{"product_id":"book-fvt2","title":"The Hot Seat","description":"\u003cb\u003eA fan spends the Michigan football team’s 2021 season searching for answers about human nature, American history, and the related subject of whether Jim Harbaugh will keep his job.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Being a University of Michigan football fan should be joyful. Michigan is an elite academic institution whose football team boasts 43 Big Ten championships.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But these days, college football is complicated. The NCAA is corrupt and exploitative, and Michigan keeps losing to Ohio State. It’s hard not to wonder, as \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e writer and superfan Ben Mathis-Lilley does in this book: why are we doing this?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Hot Seat \u003c\/i\u003eis a chronicle of one of the wildest years in Michigan football history, but also a search for the truth about fandom, from the pages of history books to the wilderness of online forums. Is it embarrassing to care about what happens in a game? Why is Jim Harbaugh like that?  Is this somehow Thomas Jefferson’s fault? This book explores all these questions, and many more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Against the backdrop of a quickly changing sport and country, \u003ci\u003eThe Hot Seat \u003c\/i\u003eis an exploration of the all-consuming culture of fandom, and why it matters.","brand":"Hachette Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49348681335088,"sku":"BDfvt2","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/64875-fvt2-Square.jpg?v=1734230584","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-fvt2","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}