Author: Kat (Page 27 of 89)

Marv Levy Does It All

17 August, 2011 / Kat

I am a big fan of iconic Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy’s Where Else Would You Rather Be?, his textbook length autobiography. It checks in at 414 pages and is written in nine or ten point font. It doesn’t fit into handbags. It is awfully difficult to read on a train. Given that Levy has a Master’s degree in English from Harvard, its size and font is quite fitting. Levy tells the reader everything you might ever want to know about his life and career in incredible detail. And now it looks like Levy is taking that attention to detail to another literary venture.

On Tuesday, Rochester’s NBC affiliate reported that Levy will soon be releasing his first novel, entitled Between the Lies. Of course, the 288 page book takes place within the world of professional football.

Levy definitely followed the old writer adage, “Write what you know,” because the quarterback of one of the novel’s two key teams has a pretty familiar name:

“And there’s a quarterback named “Kelly James,” who Levy acknowledges resembles his former Bills star, Jim Kelly.”

Is there nothing this octogenarian can’t do? (Okay non-Bills fans, insert snarky “Win Super Bowls, haha!” comment here.) The man just turned 86 years old, and he’s releasing a novel. I hope I am as active as he is when I’m that old.

Monday Morning QB Quote of the Day: Why Football Is America’s Most Popular Sport

17 August, 2011 / Kat

This Monday’s edition of Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback had two quotes that jumped out at me on the very first page. King kicked off Monday’s column with a look at the preseason Green Bay Packers, who are preparing to defend their Super Bowl win.

“The game is bigger than us. The team is more than us. It’s a community team, blue-collar and understated and not at all about self-glorification.” – Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers quarterback

“When you win in this town, you become a little bit immortal. Just like those before us. That’s the beauty of this place: We didn’t invent it. We’re just continuing it.” – Ted Thompson, General Manager of the Green Bay Packers

This is why football is the most popular sport in America: the tradition and the opportunity. You have a team like the Green Bay Packers, who represent a small city who by the tenants of modern professional sport, should not have a major league team. The Packers are a relic that survived from the day where towns like Duluth, MN, Pottsville, PA and even my hometown of Rochester, NY had NFL teams. And yet the Packers win Super Bowls, field a competitive team most years and pack their stadium with fans to this day. Continue reading

Why Patriots Fans Should Root For Steve Tasker To Make the Hall of Fame

6 August, 2011 / Kat

Dear New England Patriots Fans:

Are you a fan of Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead and Julian Edelman? Of course. You like them for their grit, their playmaking abilities, their chemistry with quarterback Tom Brady, and their ability as kick/punt returners. You also like them because they’re shorter than normal football players, and have found success in the NFL regardless of the freakishly large men around them.

If you adore what Welker, Woodhead and Edelman do for your team, then you need to cross team allegiance lines and thank the man who blazed their path twenty years ago: Steve Tasker.

Those who have read this blog for a while know my feelings on Tasker. I think it is honestly ridiculous that the legendary Buffalo Bill is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He, along with his special teams minded coaches, made the position of kick returner/punt returner/wide receiver what it is today. Continue reading

Why I Don’t Throw Parties

4 August, 2011 / Kat

Shocker! I occasionally read non-sports related magazines. I was flipping through the latest issue of Every Day With Rachael Ray a few days ago, trying to muster up some inspiration for being a good wife. You know, the come home, cook a dinner, and throw fun parties responsibilities that I generally fall down on the job on because I’m too busy trying to be a sports writer on top of my full-time job.

Rachael Ray’s latest issue features an article trying to instruct readers on how to have fun party photo backgrounds. But wait, you’re supposed to have photo backgrounds? The general landscape of your tiny, clean apartment full of sports memorabilia isn’t enough? I’m crushed. Rachel Ray says that my tidy apartment isn’t a good enough background, and that I should do the following:

I should take streamers of different colors, hang them from a certain rod or string against a wall, have people hug in front of it, and take photos. Isn’t this one of these crafts where it looks somewhat acceptable in the magazine’s pages, but when you try to do it yourself, everyone’s going to question your sanity? Your guests will enter your home and wonder, “What’s that random curtain of mismatched streamers doing up against the wall? Should I say anything? Is it supposed to be there? I’m just not going to say anything because she might think it’s cute, but it’s really not.”

And then this project assumes you have streamers that don’t have footballs printed on them. Which I do, because I’m a sports nut.

This is why I don’t throw parties.

Roy Halladay and Blue Jays Fans: Where Does Your Allegiance Go When A Fan Favorite Leaves?

2 August, 2011 / Kat

While trying to find my seats at the Rogers Center for the Philadelphia Phillies – Toronto Blue Jays game I attended last month, I met a retired couple from Mississauga, Ontario whose season tickets were nearby our seats. Quite friendly, they started sharing all of their knowledge of their beloved ballpark to me.

I took the opportunity to ask them their thoughts about the Phillies starting pitcher that day, former Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. I gestured around the park. “Do you think he’s going to get some boos?” Continue reading