Writer is game to criticize sports stars and media

Will Leitch is founding editor of the irreverent sports blog Deadspin.com. (ALEXA STEVENSON)

God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (and How We Can Get It Back)
By Will Leitch
Harper, 295 pp., illustrated $24.95

Brooklyn-based Will Leitch, founding editor of the popular, irreverent sports blog Deadspin.com, loathes the mainstream sports media (especially ESPN) and what it has done to the games we love to watch. In one painful experiment, he decides to watch nothing but ESPN for an entire day. After viewing the same repeat of "SportsCenter" one too many times, the couch-bound Leitch loses it: "I am now reciting the dopey catchphrases along with the anchors, which makes me want to pull out my tongue and smash it with a polo mallet."

Leitch, himself a former member of the mainstream sports media, is snarky, funny, and unafraid to point out when the proverbial emperor is naked. In an essay about the beer ads that dominate commercial breaks during sports broadcasts, he wonders why these ads portray sports fans as stereotypical morons, "a group of screaming lunatics, usually shirtless, with their faces painted, yelling whooping noises."

In another essay, Leitch takes on racism in sports, noting that white players are described as "scrappy" and "hustling," while blacks athletes are assumed to be athletically gifted and lazy. "Every fan base likes to have its white hero," Leitch says, pointing to a poll at baseball's MLB.com that asked fans to name the players they thought hustled the most. "Every single player [on the fans' list] was white."

"God Save the Fan" is a series of short essays on a number of entertaining sports topics, from the suspicious relationship between members of the press and the athletes they cover, to the overhyped reports of the drama of the euthanized racehorse Barbaro, to the growth of fantasy sports leagues and athletes chattering on about Jesus. In one piece, Leitch bemoans the trend of disillusioned sports fans who think they could be a better general manager than the one hired by the team: "Look at [Red Sox general manager] Theo Epstein; he looks like about ten guys I went to college with. Who's to say he can be a general manager and I can't?" Second-guessing is the raison d'être of countless sports fans.

Leitch saves his most eviscerating scorn for ESPN, making fun of "bro dawg" anchor Stuart Scott's annoying slang and pointing out the network's possible conflicts of interest (allegedly downplaying stories, such as steroid allegations against Barry Bonds and animal cruelty charges against Michael Vick, that have a negative impact on the leagues ESPN covers). He also scolds "fair weather" fans who leave games early, saying, "It is unacceptable to leave; if people pelt you with food items, you have to accept it and display the appropriate shame."

Boston fans may find themselves sometimes disagreeing with Leitch, such as when he describes Manny Ramirez as a "dingbat Red Sox slugger," Sox pitcher Curt Schilling as not "satisfied until he is deemed king," and Bill Belichick as the "Napoleonic Patriots coach" hated by "anyone who happens not to work for him." The author has his quirky likes and dislikes. He adores down-to-earth basketball superstar Gilbert Arenas ("His lack of pretense makes him human") and denigrates hoopster LeBron James as a pre-packaged marketing machine who "will never truly capture our hearts." Leitch's far-reaching, highly opinionated look at sports may disqualify him from ever getting a job at ESPN, but it will leave fans asking some critical questions about the way we watch (and cover) sports.

Chuck Leddy is a freelance writer who lives in Dorchester.