Book Review: Football by Chuck Klosterman

There's several ways someone can enjoy football. They can just watch the action on the field and leave it at that. They can watch every single pre-game, post-game, and mid-week program to best understand and predict what has and will happen. They can collect multiple stats and use it to win money through fantasy football and/or gambling.

Or they can use the game to explore right and wrong, American values, and existential moral questions.

I've often felt on an island on that last way, without anyone else to discuss questions like what is the ideal system for choosing the college national champion and whether the shift from run-based to pass-based offenses says something about greater cultural changes. But along comes Chuck Klosterman, the philosopher-king of Gen X, to dive deep into what the game really means.

If you've followed Klosterman's career, you'll know he's a die-hard football fan (one of his greatest pieces was the one about what it meant when Brent Musburger interviewed Eminem on "Saturday Night College Football" (for those who don't know, that is NOT a joke - Google it right now and prepare for all the feels)). Finally, he tackles (see what I did there?) the topic directly and puts words to his thoughts on the gridiron.

He starts off the book by setting up his premise - that this is a book people can read in 50 to 100 years when football as we know it is a dead game and people wonder why it was significant in the first place. This is a great premise. I don't think he really sticks to it - I think people would still be confused after reading this book - but I also think he uses that concept as more of a jumping off point than a solid theme - but even when coloring outside the numbers he ruminates on great topics.

What is it about football that makes it the perfect sport for TV? Does football really mean more in Texas, and if so why? What does it mean to be the football GOAT, and why is there only one real answer on who it is? Why does four downs to gain ten yards work so perfectly? The questions are considered from multiple angles, then infused with great thinking. Keep in mind that not all questions are questions football fans want to face - for example, the section on racial dynamics (What is the current racial breakout in the NFL, why is that, and what "should" the racial breakout be?) quickly grew uncomfortable - but the thinking is always there.

If you want to consider what football says about life and what life says about football, this one is for you. This is Klosterman's best writing since But What If We're Wrong - nine out of ten hot dogs!