Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie by Mark St. Amant  (55)
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Why Fantasy Football Matters: (And Our Lives Do Not) by Erik Barmack (14)
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
At age 37, St. Amant (Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie) joined a football team—the Boston Panthers of the EFL, a semipro league based in southern New England—and narrates that first season with the team. It was a stiff test for a man who hadn't engaged in a minute of serious athletics since college; besides being old and out of shape, Amant played an outcast position, kicker, and was a ghost-white face on a black team drawn from the toughest Boston neighborhoods. Over the Panthers season, Amant tries to gain the respect of his teammates and comes face-to-face with his lifelong fear of choking during the big game. In contrast to the glamour of the NFL, semipro football takes place in obscurity on stony fields, the bleachers empty and the uniforms mismatched. The players are an equally heterogeneous lot, too small or too slow to have had a shot at the pros or kept out by injuries, bad decisions or psychological issues. At times, Amant relies too much on humor, but he gives good insight into the makeup of his fellow athletes as well as into his own motivations. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* As a follow-up to his entertaining examination of fantasy football, Committed (2004), St. Amant thought he would write a book about semipro football: has-beens, wannabes, never-weres, and other oddballs banging each other around on sandlot fields. His first interview was with the coaching staff of the Panthers, based in the predominantly black Roxbury neighborhood of his hometown Boston. Suddenly, St. Amant was writing a different book. His high-school and college soccer experience was enough to land him a job as the Panthers' kicker. In the tradition of George Plimpton's Paper Lion (1967), St. Amant shares the experience of his first year on the Panthers. He's worried about both fitting in and failing on the field, but soon he's caught up in the team dynamic, which is very supportive of a newcomer, any newcomer, even a middle-aged white guy who lives in upscale Beacon Hill. He has some success and the team has some, too, but this isn't a Hollywood story in which the hero kicks the winning field goal to claim the league championship. St. Amant's focus is on his teammates, why they play, and how being a part of something outside their daily struggles enhances their lives. Portions are laugh-out-loud funny, but, at other times, reading through misty eyes will be a challenge. St. Amant documents the timeless magic of team sports, and his words will take former athletes back to the best moments of their sporting lives. A good bet to be one of the year's best sports books. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
At age 37, St. Amant (Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie) joined a football team—the Boston Panthers of the EFL, a semipro league based in southern New England—and narrates that first season with the team. It was a stiff test for a man who hadn't engaged in a minute of serious athletics since college; besides being old and out of shape, Amant played an outcast position, kicker, and was a ghost-white face on a black team drawn from the toughest Boston neighborhoods. Over the Panthers season, Amant tries to gain the respect of his teammates and comes face-to-face with his lifelong fear of choking during the big game. In contrast to the glamour of the NFL, semipro football takes place in obscurity on stony fields, the bleachers empty and the uniforms mismatched. The players are an equally heterogeneous lot, too small or too slow to have had a shot at the pros or kept out by injuries, bad decisions or psychological issues. At times, Amant relies too much on humor, but he gives good insight into the makeup of his fellow athletes as well as into his own motivations. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* As a follow-up to his entertaining examination of fantasy football, Committed (2004), St. Amant thought he would write a book about semipro football: has-beens, wannabes, never-weres, and other oddballs banging each other around on sandlot fields. His first interview was with the coaching staff of the Panthers, based in the predominantly black Roxbury neighborhood of his hometown Boston. Suddenly, St. Amant was writing a different book. His high-school and college soccer experience was enough to land him a job as the Panthers' kicker. In the tradition of George Plimpton's Paper Lion (1967), St. Amant shares the experience of his first year on the Panthers. He's worried about both fitting in and failing on the field, but soon he's caught up in the team dynamic, which is very supportive of a newcomer, any newcomer, even a middle-aged white guy who lives in upscale Beacon Hill. He has some success and the team has some, too, but this isn't a Hollywood story in which the hero kicks the winning field goal to claim the league championship. St. Amant's focus is on his teammates, why they play, and how being a part of something outside their daily struggles enhances their lives. Portions are laugh-out-loud funny, but, at other times, reading through misty eyes will be a challenge. St. Amant documents the timeless magic of team sports, and his words will take former athletes back to the best moments of their sporting lives. A good bet to be one of the year's best sports books. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Mark St. Amant "writer, football rookie" sent the following posts to customers who purchased Just Kick It: Tales of an Underdog, Over-Age, Out-of-Place Semi-Pro Football Player