God Save the Fan: How Steroid Hypocrites, Soul-Sucking Suits, and a Worldwide Leader Not Named Bush Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports [Paperback]

Will Leitch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2009

Arch and unrepentant, Will Leitch, founding editor of Deadspin.com, is the mouthpiece for all the frustrated fans who just want their games back from big money, bloated egos, and blathering sportscasters. Always a fan first and a sportswriter second, Leitch considers the perfection of fantasy leagues and the meaninglessness of the steroids debate as he exposes Olympic fetishes, parses Shaq's rap attack on Kobe, shares a brew with John Rocker and his surprising girlfriend, and reveals what ESPN and the beer companies really think about you. If you or a fan you love is suffering from a sense of listless dissatisfaction brought on by the leagues and networks, God Save the Fan is your new manifesto.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his third book, Leitch, the founding editor of the sports blog Deadspin.com, offers a collection of passionate, original essays about the good (fantasy football; the saga of the once promising pitcher Rick Ankiel) and the bad (ESPN, which he compares to the Imperial Forces from Star Wars; sports reporters' misguided attempts to become patriotic after 9/11) of sports, and how fans can navigate through the mess to enjoy the games and themselves. If we all realized that, hey, we don't need to listen to these idiots on television screaming at us... they'd be out of a job, Leitch writes in the introduction. The book sometimes strays off course from its stated purpose—memories of Leitch's popular blog subjects (Barbaro, Ohio TV reporter Carl Monday) and a host of cheeky sports glossaries are unnecessary and only disrupt the book's fervor. However, Leitch (who has also written for Playboy and New York) nicely balances potent humor with sharp and sometimes vicious insight without lapsing into clichés. He manages to be an astute sports critic while maintaining his enthusiasm as a fan, making his book an entertaining and enlightening read for anyone who roots for the home team a little too hard. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“If the truth is to be found in humor - and it is - then let Will Leitch lead our people’s revolution. He’s everything that’s right and funny and true in American sports.” (Jeff MacGregor, Sports Illustrated special contributor and author of Sunday Money )

“The funniest sports book I have ever read. Yeah, as a member of the mainstream media I should probably despise Will Leitch. But God Saves the Fan is an uproarious, painful, pointed, skittish manifesto on all that’s warped in the world of Lucious Pusey.” (Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of The Bad Guys Won! )

“R-rated, spectacularly irreverent, often mean and just as often piercingly insightful” (Newsday )

“If you can’t find something to laugh at and be offended by on the same page of this book, you aren’t reading carefully enough.” (Washington Post Book World )

“A witty poke in the eye to the entire sports-industrial complex...A fanfare for the common fan and, if you’re stuck in the cheap seats, easier to read than a website.” (Sports Illustrated )

“Leitch balances potent humor with sharp and sometimes vicious insight without lapsing into clichés. He manages to be an astute sports critic while maintaining his enthusiasm as a fan, making his book an entertaining and enlightening read for anyone who roots for the home team a little too hard.” (Publishers Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: It Books; Reprint edition (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061351792
• ISBN-13: 978-0061351792
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and accurate take on today's spoiled sports world, April 16, 2008

By 

Timothy R. Sullivan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back) (Hardcover)

Will Leitch's book is a nice blend of laugh-out-loud satire, spoofs, and funny truth in the ridiculous, over-priced, ego-maniacal world of sports. The editor of the popular "Deadspin" blog is more than just funny, he's insightful.

I really don't read "Deadspin" very often, but the cover and title of this book -- not the blog -- was what drew me to it. I'm a huge sports fan, but I'm so tired of the overflow of cash and ego that if pro sports ended tomorrow, I wouldn't care. Sadly, Division I college sports now just mirrors professional sports, they're just less honest about the money. I'd wished Leitch would've addressed the greed of college sports, but what the heck, he lives in New York City, the worst college sports city in America. He's a pro guy ... though his take on interviewing a former University of Michigan basketball player was a complete riot.

Fans can be pretty dumb, too, as Leitch points out in his take on Barbaro. The article and hilarious drawing of the horse was very funny.

Some of Leitch's takes don't work -- does Scott Van Pelt's rejection of a date really need to be posted, is that news? Leitch found Van Pelt's phone message "humanizing." I found it boring. But Leitch is more often on target than not. And yeah, Chris Berman's "YWML" episode isn't news either, but if anyone needed to be a victim of "gotcha" journalism, it's Berman, who has become a caricature of himself. Yes, ESPN needed to be taken down a few notches and Leitch is just the guy to do it.

A quick and funny read, I hope Leitch has another book on the way. Will there be a fan revolution? Nah, fans are too emotional and gullible. If the NY Giants said tomorrow that end zone seats were $5,000 apiece, they'd get sold. Will ESPN's egos shrink? Are you kidding me?

Leitch is a little too much of a believer in the fan revolution and not a realist. I see no uprising from fans.

But hey, at least Leitch is trying, and having fun while doing it.

52 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS A BAG OF CHEEZY DOODLES, January 22, 2008

By 

Scott T. Sanders "STEPHEN A. SMITH" (MATTOON) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back) (Hardcover)

I CANNOT BELIEVE SOMEONE PAID WILL LEITCH MONEY TO WRITE A BOOK. I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL. OBVIOUSLY HE JUST PASTED A BUNCH OF OLD DEADSPIN COLUMNS TOGETHER. HOWEVA, AFTER CURLING UP WITH A BAG OF CHEEZY DOODLES, THIS BOOK WAS OUTSTANDING. I AM NEVER WRONG ABOUT ANYTHING.

YOURS
STEPHEN A. SMITH

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest and Entertaining Read- Great for any Sports Fan, February 17, 2008

By 

Sports Chick (Philly, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back) (Hardcover)

I have been a dedicated Deadspin (leitch's blog) for years now- but you don't have to be to enjoy this book. Filled with sarcasm, easy to read short essay commentaries- leitch's brutal honesty makes you laugh out loud at the rediculousness of our world of sports today. No one is safe, not even the medaia working behind the cameras!! Great quick read for any sports fan.