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God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back)

God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back)

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Author: Will Leitch
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book

List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $8.45
You Save: $16.50 (66%)



New (29) Used (18) from $5.69

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 28 reviews
Sales Rank: 29578

Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.3

ISBN: 0061351784
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780061351785
ASIN: 0061351784

Publication Date: February 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New, Excellent condition, Hardcover, ship fast.

Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 28
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2 out of 5 stars "You're with me, Leather!"[Two-and-a-half out of four stars] Sadly, Will's book is getting more true every day!   April 26, 2008
A very good cover but the book loses much
steam as it goes, but timely nevertheless!

I give it two-and-a-half stars out of four.
So much for the ultra-liberal 'five-star'
amazon dot com rating scale. Anybody else
hear the "I'm with you, Leather" stories.
I heard them covering a Super Bowl several
years ago...



5 out of 5 stars Funny and accurate take on today's spoiled sports world   April 16, 2008
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Will Leitch's book is a nice blend of laugh-out-loud satire, spoofs, and funny truth in the ridiculous, over-priced, ego-maniacal world of sports. The editor of the popular "Deadspin" blog is more than just funny, he's insightful.

I really don't read "Deadspin" very often, but the cover and title of this book -- not the blog -- was what drew me to it. I'm a huge sports fan, but I'm so tired of the overflow of cash and ego that if pro sports ended tomorrow, I wouldn't care. Sadly, Division I college sports now just mirrors professional sports, they're just less honest about the money. I'd wished Leitch would've addressed the greed of college sports, but what the heck, he lives in New York City, the worst college sports city in America. He's a pro guy ... though his take on interviewing a former University of Michigan basketball player was a complete riot.

Fans can be pretty dumb, too, as Leitch points out in his take on Barbaro. The article and hilarious drawing of the horse was very funny.

Some of Leitch's takes don't work -- does Scott Van Pelt's rejection of a date really need to be posted, is that news? Leitch found Van Pelt's phone message "humanizing." I found it boring. But Leitch is more often on target than not. And yeah, Chris Berman's "YWML" episode isn't news either, but if anyone needed to be a victim of "gotcha" journalism, it's Berman, who has become a caricature of himself. Yes, ESPN needed to be taken down a few notches and Leitch is just the guy to do it.

A quick and funny read, I hope Leitch has another book on the way. Will there be a fan revolution? Nah, fans are too emotional and gullible. If the NY Giants said tomorrow that end zone seats were $5,000 apiece, they'd get sold. Will ESPN's egos shrink? Are you kidding me?

Leitch is a little too much of a believer in the fan revolution and not a realist. I see no uprising from fans.

But hey, at least Leitch is trying, and having fun while doing it.




3 out of 5 stars Funny, but frustrating   April 14, 2008
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I'm a fan of Leitch's Deadspin, but this book suffers from what most blogs-to-books do: namely what's funny in doses doesn't quite work over 300 pages. The book is separated in various essays. Some are funny, some aren't so much, not unlike most essays collections. But Leitch does himself a disservice by relying on WAY too much ESPN bashing. The worldwide leader certainly deserves some mockery, but it feels he spends half the book driving in a nail that's already hit home. If you like Deadspin you'll enjoy this book, but come away feeling it could have been better had the author showed a little restraint.


5 out of 5 stars Thanks for the Help   February 25, 2008
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

Before I purchased this book I decided to scroll through some reviews and saw Mike Wilbon from PTI and Stephen "Hey, I don't know what I'm talking about" Smith posted a comment. I love PTI and Wilbons review was helpful while S.A.S. writes like he speaks. Complete BS. Thanks for the help Smith.


3 out of 5 stars A blook?   February 19, 2008
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Short-and-sweet essays that read a smidge longer than posts on Deadspin...can we call this a "blook?" (Really clever...right?) Will's amusing in his self-deprecation ("I'm writing a book about sports!")...and it's always nice to hear someone who makes money reporting on sports making fun of them. Bravo, but a loss of points for neverending homage to the Cardinals, who beat my Tigers in '06.


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