by Eric Rauchway

Academics, like other writers, are not notoriously well-paid. Or cool. Which is why we collect things like Erdös-Bacon numbers, which let us pretend to be cool while actually being super-nerdy. One of these days I'll write up my claim to having a reasonably low Erdös-Bacon number, and vindicate all suspicions that I am irredeemably Not Cool. Until I've thus sealed that case I will admit that being acknowledged in an award-winning sportswriter's book on Tom Brady seems almost actually cool to me. If I were not thus implicated in the book's excellence, I would tell you how really excellent it is. But as it is I'll let you find out for yourself.