Volume 3, Issue 97: Should’ve Been in Love

"Your mind's been racing, your heart's been chasing."

Here is a button where you can subscribe to this newsletter now, if you have not previously done so. I do hope that you enjoy it. Happy New Year, everyone. Do not feel bad if you did not make it to midnight, there’s no need to be a hero.

On April 6 of this year, I went to a baseball game. It was at LoanDepot Park in Miami, where the Marlins were hosting my beloved St. Louis Cardinals. I was two weeks out from my first Moderna shot, and my parents had been fully vaccinated for two months. My children were no longer in virtual school, thank god; I had a book coming out in a month; my second shot was scheduled one week away. The world felt like it was turning. It felt like we were on our way out.

I’d been to two baseball games in 2020, but they were in the antiseptic, distanced, dystopian press box; all I remember from both was the drone of air conditioners. This was different. I sat in the stands, with my son William, with a scorebook, and a beer, and fans sitting a safe distance away but still within shouting distance: They had their kids and their scorebooks and their beers with them as well. When the Cardinals took a 3-2 lead in the sixth, my son and I screamed and cheered, and then he ran over to some other Cardinals fans and high-fived them. Dylan Carlson launched a ninth-inning homer deep into the Miami night, and we roared. I remember everything about the game being so vivid. The grass was greener, the lights shone brighter, the ball hit the mitt with an unusually crackling pop. I had spent most of the last year inside dreaming of being back here, drinking a beer at a ballgame with my son, going to concerts, seeing old friends, feeling like the world could be normal again. I soaked it all in. I would take none of it for granted. This is what we’d waited for. This is what we had suffered so long to get to. This is what 2021 could be—would be. This was my V-J Day. It was all up from here. We’d made it.

It did, alas, not turn out that way. That’s the story of 2021 to me. The promise of renewal, even absolution, ultimately squandered, with many of us feeling like the year ended back in the same place we were when we started. But for all the frustrations and disappointments of 2021, there was still much joy to be had. We did get to go to ball games, we did go to rock shows, we did get to see those people we care so much about who had been lost for so long. The miracle of vaccines has allowed us to be in such a better place than we were one year ago. It didn’t turn out to be the glorious, euphoric year I’d dreamed of us having; we were, alas, not just snapped perfect. But we made progress. I really do believe that.

And I’ll never forget that game.

As always, the last newsletter of the year is a clip show, when we look back at the year through the eyes of this newsletter. If you only started subscribing to this newsletter in the last year—and there are thousands of you that have—you might have missed some of the best stuff we made around these parts in 2021. So here’s a month-by-month look back at the highlights and lowlights.

This newsletter is going to be very long, by the way, perhaps so long that it’s cut off in your email. (That’s what Substack appears to be warning me about, anyway.) So, as always, you can find this and all of these newsletters right here.

JANUARY

Newsletters:

• On visiting former Illinois Sen. Paul Simon on the floor of the Senate, a sacred place.

• On my son Wynn’s obsession with Calvin and Hobbes.

• On my parents getting their first vaccine shots.

• On life not being a waiting game until “normal” returns.

Publications:

• On Rep. Mary Miller, Mattoon’s House member, and the insurrectionists among us, for Medium.

• On the glorious Georgia runoff breakthrough, for Medium.

• I interviewed Chuck D for MLB.com.

• Getting to hate Tom Brady again, for GQ.

FEBRUARY

Newsletters:

• On ignoring the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world.

• On “Indian Burns” and your children understanding the world they live in.

• On remembering the week the pandemic hit, and feeling good about the future.

• On being more hopeful about 2021 than I probably should have been.

Publications:

• I wrote about the Cardinals trading for Nolan Arenado (woo!) for MLB.com.

• I interviewed Immanuel Quickley for GQ.

• On the streaker at the Super Bowl for New York.

• On the cruel, familiar letter Adam Kinzinger received from his family, for Medium.

• We ranked Jodie Foster movies for Vulture.

• The case for Tony LaRussa, for MLB.com.

MARCH

Newsletters:

• On having a day, one day, where you don’t have to think about anything.

• On the glory of seeing fans (including my dad) at the Big Ten Tournament.

• On the joy of gathering.

• On the Amish, and the scared.

Publications:

• I wrote a long feature on More Than A Vote and athlete activism for New York.

• Remember when we were shaming people for getting vaccines early? (For Medium).

• On how bad you all are at remote work, for Medium.

This was also the month I got my first vaccine shot, and also the month of this:

Stephen King @StephenKing

I'm reading a fantastic novel by Will Leitch called HOW LUCKY. Publishes in May, I think. It's suspenseful and often wildly funny. You are going to like this a lot, and I think a lot of you are going to like it. It has that WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING vibe.

APRIL

Newsletters:

• On coaching Little League again

• On the process of creating the book that was a month away from coming out. I also interviewed Graham Halstead, the brilliant and talented guy who did my audiobook.

• On being weirdly nostalgic for the first two months of the pandemic.

• On being two weeks out from your second shot.

Publications:

• On how MLB had not suddenly gone woke, for New York.

• On how Darnella Frazier changed the world, for Medium.

• On SCOTUS crunching the NCAA, for New York.

MAY

Newsletters:

• On the Bissinger incident, 13 years later.

• On book release parties, past and present.

• On not getting too worked up about frivolous thing anymore.

• On the difference between writing fiction and non-fiction.

• On the weird transition back.

Publications:

• I wrote about the return of tailgating for The Washington Post.

• I wrote about Albert Pujols for the 400th time for MLB.com.

• I defended the indefensible extra innings rule for MLB.com.

• We ranked Zack Snyder movies for Vulture.

JUNE

Newsletters:

• On growing up Cardinal.

• On writing being as close to heaven as I can get.

• On your kids getting old enough to ignore you.

• On how we’ve already changed forever during the pandemic.

Publications:

• Trying to have a good faith conversation about Naomi Osaka, for New York.

• I wrote about the Knicks for The New York Times.

• On Jon Rahm, walking vaccine PSA, for New York.

• Trae Young, supervillain, for GQ.

• Ten lessons from 10 Father’s Days, for Medium.

• I filled in for Peter King on his “Football Morning in America” column on NBC Sports.

JULY

Newsletters:

• On “Pros Vs. Joes”

• On movies being the history of our lives.

• On Murray Lender and Bagelfest.

• On the time my son Wynn ran away.

Publications:

• The impossibility of Shohei Ohtani, for New York.

• Get the kids back to school, for Medium.

• Tucker Carlson can eat it, for Medium.

• Simone Biles rules, for New York.

AUGUST

Newsletters:

• On “Must Be Nice.”

• On Jock Jams.

• On being suspicious of anyone who is too certain of themselves.

• On the Daily Illini, and being back home.

Publications:

• The best player at every age, for MLB.com.

• Stop sneering at the unvaccinated sick, for Medium.

• Yadier Molina, as told by backup catchers, for MLB.com.

SEPTEMBER

Newsletters:

• On The Sword.

• On 20 years since September 11.

• On weed.

• On kids growing up so fast that it’s downright terrifying.

Publications:

• Praising Roger Goodell through gritted teeth, for New York.

• The MLB Championship Belt holders over the last 50 years, for MLB.com.

• Why sports gambling is a disaster waiting to happen, for The Atlantic.

OCTOBER

Newsletters:

• On being as old as Tony Soprano.

• On the Guns N’Roses pinball machine.

• On chicken pox.

• On the return of Illinois basketball.

• On people purposely misunderstanding everything.

Publications:

• On Kyrie Irving, vaccine denialist, for New York.

• Don’t play in New York City, for New York.

• Beto O’Rourke, Gen-X’s last chance, for Medium.

NOVEMBER

Newsletters:

• On watching “Geraldo” with my dad.

• On the importance of knowing how to type.

• On the most formative decade.

• On DC Talk, and growing up Christian.

Publications:

• Why World Series complaints are wrong, for New York.

• The USMNT and the fall of hipster patriotism, for The Atlantic.

• Aaron Rodgers sucks, for New York.

• Stop being scared of young people, for Medium.

• Also, “The Long Game With LZ and Leitch” launched!

DECEMBER

Newsletters:

• On trying so hard to hang onto friends.

• On “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

• On being a Nervous Butler.

• On the Top 10 Films of 2021.

Publications:

• Just go out to eat on Thanksgiving, for Medium.

• School shootings finally have villainous parents, for Medium.

• Everybody loves Stephen Curry, for New York.

• On learning to live with Covid, for New York.

• On Jared Schmeck, bad dad, for Medium.

Honestly: This newsletter is my favorite thing I get to do, and I have you to thank for it. So thank you. You got me through this year. You get me through every year.

Here is a numerical breakdown of all the things I wrote this week, in order of what I believe to be their quality.

1. Above All Else, Jared Schmeck Was a Bad Dad, Medium. The real victims in the Christmas Eve “Let’s Go Brandon!” debacle.

2. The Top Ten Sports Stories of 2021, New York. Man I hope Covid isn’t the top story next year.

3. Leonardo DiCaprio Movies, Ranked and Updated, Vulture. With Don’t Look Up.

4. Player of the Week History: Chan Ho Park Was More Than One Bad Inning, MLB.com. This is a new series to, you know, keep me busy. I wrote these over three weeks but just now realized they were getting posted! So there are three this week!

5. Jennifer Lawrence Movies, Ranked and Updated, Vulture. Also with Don’t Look Up.

6. Player of the Week History: Bob Hamelin, Matinee Idol, MLB.com. The weirdest flash in the pan imaginable.

7. The CDC Is Allowing America to Move Forward, Medium. We have to do it sometime.

8. Player of the Week: Bud Smith’s No-Hitter on the Edge of History, MLB.com. The last big moment I remember before September 11.

9. MLB People We Lost in 2021, MLB.com. Always a sad one to write.

10. Your Friday Five, Medium. Special NYE edition.

PODCASTS

The Long Game With LZ and Leitch, wrapping up 2021 with a big year-end show.

Waitin' Since Last Saturday, we previewed the Georgia-Michigan CFP game. (Which turned out well!)

Grierson & Leitch, no show this week, but you need to listen to Dorkfest if you haven’t yet.

LONG STORY YOU SHOULD READ THIS MORNING … OF THE WEEK

“The Political Life of Dr. Oz,” Olivia Nuzzi, New York. Every Olivia Nuzzi piece is a must-read, and this one is a doozy. What a year she had.

ONGOING LETTER-WRITING PROJECT!

This is your reminder that if you write me a letter and put it in the mail, I will respond to it with a letter of my own, and send that letter right to you! It really happens! Hundreds of satisfied customers!

Write me at:

Will Leitch
P.O. Box 48
Athens GA 30603

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

“Bodysnatchers,” Radiohead. Santa brought my older son a personal MP3/Spotify player for Christmas, and he has been listening to it constantly. He’s really, really into hard rock right now—AC/DC, Metallica, and, interestingly, Queen—so I’m trying to steer into that while still making sure he gets his vitamins. This is such a great Radiohead song, their best rocker since The Bends. I know Jonny Greenwood is Mr. Composer now, but it is pretty awesome when he just thrashes his guitar.

Remember to listen to The Official Will Leitch Newsletter Spotify Playlist, featuring every song ever mentioned in this section.

Happy New Year, everyone. DISCUSS THAT SPORTING EVENT.

Best,
Will