Subscriber Sunday!
It's your turn to talk.
Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up so far to the little newsletter that could. Every Sunday I like to post up some of the feedback I've gotten from the community of subscribers. If you'd like to be featured, just reply to this or any email, or tweet me!
And if you're enjoying the content, it would mean a lot if you could just forward/share the newsletter with one other person this week who you think would like it.
Let's see what you had to say!
I loved this really passionate rebuttal of my Wednesday essay, "" from Wade:
"Dearest Matthew,
Firstly, these are fun and I’m enjoying them.
Now I’m going to tell you the parts I disagree with:
competing on a field of pristine grass
SMDH by the end of Wimbledon it’s a dirt patch.
*pauses, takes a deep breath*
Nah you’re right. I commend you for tricking me into thinking you were talking about the World Cup. Bravo.
Consumers choose products which closely match their current or aspired personalities
We like the things we like because of what those things says about us.
This is why I’ve always wanted to buy a Jeep.
I think it’s a lot easier to write this type of essay about a cultural subset to which you don’t belong (especially a subset you’re consciously choosing to avoid). I think I could write a similar essay about not watching NASCAR. “I don’t want to be perceived as a white trash, mouth-breathing knuckle-dragger.” But NASCAR’s viewership is (last I checked) higher than the NHL and MLB, and is close to the NBA—and I’d guess most of those people aren’t white trash mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers. If I wrote that article, I’d carefully choose to highlight the worst thing about NASCAR fans instead of giving it any merit.
You messaged me “what’s wrong with being intellectual?” – nothing. But your essay doesn’t say, “People who watch soccer are intellectuals.” Klosterman basically says being a soccer fan is latent bigheadedness. You say yourself that you didn’t buy in to the World Cup to “avoid looking uppity.” I don’t want to be perceived as bigheaded or uppity either. I just don’t think every choice people make for their sports fandom is made for the sake of branding themselves in the same way that buying a Jeep would be for me. One of the great things about sports is that real fandom is driven by your life experiences.
I had a buddy who, when all the crazy sex-addiction stuff came out about Tiger—and everyone started making sexy Tiger jokes—he continuously and fervently defended him. If he were choosing to be a Tiger Woods fan based on what that said about his personal brand, he’d have been making a pretty big marketing error. He was a Tiger Woods fan (I learned later) because he used to watch golf tournaments with his late grandfather, and it was a fond memory he held of a difficult time in his life. He was a fan because life happened to him in a specific way.
I understand that’s way more dramatic than the point you are making—a point that I promise I docomprehend. You’re absolutely not wrong—there are World Cup-only fans that are soccer fans once every four years for about 3 weeks. But you’re talking about the white trash mouth-breathing knuckle-dragging NASCAR fan equivalents.
I like soccer because I lived in Dubai for a couple years and all my friends were British and wanted to spend every weekend at pubs watching Premier League, so I learned to enjoy it casually. And then I got assigned to a work project in London and a local coworker invited me to the west coast for a match at Anfield. I was at that game and loved watching Raheem Sterling play, so I bought a Raheem Sterling shirt and followed a few of the players on Twitter. Then (a year later) Raheem Sterling basically did exactly what Kawhi Leonard just did and demanded a trade to Liverpool’s biggest rival.
Soccer off-the-field drama is about as low brow as it comes. There are open insults, pettiness, and f----n’ Neymar. We have Leicester City’s star player, Jamie Vardy, who once played professionally for 6 months with a house arrest anklet on and would have to go home at halftime of night games because he had a court-mandated curfew—and he eventually won the Premier league in an underdog story bigger than UMBC over Virginia. I could keep going (just like either of us could about the hilarious NBA hijinks that are constantly popping up).
None of that screams cultured or intellectual. It’s just something I enjoy because my life happened to me in a specific way that turned me into a soccer fan.
I think my central argument (and I apologize for the length of the above response) is that one of the great things about fandom is that it’s usually organic, and if you focus on the people who are using fandom as a tool to brand themselves, you might be missing the point."
--I really love this, and I totally see where you're coming from. The intellectual/uppity label for soccer was only meant to stand in for any label that might apply in a given situation. The larger point I was trying to make was that a lot of times we are controlled by subconscious forces that we don't really realize. Or we do realize them, like your friend defending Tiger because of nostalgia and love of his late grandfather, or when you gave soccer a chance to be a part of your friend group.
Neither of those reasons are because you objectively love the sport of soccer, because there's nothing about it or any other sport that makes it better. It's all about the meaning behind the sports. Which I think is really cool.
From another soccer fan, Cheyn, who brings the perspective of a former collegiate soccer player:
"MATT!
With how your piece on “Sports Fandom” went, I felt rather “special” being dabbed as an intellectual...so, thank you!
But really, I think it’s important to establish that people are drawn to things they sometimes can’t explain. If I’m being honest, even as a soccer player, the sport can be pretty boring to watch. Scoring is very sacred and some games can go scoreless.
I can understand why someone could not be a fan, but those things can also be what make the sport so special at the same time. With the U.S. not making the World Cup, there was definitely less interest in our country, but it's very understandable considering humans become involved in a sporting event when there is a team to root for. At the same time, like with many things, we simply like things without being able to explain it. 🤷🏼♂️
Side note: Usain Bolt will be nothing more than a super-sub!!!!"
--If we could explain all of the reasons why we do the things we do, where would be the fun in that? And you're not going to be able to convince me that a 6'6" striker who happens to be the fastest human of all time can't be a pretty good soccer player.
Subscriber Sunday staple Justin, who last week claimed he'd rather drink battery acid than watch my recommendation of Mamma Mia!, found a mistake in something I wrote:
"Dear Mr. Craig,
You misattributed the "die a hero" line from your review of Mamma Mia 2.
Also, I heard a brilliant sportswriter wrote a wonderful article titled “Is Chase Utley the Antichrist?”
I would have liked you to provide the link to that in this issue."
--Thank you for pointing this out. I attributed that quote to Commissioner Gordon when, alas, it was Harvey Dent who said it in The Dark Knight. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be much of a crossover between those interested in both Batman and Mamma Mia!. Also, by pointing out that error, you're acknowledging you read the review? How does that battery acid taste?
Here's the Chase Utley article you referenced, no idea who wrote it: https://elitesportsny.com/2018/07/17/question-new-york-mets-fans-cant-ignore-is-chase-utley-the-antichrist/
And lastly, a really flattering question from Krzysztof on Twitter:
"Can I buy somewhere the .pdf version of 'The Cinderella Code'?"
--I love the enthusiasm, but I don't really suspect there's much demand for 17,000 words on mid-major basketball. Here's the deal I gave Krzysztof (great name btw): If you can get 5 people to sign up for the newsletter, send me their addresses so I can check and I'll send you the full .pdf for free.
Here's a bonus deal: For 20 subscribers, I'll send you one of the only 10 hard copies that were printed. For 100, I'll kiss your feet and name my firstborn after you. Good luck.