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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

NFL Open Thread

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Oct 4 2009, 11:16 AM ET Comment

In comments, earlier this week, I asserted that this was exactly the sort of game (Dallas vs.Denver) in which Romo could go for four TDs. I'm very open to being wrong--and indeed, it's possible I'm underestimating Romo's struggles. But I don't think so.

Anyway, with that in mind, I came upon a situation that must be the bane of any real football fan. Romo is on my team. So is Carson Palmer. So is the Broncos defense. I actually benched Romo for Palmer, for a second, and then started the Broncos D. But I looked at my line-up and thought, "There is no way, I'm rooting against my Cowboys. Not even a little bit." So I promptly benched Palmer, and the Broncos D for the Vikings.

The bad aspect of fantasy is that it can turn you into a mercenary fan. I'm not doing that. Indeed, I'm doubling down. When the Cowboys go down, it ruins my week. It used to be so bad, when they lost, that I didn't even read the paper--not the sports page, the entire paper. When they're up, it makes my week. It used to be so bad that when the Cowboys won a big game, I'd go online and read the opposing teams paper--all week. Nothing like hearing the cries and lamentations of your hated opponents women and children. Or their sports-writers.

Anyway, I'm all in. I'm not going to be a "fantasy fan." I've got a lot of players hurt up this week (Mike Bell has been a stud for me.) If Romo sucks this week, I probably do too.

Now that that's said, let's get on with our beautiful Sunday ritual.




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