Mark Yakich is the Gregory F. Curtin, S.J. Distinguished Professor of English at Loyola University New Orleans, USA, where he has been editor of New Orleans Review since 2012. He is the author of the poetry collections Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross (2004), The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine (2008), and Spiritual Exercises (2019); a novel, A Meaning for Wife (2011); and a guide to reading and writing poems Poetry: A Survivor's Guide (Bloomsbury, 2016).

• 1. Introduction to a Slightly New Game2. A Concession3. The Name of the Game4. Popularity, Contests5. Standstill6. How to Make a Football7. Two Games8. 90-Minute Meds9. Geisterspiel10. Pickup11. The Life-Changing Magic of Three-Touch12. Of Nutmegs and Fish up a Tree 13. For the Love of a Pretty Move14. Zone15. A 21st Century Portrait16. Zone Painting 17. Future Stronger in Color18. Reset19. The Best Seats20. Hacking, Diving, Hugging21. Intersectionality22. Live Football in a Pandemic23. Child’s Play24. AssessmentAcknowledgmentsIndex

Football is Mark Yakich's reflection on not only the sport itself, but on his own experiences alongside it, from the ways it is portrayed, its implications, and even its language.