Big game : the NFL in dangerous times

Title:

Author:

Summary:

"Like millions of Americans, Mark Leibovich has spent more of his life tuned into pro football than he'd care to admit. Being a lifelong New England Patriots fan meant growing up on a steady diet of lovable loserdom. That is, until the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era made the Pats the most ruthlessly efficient and polarizing sports dynasty of the modern NFL, and its fans the most irritating in all of Pigskin America. Leibovich kept his obsession quiet, making a nice career for himself covering that other playground for rich and overgrown children, American politics. Still, every now and then Leibovich would reach out to Tom Brady to gauge his willingness to subject himself to a profile. He figured that the chances of Brady agreeing were a Hail Mary at best, but Brady returned Mark's call in summer 2014 and kept on returning his calls through epic Patriots Super Bowl victory and defeat, and a scandal involving Brady--Deflategate--whose grip on sports media was as profound as its true significance was ridiculous. So began a four-year odyssey that took Mark Leibovich deeper inside the NFL than anyone has gone before. From the owners' meeting to the draft to the sidelines of crucial games, he takes in the show at the elbow of everyone from Brady to big-name owners to the cordially despised NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Ultimately, BIG GAME is a chronicle of "peak football"--the high point of the sport's economic success and cultural dominance, but also the time when the dark side began to show. It is an era of explosive revenue growth, but also one of creeping existential fear" -- Provided by publisher.

General Note:

"Brief portions of this work, some in slightly different form, first appeared in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine"--T.p. verso.

Contents:

Football, in spite of itself -- Respite -- The Super Bowl without jock straps -- The monkey's ass -- Nuggets -- "Tom Brady here" -- "Beware the pissed off pretty boy" -- Garish fist ornaments -- Ballghazi -- Cheater -- No one buys tickets to watch a morality play -- Dings? -- Whuppings -- "We pay him damn well to be neutral" -- No broke dicks -- Roger and me -- The big splat -- Immortality gets old -- "Start blow-drying Teddy Koppel's hair 'cause this one's done" -- American carnage -- Patriotism -- Cheesehead elegy -- "We don't want you in Los Angeles" -- "I'm drunk, I'm stupid, I'm a Pats fan," the man told police -- The TV reporter in the Belichick underwear -- Clocks and sitcoms -- Turn-ons -- This man's liver belongs in Canton -- "Faith, family, and football...probably not in that order" -- "We need a black Charlton Heston" -- Just compartmentalize, baby -- The last visit.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 373 pages ; illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm

Corporate Subject:

National Football League.

Subject Term:

Football.

Football -- Social aspects.

Publisher:

Penguin Press,

Publication Date:

2018

ISBN:

9780399185427

Publication Information:

New York : Penguin Press, 2018.

Call Number:

796.332 LEIBOVI

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003348607	Adult Nonfiction	796.332 LEIBOVI	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

A merciless probing of America's biggest cultural force - pro football - at a moment of peak success and high anxiety. Big Game is a journey through an epic storm of corruption and influence - the Deflategate scandal that rocked Leibovich s team, the New England Patriots and star quarterback Tom Brady. Ultimately, this is a chronicle of what may come to be seen as 'peak football' - the high point of the sport's economic success and cultural dominance, but also the moment when it all began to turn.

Author Notes

MARK LEIBOVICH is the Chief National Correspondent for the New York Times Magazine . He is the recipient of the National Magazine Award for profile writing. Leibovich is the author of three books, including the #1 New York Times best-seller This Town , about the political culture of 21st-century Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the Times magazine in 2012, Leibovich covered national politics in the New York Times' Washington Bureau. He previously worked at the Washington Post and San Jose Mercury News. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this skewering and witty cultural study, Leibovich (This Town) takes an insider look at the National Football League. Leibovich hangs out with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady at his New York City skyscraper residence; schmoozes with team owners at the league's annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla.; attempts to interview a very distracted NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell on the sidelines of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.; and tailgates with shirtless fans at Green Bay's frozen Lambeau Field. A lifetime Patriots fan, the author weaves his personal experiences chasing Brady for interviews into a charged narrative that calls out the NFL for its willful obliviousness to the physical and mental toll pro football takes on its players, as well as the league's chest-thumping defense of its logo, "the Shield." He also refers to the NFL as "the country's most polarizing sports brand" and explores the impact President Trump is having on the league by taking players to task for kneeling during the national anthem. Leibovich questions throughout whether the NFL is doomed, not only due to the sport's violence but also because the people who run it seem place the league over the players. Enhancing his casual reporting with cynical commentary, Leibovich provides entertaining reading. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

The National Football League (NFL) has dominated U.S. sports in recent years, with unlimited potential for continued growth and popularity. However, a rift between the public and the league has developed owing to a flurry of franchise relocations, violence both on and off the field, performance-enhancing drugs, the controversial New England Patriots dynasty, the old-boy network of franchise owners, and players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality against people of color. How that unfolded and where it might lead is examined here by Leibovich (This Town). The author spent four years embedded with team owners, the league commissioner, and players, trying to determine whether the NFL, which once looked invincible, has already peaked and why we should still care. Showing the league as a microcosm of American values in an era of national division, Leibovich delivers an engaging, sobering portrait of a dominant institution facing critical challenges. VERDICT Current and former football fans, as well as readers fascinated by American culture, will find this an important look at the NFL today.-Janet Davis, Darien P.L., CT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.