Norman Chad: For fans demanding return of sports, have you heard of books?
A while ago – the exact year escapes me – I determined that someway somewhere in some manner or some fashion most of us in America had somehow lost our minds.
Of late, the nation is on tilt because we must stay home for a long, long time due to the coronavirus pandemic, also known to Alabamans and Georgians as the Don’t Even Think of Messing with the SEC Football Schedule pandemic.
Anyway, apparently everyone – and when I say “everyone,” I mean anyone within shouting distance of Skip Bayless or Stephen A. Smith – wants sports back ASAP.*
* Incidentally, speaking of shouting distance, does Shannon Sharpe ever whisper?
Last week, the ESPN Coronavirus Lockdown Fan Study – that is its actual title, I swear on Chris Berman’s bible of nicknames – surveyed 1,004 adult sports fans, and 76% were in favor of sports returning even if spectators cannot be in the stands.
My buddy, Houston sports media bon vivant Fred Faour, wrote that the 24% against sports without fans “are what we respectfully call ‘dumbs.’ ” Faour wants any action back, like, yesterday and said, “I truly miss being in the stands for Roughneck games.”**
** He is referring to the Houston Roughnecks, an almost professional football team that played a total of five games in the late, unlamented second iteration of the XFL.
Meanwhile, former president Barack Obama, during a recent chat with former aides, said that the lack of sports is “driving me nuts.”
Now, Faour and Obama are two sharp guys – well, at least Obama is – but I am disappointed by their simplistic and shortsighted apocalyptic vision of a sports-free Sports Nation.
Believe it or not – and saying this might get me fired by the end of this sentence – we don’t need more sports in our lives, we need less.
Granted, I speak as someone less affected by the safer-at-home order than most; I went from self-isolation to self-isolation, so it’s no big deal.
(Column Intermission: The late comedian George Carlin was born on May 12, 1937; how is his birthday not a national holiday? Who spoke truth to power longer and funnier? His sports riffs were delightful. “Swimming is not a sport. Swimming is a way to keep from drowning. … Sailing is not a sport. Sailing is a way to get somewhere. Riding the bus isn’t a sport, why … should sailing be a sport?” George Carlin Day, my friends. Otherwise, I’ll settle for Don Rickles Day.)
Actually, eating at home with family or friends is an uncomplicated, forgotten pleasure. In most of Europe for hundreds of years, entire evenings centered on the meal; food and conversation were entertainment enough. This worked quite well, spoiled only by World War I, World War II and Piers Morgan.
Here in America, we have drifted. I saw a photo the other day of a fella in Raleigh, North Carolina, walking into Subway strapped with an M136 AT4 launcher.***
*** What were the chances he ordered a veggie wrap?
What have we become?
Naturally, we have become ESPN. But honestly, though I try to blame ESPN for everything excessive and execrable, the boys in Bristol, Connecticut, don’t shape our culture as much as they reflect it.
Alas, during this sports-dry pandemic, ESPN ranked the top 74 basketball sneakers ever worn by NBA players. I repeat – they ranked the top 74 sneakers ever. FYI: The Nike Foamposite Max, worn by Tim Duncan, was No. 47.
Coming in June: The top 50 NFL pylons in history.
Elsewhere in ESPNdom, “The Last Dance” Michael Jordan documentary has been a smash. Great TV, but it’s been treated as a cross between “Hoop Dreams” and “The Last Waltz,” with various clips parsed endlessly like the Zapruder film.
Which brings us to binge-watching. I constantly get texts touting Netflix or Hulu shows. So I took in “Ozark.” “You like it?” a friend asked. “Looks pretty good,” I responded. “How many seasons did you watch?” he inquired. When I told him I had only watched the first episode, I half-expected him to schedule an intervention because I had not binge-watched an entire season in just a night or two.
Here’s an interesting thought: How ’bout binge-READING?
Ask The Slouch
Q. Ink-stained wretches don’t usually make the best-seller list but I like the title of your book, “Hold On Honey, I’ll Take You to the Hospital at Halftime.” I’ll wear a mask when I start checking yard sales for your tome. (Ray Starman; Albany, New York)
A. Trust me, it will be easy to social distance in this situation; no one will be hovering anywhere near that book.
Q. You know those ubiquitous magazine questions about selecting any person, living or dead, with whom to have a meal? I would pick you over Tom Brady every time, and I’m not kidding. (Diane Cohen; Albany)
A. Give me a moment. … Uh, Toni, can I talk to you for a second?
Q. Have you tried comparing your wife’s income to that of Tom Brady’s wife? Maybe you’ll have an edge there! (Paul Whittemore; Spotsylvania, Virginia)
A. I don’t think so.
Q. Just checked out “Hold On, Honey …” on Amazon. Someone thinks it’s worth $87.78 – maybe it was signed by Tom Brady. (Bob Doyle, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts)
A. Pay the man, Shirley.
You, too, can enter the $1.25 Ask The Slouch Cash Giveaway. Just email