DeflateGate: 5 Books about More Important Football Issues
The victory of the New England Patriots in the January 18th American Football Conference Championship game has been called into question. It has been discovered that 18 of the 20 footballs used by the team were significantly underinflated. Underinflated footballs are easier to grip in cold weather and may travel farther. Because each team plays with its own balls, this would have aided only the Patriots whose victory in the game sent them to the Superbowl.
People are taking this very seriously and that's sad because American football has actual problems that are more important than ball psi (pounds per square inch). Here are a few books that talk about football’s other issues.
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Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond
• eBook
Almond, a lifelong football fan has become increasingly concerned the game, troubled by its violence, corruption, racism, economic exploitation of poor youth and misogeny. Particularly troublesome to Almond is the NFL's business model, which places moneymaking ahead of the welfare of its players.
Concussion, Inc.: the End of Football as We Know It by Irvin Muchnick
Muchnick investigates the rising concerns about concussion in all levels of football from peewee to the NFL and speculates about how this will ultimately change the game.
Game Over: Jerry Sandusky, Penn State and the Culture of Silence by Bill Moushey and Bob Dvorchak
• eBook
A look at the child sex abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State, specifically at the possible cover up by university officials who may have turned a blind eye to the abuse allegations "in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity".
League of Denial: the NFL, Concussions, and the Battle for the Truth by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Talking Book: CD Format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)
The compelling story about the discovery of the prevalence of devastating head injuries in football and the fight for recognition from the NFL was the winner of the 2014 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing.
Scoreboard Baby: a Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity by Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry
The remarkable 2000 season of the University of Washington Huskies ended with a Rose Bowl victory but for journalists Armstrong and Perry, the discovery of rampant misconduct among the team's players was disturbing. Even more astonishing, the authors uncovered evidence that the behaviour was enabled by university administration, law enforcement and the media.
Superbowl XLIX will be played on Sunday, February 1, 2015.
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