Bill Parcells makes me very, very sad
As a New York Giants fan, I’ll always harbor a soft spot for Bill Parcells. However, after Parcells receives the Michael Lewis treatment in this long story for the NYT’s new venture, Play Magazine, I feel mostly sadness and disgust for this man: Right now he is living alone in what amounts to a hotel ...
As a New York Giants fan, I'll always harbor a soft spot for Bill Parcells. However, after Parcells receives the Michael Lewis treatment in this long story for the NYT's new venture, Play Magazine, I feel mostly sadness and disgust for this man: Right now he is living alone in what amounts to a hotel room in Irving, Tex., whose sole virtue is that it is a 10-minute drive to both the Cowboys? practice facility and Texas Stadium. It?s just him and whatever it is that keeps him in the game. For the longest time he pretended that he didn?t need it. He walked out of two jobs without having another in hand, and he has played hard-to-get with N.F.L. owners more times than any coach in N.F.L. history. After he quit the Jets, in 1999, he said at a press conference: ?I?ve coached my last football game. You can write that on your little chalkboard. This is it. It?s over.? Now, even as his job appears to be making him sick, he has abandoned the pose. ?As you get older,? he says, pointing to a screen, where the play is frozen, ?your needs diminish. They don?t increase. They diminish. I need less money. I need less sex. But this ? this doesn?t change.? What this is, he can?t ? or won?t ? specify. But when your life has been defined by the pressure of competition and your response to it, there?s a feeling you get, and it?s hard to shake. You wake up each morning knowing the next game is all that matters. If you fail in it, nothing you?ve done with your life counts. By your very nature you always have to start all over again, fresh. It?s an uncomfortable feeling, but it?s nonetheless addictive. Even if you have millions in the bank and everyone around you tells you that you?re a success, you seek out that uncomfortable place.... ?It?s a cloistered, narrow existence that I?m not proud of,? says Parcells. ?I don?t know what?s going on in the world. And I don?t have time to find out. All I think about is football and winning. But hey ? ? He sweeps his hand over his desk and points to the office that scarcely registers his presence. ?Who?s got it better than me??Note to self: no matter how successful you might be as a blogger, never have Michael Lewis write the following paragraph about you: Right now he is living alone in what amounts to a hotel room, whose sole virtue is that it houses the ultimate blogging computer. It?s just him and whatever it is that keeps him in the blogging game. For the longest time he pretended that he didn?t need it. He walked out of two group blogs without having another in hand, and he has played hard-to-get with Rupert Murdoch more times than any blogger in history. After he quit Open University, he said at a press conference: ?I?ve written my last blog post. You can write that on your little chalkboard. This is it. It?s over.? Now, even as his job appears to be making him sick, he has abandoned the pose. ?As you get older,? he says, pointing to a screen, where the text is frozen, ?your needs diminish. They don?t increase. They diminish. I need less money. I need less sex. But this ? this doesn?t change.?
As a New York Giants fan, I’ll always harbor a soft spot for Bill Parcells. However, after Parcells receives the Michael Lewis treatment in this long story for the NYT’s new venture, Play Magazine, I feel mostly sadness and disgust for this man:
Right now he is living alone in what amounts to a hotel room in Irving, Tex., whose sole virtue is that it is a 10-minute drive to both the Cowboys? practice facility and Texas Stadium. It?s just him and whatever it is that keeps him in the game. For the longest time he pretended that he didn?t need it. He walked out of two jobs without having another in hand, and he has played hard-to-get with N.F.L. owners more times than any coach in N.F.L. history. After he quit the Jets, in 1999, he said at a press conference: ?I?ve coached my last football game. You can write that on your little chalkboard. This is it. It?s over.? Now, even as his job appears to be making him sick, he has abandoned the pose. ?As you get older,? he says, pointing to a screen, where the play is frozen, ?your needs diminish. They don?t increase. They diminish. I need less money. I need less sex. But this ? this doesn?t change.? What this is, he can?t ? or won?t ? specify. But when your life has been defined by the pressure of competition and your response to it, there?s a feeling you get, and it?s hard to shake. You wake up each morning knowing the next game is all that matters. If you fail in it, nothing you?ve done with your life counts. By your very nature you always have to start all over again, fresh. It?s an uncomfortable feeling, but it?s nonetheless addictive. Even if you have millions in the bank and everyone around you tells you that you?re a success, you seek out that uncomfortable place…. ?It?s a cloistered, narrow existence that I?m not proud of,? says Parcells. ?I don?t know what?s going on in the world. And I don?t have time to find out. All I think about is football and winning. But hey ? ? He sweeps his hand over his desk and points to the office that scarcely registers his presence. ?Who?s got it better than me??
Note to self: no matter how successful you might be as a blogger, never have Michael Lewis write the following paragraph about you:
Right now he is living alone in what amounts to a hotel room, whose sole virtue is that it houses the ultimate blogging computer. It?s just him and whatever it is that keeps him in the blogging game. For the longest time he pretended that he didn?t need it. He walked out of two group blogs without having another in hand, and he has played hard-to-get with Rupert Murdoch more times than any blogger in history. After he quit Open University, he said at a press conference: ?I?ve written my last blog post. You can write that on your little chalkboard. This is it. It?s over.? Now, even as his job appears to be making him sick, he has abandoned the pose. ?As you get older,? he says, pointing to a screen, where the text is frozen, ?your needs diminish. They don?t increase. They diminish. I need less money. I need less sex. But this ? this doesn?t change.?
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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