What do you think?
Rate this book
Footy Rocks!
293 pages, Paperback
First published October 9, 2006
2 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 22, 2010
I’ve been reading Johnny Nic’s columns on football365.com since around 2002-ish, and I’ve developed a sort of awe of him. This book is a collection of 50 of his favorite columns from over the years, many of which I remember having read at some point or another, but which are fantastic to have in a print collection. For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of whiling away huge swaths of time that were intended for studying reading F365, let me explain his trademark style: the piece will begin with a recollection of Nicholson’s younger days of drink, debauchery, and rock n’ roll and will end up turning into an elaborate, if sometimes amusingly tenuous, analogy for some aspect of the game. I think he’s a phenomenal writer; he’s honest, no-holds-barred, and seemingly impervious to the “received wisdom” of the rest of English football punditry. The tribute to his grandfather in the “New Writings” section was one of my favorites of the entire collection, and I was eager to read something in a different vein that his usual subject.
What I like about Nicholson, and his writing, is that he’s rebellious without being angry. In fact, if the podcasts of him and Sarah Winterburn (an editor/writer at F365) I’ve listened to are any indication, he seems to find humor in just about anything and everything. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve laughed until I had tears in my eyes repeatedly while reading this. Not little giggles either – I mean truly unladylike cackles of laughter. Underneath, or maybe through, the humor there is a wonderful, off-beat, unconventional wisdom to what he’s saying about life and football. Don’t be a poser. Don’t sell your soul for money and fame. Don’t be a zombie and believe everything in the Daily Mail or Hello. Don’t be a coward or cheat or a snob. It’s all very zen in a delirious way.
He has a love (and frankly, obsession) for the game that strikes me as almost poetic in its beauty. It’s got to be hard work loving Boro, nevermind with such unswerving devotion. He almost makes me a bit ashamed of my stereotypical American support of a big four team; and who knows? if I had seen Newcastle or Scunthorpe United or some such team first, maybe they would have made the same impression on me. But, the world being what it is, American broadcast/cheap cable TV circa late high school only played occasional games of really big teams. So, my first look at football as it is meant to be played happened to be in the form of Roy Keane’s Man Utd., and it struck me dumb with amazement. So actually, no, I suppose I don’t feel all that bad.
I read a decent portion of this while half-watching group-stage games that I wasn’t engrossed by. You know, stuff like Greece vs. Nigeria and Honduras vs. Chile. It made for a very appropriate backdrop, and this was thoroughly enjoyable. And let's be honest...after England's soul-sucking game against Algeria, I need all the enjoyment in life I can find. I'm keeping hope alive, though. A very Merry World Cup to all of you!
What I like about Nicholson, and his writing, is that he’s rebellious without being angry. In fact, if the podcasts of him and Sarah Winterburn (an editor/writer at F365) I’ve listened to are any indication, he seems to find humor in just about anything and everything. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve laughed until I had tears in my eyes repeatedly while reading this. Not little giggles either – I mean truly unladylike cackles of laughter. Underneath, or maybe through, the humor there is a wonderful, off-beat, unconventional wisdom to what he’s saying about life and football. Don’t be a poser. Don’t sell your soul for money and fame. Don’t be a zombie and believe everything in the Daily Mail or Hello. Don’t be a coward or cheat or a snob. It’s all very zen in a delirious way.
He has a love (and frankly, obsession) for the game that strikes me as almost poetic in its beauty. It’s got to be hard work loving Boro, nevermind with such unswerving devotion. He almost makes me a bit ashamed of my stereotypical American support of a big four team; and who knows? if I had seen Newcastle or Scunthorpe United or some such team first, maybe they would have made the same impression on me. But, the world being what it is, American broadcast/cheap cable TV circa late high school only played occasional games of really big teams. So, my first look at football as it is meant to be played happened to be in the form of Roy Keane’s Man Utd., and it struck me dumb with amazement. So actually, no, I suppose I don’t feel all that bad.
I read a decent portion of this while half-watching group-stage games that I wasn’t engrossed by. You know, stuff like Greece vs. Nigeria and Honduras vs. Chile. It made for a very appropriate backdrop, and this was thoroughly enjoyable. And let's be honest...after England's soul-sucking game against Algeria, I need all the enjoyment in life I can find. I'm keeping hope alive, though. A very Merry World Cup to all of you!
Displaying 1 of 1 review