It would be a very weird way to play to a crowd, but speaking with ESPN's Bill Simmons on Simmons' podcast [via ThePlaylist], Jason Reitman said that his future projects include a film about football and another film about hockey.  However, his next project will be Labor Day, which confirms what he told Suicide Girls back in December.  He's currently writing the script, based on Joyce Maynard's new novel (as he told USA Today in September).  Here's the Amazon synopsis:

With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry-lonely, friendless, not too good at sports-spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele-a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new step-family. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart.

Hit the jump for what Reitman said about his plans to make movies about football that doesn't take place in modern football and a hockey movie about a referee.

Reitman tells Simmons of his football movie:

"I'm working on a football movie. This football idea is a strange one. It doesn't even take place in modern football and it's based on a short story."

This is probably Whispers in Bedlam, a project announced by Variety in August when reporting on Reitman's new production company, Right of Way Films.  /Film did some more digging and found that it was...

Based on a short story by Irwin Shaw, this comedy is about a football player with hearing problems who receives experimental surgery and finds himself suddenly able to hear everyone talking from far distances. Written by Matt Spicer and Max Winkler (son of Henrey Winkler, co-writer of the upcoming comedy The Adventure's Handbook).

This doesn't sound like normal Reitman fare as much as some wacky Adam Sandler or Wayans Brothers comedy.  I'm sure it's been done in other works, but it reminds me of the Buffy episode, "Earshot", but she ends up hearing everyone's thoughts, which I think is much more interesting.

Reitman also revealed he might make a hockey movie, which is the first announcement of such a project, although Reitman says very little about it:

I also have an idea for a referee hockey movie. Honestly, Slapshot makes hockey movies difficult. Like Bull Durham does for baseball or Hoosiers and White Men Can't Jump do for basketball.

You know what makes hockey movies, difficult?  The Might Ducks.  When they chant "Quack," I got chills. That's because the movie theater was cold.  I should have brought a jacket.  This film may not be for me since I don't much care for hockey referees.  It's not because of their calls in the game, but because they get in the way when I'm trying to score a breakaway goal in NHL '98.

I really have to give crazy props to Playlist for putting all the pieces together.  Don't be fooled by the Blogspot account.  They're the goods.