year to follow, like Hard Knocks without the needs of a reality show.
I really liked the football 101 stuff. I was a football fan before I was a baseball fan, and I've always felt like the personalities of great football players were more interesting that great baseball players.
Baseball demands a certain level headedness that football does not. You think that Pete Rose was relentless? Man, he'd be average on a pro football team. His motor? In football terms, meh. In football, the different positions demands such different things from players, and even among a particular position, there is so much variance. And then you combine the incredibly physically demanding violence of football with the fact that it is only played once a week? Players need to be so complex to be able to get up for games and NOT be psychopaths the days of the week. Some of them even succeed at that.
I get the elegance of baseball. I feel the fascination. But baseball is obsessed with all those numbers because it lacks the drama and passion of football and of the football life. Football is both more intellectual and more violent. It is more strategic and more animal.
Other than Joe Montana, name another great football player was just boring. Can you? I cannot. We thought Marvin Harrison was, but it turns out...
Yeah, there history of race in America in the last 100 years in America is clear there in baseball. But it's there in football, too. It's still there.
I grant you that the international nature of baseball just doesn't exist in football. That Spanish-English thing in baseball is fascinating, but even you don't much write about it. Is there any sportswriter who REALLY dives into the sociology of that stuff? Has there been a Ball Four (or anything like it) for THAT stuff? Sure, football doesn't have that, but baseball writing doesn't really dive into what it means, not even today. I know more about Japanese-English lines in baseball than about Spanish-English lines.
So, give us more football. Give us more of your great writing about football. The sport demand so much of players -- the pain, the amount of practice, the study, the recovery. Man, there's got to be LOADS to write there.
Why isn't football writing as good as baseball writing?
Everything Joe writes resonates with me!
Of course that could change if he picks New England for his team lol
I’ve enjoyed reading both the baseball 100 and the football 101 series. I wonder though if the lesser engagement with the football posts has something to do with timing.
For me, football is very much a fall thing. Maybe some attention to the NFL draft but between the Super Bowl and start of the regular season I really have little interest. Baseball’s offseason is shorter, and there’s still some interest with free agent signings in December, the HOF voting a month later, and then spring training, which as much as anything it’s for me about thinking of warm weather and winter ending.
Root for anybody EXCEPT the Patriots!
I like the Football 101, and look forward to it. Speaking of Football, the Chiefs are the right choice. You have family that are already there. You have a history. They are fun as hell to watch. They are going through changes, getting young on defense and replacing the cheetah with a committee, so I have no idea what they will do. They could be back hosting the AFC championship game or .500 and I would not be surprised either way. You can still root against Denver (shame on the person who suggested the Broncos - you might as well ask him to become a Yankee fan.)
Also, according to "experts" they are apparently playing in the toughest division by far in football and have (on paper - those pre season schedule toughness things sometimes don't turn out the way they think they will) the toughest schedule in Football. Lots of marquee matchups, ups and downs etc.
I’m a huge baseball fan and barely a football fan any more, but the Football 101 was probably the biggest reason I subscribed. I love reading about the old school guys and the newer guys who I didn’t really appreciate at the time. So count me among the disappointed.
Loved the Baseball 100-all three versions actually. I lived and died Baseball when I was young. Football fan too, but it’s history just isn’t as compelling. That said I loved the football 101 (I’m hoping some day you’ll explain the significance of “101”)- especially players from the olden days pre- 1960’s. Most of them I had heard their names but knew so little about them. Those were actually my favorites. One of my favorite Baseball 100 players was Arky Vaughn- I mean I had never heard of this guy. Same was true for a few of the Nero league players but Arky Vaughn was an all time MLB player and after reading his story I was shocked how I could have been so ignorant of him.
I have been surprised that the Football 101 has not generated as much enthusiasm as I’ve had for it. I’m guessing the lacrosse 73, rugby 19, cricket 206, curling 11, and badminton 7 will be much more successful in terms of reader enthusiasm. Which one do you plan to do first?
Oh, if he does another sport after Baseball and Football it will be Tennis.
Actually since I’ma tennis player and fan I’d love that. But he’s was on on a podcast with Jeff Sackmann who is currently doing the Tennis 128 that is fantastic, He acknowledges that Joe was his inspiration. Fabulous stories almost usually include short video clips of each respective player, which are really fun to see stuff from the 30’s thru the 50’s. He generally picks a theme for each player - why they were so good, or underrated, etc.. Joe is my favorite writer but this guy really knows tennis history. I actually don’t think Joe could match him for detail.
https://www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2022/02/01/introducing-the-tennis-128/
Anent the Football 101: One thing I never want to hear - fewer words from Joe.
Interesting to see you share your revised thoughts on The Football 101. I love your writing (hell, I can even read about golf by you) and I have loved a number of the football pieces, but I think you're onyo something with the short bursts. We don't get to obsess over a particular player on any play for more than 3 seconds. Even the QB drops back and
- BAM - play over. There are few opportunities to establish a rhythm over long stretches. Watching an entire Willie Stargell AB 4 or 5 times a game cements perceptions over Stargell, builds anticipation. There is a rhythm to it. In football it's all - BAM - about the moments.
Disappointed by the Football 101 being shorter essays, but not surprised after how it’s sputtered out. Interesting to hear it wasn’t resonating, I thought some of those essays were great and gave insight to players people aren’t as familiar with like they are members of the baseball 100.
Joe - you can become a Denver fan. Sure, there are all of the past less than fond memories you’ll have to repress, but look at it this way: the team has been borderline incompetent for years now, so you can hate-watch them, and John Elway is barely involved with the operations anymore.
If you start having technical problems with this site, it may be because you have suggested to Joe the one thing he couldn’t abide doing and he takes it up himself to generate a little Bronco karma your way.
I live with any and all consequences.
Yes, come over to the Bears side!
Better to be a fan of a mediocre (at best) team first, so when we hopefully eventually get good, you've been along for the entire ride.
Joe, there's no choice to be made. You live in Charlotte, and the Panthers aren't that good so there's no bandwagoning associated with it. Come join us!
Except, as Joe has explained, they wanted to sign Watson too. It's not that they have higher ethical standards than the Browns, it's that they got outbid. So that probably knocks them out of the running.
I don’t think Joe will pick the Panthers for the reason stated above. But I vote that his first week diary be on the Panthers. With the game against the Browns and Baker playing for the Panthers it just seems too auspicious not to. And if the browns win as the Panthers blow a game they seemingly had won, it would be right up Joe’s alley. Easy transition to blogging on other teams.😅
Say what you will about the Patriots and their fans, our dynastic QB has never been accused of abusing women. The owner, on the other hand…
Totally agree on the Football 101. Speaking personally, I can only get so excited for an offensive guard from the 1970s.