Balls

I wrote a few articles about football in December and January, none of it Superb Owl related, but interesting nonetheless.  I'm a Steelers fan, so I'd really prefer not to acknowledge Sunday's result anyway.

-First, a piece for the Haverford Alumni magazine about the early 20th Century controversies about violence in football.  I did some historical research (I'm talking digging up dusty, unpublished manuscripts) and the result is an interesting story about political maneuvering by a football-enthused medical doctor that led to the implementation of modern football rules like the forward pass and the ten-yard first down.

-A few weeks ago I made a brief return to my old column space at Philebrity to talk about the Eagles' hire of Oregon's Chip Kelly.  I make the argument that he is in the vanguard of college coaches with enough stature to bring a more experimental brand of football to the pros, but Philly fans need to give him enough leash to do so.