Tag: sports

November Was…

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Death of Spuke
November was an amazing election, the slow death of Spuke, an incredible Thanksgiving meal, a few birthdays missed, more houses than I care to admit to seeing, more paperwork than I care to admit to reading, and last but not least, a little bit of music (Sean!). We didn’t get the house and I had to take a few days to get over that…even though I wasn’t 100% in love with the house. How weird is that? Ah well.

For books read, here’s the list:

  • Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson ~ I went back and forth about this book…almost as much as the plot did.
  • The Darling by Russell Banks ~ Loved, loved, loved this book – full of suspense and great characters.
  • As I Live & Breathe: notes of a patient-doctor by Jamie Weisman ~ read this in one day!
  • Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark by Jane Fletcher Geniesse ~ such an amazing biography!
  • A Continent for the Taking: the Tragedy and Hope of Africa by Howard French ~ Very similar to The Darling. Same time period, same “characters” and events.
  • Best Essays of the Century edited by Joyce Carol Oates ~ while I only read a sampling of essays they were all good.
  • The Bronte Myth by Lucasta Miller ~dry and long.

For the Early Review Program (yay!):

  • Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back by Josh Hamilton ~ really fast but amazingly good read.

For fun:

  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson ~ a great story from my childhood about friendship. This was on my challenge list. I just decided to read it out of order one day.

Nine books…sort of. I’ll have a confession for next month 😉

Beyond Belief

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Hamilton, Josh. Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back. New York: Faith Words, 2008.

Do not expect Beyond Belief  to be eloquent or a great literary masterpiece. It is what it is – a straightforward, simple, eyt heartfelt account of one athlete’s fall from grace and subsequent redemption through religion. Drafted right out of high school and given a salary of 3.96 million, one can hardly anticipate fancy prose from Josh Hamilton. Instead, what lies in the 257 pages (with help from ESPN senior writer Tim Keown) is a humble account of his life as an athlete, drug addict, and finally, a man of faith.

Here are the lines I hope they keep, “in the vicious cycle of drug use, crack is the endgame. It eats you up from the inside out” (p 149), and “I understand that, and I expect that. My past invites that” (p225).

Big Mouth Shut

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ESPN
Game four. We had to be somewhere for game four. I was thinking “errr…what’s wrong with the hotel? It has a big flat screen tv….” But, I know this as well as any sports fan. You can’t watch a high stakes game (of any kind) in your hotel room. Alone. You have to go somewhere loud. Somewhere where you can place bets and you might get heckled. Somewhere where the air conditioning is up too high and people yell to be heard over the pounding music. Somewhere where every plate of food that goes by smells delicious and the beer flows freely. That place was ESPN Zone in New York New York. It was loud. The A/C was up too high. The food was great. The beer flowed Fat Tire. And yes, my husband got heckled. How could he not? He was the only Celtics fan in our corner of the restaurant. He was the only one wearing green, yelling at the refs, complaining about bad calls. And, yes, the Celtics were losing.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t other Celtics fans in the restaurant. In fact there was a good sized crowd of them bellied up at the bar. Problem was, Kisa was nowhere near the bar. His cheers for the Celtics were like a lone explorer at the North Pole – helllllooooooo? Surrounded by Laker fans they soon zeroed in on the guy in green. Words were exchanged. Insults akin to “yo mama” only sports related were tossed around. My basketball player can beat up your basketball player. You don’t wanna come to Boston. I think someone paid off the ref. It’s all over now, baby blue.
When it was all over and the Celtics really did lose my Kisa got up to approach the opposing table. A couple next to me jerked their thumbs and rolled their eyes at his retreating back. “Is he really going over there?” a woman asked me, concern in her voice but merriment in her eyes. Everyone loves a good fight. “Guess so.” I muttered. All I wanted was a warm bed and to never hear the name Kobe again. I could have slept standing up.
In the end, kisa and the Laker fans shook hands. But, as he turned to leave kisa had one more parting shot: We’ll see what happens in Boston.