Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox

Bill Simmons

Random House Publishing Group, Mar 24, 2009 - Sports & Recreation - 468 pages

ESPN's beloved Sports Guy replays the years leading up to the Boston Red Sox historic championship season and says goodbye to a lifetime of suffering. At least for now."The Red Sox won the World Series." To Citizen No. 1 of Red Sox Nation, those seven words meant "No more 1918 chants. No more smug glances from Yankee fans. No more worrying about living an entire life -- that's 80 years, followed by death without seeing the Red Sox win a Series." 
But once he was able to type those life-changing words, Bill Simmons decided to look back at his Sports Guy columns for the last five years to find out how the miracle came to pass. And that's where the trouble began. Why didnt he see it coming? Why didn't it happen sooner? What was the key deal, the lucky move, the funny bounce, the sign from above that he failed to spot? Pretty soon, The Sports Guy was second-guessing himself, rewriting history, sniping at his own past predictions, pounding the table -- that's what sports guys do, right And doing so, he let himself get sidetracked by the suffering of the Boston Bruins, frustrated by the false promise of the Celtics -- and driven into a state of ecstasy by the dynastic New England Patriots. 
The result is Now I Can Die in Peace, a hilarious and fresh new look at some of the best sportswriting in America, with sharp critical commentary (and fresh insights) from the guy who wrote it in the first place.

Contents

• REJUVENATION October 1998December 2000: 20
• Duquettes Big Move: 23
• Why Nomah Is a Keepah: 29
• Putting on a Happy Face: 33
• See Ya Fenway: 39
• The Lost Weekend: 43
• Pedro Saves the: 53
• Escape From New York: 57
• The Buzz: 63
• Foul Ball: 67
• Pedro and the Pantheon: 71
• Come Feel the Guapo: 77
• The Other Shoe: 81
• Date With Destiny: 85
• Wrestling With Shadows: 91
• The Red Sox Are for Sale: 97
• Here Comes Manny: 103
• The Manny Signing: 109
• March 2001December 2003: 116
• Curse Words: 119
• The Other Side of Nomar: 125
• The Nomar Redemption: 131
• Cleaning: 137
• Is Roger the AntiChrist?: 143
• Enjoy the Game: 151
• Do I Have Anything Left?: 157
• That Game: 163
• Silence of the Rams: 171
• End of an: 179
• Blood Feud: 183
• They Dont Have It This Year: 187
• Here Comes Your 19th Nervous Breakdown: 193
• Paradise Lost Again: 201
• Funeral for a Friend: 207
• A Long December: 215
• February 2004October 2004: 222
• Chasing ARod: 225
• The Electric Fence: 229
• Pins and Needles: 237
• Panic Button: 243
• The Great Divorce: 247
• Thrill of the Chase: 251
• Stiletto: 257
• Down Goes Schilling: 265
• Alternate Ending: 269
• Power of the Poop: 275
• First Blood: 283
• Daddy Déjà: 291
• THE GREAT ESCAPE October 2004April 2005: 298
• Seat Change: 301
• The Surreal Life: 305
• Losing Baggage in the Bronx: 311
• Dream: 315
• Hey Why Not: 321
• The Brink of the Group: 325
• Destiny: 333
• Zihuatanejo: 343

About the author

Bill Simmons is the CEO of The Ringer and the New York Times bestselling author of Now I Can Die in Peace and The Book of Basketball.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox
• Author: Bill Simmons
• Edition: revised
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2009
• ISBN: 1933060727, 9781933060729
• Length: 468 pages
• Subjects: Humor / Topic / Sports; Sports & Recreation / Baseball / Essays & Writings; Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History