Customer Reviews

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)

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3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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

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.

The best part of "God Save the Fan" may be its introduction, in which the author explains how the mainstream media's suppression of the Michael Vick "Ron Mexico" story helped inspire the creation of Deadspin. Of course I can't tell if the essay was funny because of Leitch's writing, or because I still can't read about Ron Mexico without falling over laughing.

Deadspin as a sports blog works best in quick hits. They're equal parts gossip and investigative journalism; they're outsiders who often scoop the mainstream press. Leitch's book is basically a collection of themed essays describing everything that's wrong with sports today: the players, the owners, the media, and the fans. Most of the individual chapters are worthwhile. However, the media section is largely a series of decreasingly funny put-downs of ESPN's on-air talent; many other essays are self-serving attempts to explain why the entire sports experience would be better if the blogosphere were in charge. Read all at once, "Fan" just seems bitter and frivolous.

"God Save the Fan" does have a ton of hilarious moments, as well as some genuine insight. The annotated reprint of an interview with John Rocker may well be the highlight of the book, and Leitch's musings on fantasy football will probably be a classic someday.

Unfortunately, when read all at once, Leitch's humor tends to grate, and it eventually becomes hard to figure out whether his put-downs are intended to be lightly mocking, or just plain mean-spirited. The odd essay about Leitch's appearance on Bob Costas's HBO program (exclusive to the paperback edition) is particuarly confusing.

Best thing to do is set aside "God Save the Fan" for another five years. If the blogosphere has deposed the mainstream sports press by then, Leitch's book will seem as visionary then as Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game seems today. However, if the blog phenomenon has been neatly folded into the mainstream media, and Leitch winds up hosting an ESPN-style panel show, we'll know that "God Save the Fan" was meant to serve just one purpose: to get Leitch out of the blogoging world, and into the mainstream press he seems to so vehemently despise today.

Will Leitch looks at almost every aspect of sports, from steroids to drunk quarterbacks, from a fan's perspective. And truthfully, fans take the game a lot less seriously than players or reporters. So when we see something like Roethlisberger pouring tequila down a girl's throat we don't get upset--instead we laugh.

Leitch uses examples like these to show what's wrong with the world of professional sports reporting, and what we can do to reclaim our sports.

In Rainbows

God Save the Fan. The Lovely Fan.

In our homes to love and care for this book.

A Very Beautiful Present for All Wellwishers.

Angel Will's Special Shoe: Ruby Slippers.

Affirmed.

I'm a fan of Leitch's Deadspin, but this book suffers from what most blogs-to-books do: namely what's funny in doses doesn't quite work over 300 pages. The book is separated in various essays. Some are funny, some aren't so much, not unlike most essays collections. But Leitch does himself a disservice by relying on WAY too much ESPN bashing. The worldwide leader certainly deserves some mockery, but it feels he spends half the book driving in a nail that's already hit home. If you like Deadspin you'll enjoy this book, but come away feeling it could have been better had the author showed a little restraint.

Essay style entries great length for a bathroom break! No seriously, this is a good book, you should get it.

This book delivers. As advertised on the cover, it's an entertaining, if opinionated (not surprising for a blogger), take on modern sports. The personal anecdotes are fun, and occasionally you stumble across some surprising insight (not that often). Read it.

I had read Will Leitch on his blog, [...] and was very impressed (it's worth noting that there's a ton of new material here, and an unfamiliarity with deadspin in no way inhibits your reading of this book). "God Save The Fan" impressed me ten times more. It is not just fantastic, but singular in sports books.

Leitch is an insightful oberver of sports, of the relationship between sports and fans--and between sports and society in general. He's a great wit too. He also lives and dies with his teams, as much as any fan. His narration of that emotional rollercoaster ride is wonderful. He is such a good reporter (and his army of tipsters are so good) that there is plenty of the inside dope fans love, and no shortage of original reporting. meanwhile his staunch aversion to the lockerroom and the access afforded sportwriters of his stature (and below) gives him a detachment and objectivity that is fresh and winning. And he is so bright that the analysis, of issues like doping, seems definitive.

My fear upon finishing the book is that Leitch's abundance of skills will lead him to writing about something instead of sports. Say it ain't so, Will. I would happily drink up another dozen volumes chronicling his continuing relationship with his teams and sports.