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Big game : the NFL in dangerous times

Leibovich, Mark (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. Players have long joked that NFL stands for "not for long," but as the true impact of concussions becomes inescapable background noise, it's increasingly difficult to enjoy the simple glory of football without the buzz-kill of its obvious consequences.

Record details

  • ISBN: 0399185429
  • ISBN: 9780399185427
  • Physical Description: xxiv, 373 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm
    print
  • Publisher: New York : Penguin Press, 2018.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-358) and index.
Formatted Contents Note: Introduction: 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 -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Photograph credits -- Index.
Subject: National Football League.
Football United States
Football Social aspects United States
Professional sports

Available copies

  • 21 of 21 copies available at SPARK Libraries.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 21 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library 796.3326 LEIBOVI (Text) 50686015392884 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Bedford County Library 796.332 L (Text) 35010001061934 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Cambria County Library 796.332 L525b (Text) 85131001635342 CACM Non-Fiction Available -
Dillsburg Area Public Library Adults 796.332 LEI Nonfiction (Text) 34001001341344 Adult Area Available -
Glatfelter Memorial Library Adults 796.332 LEI Nonfiction (Text) 34216000981599 Adult Area Available -
Guthrie Memorial Library: Hanover's Public Library Adults 796.332 LEI Nonfiction (Text)
Bookplate: Plated 2018: In Memory of Robert L. Hershey,Jr.
34007002326093 Adult Area Available -
Huntingdon County Library NF 796.332 LEI (Text) 30298100565484 Nonfiction Available -
Indian Valley Public Library 796.332 Leibovich Sports (Text) 39427103403697 Nonfiction Room: Adult Nonfiction Available -
Lower Macungie Library 796.33264 LEI (Text) 33400001411753 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Martin Library Adults 796.332 LEI Play (Text) 33454005588413 2nd Floor Available -


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