Many book readers are familiar with a question often asked during an interview of an author. “You are organizing a dinner party, who would you invite to attend?”
I am not an author at all, but if asked that question, author Joe Posnanski would be at the very top of my invitation list. Posnanski is the author of seven books, including The Baseball 100, The Soul of Baseball and Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, which I reviewed in Illinois Times last October. (You may find it here: https://shorturl.at/FWv6s.)
Now Posnanski has turned his attention from our longstanding national pastime, baseball, to our current national favorite, football. But it is not just professional football that attracts Posnanski’s writing and observation talents, it is the game at all levels. Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments includes visits to historical football venues, games and events encompassing high school, college and professional games and players. There are even a few side trips to fictional games and characters and a recording studio.
Years ago, when I was a young law student, one of my professors would occasionally interrupt the discussion of an important legal point with a side historical note of interest. He would call those visits “cocktail party conversations,” brief factual side trips that might make for an interesting discussion or chat. Why We Love Football is a warehouse of such conversations and far more. As you journey through the pages of this rousing salute to football you will recall events you saw, events about which you read, events you did not know about, and events that made you laugh and cry.
Please do not be dissuaded from reading Why We Love Football because you believe it is a book for only hard-core football fans. Posnanski has a breezy and light writing style that makes his narratives joyful and informative at the same time. Along the way he also includes wonderful popular cultural references to help complete some of his football stories. They range from Augustine to Zapruder, with stops along the way at Taylor Swift, The Princess Bride and Joey Chestnut. You also will find valuable information in the numerous footnotes. The format for Why We Love Football is identical to that of the baseball book with the similar title. While the baseball book indicated 50 moments and the football book 100, those numbers are only aspirational. Both books have far more moments and memories than the titles suggest.
Let us also be somewhat parochial for Illinois Times readers considering this book. Here in central Illinois, we love the Chicago Bears, Notre Dame, the University of Illinois and there are still a few St. Louis Rams fans. All those teams get a mention in Why We Love Football although, sadly, most of the events portrayed are from eras long passed. The most recent is the Super Bowl victory of the Rams in 2000 and the Bears’ visit in 2007.
Along the football journey. Posnanski follows the same format as he did in his baseball ode. He employs a countdown commencing at the 100th event and continuing to the greatest event. That, surprisingly, while football related, is more an entertainment memory than one of football. I won’t spoil that countdown, but along the way Posnanski lists his 10 greatest players. While Posnanski apologized for the arbitrary nature of such rankings, he also wryly notes that he is the author of a 900-page book where the all-time top 100 baseball players are arbitrarily ranked.
Reading the two Why We Love books, one is bound to attempt to make a comparison between baseball and football, the two that are America’s favorites, regardless of how you place them. No other sport really comes close. But do the two books yield any comparisons? At least one thing that is easy to recognize is the fact that football runs deeper in our sporting culture. In baseball, it is the Major Leagues that are the dominant game. For most fans it is the only game they attend or view. Football, on the other hand, finds fans attending college and even high school games. In recent years, college football has exploded. This January we will have a college football playoff expanded to 12 teams and 4 weeks of games.
In his introduction, Posnanski offers his thoughts on the differences between football and baseball. He gives due credit to George Carlin who had an entire routine comparing the two games. You can find it printed here (https://www.baseball-almanac.com/humor7.shtml) or you can watch it by going to YouTube. The conclusion reached is relatively simple. “In baseball, fans look back. And in football, fans look forward.” Regardless of how you view it, Why We Love Football is an entertaining and enlightening look at a game from all aspects and for all fans, whether diehard or occasional. Posnanski hit a homerun with his baseball book. Why We Love Football is a touchdown in the Super Bowl of writing.
Stuart Shiffman of Springfield covers books on a range of subjects, including sports, history and fiction, for Illinois Times.
This article appears in Citizens want a voice in CWLP.
