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The Thing with Feathers

2019-04-30 · letter vlog · John · 3:43 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Sports · mode: Personal essay · tags: civic or action cta, community lore

Telling how fan-owned AFC Wimbledon, last in English football's third tier for most of the season, fought out of the relegation zone, John argues that humans' best trait is relentlessness, that every reprieve is temporary, and that since you can't know which effort will work you put the effort in every time, a lesson for his writing.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hank as training kit sponsor; the story is about hope; relegation explained

  • ★★ John tells Hank he is the training kit sponsor of AFC Wimbledon, 'America's favorite third-tier English football team'. — 00:00:00 · Hank Green, AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John says the story is not about sports but about whether hope is the correct response to the human condition. — 00:00:00 · hope
  • ★★ At each season's end the four worst teams in English football's third tier are demoted to the fourth tier; those places are the relegation zone. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — AFC Wimbledon's season in the relegation zone and its great-escape run

  • ★★ AFC Wimbledon entered the relegation zone in October, early in the season, stayed there, and was last for most of the season; relegation felt inevitable. — 00:00:29 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★★ Many third-tier clubs have very rich owners, while AFC Wimbledon is owned by its fans, each paying about 30 dollars a year to be an owner. — 00:00:29 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ Some third-tier clubs have annual budgets more than ten times AFC Wimbledon's. — 00:00:58 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ A new manager came in, and in January new players including 21-year-old goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale; Wimbledon then won five of six games and were still last. — 00:00:58 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★★ Wimbledon kept winning, losing only one of the last 11 games; after 189 days in the relegation zone they beat Wycombe 2-1 on Saturday to reach 19th with one game left. — 00:01:26 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ It might still fall apart: Wimbledon must win or tie the last game to stay up, but they have a chance. (hedged) — 00:01:26 · AFC Wimbledon

00:01:55 — Relentlessness, temporary reprieves, and putting in effort that may be futile: what John learned about writing from football

  • ★★ If Wimbledon stay up, it will be one of the greatest great escapes in English football history. — 00:01:55 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★★ John says the players kept playing for each other and their community as if the situation were not hopeless, even when it was. — 00:01:55 · AFC Wimbledon, hope

  • ★★★ John's favorite thing about humans: we are relentless, we don't know when we're licked, and even when we should give up, we don't. — 00:01:55 · hope

    “We are relentless. We don't know when we're licked. Even when we should give up, we don't.”

  • ★★ When Wimbledon scored a last-second goal against league leaders Luton Town a couple of weeks ago, the players ran straight to, and some into, the stands. — 00:02:25 · AFC Wimbledon

  • ★★ It reminded John that in 2013 Jack Midson scored a penalty in the season's last game to keep Wimbledon in the fourth tier, and celebrated by borrowing a fan's hat. — 00:02:25 · AFC Wimbledon

  • ★★★ Every reprieve is only temporary; as Hank Williams sang, you'll never get out of this world alive; the miracle won't last forever, but John doesn't need forever. — 00:02:25

    “you'll never get out of this world alive”

  • ★★★ Lately frustrated that so much effort is for nothing, John says that over the last few years he worked hard on stories he eventually had to abandon, which is painful. — 00:02:54

  • ★★★ Wanting effort to count may be the wrong way to see it: like Ramsdale's ridiculous save on a deflected shot, most scrambles mean nothing, but you can't know which effort will work. (hedged) — 00:02:54

00:03:23 — The AFC Wimbledon scarf, the Bradford game, sign-off

  • ★★★ So you put the effort in every time: that is what John learned about writing from football. — 00:03:23

    “So you put the effort in every time.”

  • ★★ John tells Hank and viewers they can support AFC Wimbledon with the scarf that says DFTBA Nerdfighteria, linked in the doobly-doo. — 00:03:23 · AFC Wimbledon

  • ★★ John asks viewers in or around Bradford this weekend to go to the game and scream their heads off on his behalf; he is very nervous. — 00:03:23 · AFC Wimbledon

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: AFC Wimbledon · hope

Also: People: Aaron Ramsdale · Hank Williams · Jack Midson

Works: AFC Wimbledon scarf

Organizations: EFL League One · Luton Town F.C. · Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Places: Bradford · Milton Keynes

Only in the description or credits: "Hope" is the thing with feathers

Later videos replying to this one

  • 2019-05-03 · What Game of Thrones is Really About (Hank) — continues — “John, in your last video, you talked about how a goalie in soccer has to scramble every time, even though 95% of the time it won't make a difference because the 5% matters.” (00:04:11)