Sports From Hell: My Search For The World's Dumbest Competition (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
There’s two reasons why I subscribed to Sports Illustrated when I was in college. The Leading Off section of sports pics (I’m a photographer and I love sports, so that one’s kinda obvi) and Rick Reilly’s weekly column on the last page. While he has since moved to ESPN (don’t worry SI, I still subscribe to your magazine), his columns have me laughing, thinking and sometimes even tearing up. He’s an incredible writer. It’s no wonder he’s been voted Sports Writer of the Year 11 times. I remember enjoying The Life of Reilly: The Best of Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly and when I found out about his recent book Sports from Hell: My Search for the World’s Most Outrageous Competition, I knew I would be in for some good laughs.Between chess boxing and ferrets down your pants, I’m not sure which one wins, but I did chuckle (quite a bit) when I turned to chapter 10, titled Baseball. You can’t beat this quote: “Baseball is so crushingly boring you would sooner stick forks in your eyes than see another zoom shot of Andy Pettitte’s nostrils.”Who knew Rick Reilly hated baseball so much?Overall, I had some good laughs at his descriptions of really strange/awkward sports, his participation in most of them and his interactions with the fans. But even with all the crazy, he still learned that maybe there is something to the passion people have for sports, even if they are a little outrageous.booksandbeverages.wordpress.com Meh. Not as funny as I thought it would be. There are some weird shadings that make some of the stories uncomfortable - the ferret legging isn't very funny once some woman gets horribly bitten, for instance. Prison rodeo is okay if you can suspend your disbelief & care about the rodeo adventures of some convicted murderers, but at the end Reilly gets the reaction of one of the victim's fathers, which kind of deflates the whole thing: "I didn't know that someone who raped & murdered an innocent person would get to ride in a rodeo." The three mile golf hole is pretty cool, though.
What do You think about Sports From Hell: My Search For The World's Dumbest Competition (2010)?
A very funny book, turns out there a lot sports out there that you would never think of.
—coco12
A good book for shutting off your brain and being entertained for a few hours.
—Rimma
Light reading. Made me laugh out loud a couple times.
—leCRAZYlinkoholic
