Answer Guy

by Brendan O'Connor, Gary Belsky, Neil Fine

The popular Answer Guy from ESPN The Magazine provides a compilation of information, trivia, anecdotes, and answers to some of sports fans' most pressing questions, in sixty-five entertaining columns that cover such crucial questions as "Why are there 18 holes in a round of golf" and "Why do hockey players wear shorts?" Original. 35,000 first printing.

Genres: Sports

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2002

Reviews

[Myron M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably better than 3 stars, but it's not 4. Can't give it a 3.5, so here we are.

A collection of columns from ESPN the Magazine, purporting to answer various sports "imponderables". The columns, however, are written in the form of telephone conversations, and there is so. much. filler. Fully half the book is clip art illustrations. At least half of every column is responses from people who don't know the answers. And then there are all the questions where there isn't a definitive answer at all. Frustrating.

I'd like to see an updated version of the book (or maybe 25 or 30 magazine pages, if magazines still existed) actually made to be read.

(Semi-related, I've gotta be more careful about picking books that can be charged through, just so I can pad my annual total. I thought this one would be more substantial, but about 40 pages in, I started burning though it, just so I could check it off.)

[Damian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not really a fan of this book. I wouldn’t read it again either. The format is really confusing. It’s gives a reference from a person and goes on to say their take on the question. But what I don’t like is that is that I’m never sure what they are talking about.

[Isaac Castilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a sports fanatic, well you are in luck. This book shows all questions about sports from tennis to figure skating, it’s got everything.

[Aiden Forbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was alright. It had a lot of character, and a very distinct way writing. Sadly, the book itself wasn’t interesting. All of the interesting questions didn’t have an answer. This felt very unsatisfying every time it happened. I feel that the author could have put a little bit more content into this book. The one question that intruiged me the most, “Why is it called a Charlie Horse then you bruise your muscle?”, didn’t have an answer. This book was written very well, but wasn’t that full of content. It felt a bit watered down. This book wasn’t that great.

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfectly enjoyable little book of answers to questions like "Why do they call it a hat trick?" or "Why do pitchers pitch off a mound?" The authors call clubhouses, halls of fame, and old timers in their search for these facts. In many cases the answer is "It's traditional" or "Nobody knows" which is fine with me.

The smart alec tone cracks me up, as do the aphorisms that accompany each question, like "Where the ice-cream truck of fact hears the childish shrieks of conjecture, slows - then speeds on."

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laugh every time I open up this book.