kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9781594201783-0
Since we have a little time before football starts (indeed, before the NFL Draft guides come out), I thought I'd recommend some light reading for those who might be interested. In the past couple weeks, I finished reading Stefan Fatsis's A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-foot-8, 170-pound, 43-year-old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL. It's worth a read, even for a Cardinals fan.
The Premise: 50 years after George Plimpton's Paper Lion, Fatsis gets permission from ownership and Mike Shanahan to attend Denver's 2006 training camp as a non-roster invitee kicker. Fatsis is a rec soccer player, but gets himself into shape as an NFL-kicker.
The Style: Fatsis is a newspaper reporter (for the Wall Street Journal) and works for NPR, so he has some illusions of grandeur, but his style is friendly and readable. He thinks he's funnier than he is at times, but it was worth spending time with him.
Cardinal Connections: 2006 was the year that the Broncos drafted Jay Cutler in the 1st round, and Jake Plummer's last year with Denver. Plummer gives a lot of access to Fatsis. Also, Fatsis befriends former Cardinals' #3 QB Preston Parsons. Finally, in 2006 current Cardinal long snapper Mike Leach is the long-snapper for Denver, and he works with Fatsis for most of the book.
What's interesting: If John Feinstein's Next Man Up is a look at the NFL from the coaches' and front office's point of view, A Few Seconds of Panic looks at the game from the players' side. Fatsis spends some time with Denver's stars, but most of the book is spent talking to the fringe players in the NFL who will be lucky to land a job. Fatsis discusses PEDs after punter Todd Sauerbrun gets a four-game suspension for taking ephedra, as well as examines why players play week to week. As we come into a period of labor unrest in the NFL, it may be useful to understand what training camp means to the average NFL player, or the guys on the roster from 50-85 who are trying to catch on to one. It's interesting to see the conflicted way that a lot of players view the game. Fatsis doesn't get into the nitty gritty of training camp drills and schemes, but his comments on the struggles of a Preston Parsons or Bradlee Van Pelt are worth the time.
Since we have a little time before football starts (indeed, before the NFL Draft guides come out), I thought I'd recommend some light reading for those who might be interested. In the past couple weeks, I finished reading Stefan Fatsis's A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-foot-8, 170-pound, 43-year-old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL. It's worth a read, even for a Cardinals fan.
The Premise: 50 years after George Plimpton's Paper Lion, Fatsis gets permission from ownership and Mike Shanahan to attend Denver's 2006 training camp as a non-roster invitee kicker. Fatsis is a rec soccer player, but gets himself into shape as an NFL-kicker.
The Style: Fatsis is a newspaper reporter (for the Wall Street Journal) and works for NPR, so he has some illusions of grandeur, but his style is friendly and readable. He thinks he's funnier than he is at times, but it was worth spending time with him.
Cardinal Connections: 2006 was the year that the Broncos drafted Jay Cutler in the 1st round, and Jake Plummer's last year with Denver. Plummer gives a lot of access to Fatsis. Also, Fatsis befriends former Cardinals' #3 QB Preston Parsons. Finally, in 2006 current Cardinal long snapper Mike Leach is the long-snapper for Denver, and he works with Fatsis for most of the book.
What's interesting: If John Feinstein's Next Man Up is a look at the NFL from the coaches' and front office's point of view, A Few Seconds of Panic looks at the game from the players' side. Fatsis spends some time with Denver's stars, but most of the book is spent talking to the fringe players in the NFL who will be lucky to land a job. Fatsis discusses PEDs after punter Todd Sauerbrun gets a four-game suspension for taking ephedra, as well as examines why players play week to week. As we come into a period of labor unrest in the NFL, it may be useful to understand what training camp means to the average NFL player, or the guys on the roster from 50-85 who are trying to catch on to one. It's interesting to see the conflicted way that a lot of players view the game. Fatsis doesn't get into the nitty gritty of training camp drills and schemes, but his comments on the struggles of a Preston Parsons or Bradlee Van Pelt are worth the time.
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