Brooklyn : Melville House, [2014]
178 p.; 20cm.
In late summer this year, I heard Steve Almond on several talk shows [you can hear him talking with the superb Dave Zirin at the 13 minute mark here] discussing this book, Against Football. Hearing him talk about the moral problems of being a fan of football was interesting, especially because he was a devoted and obsessed fan of professional football, mainly of the Oakland Raiders. He brought to the discussion an element missing in some criticisms of football - a passion for the thrills of the game for the fans.
To my mind, Almond has written a powerful and passionate denunciation of the popular love of football by the American public - something that polling data backs up. Almond manages in this short [178 p.] manifesto to expose football as a brutal [even lethal] sport that embodies many of the shortcomings of US society - sexism, racism, militarism, and unbridled capitalist greed. However, he also tries to explain why it is such an appealing sport for millions of fans. He backs his critiques up with facts and data that are hard to dispute.
Of course many fans will be angry or frustrated with Almond's critique. Any fan reading this book, will have to confront that their support of football, is a support for a sport that ravages the brains and the bodies of its players [including this tragic injury at a nearby high school this fall]. For those reluctant to give up football, I would suggest checking out this moving video from Time magazine which explains a lot about CTE - the brain injury that is a direct result of football violence and is at the heart of the injury crisis confronting football.
Want to keep watching, enjoying football? If you do, you at least owe it to yourself and your conscience to read this passionate renunciation of American football.
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