History Creator / JonBois

More recently, with the introduction of a [[https://www.patreon.com/SecretBase Secret Base Patreon]] allowing him to do more interest pieces of his own, Jon created a 3 part documentary on The Reform Party.

-->'''Jon Bois''': ''We have studied this Atlanta Falcon.'' Every last feather, every loss that populates it, every occasional win that accents its jagged, hideous form. There are some teams that God loves -- even the Vikings, as complicated and uncertain as that love can sometimes be. There are other teams that God as simply forgotten. The Falcons are the team that God ''regrets''. As far ahead as 2022, they will never win a Super Bowl, but they will lose the most catastrophic Super Bowl of all time, a single loss that will bring more agony than 50 conventional, one-sided Super Bowl losses combined. The Atlanta Falcons offer jokes. Cruel jokes. This is ''all'' they are ever good for.
-->(cut to footage of the broadcast, where Gary Anderson misses his field goal... [[KickTheDog and the stadium's cannon operator, mistakenly assuming he hadn't, fires the cannon to signify a goal]])

* AntiNihilist: A lot of his work carries this viewpoint, often singling out sports and entertainment derived from it as an ultimate example of it.
--> It doesn't matter. Not mattering can be a lot of fun.

*** Jon's use of simplified statistics for Bonds' career rates for called balls and swings would be more accurate if broken out by pitcher in the 2004 season rather than using a career rate, given several factors [[note]] Namely that the pitching of the league itself changed substantially over Bonds' career (while the "Steroid Era" is best remembered for the power hitting, many pitchers were also juicing) as well as the difference in talent between teams and within a team's bullpen. The high numbers of intentional walks he received would also inflate his % of balls seen substantially compared to other power hitters of his era. In short, while the simplified statistics are certainly the easiest numbers to use, they introduce a lot of sources of error to the simulation. [[/note]].

* CloudCuckoolander: His Twitter account, and some of his written content. He takes personal delight in odd things.

** {{Invoked}} in the Lonnie Smith episode, when Bois recounts Smith's stunning comeback 1989 season. After five seasons in which Smith's best performance[[note]]as measured by "wins above replacement", a common measure of a player's value widely used by statheads[[/note]] wasn't even starter-level, he had a season that was better than the best seasons of Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Frank Thomas, and very close to the best of another HOF player, the legendary Joe [=DiMaggio=].[[note]]Not to mention that if Smith had played all 162 games instead of the 134 he actually played in 1989, ''and'' kept the same production pace, he would have had the best season of any batter ''in the entire 1980s''.[[/note]]

** The ''Pretty Good'' on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7w_v9J7iOc Larry Walters]] marvels at how Larry did an incredibly reckless thing based on a childhood dream and clearly had the support of people on the ground who cared deeply about him, and the work of others who were able to make sure he got out of it safely. [[spoiler: It ends talking about how he took his own life some 10 years later for unknown reasons.]]

-->'''Jon Bois''': January 6th, 1990, is the day the Minnesota Vikings fall from the ranks of NFL royalty. This is how we know they have. If you ''are'' NFL royalty, you achieve greatness across multiple generations. Someone sees their greatness, and down the road, their child sees that same greatness. There are children in purple jerseys watching this afternoon whose parents saw Joe Kapp, and Alan Page, and Fran Tarkenton. They are watching an institution that no longer knows what it is, that ''reeks'' of insecurity. But their conquerors know. There are two conquerors who will dominate the decade to come: the Dallas Cowboys, who have now antagonized them twice. Once by using them as a prop as they orchestrated arguably the most storied play in NFL history[[note]]The first Hail Mary pass, a desperation heave from Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson in the 1975 NFC Divisional Playoff that won the game for Dallas and knocked the 12-2 Vikings out of the playoffs[[/note]], and now, by getting one over on them in what is widely regarded as the greatest fleecing in NFL history[[note]]The Herschel Walker trade, in which the Vikings gave countless draft picks and some players to the Cowboys in exchange for Walker. Dallas would use those picks and shrewd trades to build their 1990s dynasty.[[/note]]. And the San Francisco 49ers, who, for the second straight year, have [[CurbStompBattle beaten them silly on the field]] en route to their fourth Lombardi trophy. Both these conquerors have sent the Minnesota Vikings a message, one they will reinforce in the coming years. An unholy incantation that shatters the heart of every American, one more devastating than "We hate you," or "We will destroy you." It simply says: [[TitleDrop "You don't belong here."]]

* ForcedMeme: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] twice in the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings series:

--->'''Jon''': ''This joke is trying so, so hard. I'm exhausted.''

-->'''Jon''': Who wins the coin flip? Who do you think? Who the ''hell'' do you think? Look at Matt Ryan - he won't even ''look'' at it. I think he knew. I think this is when we ''all'' knew.

-->'''Jon Bois''': [The first game], he was strong enough to laugh off. This is too much. It's ''far'' too much. Slap some postage on this thing and ship it to hell. It has happened to him twice.
* HarmfulToMinors: Parodied as part of the buildup to Vikings coach Jerry Burns' [[https://youtu.be/SNcBFZ26lcI legendary 1989 press conference]]:
-->'''Jon Bois''': At this point I'd like to recommend that if you have small children in the room, make sure they pay very close attention to [[ClusterFBomb what we're about to hear]]. They're gonna learn some new words, it's gonna be great.

** In ''Chart Party:'' "The Search for the Saddest Punt in the World", Jon goes over an ineligible entry where a 4th down play deep in enemy territory embarrassingly ends with a desperate pooch punt. Jon doesn't have a clip, and surmises that the [=NFL=] drove the footage of the play to the desert and buried it.

--->There are more episodes of Chart Party on Youtube. If you're interested you can go search for them or whatever. I mean, you're a smart person, you don't need me to explain the internet to you.

-->'''Jon Bois''': Two years ago, while telling the story of the Atlanta Falcons, we inevitable encountered the Minnesota Vikings. We could've gone ''on and on and on'' about 'em, [[{{Foreshadowing}} and we really wanted to,]] but instead I said "But that's a story for another time." ...this is that time.

-->'''Alex''': ...are we gonna talk about the actual ballgame? Personally, either way is cool with me...
-->'''Jon''': [-Wait, the wha--] '''OH, SHIT,''' yes, also, uh, there was a football game...

-->'''Jon Bois''': Unwilling to run, unwilling to throw it away, the 2009 calculating, mistake-averse Brett Favre ''disappears'', and the ol’ gunslinger, the wheeler and dealer himself, chooses this instance to re-emerge from a season of dormancy. The Vikings bought the ticket; now, in the worst circumstances imaginable, they ride the ride. Favre does what every high school quarterback is coached ''not'' to do: he throws across the field. Rolling right and throwing left means his field of visibility is compromised, so while he sees his man Sidney Rice, he does not account for Tracy Porter lurking in the periphery, jumping out in front of Rice and ''easily'' locking in on the interception. A very good chance to punch a ticket to the Super Bowl has been needlessly thrown in the garbage. At this point in history, Brett Favre has attempted more passes than any other quarterback in NFL history by a ''gigantic'' margin. He has more experience than anyone ever has. Given the stakes and given that it came off the right arm of a man who, more than anyone else alive or dead, should’ve known better, this is the worst mistake I have ''ever'' seen a quarterback make.

* AnAesop:
** ''The Bob Emergency'': Our stories are full of wonder. No matter how you study our history, [[HumansAreSpecial you will always, always find it.]]
** The ''Dorktown'' Seattle Mariners retrospective: Success is not always relevant to enjoying a good sports story.
** The Vikings retrospective: no matter how "certain" things seem in a sport, there's always a chance for flukes of fate to change the story.

'''Jon Bois:''' ...we have [[TheAce Mahomes]] now on the Chiefs. So, nevermind. Sorry, suckers. [[note]]This video, produced after Mahomes' first season as a starter, turned out to be entirely accurate; since the video premiered, the Chiefs have won the division every year and won three Super Bowls, with Mahomes becoming regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Philip Rivers retired after the 2020 season.[[/note]]

'''Jon Bois:''' ...we have [[TheAce Mahomes]] now on the Chiefs. So, nevermind. Sorry, suckers. [[note]]This video, produced after Mahomes' first season as a starter turned out to be entirely accurate; since the video premiered, the Chiefs have won the division every year, Mahomes has won an additional MVP, as well as two Super Bowl [=MVPs=], and is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Philip Rivers retired after the 2020 season.[[/note]]

'''Jon Bois:''' ...we have [[TheAce Mahomes]] now on the Chiefs. So, nevermind. Sorry, suckers. [[note]]This video, produced after Mahomes' first season as a starter turned out to be entirely accurate; since the video premiered, the Chiefs have won the division every year, Mahomes has won an additional MVP, as well as two Super Bowl MVPs, and is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Philip Rivers retired after the 2020 season.[[/note]]

Though he first made his name as one of the writers on the Progressive Boink website[[note]]unfortunately, much of it has been lost to time[[/note]], Bois started his ascent into one of [=SBNation=]'s most prominent creators with ''[[https://www.sbnation.com/2013/7/25/4556202/supperjumpin-inventing-the-worst-saddest-sport-in-the-history-of-the SupperJumpin']]'', an attempt to make the saddest professional sport in the world. He also did some retrospective writing on his previous job working for the Radioshack Company to discuss why it deserved its ultimate fate. He then turned to the world of video games with ''[[https://www.sbnation.com/nba-y2k NBA Y2K]]'' and ''[[https://www.sbnation.com/breaking-madden Breaking Madden]]'', where he bent the world of the ''VideoGame/NBA2K'' and ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' games in all sorts of different ways, creating several fan-favorite characters (such as the [[BigFun rotund but sweet Clarence BEEFTANK]]) and memes throughout.

After a brief hiatus, Jon released a 5-part documentary with [[Podcast/ChapoTrapHouse Felix Biederman]] called ''WebVideo/FightingInTheAgeOfLoneliness'' about the history of MMA. His most recent projects for SB Nation include three comprehensive multi-part history series with fellow video producer Alex Rubenstein about hardscrabble major league sports franchises: 2020's ''The History of the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Seattle Mariners]]'', 2021's ''The History of the Atlanta Falcons'', and 2023's ''The History of the Minnesota Vikings''.

Then, he made one of his most impressive works of fiction and surrealism to date: ''Literature/TheTimTebowCFLChronicles'', detailing ex-NFL player Tim Tebow's trek through the Canadian Football League.

** ''What if Barry Bonds played baseball without a bat?'' has Jon outright say he must have done something wrong (Bonds' on base percentage was essentially unchanged in the simulation, making it still the best in MLB history), and practically begs the audience to tell him how he messed up. Naturally, there are a few errors or places to improve:

--->'''Jon''': Who wins the coin flip? Who do you think? Who the ''hell'' do you think? Look at Matt Ryan - he won't even ''look'' at it. I think he knew. I think this is when we ''all'' knew.

After a brief hiatus, Jon released a 5-part documentary with [[Podcast/ChapoTrapHouse Felix Biederman]] called ''WebVideo/FightingInTheAgeOfLoneliness'' about the history of MMA. His most recent projects for SB Nation include three comprehensive multi-part history series with fellow video producer Alex Rubenstein about hardscrabble major league sports franchises: 2020's ''The History of the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Seattle Mariners]]'', 2021's ''The History of the Atlanta Falcons'', and 2023's ''The History of the Minnesota Vikings''.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Variation: By the end of ''History of the Atlanta Falcons'', Jon comes to the conclusion, given how badly they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in Super Bowl LI, that the Atlanta Falcons were in reality a TricksterGod. This characterization is brought back in full force during the fourth part of ''History of the Minnesota Vikings'', when the game the two teams had prior to Super Bowl XXXIII is re-examined, and the infamous missed field goal that wound up spelling doom for the Vikings is revisited:

** This inevitably comes full circle when the Minnesota Vikings' series reached ''its'' fourth episode, where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGoZiKz6aqQ&t=1h5m29s once again]] we have Jon and Alex doing a deep dive on that game, [[PerspectiveFlip but on the Vikings' perspective]].