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Varsity Letters
March 19, 2007
April 4: Varsity Letters Reading Series
New York's Varsity Letters sports reading series returns on April 4 at 8 p.m. At this free monthly event at a Lower East Side bar, hosted by Gelf, Steven Goldman, Jonah Keri, Curt Smith and Cor van den Heuvel will read from and talk about their work, and take questions.
Media
March 15, 2007
No Paris Hilton Blackout Goes Unrewarded
You might have heard recently that Paris Hilton could be facing jail time for driving with a suspended license. If you didn't catch that news on one of your favorite celebrity blogs, perhaps the news came from the Associated Press, which ended a self-enforced week-long blackout of all things Paris Hilton just in time to cover the breaking news.
Media
March 12, 2007
Loser Puns, Loser Headlines
Though reviews were mostly negative, there was some disagreement last week over the potential of Fox’s new sitcom, The Winner. Whether a reviewer thought the show was a winner or a loser, nearly every headline used the same uncreative pun.
Science
March 11, 2007
The Bates Primate Motel
Chimps in Senegal were seen thrusting modified branches into hollow tree limbs in what was probably an attempt to kill their nocturnal primate cousin, the bush baby, for later eating. This is the latest in a long line of discoveries about chimp behaviors that were previously thought to be unique to humans. And while this particular version of tool making and usage isn't very different from the termite fishing (i.e. sticking stripped branches into termite mounds) that has been known about for decades, the fact that the action is violent, the prey is vertebrate, and the tool is spear-like has inspired tons of media attention. And when the media discusses non-human primates, ridiculous analogies are the norm.
Sports
March 8, 2007
Stupid Sports Debates
All-Star voting for any sport is incredibly stupid and unimportant. Hall of Fame balloting is even dumber. Great players deserve recognition, and if that means they should get a special game, or even a shrine in a building in a remote location, fine. But tired debates about who should be in and who should be out of these things are a disservice to readers who crave and deserve real analysis about real stories.
Varsity Letters
March 4, 2007
Varsity Letters 3/7 Interviews
Authors of the blogs featured on our front page (as well as DanShanoff.com, Faith and Fear in Flushing, and With Leather) will be speaking spoke at a free Gelf event in New York on Wednesday, March 7, at 8 p.m. Come Thanks for coming by the Happy Ending Lounge to hear writers Henry Abbott, Jon Bois, Nick Dallamora, Brandon Stroud, Jason Fry, Greg Prince, Will Leitch, Dan Shanoff, and Matt Ufford read from and discuss their writing.
Media
March 3, 2007
At the End of What Day?
At the end of the day, public figures often use clichés to sound sophisticated and smart. As these phrases proliferate in popularity, they become meaningless and stray far from their original meanings, if they had any. Consider, for instance, "at the end of the day."
Sports
March 2, 2007
Home, Sweet Home (Road, Bloody Road)
Glancing at the English Premier League tables the other day, I noticed a strange thing: The top four teams have combined for just one home loss, in 55 games. Yet on the road, the quartet (Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal) have combined for 17 losses in 54 games. In fact, not a single team in the league has a better record away from home than at home, and only the four teams slated for relegation have lost more games at home than they've won. Home-field advantage exists in every sport, but nowhere near this pronounced. What's going on?
Sports
February 28, 2007
Bracketology Folly
On February 11, Duke lost its fourth straight game, to Maryland. That same night, Syracuse beat St. John's to end a string of four losses in five games. Judging from the commentary at the time, both teams were at risk of missing the NCAA tournament. Fortunately for them, the tournament selection committee was going to wait another month to make its decision. Duke and Syracuse are now both in good position to make the field of 64. Neither will be a favorite to win it all, but perhaps they can help win something else for the rest of us: The end of sports media obsession with predicting the future.
Education
February 26, 2007
Stereotyping Sororities
In the New York Times article about the sorority drama that is engulfing DePauw University, Pam Propsom is mentioned as the psychology professor who surveyed her classes and found that the women of the Delta Zeta house were considered to be "socially awkward." Concerned about the welfare of that chapter, the sorority's national officers came to the school and kicked out 23 members, including, according to the Times, all of the overweight women and most of the minorities. Slightly confused as to what sort of survey asks these sorts of questions, and wondering whether the results of this study were in any way the cause of why these women were kicked out, Gelf called up Propsom to learn more.
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