Mark Bowden

Robert Cribb talks to the Prime Minister’s body language advisor.

If Michael Ignatieff is a ninny, he is a strange kind of tyrannical ninny. At least insofar as his critics persist in repeating two points about him: (1) He endorsed the war in Iraq, and (2) He condones torture.

In The Atlantic this month, Mark Bowden delivers a terrific bit of sports writing without even leaving the parking lot at Giants’ Stadium. Bowden, best known for writing Black Hawk Down, introduces us to a CBS production crew working the Cincinnati Bengal-New York Giant clash. The Giant’s Eli Manning led his team to a thrilling comeback victory that Sunday in late September but Bowden’s star is Bob ‘Fish’ Fishman, a “sinewy” 59-year-old director with 11 Emmy Awards and a striking resemblance to Larry David. Bowden perfectly captures the technical complexity and frantic pace involved with bringing the pro game to life for the millions watching at home. Here’s a sample: