Lets Talk About Drew Magary

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I started reading it and I stopped. I'm not sure why a Patriot who went to school in Alabama should be of concern to Bay Area fans, but ...

Anyway, Magary is scooching into Simmons category for me. Between his performative "I hate everything act" and his weird-ass middle age takes that he's treating like normal behaviors ("I love driving around with no radio on? You don't? FUCK YOU WITH A CHAINSAW, MAN!"), I think that I may need a break from this dude.

 

[jcd0805]

The article doesn't make any sense. Half of him is concerned that Jones is good and that he's annoyed the Patriots are back in the title picture. The other half is claiming that Jones actually isn't any good and it's only because of the good defense and BB running a dummy offense for him. It's either one or the other. Either you are mad people are praising a QB who is actually bad and will be exposed, or you are mad Jones is legit good and you have to deal with the Patriots in January again.

Um, pretty sure the whole thing was tongue in cheek-Pats hater coming to grips with the fact that rather than sinking to oblivion post-Brady the Pats are BACK! I thought it was pretty funny actually.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

The problem is its Magary's version of "Freebird". As a side note, I deliberately used a reference that only people of a certain age might get because frankly, we are the only people who care about Drew Magary.

In any event, whether its his health, age, emotional state (or more than likely all of the above), the dude is mailing it in with pretty much everything he does. Maybe I am talking my own book here but I feel like getting older doesn't have to become a "get off my lawn" type of thing . You can be open to the idea that things weren't better back in your day because they mostly weren't. They are just different and the idea of an open, still-growing Magary interpreting these changes is actually pretty interesting to me.

Sadly we aren't getting that version it seems.

 

[ArttyG12]

I started reading it and I stopped. I'm not sure why a Patriot who went to school in Alabama should be of concern to Bay Area fans, but ...

Anyway, Magary is scooching into Simmons category for me. Between his performative "I hate everything act" and his weird-ass middle age takes that he's treating like normal behaviors ("I love driving around with no radio on? You don't? FUCK YOU WITH A CHAINSAW, MAN!"), I think that I may need a break from this dude.

Kinda feels like you read an entirely different post than what he wrote. He literally says "I can’t chalk any of this up to intellectual maturity or good taste." He's just saying it's not for him anymore.

Um, pretty sure the whole thing was tongue in cheek-Pats hater coming to grips with the fact that rather than sinking to oblivion post-Brady the Pats are BACK! I thought it was pretty funny actually.

Agreed, I really enjoyed that. People saying what amounts to "oh shit here we go again" about a team I like becoming good is a pleasure.

 

[epraz]

This is his schtick, and yeah it probably gets a bit old, but most columnists' schitcks do.

Also, if I weren't a Patriots fan, I would absolutely hate them every bit as much as he does. It's like being a Red Sox fan in the 40s or 50s rooting against the Yankees, who just kept winning. When is it going to end?

 

[ManicCompression]

Like everything with Magary, he wouldn't be a lightning rod for criticism if he weren't so critical of every other columnist who he doesn't like. Like, sure, columnists have a POV, they have to write a lot, it's hard to come up with new stuff... but this is what he spent years slamming Simmons about. I don't get the sense that Magary has self-awareness about how much of a hypocrite he is, but to each his own.

 

[Cotillion]

That seems like a reasonable and effective take and not at all like the ravings of a sulky sports madman.

I started reading it and I stopped. I'm not sure why a Patriot who went to school in Alabama should be of concern to Bay Area fans, but ...

Anyway, Magary is scooching into Simmons category for me. Between his performative "I hate everything act" and his weird-ass middle age takes that he's treating like normal behaviors ("I love driving around with no radio on? You don't? FUCK YOU WITH A CHAINSAW, MAN!"), I think that I may need a break from this dude.

The problem is its Magary's version of "Freebird". As a side note, I deliberately used a reference that only people of a certain age might get because frankly, we are the only people who care about Drew Magary.

In any event, whether its his health, age, emotional state (or more than likely all of the above), the dude is mailing it in with pretty much everything he does. Maybe I am talking my own book here but I feel like getting older doesn't have to become a "get off my lawn" type of thing . You can be open to the idea that things weren't better back in your day because they mostly weren't. They are just different and the idea of an open, still-growing Magary interpreting these changes is actually pretty interesting to me.

Sadly we aren't getting that version it seems.

Like everything with Magary, he wouldn't be a lightning rod for criticism if he weren't so critical of every other columnist who he doesn't like. Like, sure, columnists have a POV, they have to write a lot, it's hard to come up with new stuff... but this is what he spent years slamming Simmons about. I don't get the sense that Magary has self-awareness about how much of a hypocrite he is, but to each his own.

My problem like a lot of you is lines like this

If you watched Jones play against the Falcons, and I’m sorry if you had to, you got to watch a child model version of late stage Mark Brunell. You were treated to Jones completing a bunch of checkdown passes to receivers who were open by a good 6 yards while his defense, led by Matthew Judon, did all the hard work

Drew would crucify other writers/media for doing something like this. Drew used to be able to do these screeds without falling into stuff like that where they lie about what actually happened.

Drew has definitely lost his fastball, and he's out there throwing junk hoping to get it past guys. He's become the thing he used to rail against.

 

[jose melendez]

I enjoyed it. His impotent hatred is nourishing.

 

[nattysez]

I started reading it and I stopped. I'm not sure why a Patriot who went to school in Alabama should be of concern to Bay Area fans, but ...

Lynch and Shanahan reveled post-draft about how they (so they claimed) snowed the media about their Mac Jones interest. That, coupled with the Niners' performance and Trey Lance's time on the bench, has left a lot of Bay Area fans and media following Mac's exploits and feeling like Shanahan outsmarted himself by trading up for Lance rather than taking Jones.

That said, this article is hot garbage and is the strongest indication yet that Magary has lost his fastball.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

My problem like a lot of you is lines like this



Drew would crucify other writers/media for doing something like this. Drew used to be able to do these screeds without falling into stuff like that where they lie about what actually happened.

Drew has definitely lost his fastball, and he's out there throwing junk hoping to get it past guys. He's become the thing he used to rail against.

Feels to me like this is always who and what he has been—though certainly the “angry guy rants” schtick always has the challenge of a shorter “use by” date than other voices

 

[hube]

I like Magary a lot more when he isn't sticking to sports. I just finished The Night the Lights Went Out and really enjoyed it. Whenever he goes into broader cultural scope, his angry guy rants hit a bit more honestly. I get the sense he's writing about sports to play the hits, and does it so he can stretch out elsewhere. I think his last fiction book has been optioned for a movie. The anti-Boston stuff is stale and pointless these days, but it’s easy enough to ignore from my perspective.

 

[Leather]

I honestly don’t think he cares about sports much anymore but those are the columns that pay the bills and set him up for his other stuff. Kind of a “one for them, one for me” deal. So rather than work at finding a new angle, he looks for existing situations where he can jam his well-worn outlook into the current sports environment. “Oh Pats are doing well? OK I’ll dust off the old Pats hate column but trade Mac Jones for Brady.”

I’m confident he’s aware he’s a bit of a parody of himself when he writes these things, but they probably take 90 minutes to write and pay the bills while he works on books or political pieces so he complies.

 

[kfoss99]

I recently finished Magary's "The Night the Lights went Out."

The oral history of the night he fell is so well done, you wonder if he'll make it through, and it's an autobiography.

I'd recommend reading it, if you're at all a fan.

 

[Mueller's Twin Grannies]

He managed to find a LOT to say about the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett, and none of it good. You would think that he was targeted by the way he takes offense to the first episode of a limited series. Guy seems like a real reactionary. I hope he's on some BP meds.

 

[88 MVP]

When I saw this thread bumped, I assumed it was for his epic rant about Aaron Rodgers this week:

No. I will never root for that horse's ass to win a Super Bowl. There's no worthy bullet to bite watching him cruise to a title and hoist a Lombardi. It would do the world precisely zero good. It wouldn't alter the course of the pandemic in any tangible way. It would just be an endless parade of smug. I watched that asshole and his asshole team clinch home field on Sunday night and every second of it was fucking insufferable. I'm surprised NBC didn't bury John Madden's corpse in the end zone at halftime. Granted, I was rooting for the other team that night, and they shit the bed the way everyone--myself included-assumed they would. But even if the Vikings hadn't been there that night, and Tirico and Collinsworth clearly did their best to act as if they were not, it wouldn't have made the occasion any more tolerable.

Because I'm sick to death of Aaron Rodgers. For years, I always respected him more than Brett Favre, because who wouldn't? That's over now. Favre was just your garden-variety pair of Wrangler jeans. Rodgers, by contrast, is both a needy attention whore like Ben Roethlisberger AND a performative debate club turd like Ted Cruz. I hate his guts. I hope he tears both ACLs on his way to the juice bar. Everyone in the NFL universe acts as if he's mister perfect and fawns over him like he just left an apple on their fucking desk. Ooh, look at this amazing throw he made! Ooh, he's the greatest quarterback ever because titles don't really matter! Ooh he has such incredible stats.Fucking teacher's pets. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Watching that game the other night was like sitting at the dinner table for three hours while your mom asks why you can't be more like your older brother. Meanwhile, that older brother is a horse paste-eating humanoid playing for a municipal pyramid scheme of a franchise cheered on by fat-ass Nazis all over the age of 85. So you'll excuse me if I don't find the Packers charming, or if I don't think Aaron Rodgers deserves a make-good for all the other times that he's blown a chance to win a second title. Fuck him, fuck his team, and fuck you. Does that answer your question?

 

[Mueller's Twin Grannies]

On second thought, maybe I misjudged him.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I don't know you guys, I agree with him on this (mostly) but Drew Magary is getting really boring.

 

[Leather]

I don't know you guys, I agree with him on this (mostly) but Drew Magary is getting really boring.

His premise is silly. Putting aside the fact that the HOF didn’t decide anything regarding steroids (the writers did), The HOF is a museum. Even if it never includes Bonds, Clemens, et al it is still the best and most important sports-related museum maybe in the world. It will be fine, although the issue of whether to include Bonds et al.will always be a discussion point.

The HOF has excluded Pete Rose for 30 years and I don’t know anyone except Pete Rose who argues it’s somehow broken as a result.

This was a shamefully transparent valentine to the SF readership.

Edit: his typical hyperbolic style here doesn’t work or make any sense because, again, he’s saying people have no reason anymore to visit the HOF because Bonds and Clemens aren’t in it. Well,people still visit the Boston Museum of Science, and the Reichsmuseum, and the Hermitage, and those are all missing a lot of really great art.

 

[ManicCompression]

I don't know you guys, I agree with him on this (mostly) but Drew Magary is getting really boring.

I remember reading a blog post from him about how he made an everything bagel with lox every Sunday morning. It wasn't a recipe or anything, just an extremely pleasant walk through the routine that was a joy to read because you could tell he loved it.

"You don’t have to be a baseball fanatic, and I certainly don’t qualify as one, to see the voting patterns of the past decade and come to obvious conclusions." Kind of says it all - he doesn't really have a passion for baseball, but it's there and he can mail in a column about something pretty much everyone in his readership agrees on. He cut his teeth being a sarcastic cynic, but that gets really old and, yes, boring, especially when it doesn't even go to the effort of challenging the reader. His best writing to me is about the stuff he loves - maybe he should try to love more stuff.

And "Theirs is a Hall of lifetime grudges" is a pretty rich quote from a guy who's entire brand and career has relied on exploiting grudges without any growth in mindset.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

His premise is silly. Putting aside the fact that the HOF didn’t decide anything regarding steroids (the writers did), The HOF is a museum. Even if it never includes Bonds, Clemens, et al it is still the best and most important sports-related museum maybe in the world. It will be fine, although the issue of whether to include Bonds et al.will always be a discussion point.

The HOF has excluded Pete Rose for 30 years and I don’t know anyone except Pete Rose who argues it’s somehow broken as a result.

This was a shamefully transparent valentine to the SF readership.

I agree with the last statement. In principle I agree with his argument, that Bonds deserves to be in the HoF. But like you said Pete Rose has deserved to be in the Hall of Fame for 30 years. Shoeless Joe Jackson deserves to be in the Hall of Fame since the doors opened. Even with both men out of the HoF, somehow it trudges on. Like you said, the Baseball Hall of Fame is the most important sports related museum in the world. It's going to survive and still matter whether Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Manny, ARod, Rose and Jackson are ever enshrined.

In fact, being a martyr has made Pete Rose more money and has lengthened his popularity more than being a Hall of Famer. There are a couple hundred HoFers, how many are good enough to be there but maverick (this is not my view point, but it's definitely Rose's) not to?

I don't think that Magary's heart is in sports writing anymore. He hasn't seemed interested, well, since he had his accident. And that's completely understandable.

 

[Leather]

And "Theirs is a Hall of lifetime grudges" is a pretty rich quote from a guy who's entire brand and career has relied on exploiting grudges without any growth in mindset.

The sad thing is that there’s a really good column sitting on a tee right there. He should compare how an outspoken writer covered/was treated by the players they make a show of not voting for. Shank and Ortiz, etc. Why are New York writers voting for Sheffield but not Ortiz (or Manny). Is it really steroids? No. Show that the writers voting is really a grudge fest and the HOF suffers as a result. Real Fire Joe Morgan type analysis and attitude.

Instead it’s this feigned outrage about something he admits he doesn’t give a shit about.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I don't think that Magary's heart is in sports writing anymore. He hasn't seemed interested, well, since he had his accident. And that's completely understandable.

After years of (rightfully) ragging on Bill Simmons, it would be the greatest of ironies if Magary fell into the same malaise that Simmons did.

 

[Bozo Texino]

After years of (rightfully) ragging on Bill Simmons, it would be the greatest of ironies if Magary fell into the same malaise that Simmons did.

..."if?"

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I think that Magary has to realize that every part of his life isn't interesting as he thinks and needs 2,000 words. I tapped out of the Yahtzee piece about midway through.

JFC dude, when you spend a quarter of your piece writing out the rules that means you don't have a lot to begin with. That's called padding.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I think that Magary has to realize that every part of his life isn't interesting as he thinks and needs 2,000 words. I tapped out of the Yahtzee piece about midway through.

JFC dude, when you spend a quarter of your piece writing out the rules that means you don't have a lot to begin with. That's called padding.

Ha. I was just coming in here to say that I think that Magary has really been mailing it in lately.

His "list of punchable coaches faces" was boring and dumb. Which kind of has been his MO in the last few months. I feel like I'm reading the last few months of Simmons.

 

[Leather]

I stopped following him on Twitter about 10 months ago and I don't miss him at all.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

He's become the new Bill Simmons, a writer that he made a living by ripping.

Oh how the turn tables.

 

[Marciano490]

He's become the new Bill Simmons, a writer that he made a living by ripping.

Oh how the turn tables.

Well, at least he’s super rich and famous like Bill…

 

[joe dokes]

I agree on the football stuff. But I think his Tuesday Funbag thing is still pretty good. He's writes about being a human being in a compelling way. Far better than Simmons ever did. (YMMV, of course)

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I stopped following him on Twitter about 10 months ago and I don't miss him at all.

You're not missing a hell of a lot. Sometimes he writes something funny, but most of the time it's more of the same. TBH, Simmons is a really good Twitter follow. I actually find what he writes funny.

He's become the new Bill Simmons, a writer that he made a living by ripping.

Oh how the turn tables.

Yeah. That hate-hate-hate intensity can't last too long, it burns far too hot. You either slow down or lapse into self-parody. I think Magary is the former.

I agree on the football stuff. But I think his Tuesday Funbag thing is still pretty good. He's writes about being a human being in a compelling way. Far better than Simmons ever did. (YMMV, of course)

Agreed. His Funbag is okay, it's certainly better than the Jamberoo, but at the same time it met the same fate that Simmons' mailbag did; which is all of the letters are aping his style to try to get answered. There was something in this past week's Funbag about praying that kinda caught me by surprise and it was the question about prayer and does it work. I couldn't tell if he was being sincere in his answer but it basically boiled down to "Yes, prayer works but only if you ask the right way." Which, I've never had a life threatening accident and been laid up in the hospital for months, so maybe our POVs don't match up but I was like, "Are you fucking kidding me with this?" It was very off-brand of him and not in a good way.

BTW, the Great Moments in Poop History section sucks. Of all the things he trimmed from the Jamberoo, I have no idea why he kept that.

 

[nattysez]

One of the things I find a little scary about this era of journalism/writing is how easy it is for someone to fall completely off your radar. I stopped following Magary on Twitter and never subscribed to Defector and that was it -- a guy who I used to read religiously completely disappeared from my consciousness. I don't think his name had even crossed my mind this football season until I noticed this thread pop up.

 

[joe dokes]

This is the type of thing I still like from Magary, that I think few other of his cohort can (or is willing to do). From the funbag.

Describe the Magary Thanksgiving. Do your folks come to town? Your siblings? Do you go to them? Or is it just you, the Mrs., and the kids?

Ever since my wife and I got serious back when we were dating, we always put the holidays on an alternating schedule. We do Christmas at my folks and Thanksgiving at her folks one year, then the other way around the next, etc etc. Both my traumatic brain injury in 2018 and the pandemic fucked mightily with that rotation, but we’ve never really deviated from it unless forced to.
We’re staying here this Thanksgiving, but my sister and brother—who both live much closer to my parents—will be with my parents at their house for the day. My parents spent 2018 Christmas at my bedside in a hospital. Then they spent 2020 Christmas outside my sister’s house, all but throwing gifts across the fence to maintain proper social distancing. Those years took a lot out of my parents. I can hear it in Mom’s voice anytime I talk to her on the phone, just as I can hear the incredible joy and relief she feels that she’ll get to welcome my siblings into her house this week and have a normal Thanksgiving, just like they always used to. And I’m overjoyed for her. There comes a point in life where you realize that you only get so many more Thanksgivings and Christmases. My mom had to spend that 2020 holiday wondering if she’d ever get to meaningfully see her family ever again. I am very, very happy that she will. The logistics and the food are all beside the point.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

We've talked a lot about how Magary has lost his fastball over the past few years, but this piece was really really really good:

How Lonely Losing Can Be.

Personal but not self-indulgent. It's really fucking good.

 

[Dogman]

I agree, that was a fantastic read. Encapsulates so, so much and should hit home for all of us.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I thought that this was a really strong piece too. It's probably the best thing he's written in quite some time. A lot of his takes have been a little askew lately.

Edit: like today's Jamberoo was pretty bad. And I'm also not on-board with hearing about Drew's gambling takes. I guess I just don't need a mid-Atlantic Bill Simmons.

 

[nattysez]

I don't know if I'm just older and less tolerant of his nonsense or what, but Magary's desperate need for the reader to feel sorry for poor little rich boy Drew Magary drove me nuts. Does he really not realize that there are MILLIONS of people who also moved away from their hometown but kept rooting for their favorite teams?

Also, if he actually did a little work, I guarantee he could've found a relatively nearby bar where Vikings fans gather. I had to leave a bar in fucking NEW HAVEN at halftime of the game when Bledsoe led a miraculous comeback against the Vikings because the Vikings fans at the bar I was at were irritating me. But poor Drew has to watch the Vikings by his lonesome.... That's by choice, dude.

Also, what kind of sad-sack nonsense is this:

Many people have roots. I only had one: this team.

He wrote this in the same column where he bragged about remembering how to get to his old neighborhood from the airport and then talked to his old neighbors. I have no idea what his definition of "roots" is.

Also:

a sunken cost.

Yikes.

 

[bigq]

I don't know if I'm just older and less tolerant of his nonsense or what, but Magary's desperate need for the reader to feel sorry for poor little rich boy Drew Magary drove me nuts. Does he really not realize that there are MILLIONS of people who also moved away from their hometown but kept rooting for their favorite teams?

Also, if he actually did a little work, I guarantee he could've found a relatively nearby bar where Vikings fans gather. I had to leave a bar in fucking NEW HAVEN at halftime of the game when Bledsoe led a miraculous comeback against the Vikings because the Vikings fans at the bar I was at were irritating me. But poor Drew has to watch the Vikings by his lonesome.... That's by choice, dude.

Also, what kind of sad-sack nonsense is this:

He wrote this in the same column where he bragged about remembering how to get to his old neighborhood from the airport and then talked to his old neighbors. I have no idea what his definition of "roots" is.

Also:

Yikes.

Agree. It was over the top self indulgence. One fall day when I was 10 my soccer team, the Red Sox and the Patriots all lost on the same day. I felt so lonely and I cried. Boo hoo.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I don't know if I'm just older and less tolerant of his nonsense or what, but Magary's desperate need for the reader to feel sorry for poor little rich boy Drew Magary drove me nuts. Does he really not realize that there are MILLIONS of people who also moved away from their hometown but kept rooting for their favorite teams?

Also, if he actually did a little work, I guarantee he could've found a relatively nearby bar where Vikings fans gather. I had to leave a bar in fucking NEW HAVEN at halftime of the game when Bledsoe led a miraculous comeback against the Vikings because the Vikings fans at the bar I was at were irritating me. But poor Drew has to watch the Vikings by his lonesome.... That's by choice, dude.

Also, what kind of sad-sack nonsense is this:

He wrote this in the same column where he bragged about remembering how to get to his old neighborhood from the airport and then talked to his old neighbors. I have no idea what his definition of "roots" is.

Agree. It was over the top self indulgence. One fall day when I was 10 my soccer team, the Red Sox and the Patriots all lost on the same day. I felt so lonely and I cried. Boo hoo.

I know I said that the last piece (not the Jamberoo) was probably his strongest work in weeks, but I also wanted to say that these takes are also correct. Magary going back to Minnesota was completely self-indulgent and even though it was a long-form essay, it was kind of rushed. Like why did he have press credentials to that game? Who was he working for? Defector? For this piece? About him being a fan? Maybe it was for something else--I have no idea.

I know I've said this before, but I think that even though I read him every week; I've pretty much outgrown the Drew Magary experience. I'm sick of hearing about how he's deaf and his accident (he shoehorns it into every single article and it's like, yes, I understand that this was a life changing event, but it's okay not to talk about it every once in awhile), he seems to be mailing a lot of his stuff in, his takes are really stale and at the end of the day, his writing just doesn't entertain me anymore. Relatedly, I'm about to pull the trigger on cancelling my subscription to Will Leitch's weekly newsletter. He still has a lot of joy in his writing, but it's running really corny (and I like corny).

I think writers have a shelf life for me and these two are running past their expiration dates.

 

[InstaFace]

I liked the piece.

"Does he really not realize that there are MILLIONS of people who also moved away from their hometown but kept rooting for their favorite teams?"

Yeah, uh, that's the point. That's why he wrote it. Because other people can relate. Our country has many more transplants, many more people leaving where they grew up, than it used to. His method of staying connected to something probably resonates with millions of Americans, and he's telling their story while telling his own.

When I go back to where I grew up, I feel that same sense of familiarity blended with alienation. My personal connections there are gone, friends and their parents no longer live there. Being a Boston sports fan here has more to do with staying connected to my inner new englander and declaring my tribe than it bears any resemblance to being a fan of the local team and having a community of fans all around you, partaking in this common religious ritual.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

The comment about being able to find Vikings fans in New Haven particularly misses the point: he is essentially a self-described loner in the piece, with that element of his personality fighting with his desire for a sense of camaraderie. That’s the interesting undercurrent of the piece, IMO.

 

[DJnVa]

Yeah, uh, that's the point. That's why he wrote it. Because other people can relate. Our country has many more transplants, many more people leaving where they grew up, than it used to.

I'm not sure that's the case.

https://www.marketplace.org/2022/08/02/study-finds-that-8-in-10-young-adults-move-back-close-to-their-hometowns-or-never-left/

More Americans are putting down roots close to home. A new study from researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University says nearly 60% of young adults – the study measured people at age 26 – live within 10 miles of where they grew up. Eighty percent live within 100 miles.

 

[joe dokes]

I'm not sure that's the case.

https://www.marketplace.org/2022/08/02/study-finds-that-8-in-10-young-adults-move-back-close-to-their-hometowns-or-never-left/

He's closer to 50 than 25, so the relevance might vary.

 

[nattysez]

I liked the piece.

"Does he really not realize that there are MILLIONS of people who also moved away from their hometown but kept rooting for their favorite teams?"

Yeah, uh, that's the point. That's why he wrote it. Because other people can relate. Our country has many more transplants, many more people leaving where they grew up, than it used to. His method of staying connected to something probably resonates with millions of Americans, and he's telling their story while telling his own.

There's not a single word in that piece that suggests he knows he's not the only one who experiences what he's describing. In fact, he explicitly says: "Many people have roots. I only had one: this team." Not "people like me only had one," not "some of us only had one," he wrote "I only had one."

If you guys want to give Magary credit for subtly intending the piece for everyone who's ever moved away from home, knock yourselves out. It'd literally be the first subtle thing he's done in his career.

 

[joe dokes]

There's not a single word in that piece that suggests he knows he's not the only one who experiences what he's describing. In fact, he explicitly says: "Many people have roots. I only had one: this team." Not "people like me only had one," not "some of us only had one," he wrote "I only had one."

If you guys want to give Magary credit for subtly intending the piece for everyone who's ever moved away from home, knock yourselves out. It'd literally be the first subtle thing he's done in his career.

I dont think good writers have to use "hey you guys!!!" to write about something that many others might identify with. He is writing about himself. Others will likely identify with it.
Hacks regularly use "we" as a device to try and scream "Hey, I'm just like you" or "you're just like me." Thanks, hack, how about you let me, the reader, decide? Show me; don't tell me.

 

[manny]

There's not a single word in that piece that suggests he knows he's not the only one who experiences what he's describing. In fact, he explicitly says: "Many people have roots. I only had one: this team." Not "people like me only had one," not "some of us only had one," he wrote "I only had one."

If you guys want to give Magary credit for subtly intending the piece for everyone who's ever moved away from home, knock yourselves out. It'd literally be the first subtle thing he's done in his career.

You really think he thinks or is trying to suggest this feeling is unique to him? He's describing a feeling that is personal to him but I'd imagine resonates with anyone in a similar position (and I'm sure he knows that). And not sure just because there may be a Vikings bar wherever he lives in Maryland is that relevant because: (1) many people may not like going to bars generally or for sports games; (2) I think it's still not the same as having most of your friends, neighbors, etc. rooting (or despairing as he writes about) for the same team, having the watercooler talk, etc. I'm a Sox fan in Colorado and of course Sox are one of the most national fanbases but, to point #1, I'm actually too intense/nervous to go to a bar for any big game--I tend to want to "focus" more. And to point #2, big losses do feel lonelier when you don't have a local group to catch up with, talk in the office about the game, etc. Not trying to say boo-hoo me or like it's an actually serious issue by any means, just that Magary's column resonated a bit with me. I'm guessing people who didn't like the column like very little of what Magary writes, especially these days.

Also, without reading anything beyond the quoted excerpt of that study, I'd imagine a huge part of that is "young adults" tend to live at home post-college more often/longer than they did a generation or two ago. I wonder how that study would compare to years past if you looked at 35 year-olds.

 

[reej]

https://defector.com/bill-belichick-is-going-out-the-way-he-came-in

I've been negative about the Patriots as of late (obviously), but now that Drew is having a gloating victory lap I like the Patriots chances to turn it around.

And in the column and the comments they keep mentioning the end of Bernie Kosar's tenure with the Browns as proof that Belichick is a Bad Coach without Brady. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, Belichick was 100% right about getting rid of Kosar in favor of Testaverde.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

He’s been waiting decades to write about the end of Pats’ dynasty (I’m presuming that’s what he wrote about, I didn’t read it). I’m not sure why he has such a hardon for the end of Patriots, he’s a Vikings fan and I don’t recall NE, Belichick or Brady having any beef with Minnesota.

He’s kind of a strange guy.

 

[nattysez]

He’s been waiting decades to write about the end of Pats’ dynasty (I’m presuming that’s what he wrote about, I didn’t read it). I’m not sure why he has such a hardon for the end of Patriots, he’s a Vikings fan and I don’t recall NE, Belichick or Brady having any beef with Minnesota.

He’s kind of a strange guy.

I'm pretty sure he's strongly implied if not outright said that he went to Exeter and hated the townies. Hence his hatred for the Pats.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

I'm pretty sure he's strongly implied if not outright said that he went to Exeter and hated the townies. Hence his hatred for the Pats.

He went to Colby and hated those townies, too, so he has multiple New England reasons to hate the Pats.

 

[CR67dream]

He’s been waiting decades to write about the end of Pats’ dynasty (I’m presuming that’s what he wrote about, I didn’t read it). I’m not sure why he has such a hardon for the end of Patriots, he’s a Vikings fan and I don’t recall NE, Belichick or Brady having any beef with Minnesota.

He’s kind of a strange guy.

Maybe he was at this game and never recovered.

I was there, and obviously Vikings fans were as well, and in surprising numbers. It was mostly good natured, but the Vikes fans were understandably confident going in, and even more so at halftime.

That changed quickly, and as the comeback got into full swing, a few were getting quite feisty. At the end, a group near us kept saying stuff like this was a fluke and at least they'd be still cheering come playoff time while we (again) cried in our beers. We laughed at them, but I can't say I really disagreed with their POV at the time.

The Vikings did indeed make it to the playoffs, winning the Central with a record of 10-6. The loss that day, however, was the beginning of the end for that team. They went into it 7-2, and including that loss went 3-4 to close the season. The Pats, on the other hand, came in at 3-6 and rolled off 7 straight to make it to the dance.

Alas, the Pats magic ride would end on New Year's Day, with a tough 20-13 loss on the road to Belichick and the Browns. Minnesota, which had much higher expectations all season long, was pummeled by the 9-7 Bears, 35-18, at the Metrodome that same day. I'm sure young Drew was very sad. It's the closest thing to a scar the Pats have left on the Vikings as far as I can tell.

Also I remember that game because one of my idiot friends that I was with (who at the time was dating my now wife) was a Cowboys fan and wanted to leave at halftime to watch that game on TV at the tailgate spot. He seems even stupider now, as with a little research, it looks like the Cowboys didn't play in an early game, they lost later in San Francisco. That dude was a fucking idiot. I'm no prize, but my wife really dodged a bullet there.