“This is a man who really, truly loves sports,” the interviewer writes, explaining how this contributes to the insightful and in-depth writing that Klosterman contributes to the sports and pop culture site Grantland. “At this point in my life,” Klosterman says in the interview, “I’m self-aware to realize that people’s affinities for a specific team, their hometown team…is the need to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. But once you’re aware of that need, how can it still be there?” It is this type of deeper thinking that makes his work so fascinating, as he transcends the obvious, surface-level analysis to argue that sports is about more than just athletes playing a game—it's about the emotions and storylines that connect with passion fans everywhere. “He is a man blessed with a talent for using the extraordinarily commonplace and mundane…as a springboard to write about something that arouses curiosity on a much deeper level,” the interviewer writes. He is also an “interesting” person, the article continues, but interesting in the sense of being adept at “arousing curiosity.” This particular skill is something that he has honed in both his writing, and his entertaining and provocative keynotes.
Finally, the interview describes Klosterman as “being in accordance with reason.” His ability to apply the “tools of reason” to any argument or theory makes him ideal at providing ethical guidance to NYT Magazine readers. With a new book, I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined), forthcoming next year, it seems like Klosterman has no plans of slowing down any time soon.