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The Book of Basketball (and other sports books)
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Jawbone54
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Nov 3, 2009, 01:18 PM
 
I would read Bill Simmon's column from time to time in the past, but it wasn't until I was directed to his podcast episode in which he offended Bill Walton that I started downloading his podcast religiously and putting it at the top of my podcast queue.

Now, The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy is out, and I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered copy to arrive. I should have just bought it off the shelves; I'm so pumped about it. I know exactly how I'm going to be spending my time off on Thanksgiving week.

This book is getting a ridiculous amount of press, from PTI to The Colbert Report, and I was wondering if any of you other guys are excited about it. Anyone else bought a copy? Are you aware that it's freakin' 700+ pages long?

Also, do you have any favorite sports books? I went through a sports book drought after reading The Bad Guys Won, and The Book of Basketball has whet my appetite for some sports reading.
     
The Final Dakar
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Nov 3, 2009, 01:20 PM
 
Ha, I received my pre-order last week. Too bad I have a few other books queued up before it.
     
Jawbone54  (op)
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:02 PM
 
I'm still not through Outliers, but I'll probably read BoB beside it. I've been told it's a good book to read a chapter at a time.
[EDIT] I just realized how stupid that sounded. I meant "read one chapter, sit it down, pick it up when you want more basketball reading"

I'm still not sure what got screwed up with my pre-order. I placed my order over a month ago, but it's not scheduled to arrive until Thursday.
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:04 PM
 
I'm avoiding it, until I know it can't drastically interfere with my studies....

greg
Mankind's only chance is to harness the power of stupid.
     
The Final Dakar
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
I'm still not sure what got screwed up with my pre-order. I placed my order over a month ago, but it's not scheduled to arrive until Thursday.
Sounds like you're getting my video game pre-order treatment. Enjoy!
     
paul w
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Nov 3, 2009, 02:21 PM
 
I've been reading it on my Kindle. It's ok, there's a lot of information. I find, however, that his casual, personal style rubs me the wrong way somewhat in book format, whereas it's perfectly suited to columns and podcasts.

He clearly loves sports writing and I'm totally with him on people like Tony Kornheiser and David Halbertsam's Breaks of the Game.

Plus I'm in an extremely tenuous point now where if the Yankees actually lose the World Series I'm going to have to avoid him for the rest of my life. On that note Buster Olney's book on the Yankee Dynasty (and its ultimate undoing) was great.
     
The Final Dakar
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Nov 10, 2009, 10:40 AM
 
This has to be one of the worst pictures I've ever seen.

     
Jawbone54  (op)
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Nov 10, 2009, 01:09 PM
 
I'm into the bit where he compares Wilt and Bill Russell.

And yes, I love this book. I'll be done with in 5% of the time it took me to read David McCullough's John Adams (comparable length). I'm sure that says something bad about me.

Also, that picture is atrocious.
     
The Final Dakar
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Nov 10, 2009, 01:11 PM
 
I feel I need to photoshop the hell out of him, possibly in inappropriate historical settings.

Edit: The forced but unintentional double-chin really takes the cake.
     
The Final Dakar
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Nov 10, 2009, 01:46 PM
 


I might be a little antsy at work.
     
   
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