|
Article Excerpt
CAN I KEEP MY JERSEY? 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond
By Paul Shirley
336 pages; Villard, 2007
Paul Shirley is the rare professional athlete for whom a fan can feel a modicum of empathy. An average high school athlete but a stellar student who won a National Merit Scholarship and majored in mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, he became an exceptional college player by dint of hard work and a 6'10" frame. His team's NCAA tournament success in his senior year (propelled by his All-American teammate Marcus Fizer) highlighted his ability and garnered Shirley some attention from NBA teams. Over the last six seasons, he has kicked around on the fringes of the NBA and the European leagues, earning a decent living while staying well below the level of stardom.
A few years ago, Shirley began writing about his adventures and career frustrations on web logs for the Phoenix Suns and ESPN. His posts are quite different from the ponderous, stultifying blogs published by many star athletes, and the book is an outgrowth of his blogs. Shirley has above-average powers of observation, a keen ability to write, and maintains an awe about being in the NBA that most of us would have if we were magically placed in his sneakers. As a result, Shirley has crafted a page-turner.
The book has two different narratives: what life is like in the NBA (and it can be as grand and as glorious as it seems from the outside, albeit sans groupies, even for the marginal players like Shirley) and how circuitous the path can be into the league. He documents tortured itineraries while playing for obscure European teams along with dicey medical care, maddening tryouts, and a few of the quotidian details of the vagabond life of a temporary expatriate and minor league basketballer in North Dakota.
FOR THE ECONOMIST A sports...
|
|
More articles from Regulation
Disappointing follow-up.(Code Red: An Economist Explains How to Revive..., June 22, 2008
Sowell strikes again.(Economic Facts and Fallacies)(Book review), June 22, 2008
A less oppressive paternalism.(Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health..., June 22, 2008
Yet another pop econ book.(The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics o..., June 22, 2008
Energy interdependence.(Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Ene..., June 22, 2008
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
|
