There aren’t any creme pies actually, mianhaeyo!
Eleven new faces will be joining the pollen-powdered corral for the 2008 NFL season here in Atlanta. They are– in no particular order–Matt Ryan (quarterback), Sam Baker (lineman), Curtis Lofton (linebacker), Chevis Jackson (cornerback/free safety), Harry Douglas (wide receiver), Thomas DeCoud (safety), Robert James (linebacker), Kroy Biermann (defensive end), Thomas Brown (running back), Wilrey Fontenot (cornerback), and Keith Zinger (tight end).
To read more about these strapping laddies, click here.
For Pittsburgh Steelers draft information, click here.
For Philadelphia Eagles draft information, click here.
For Indianapolis Colts draft information, click here.
For Baltimore Ravens draft information, click here.
The Dallas Cowboys home page is being a little moocow right now–it won’t load (for me). Hop on over to Mel Kiper Jr.’s column at ESPN for a small scoop.
Click here for the 2008 season schedule for the Falcons.
May 1, 2008 at 9:30 am
great site! very knowledgable! I love football movies as well. I played in the late 60s and early 70s in an integrated high school. Friday Night Lights! and Remember the Titans are personal favorites! I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan as well.
May 1, 2008 at 9:56 am
I appreciate the feedback. I really enjoyed your three-part football reminiscing.
When I was researching for and writing my thesis, I was eating and breathing the psychological ramifications of the football narrative on young men–nevermind the less beneficial impact of playing a team sport (playing hurt vs. injured, peer pressure, sense of failure).
Feels good to get back there.
May 13, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I’m giving and correcting finals the past week or I would have commented on your comment sooner.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a sociologist. what are you doing? how did you become so-o culturally insightful in this sports stuff? some of your writing reminds me of one of my mentors at USC, Michael Messner. He’s written extensively about men and sport from a feminist perspective. He was chair of my dissertation committee, wonderful guy!
And when you were exploring “the psychological ramifications of the football narrative on young men….,” what’d you come up with?
May 13, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I indeed read Michael Messner for my writing and paraphrase/quoted him.
I took a couple of sociology classes when I was an undergrad: individual & society; mental health; criminology.
I took AP Psych in high school.
I also took a visual anthropology seminar in grad school—so my classroom-setting exposure to sociology is pretty decent–can’t quote any of the great thinkers in the field off the top of my head, though.
Football (and hockey for that matter) is more than a game not just b/c of the degree it consumes a person’s time and energy. For players, as stressful as it can be, football is a sanctuary. It’s a safe place not only for the expression of violence but also for emotional bonding. If society as a whole is still a little hesitant to accept the image and implication of a man who cries or shows (too much) affection, the context of football makes it both understandable and commendable. Who wants to see a kicker not get upset to the brink of tears for going wide right? Who wants to see a team not jump and group-hug after their cornerback made a game-saving interception?
Football also teaches or enforces the idea of working for the greater good and being able to put one’s own desires second to what will benefit the group. Cynically speaking then, competitive group sports are less about nurturing individual character and more about turning otherwise unruly youths into obedient members of society.
Analyzing proper football films (a la sports inspirational formula) isn’t nearly as fun or illuminating as examining the way football functions in a film that isn’t “about” football, such as Never Back Down, MASH, and Little Children.
May 13, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Forgot to answer, “what are you doing? how did you become so-o culturally insightful in this sports stuff?
I over-analyze? ^&^
Maybe I just haven’t burned out yet…with regards to thinking about sports. I’ve just scratched the surface.
Or, I was never that into sports (even as TV programming) with the exception of the Olympics and the Atlanta Braves in the 90s.
Or maybe it’s just happenstance.
May 18, 2008 at 8:45 am
so, is television programming your trade?
May 18, 2008 at 10:36 am
Environmentally speaking, yes.
May 21, 2008 at 11:40 am
sideline or mainline?