Book Club (September 2014)
Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who's Lived It by Matthew Berry
I absolutely love fantasy football. Love it. I can't get enough of it. Ever since I started playing when I was 14 years old, I've truly enjoyed playing the game and being a part of a group of people that understood how great it was. At that point, there were all sorts of online options but Fantasy Football has undeniably exploded over the last nine years in terms of impact and popularity, and so much of that explosion can be attributed to Matthew Berry.
I don't remember what year I first saw Berry on TV, but it was on one of ESPN's flagship shows like Sportscenter or NFL Countdown. All I could think was, "Are you serious? A full time fantasy analyst? Is this really necessary? Like, that's his actual job?" I don't know where it came from, but I remember not really liking the guy. Not for any particular reason, and I was maybe too young to realize he was doing I'd love to do for a living. But, yeah, wasn't crazy about the guy. I never started paying to play Fantasy until my senior year of high school, but regardless, I was always very confident in my own opinions regarding my team. So, aside from weekly rankings, I didn't really read any columns from fantasy analysts.
Then I randomly read the column in which Berry talked about his past as TV writer, specifically for Married with Children. I was blown away at that. I had no idea. It's strange for me to not realize he could have had a life before his latest job, but TV writing is something I've always wanted to do. And, you know, generally it's pretty cool. I had a whole new outlook on Berry and was really excited to dive into his book.
He really has lived an interesting life. He wrote for TV, sold a couple movie scripts and finagled fantasy's presence into online print, radio and eventually primetime television. But it's more than that. There's his childhood and how after moving to several cities, it was difficult for him to fit in. There's his want to make fantasy sports bigger and the constant rejection. There's also a very touching chapter on his personal experience with bullying in the context of the Richie Incognito situation. It's stuff anyone can relate to.
Then of course, there's the fantasy aspect. The book is filled with fan's stories of crazy fantasy scenarios, unlikely draft parties, embarrassing loser stories and even ones involving cheating, death, firings and divorce. The stories get to be a bit much, but they're necessary. Because as much as it seems so ridiculous and unnecessary to those that don't play, it is special for all of us that do. (I remember when I discovered an early posting of the pilot episode of The League on Hulu before I even realized it was a real TV show on FX. Was this show made just for me?)
My Infamous Life by Prodigy (of Mobb Deep)
I'm a couple years late in reading this. I'm honestly a little young to really, really be a Mobb Deep fan. Such a big deal was made of the stories in this book in Breakfast Club interviews and the like that I really had to check it out.
The whole book is written like a series of journal entries. They're more or less in order, but not really once you get further in the book. For such a prolific rapper, it's unfortunate that the quality of the writing here is so subpar. Prodigy's family history is truly unbelievable. All the Queens street stories are remarkable, especially for someone like me that grew up in nice suburbs. Those dudes were wild. What's funny is that the N.O.R.E./Capone stories that got brought up so many times in the Breakfast Club are literally maybe two sentences in this book.
There isn't a single event that jumps out that makes the book worthy of reading, but there's a lot included that I'm glad I got to catch up on. Reasons for going label to label, meeting Alchemist, what it was like to be a successful musician in the 90s, the situation with Jay-Z, joining G-Unit, why he ended up going to prison.
There's an interesting story about 50 Cent calling a meeting to reprimand and essentially disband G-Unit as we knew it in 2006. Prodigy also talks about his dealings with members of the Supreme Team, and I had no idea that's where the 50 and Ja Rule Beef stems from. He obviously talks about dealing with sickle cell and how he keeps healthy. There's his issues with religion, conspiracy theories and the time he witnessed a UFO. There's also cool tidbits like how "I Love You Baby" was actually a Havoc beat that he accidentally left in Puff's studio.
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