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Aug
14
BTT: Gold Medal Reading
2008 at 9am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
You, um, may have noticed that the Olympics are going on right now, so that’s the genesis of this week’s question, in two parts:
First:
- Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general?
- Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?
And, Second:
- Do you consider yourself a sports fan?
- Because, of course, if you’re a rabid fan and read about sports constantly, there’s a logic there; if you hate sports and never read anything sports-related, that, too … but you don’t have to love sports to enjoy a good sports story.
- (Or a good sports movie, for that matter. Feel free to expand this into a discussion about “Friday Night Lights” or “The Natural” or whatever…)
As much as I love the Olympics (particularly women’s gymnastics and, hello, Michael Phelps in his little swim pants), I’ve never felt compelled to read a book about them. If someone wants to publish a photo-essay about Mr. Phelps (I’m sure that will actually be happening in the near future), I’d be happy to partake, but the Olympics are one of the rare cases when I’d prefer to just watch the action rather than read about it. I’m also not a fan of the inspirational/motivation sports book…or the inspirational/motivational book in general. So, sorry, Tony Dungy, but I don’t think we’ll be hanging out anytime soon.
This hasn’t always been the case, though. I did gymnastics for about 10 years of my childhood, and I was completely obsessed with Mary Lou Retton (who won her gold medal when I was 2 years old in 1984) and Nadia Comaneci (whose fifteen minutes of fame happened before I was even born) and read every biography I could get my hands on in our local public library. These ladies were also my favorite topic for book reports, “Who’s your hero?” writing projects, and everything of that nature. At the time, I thought it was awesome…now, I realize that my parents and teachers must have gotten pretty bored after a while. I even had the Mary Lou Retton haircut…ugh.
Though my reading material rarely covers sports, and even when it does, it’s only in a very peripheral way, I do consider myself a sports fan to some degree. Perhaps I’m most accurately defined as a sports fan by marriage. My husband Bob is a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan with a self-professed “man crush” on Albert Pujols, and some of that has definitely rubbed off on me. I love a cool evening at the ballpark with a hot dog or two (or three…), and thanks to the fact that Bob is a devoted fan of ESPN’s “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption,” I’ve absorbed tons of random sports facts and become decently conversant in current sporting events over the last several years. I can even recognize Torry Holt without his helmet on. Yay.
Okay, so I don’t really watch sports (though I can’t even begin to imagine the number of books I’ve read with baseball on in the background over the last seven years), but I do LOVE a feel-good sports movie. I’ll watch “Remember the Titans” pretty much whenever I see it on TV (this rule also holds true for “Dirty Dancing” and “Footloose,” both of which justify canceling all other plans and reciting the lines right along with the actors), and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy “The Mighty Ducks” and that other hockey movie…I think it was called “Miracle.”
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never seen the ultimate feel-good sports movie, “Rudy,” or the more recent “Friday Night Lights.” Then again, I fessed up earlier this week that I’ve never seen the original Star Wars movies all the way through, so this isn’t that bad, right?
And now, your moment of zen:
Related posts:
Hmm, this has the makings of a serious disagreement…
The Separation
by Christopher Priest
I guarantee you’ll love this novel. It weaves the 1936 Olympic Games into its tapestry, featuring two brothers who are Olympic rowers who then go on to become entangled in the events of World War II in a rather unique and shocking way.
Priest’s novels are scandalously hard to come by here in the States, although his entire back catalogue is always in print in the UK. You probably saw The Prestige, which was based on one of his previous novels. Priest straddles that very fine line between literary fiction and science fiction. The sort of line that gets books like this, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Slaughterhouse-Five and The Sparrow filed under Fiction rather than Science Fiction.
Anyway, I’ve got my copy of The Separation lying around somewhere, so remind me to lend it to you!
My husband and I go to a lot of Brewers baseball games. I’m watching a lot of Olympic swimming and gymnastics. Do I want to read about sports? Not so much. Love Field of Dreams but that’s about so much more than baseball. Love Bull Durham. Probably won’t read the books though.
Oh, thank you for the zen moment… even though I could be his mother!
Nicole: There’s just no contest…but thanks for playing
Mark: I’ll be happy to add it to the TBR pile, but who knows when I’ll read it…however, you know I trust your opinion…so we’ll see.
bookfan: My mother could also be his mother, and that doesn’t stop her! And thanks for the reminder about Field of Dreams…I love that one, but you’re right–it’s about a lot more than baseball.
Since your husband is a St. Louis Cardinals fan, you might have read The Painted House by Grisham. It is a good read.
Actually, Mark, that might be a great book for my hubby, who loves sports and history and rowed in high school…I feel a Bob’s Book Review coming on…
I love college sports – football, softball and basketball – in that order. Professional sports – not so much – and I consider the Olympics professional.
That’s interesting, bermudaonion…I’ve always thought one of the defining features of the olympics is that athletes must be considered “amateur” (as in, they don’t get paid to play/compete) in order to participate…of course, there are the exceptions, like allowing professional basketball players…but for the most part, I think they’re amateurs….with very large endorsement deals.
Michael Phelps website says he was the youngest American male swimmer to turn pro. I didn’t even know there were professional swimmers.
Look at his bio.
That’s news to me…I’m with you–I didn’t really know there were professional swimmers.
Olympics is probably when I spend the most time on watching sports, other than the UK soccer league. I was completely bowled over that Greg Louganis was gay and so I had to read about his story.
i remember some of those book reports; i think you even dressed up like one of the gymnasts for one of them. classic.
speaking of gymnasts, i bought (and still own) a book about “the magnificent seven” gymnasts that won gold in atlanta. i also read several of their biographies. senior year i did a report on anorexia in gymnastics and binge eating in wrestling for some gender comparison assignment. ms. lucas gave me a D. go figure.
kristen! Welcome! For that same gender comparison assignment, I did a paper on portrayals of sex and dating in “chick flicks” vs. classic films vs. movies marketed to both genders…I don’t think she liked it, either.
No need to be embarassed…I had never even heard of Friday Night Lights until this weeks BTT! And I haven’t seen Rudy, either.