Tailgate to Heaven: A British NFL Fan Tackles America

Description

Despite a global recession, Englishman Adam Goldstein felt 2008 was the perfect time to invest in his lifelong passion. So he sold his apartment and left his job and girlfriend in London for American football. Goldstein's goal was to achieve what no other fan of American football has accomplished: to attend one live National Football League (NFL) game at every NFL stadium during the regular season, plus those played in London and Canada. He traveled more than sixty-five thousand miles to watch forty football games in eighteen weeks and to experience and understand the phenomenal appeal of that classic American pastime, the tailgate party. He drove from stadium to stadium, tailgate to tailgate, sometimes eight hundred miles a day, digesting everything that American football could serve up. He met players and extreme fans alike and was party to surreal pregame rituals while absorbing the rich cultural differences of each part of the country. During his football odyssey - a grueling yet rewarding quest - he compared sports traditions and fandom in the United Kingdom and the United States. Tailgate to Heaven is a humorous, moving, and inspiring story about how nothing closes a culture gap like love of a sport - and the camaraderie that comes with it.

ADAM GOLDSTEIN is a drama, photography, and playwriting tutor based in London. A Chicago Bears fan since he was five years old, Adam has played kit football and flag football in the United Kingdom. Adam writes a regular column on American football for www.sport.co.uk, which receives 1.5 million unique visitors per month, and has a blog on www.nfluk.com, the U.K. subsidiary of www.nfl.com, with over 200,000 members. He has contributed to Tailgater Monthly magazine, where he was the photographer for the magazine's special Super Bowl edition.

-It's no wonder Americans took to Adam as he went on his journey: like the settlers who travelled west across the United States, he is a pioneer. Tailgate to Heaven is not just an enthralling paean to the NFL, its fans, and its delicious BBQ food--it's an inspirational tale of what one man with a dream or a goal can accomplish. Adam Goldstein, we salute you.---Ben Isaacs, ShortList magazine--Ben Isaacs