Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times

I eagerly waited to read this book as I assumed that Mark Leibovich was going really draw back the curtain on the NFL, the concussion issues, the anthem debate, the players union, the coaches of the various teams and the owners and their ways of keeping the union from gaining power.Sadly? It only briefly touches on some of those issues, but if you are a Patriots fan? Well, you get a lot of Patriots information that is not that shocking or revealing (who knew that Belichick doesn't have much personality? Go figure, huh?). The author was at meetings with owners and players and sports writers and yet the book does not reveal much that I did not already know or figure out. I would have liked the book to be more hard hitting (it is well written with some funny comments at times, but the book never really goes anywhere). I would have liked to really hit the issue of the Players Union and why it is so weak and how the owners have hoodwinked the sports fan with the denial of concussion issues and its impact on the players. Sure, Tex Schramm called players "Cattle" but I hoped the book would show that the players are fed up. Instead it was just a book about deflate gate, The Patriots winning ways, the billionaire owners club and their trophy girlfriends and a drunken episode with Jerry Jones.I wanted this to be a great book. It is a 3 out of 5 star book at best. It is a book that just breezes along about Roger Goodell and his absurd salary as he works all the time to protect "The Shield" (The NFL).3 stars. Maybe even 2 stars.

I loved Big Game. Read it in a weekend. I found it to be wildly entertaining and informative.I am a fan of Leibovich’s writing in his “day job” at the NYT. I particularly like his profiles (Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, etc), and his ability to give you a real sense of that person, beyond the spin that their PR machines pull out. This book is not a deep dive on any one of the specific issues facing the NFL ( concussions, domestic abuse, anthem controversy, owner/player relations, etc). Nor does it attempt to prescribe solutions for those problems. Rather, I think it extremely effectively paints a picture of today’s NFL - and all of its related issues - by shining an intense spotlight on many of the people involved (Goodell, the owners, etc). Leibovich is particularly adept at using specific anecdotes to tell a much bigger story. How does Roger Goodell think about concussions and CTE issues? Well, in Goodell’s own words, it’s a serious issue, he understands that there are serious risks. Then again, he states, “there are risks sitting on the couch.”The book has a lot of great stories. Many are new to me: I didn’t know that Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Rams who broke the hearts of St Louis fans by moving the franchise to LA, is a native Missouran. And, oh yes, he’s named after Stan Musial. Some that I had forgotten about. Trump’s animosity to the NFL? Perhaps it’s rooted in feelings toward a boys’ club of owners that won’t let him in as a member , dating back to Trump’s involvement in the USFL in the ‘80s to his failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014.The book is also “wicked” funny. And Leibovich pulls no punches. Stories of owners who need to be addressed as “Mr.” Getting Jerry Jones to admit he wouldn’t trade his Hall of Fame jacket for another Super Bowl. And tough luck to the PR flak, who tries to get a "mulligan" on that statement. He also skewers ESPN and sports media types who cover the NFL, who don’t want their reporting to restrict their access.Leibovich inserts himself in the story, and is honest about his ambivalence about the NFL. For all of the idiocies and hypocrisies he documents, he will still be watching come Sunday. As a Patriots fan, he recognizes why the rest of the country hates his team and their fanbase, but that isn’t going to change how hard he roots for the team. Some readers might not like that style. For me, who shares that same ambivalence, I found it refreshing.

It is true that Leibovich is too much of a Patriots fan, but he is open about his fandom. His book is a look behind the curtain of the NFL, and it is frightening. The League is united in denying the facts concerning concussions, the problems with PED's and the physical abuse of partners by the players. It has yet to understand the underlying reasons that the players take a knee during the National Anthem. But, it is highly concerned with making another dollar, in any manner that it can. And, it wants to tightly control all information coming out of the League. Of course, it's main goal is to control all commercialization of the League. This was an interesting, if too lengthy book.

Right off the bat, Mark Leibovich admits the Patriots are a disease he "contracted early". That disease infests BIG GAME a bit too much. Readers learn a great deal about the Patriots, Tom Brady (and parents), the Patriots' owner, several important Patriots games, Patriots feuds with Goodell and other owners, the Patriots coach, but far less about other NFL teams. BIG GAME feels more like a series of news stories about the Patriots and those who circle around that team than an insightful analysis of the NFL, where it is now and where it might be going.The prose is breezy and easy to read, sometimes funny (Trees on the Brady home site had to be cut down, "which broke Gisele's green heart."). Leibovich injects himself both sensibly (as when he quotes his own e-mail exchanges or interviews) and gratuitously in salty asides to--only his readers.For those expecting a new or insightful treatment hovering over the NFL (crippling injuries, disrespect of fans, over-arching owner greed, players treated worse than prize cattle, player rap sheets and drug abuse, Goodell's insane compensation) THE BIG GAME provides anecdotes (sometimes many) but nothing ground-breaking.For those wanting some insight into say the Eagles, the Seahawks, the Dolphins or quite a few other teams, a few lines here and there will have to do. Overall, Patriots fans will read every page--though leave with some regrets about what they learn. Fans of other teams will flip through great chunks of this, and that's a shame.

This is a weird book as it appears the author really doesn't like the NFL. There is a lot of whining about how rich people are making obscene amounts of money by buying the teams for obscene amounts of money and how players are getting concussed. I think these points are both reasonably obvious. It's mildly interesting but as an NFL fan I don't really see the point. If you're not an NFL fan I see even less of one.

Cooler-than-thou political writer takes a look at the NFL... the result is some incredibly soft details (Brady is vacant ... owners are self serving .... The commissioner is a soulless corporate hack)... the whole thing is very dated, as someone new to football insists on telling the reader about how the Colts came to Indy and a fairly useless rehash of "deflategate". On top of it all the writing dreary (and yo' ... editor ... how about knock out some of the useless detail that liter this thing... do we really care what Brady is wearing?). He even walks us through going to his first game, with predictably dull results.... and the tone quickly goes from "insider" to "snotty condescension".... nothing to see here other than another watching a fairly pedestrian writer discover the game like he's the first guy to write about things even a mild football fan would know like the back of his/her hand..... oh, and a brutally boring read.

This had far more to do with the New England Patiots/Tom Brady, than anticipated. Its a well written book and an enjoyable read but the expectation was that there would be more information shared regarding the entire league than 1 team specifically.

Está bueno el libro pero nada que no puedas investigar en Youtube o en otros artículos de la NFL

Bon livre