What Are You, A Bunch of Einsteins? Well... Yeah

For those who haven’t caught up with the February’s edition of Norman Einstein’s Magazine (the apostrophe is key from here on out), I not only implore you to read all of the fine work, but take some time over the next few days to pore through the archives. For the unfamiliar, working with the NE has been great because there’s a strong mix of sports writing & photography (unfortunately, nothing from Stephanie Lim this month) that does well enough to preach to the converted while providing some intrigue to the agnostic.

I won’t go into a description of my venture this month, but the deleted scenes that came from it will be posted later Wednesday afternoon. However, a brief description for each of the remaining contributions:

Zac Soto has a unique Super Bowl preview; going into the divide on what we truly find great about sports. In a sense, he dares to ask if it truly is about the name on the front of the jersey – or in this case, the colors and logo of it – or the name on the back. Yet, he is providing less of a statistical breakdown compared to other sites who are salivating over Sunday’s championship and more of a description on how those stats come to be; styles, resolve, faith in the systems built by their respective organizations.

NE oracle Cian O’Day attacked the prior three weekends of the NFL postseason with a balance of analysis and poetry with varied angles. While he certainly agonized over his Packers painful, but thrilling exit, he gave each game its own fair treatment. Yet, he also took on the controversies and no-questions of the league awards, the dagger and the farewell… all from interesting bar stools and couches in the New York/New Jersey vicinity. As many former football players, there’s a different vibe in his words (played center in high school) compared to someone as myself (played running back on Madden).

Corban Goble took on a different twist in his playoff viewing this season; the son of a Packers stockholder – talk about prestigious - he had the struggle of watching both his NFL team and his college basketball love, the Kansas Jayhawks, take breathtakingly bad losses within hours of each other. He chronicles the day in a ten-year-old-fan-in-a-grown-man’s-body fashion; certainly entertaining and for those who know a similar internal battle, you’ll empathize, sympathize and… cry-a-thize.

Finally, Rough Justice as an interesting take on Lance Armstrong. He discusses the lack of awe or even respect within the American cycling community as he took a single-minded focus towards one race (the Tour de France) as opposed to ensuring a similar excellence towards several. Rough Justice also delves into the brand that he’s become; taking the Michael Jordan route to the point of even greater discontent from some.

The rest of the week may have you frazzled with work, class, bad weather and whatever challenges in your way. Feel free to give yourself some time to soak it all in and as “Rick James” would say, “enjoy yourselves. It’s a celebration…!”