Mina Kimes: "The most important factor in the Super Bowl is the Chiefs ability to mitigate pressure"
(Este texto corresponde a la sección de Entrevistas, que, como su propio nombre indica, contiene entrevistas; en este caso, a Mina Kimes, analista de la NFL en ESPN)
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(Esta es la entrevista en inglés, por si alguien, en vez de traducida, prefiere leerla en su versión original)
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Wolcott Field: I would like to start by asking you about your childhood, since when we lived in Chicago, my wife worked with many children of soldiers and officers of the US Navy and we were very impressed when we learned about their stories, with parents posted abroad for a long time without seeing each other or having to continually change cities because their parents were reassigned to other places even in the middle of a school year or with similar situations. Your father was a captain in the Air Force and your family was one of those families that had to continually change cities throughout the United States. What is it like to have a childhood like this? How did it make you the person you are now?
Mina Kimes: Growing up, I was fortunate to have my dad around -we lived on Air Force bases (I was born at Offutt AFB in Nebraska), and were never separated from him for very long. We did move around quite frequently, though, which meant my brother and I had to make new friends and start over at new schools very few years or so. As a result, he and I are quite close -and I'm accustomed to interacting with strangers and adapting to new situations, which I think has helped me in my career.
Wolcott Field: Precisely, many years ago in the articles you wrote on your Tumblr one could see the influence that your father had on you in your way of understanding football. You watched the games with him and, as you wrote in Papas, Don't Let Your Babies Become Niners Fans, your dad was “less impressed by the flashy runs and diving catches than he is by players who fight for every last inch-those scrappy warriors who lunge across the first down line even as their ankles are dragged backwards”. Now that the years have passed, do you see football like that too? Do you see football the way “What-An-Effort” your father saw it?
Mina Kimes: In some ways, yes -while I love dazzling aerial attacks and modern offense, I still really enjoy the sight of running backs breaking tackles, or linemen making incredible hustle plays. But I also believe the game has evolved in a way that makes it paramount to focus on both executing and stopping the pass.
Foto: Instagram Mina Kimes
Wolcott Field: By the way, we have to talk about the Seahawks, since also under your father’s influence, Seattle is your “only geographic alliance”. What is it like being a Seahawks supporter without ever been living in Seattle?
Mina Kimes: It's a unique experience, because I'm not accustomed to being surrounded by fans who root for the same team as me -I've had to seek out like-minded people, both in the cities where I've lived and online. Before I became a sportswriter, I really enjoyed connecting with other Seahawks fans on Twitter for that reason.
Wolcott Field: I know you can solve the most complicated New York Times crosswords in less than nine minutes, so you have to solve this one in just one second: six letters, across, in your own words, “A quarterback who every thought was too short to play in the NFL” but “against all odds, he turned out to be the answer”. Is he really the answer? And why has he really turned out to be the answer? (Do you know who is behind or is this a difficult crossword?)
Mina Kimes: I definitely think Russell Wilson was the answer for Seattle! While the 2020 season ended in disappointment for the team, he's still one of the best quarterbacks in the league -and the success he's produced for the franchise makes him one of the best picks of all time, from a value perspective.
Foto: Instagram Mina Kimes
Wolcott Field: I would like to continue talking about quarterbacks with another piece of yours, this time about Aaron Rodgers. It is the following one: “But when the Packers’ bus left Cowboys Stadium on that chilly night six years ago, he didn’t feel like he had risen to a higher plane. Rather, he realized he was still looking for something – for a sense of clarity, or purpose – that was beyond his current line of sight. “It’s natural to question some of the things that society defines as success,” he says. “When you achieve that and there’s not this rung – you know, another rung to climb up in this ladder – it’s natural to be like, ‘OK, now what?”. The same thing happens to me as what Rodgers told you in that article when I watch Mahomes games: I see what he does on the field and I think “Ok, and now what?”. How would you define the arrival of Mahomes to the NFL? Is he the last rung to climb up in the ladder of the best players of the history of the NFL?
Mina Kimes: That's a great question, because the reality is: if Patrick Mahomes wins just two Super Bowls, he's already a Hall of Famer. He's already the most talented quarterback I've ever seen -but in order to surpass Tom Brady as the most accomplished one, he'll have to win a few more rings.
Wolcott Field: Until high school, you played soccer. You often say that you were intense and competitive, but that you liked watching sports more than playing them. Later on, you graduated from the prestigious Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and began an award-winning seven-year career as a business investigative journalist in Bloomberg and Fortune until ESPN signed you as a senior writer in 2014. What do you think that Mina Kimes who did not work in anything related to football would say to this Mina Kimes who is one of the most claimed football analysts today?
Mina Kimes: Are we really the same person?
Foto: Foto: Instagram Mina Kimes
Wolcott Field: Speaking of your analysis, I think they are so popular among football fans because they are intelligent, honest and perfectly represent the joy and passion that they themselves can feel for football (and, above all, because you exude love for football in every one of those analysis). People are subjective with their teams. Also, sport is supposed to be fun and you have shown something very important, which is knowing how to laugh at yourself. In addition, you also have a clear capability to understand the game, also the advanced statistical analysis. Do you consider yourself to be, along with other colleagues like Dan Orlovsky, the new face of analysis in the world of football? How much influence is there of, for example, Dan Le Batard in the way you approach your way of commenting on football?
Mina Kimes: That's very kind of you to say! I think NFL analysis has evolved in recent years to accommodate more voices and points of view -including not just diversity of identity, but also approach. Dan Orlovsky is a great example of someone who viewers have embraced because of his nerdy passion for the game, which isn't entirely unprecedented, but is something I think we're seeing more and more in the mainstream football media.
Dan LeBatard's greatest impact on my work output was the confidence he instilled in me to be myself -and to trust that listeners and viewers are open to new ideas.
Wolcott Field: When people talk about you, they say that you watch a lot of sport, that you read a lot about sport, that you think a lot about sport, that you talk a lot about sport. You have described yourself as NFL psychotic and have written on some occasion about your obsession with football: “It didn’t take long for Sundays to bleed into the rest of the week. The more I watched, the more I wanted to know. My interest spiralled into obsession. I started reading basic news reports, then blogs, then forums, then x’s and o’s analysis. I learned to spot penalties before they were called, and to differentiate between various kinds of defensive coverage. I listened to podcasts in the subway. I watched old games for fun”. Likewise, I have also read about your strong work ethic (I read that the first time you were on the radio, you prepared 70 note sheets!) and your obsession with being perfect, with not making mistakes. It is evident that all this is in some way linked to the personality that you have but, more generally, I think this is something that football also causes. It becomes an obsession; I know a lot of people who are obsessed with football. Why do you think football has this addictive power?
Mina Kimes: I think it marries competition and drama -two entertainment formats that people love- with a level of detail that ensures it will never be boring. There's always more to learn, more to watch, and new players and storylines who are changing the game. It's the world's greatest television show for that reason.
Foto: Instagram Mina Kimes
Wolcott Field: There is an anecdote about the beginning of The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, your podcast on ESPN about football, that I find devastating: when it started you decided that Lenny, your dog, would co-host the podcast (plus, Lenny also asks a question on every show) because you were afraid that people wouldn’t subscribe to a football show hosted only by one woman. In fact, there are still very few women commenting on or hosting football shows. Why do you think that happens? Have you had to face many macho situations for presenting a podcast or for your comments about football?
Mina Kimes: I think the reasons are complicated, but mostly stem from the fact that young women aren't encouraged -or inspired- to enter the space at a pretty young age. Many women are also deterred by the culture, or the backlash they encounter, in ways both big and small. I do believe that's changing, but it does feel like progress is slow.
Wolcott Field: I have also “A Lenny for your thoughts”. In other words, this is a question for Lenny: is it true that when Sunday comes and there is football, the face you put on knowing that Mina Kimes is going to be watching two games at the same time, is going to become antisocial and is going to ignore you for hours is the same one she puts on when she found out that Ohtani was going to play for the Angels and not the Mariners?
Mina Kimes: I feel so bad for Lenny when I'm watching football -he probably feels neglected and bored!
Wolcott Field: To end, what do you think are going to be the keys to this Super Bowl? What kind of match are you looking forward to? What should the Kansas City Chiefs do to win? And what should the Tampa Bay Buccaneers do to win?
Mina Kimes: I think the Chiefs ability to mitigate pressure, despite the fact that their offensive line consists mainly of backups, is probably the most important factor in the game. In order to win, they need to manufacture a passing game in spite of that, and hassle Brady with timely blitzes, much like they did in Week 12. Conversely, the Bucs need to come into the game with a better plan to neutralize the blitz, and will need to pressure Mahomes with a standard rush.
Foto: Instagram Mina Kimes
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En este texto he utilizado referencias de ESPN y de Mina Kimes Tumblr.
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Podéis poneros en contacto conmigo a través de los comentarios de este texto y en Twitter (WolcottField), Instagram (wolcottfield13) o correo electrónico (abrahamwolcott@gmail.com).
Suelo escribir siempre con música, así que he decidido que voy a poner alguna de las canciones que ha sonado mientras estaba escribiendo el texto. Como, por ejemplo, ésta: