WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL Launch Day Is Here!
Day 1 of the book tour, plus tough times for the Angels, White Sox and Bryce Young.
WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL Launch Day is here! Let me run down a bunch of book things, and then we’ll talk a little sports. (The White Sox have won three in a row! What’s even happening?)
The Associated Press’ Mike Householder offers a kickoff review of WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL, and, I mean, it simply could not be nicer. When the headline of the review is, “Joe Posnanski scores with poignant, informative, hilarious ‘Why We Love Football,” um, yeah, that might look good on the posters. And, yes, I’ll pull out a quote:
For football fans like this reviewer, the book is an absolute must-read. But it should be accessible to the football-averse, too, with its brilliant writing and research that unearths gems and perspectives that bring the game and its characters to life. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud at times.
There’s a special feeling for an author that’s hard to describe… when you spend countless hours in a room, by yourself, trying to figure out what your book is, trying to make words fit together, trying to tell small stories and a big story and make it all feel, I don’t know, easy, somehow, well… when someone totally gets it, you feel seen. I’ve been so lucky over the last few years to hear so many amazing things from readers. It is truly incredible.
If you want to get a feel for the book, well, the amazing folks at Esquire have put up a pretty substantial excerpt—they picked three incredible college football moments: The Miracle at Michigan, Hail Flutie and Kick Six. By my best count, about 70% of the book is pro football, 25% is college and another 5% is what I would describe as “other.” But some of that is fluid.
Tonight, I’ll be starting the tour with comedian Alexis Gay (above) at the Barnes & Noble in Clifton, N.J. For those of you who know my dear friend Alexis, you know she will be (by far) the most prepared moderator on the entire tour. Nobody prepares like Alexis. I know it’s not especially easy to get around the New York/New Jersey area, but we’d love to see you out there tonight. We’ll start at 6:30 p.m.
Did a fun extended interview with old friend Brian Moritz on his podcast, The Other 51.
Wednesday morning, sometime early in the 8 a.m. hour, I believe, I’ll be on “CBS Mornings,” which is, you know, let me know what you think of the new jacket I’ll be wearing. Then I’ll be off to Washington, D.C., for an incredibly cool event at the Smithsonian.
OK, no more preorder talk! The book is now in bookstores and available for fast shipping. Just a few places you can order it:
Today’s independent bookstore: Left Bank Books in St. Louis (I’ll be in St. Louis next week!)
Barnes & Noble (they also have a signed edition)
Books-A-Million (they also have a signed edition)
The California Angels (60-90) are very quietly having the worst season in the history of the franchise. It’s been quiet, I think, because: