Marcel Proust, Jay Cutler, and Mike Glennon Walk Into a Bar
As we enter Week 5 of the NFL Season, the Bears are 1-3, Mike Glennon has thrown more than twice as many interceptions in Chicago than Jay Cutler has in sunny Miami, and I’ve really only started reading Proust.
But before we get to that, I’d just like to note:
(1) this story about how playing tackle football before age 12 is tied behavioral and cognitive problems later in life;
(2) this study of the brains of 111 former NFL players, 110 of which had CTE;
(3) the fact that a posthumous examination of the brain of Patriots tight end/convicted murder Aaron Hernandez revealed he had a “severe form” of CTE; and
(4) Donald Trump vs. the NFL, or more specifically Trump vs. players who exercise their First Amendment rights by taking a knee and peacefully protesting police brutality against people of color during the playing of the National Anthem. Just so we’re clear: African-American athletes peacefully protesting against racism = not okay/fire them/”son of a bitch”/treason; white power rally in Virginia = totally okay/some “very fine people.”
So, back to Proust. I’ve decided to go with the reading-a-few-pages-every-night-before-bed strategy, which numerous people who have completed all of In Search of Lost Time have recommended. Thus far, I really like how reading my nightly pages requires me to slow down. Unlike anything else I read all day—awful news, awful tweets, more awful news—I take my time; I let myself linger over the words, the sentences, how they’re constructed, the memories and images they evoke. Admittedly, I won’t be done with all 4,000-plus pages until 2020—but maybe that’s the point.
And finally: Mike Glennon is out. On Monday night,Bears rookie QB Mitch Trubisky—and second overall pick in last year’s draft—will be making his first regular season start, against the Minnesota Vikings. I almost wish I was watching football.
—A.B.
FOOTBALL BOOK CLUB 