Football

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

When is the "beautiful game" at its most beautiful? How does football function as a lens through which so many view their daily lives? What's right in front of fans that they never see? Football celebrates and scrutinizes the world's most popular sport-from top-tier professionals to children just learning the game.

As an American who began playing football in the 1970s as it gained a foothold in the States, Mark Yakich reflects on his own experiences alongside the sport's social and political implications, its narrative and documentary depictions, and its linguistic idiosyncrasies. Illustrating how football can be at once absolutely vital and "only a game," this book will be surprising and insightful for the casual and diehard fan alike.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

In this lyric study of the sport of football, Mark Yakich invites us to look away from the bright lights of Wembley and the Maracanã to the ordinary, unmaintained pitches where football is doing its most sacred work. Through stories of his own reverie during pick-up games in New Orleans during the height of the pandemic, to memorable lore of football's eccentric legends, to an etymological survey of the varied global languages of the game, Yakich reveals football's power to help people realize our interconnectedness - and to restore us.

Vorwort
A personal and critical exploration of the world's most popular sportfrom big data analytics to children just learning the game.

Autorentext

Mark Yakich

Inhalt

1. Introduction to a Slightly New Game
   
   2. A Concession
   3. The Name of the Game
   4. Popularity, Contests
   5. Standstill
   6. How to Make a Football
   7. Two Games
   8. 90-Minute Meds
   9. Geisterspiel
   10. Pickup
   11. The Life-Changing Magic of Three-Touch
   12. Of Nutmegs and Fish up a Tree
   13. For the Love of a Pretty Move
   14. Zone
   15. A 21st Century Portrait
   16. Zone Painting
   17. Future Stronger in Color
   18. Reset
   19. The Best Seats
   20. Hacking, Diving, Hugging
   21. Intersectionality
   22. Live Football in a Pandemic
   23. Child's Play
   24. Assessment
       Acknowledgments
       Index