Tour Day 2: Brainstorming on the Acela

Life on tour, Woj's crossover, the red-hot Tigers, Shohei's 50-50 and more.

On the Acela, heading to Washington, D.C., for the big WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL Smithsonian event tonight. So I’ll just brain-dump what’s on my mind, at least until we get to Wilmington, Del.

Just finished my interview on “CBS Mornings” for my brand-spanking-new book, WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL. Such a great time. Two things to share: One is that it’s difficult to explain just how fast these segments go. I think this one was four minutes, which is a pretty long television segment—but in the chair, it feels like 10 seconds. You go in, they slap makeup on you, they mic you up, you go onstage, and you’re off—the whole thing is a blur. I don’t remember any of it. People have been texting me their favorite parts of the segment, and I’m like: “I guess that happened. I don’t recall, but I guess it happened.”

The second thing is that there are autograph/selfie seekers lined up outside the studio. I’ve seen them before—I’ve been on “CBS Mornings” a couple times now—but I never really noticed them because, you know, they’re there for the actual celebrities who are on the show (today, for instance, “Emily in Paris’” Ashley Park was one of the guests).

But this time, for the first time, people were shouting out, “Joe, can I get a selfie?” And so I did like 10 or 15 selfies and signed some autographs. I feel entirely certain that nobody in the group had any idea who I was beyond my name and the fact that I was a guest on “CBS Mornings,” but hey, I’ll take my moment of fame.

Great opening night event at the Barnes & Noble in Clifton, N.J. It was so much fun to hang out with comedian Alexis Gay and some Brilliant Readers.

Let me make mention again of the Smithsonian event tonight, because it’s going to be so much fun. I’ll be talking some football with Hall of Famers Paul Tagliabue and Darrell Green and Len Shapiro. Hope to see you out there.

Then, tomorrow—Thursday, Sept. 19—I’ll be with author Andrew Maraniss in Nashville at Parnassus Books.

And Friday, Kansas City, Rainy Day Books, here I come…

You probably have seen the news that Adrian Wojnarowski—famed throughout the land for his WojBomb NBA news items—has decided to leave ESPN and