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People Who Sweat: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Pursuits
In a literary study of what makes an ordinary person an athlete, the author of People with Dirty Hands journeys coast to coast to present close-up profiles of gym teachers, geriatric surfers, a triathalon runner who always comes in last, and others who demonstrate that one can be athletic without being a good athlete. 25,000 first printing.
- GenresNonfiction
203 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 1999
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January 20, 2016
People Who Sweat: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Pursuits by Robin Chotzinoff (Harcourt Brace & Co. 1999) (796.0922) has become one of my favorite books; I certainly didn't see that coming. This book is absolutely worth an afternoon, and it's a quick read - it only took me a couple of hours to finish. The author's style is hilarious and her subject matter even moreso! She tells the stories of folks with unlikely physical and sporting hobbies: ultramarathoners, mall walkers, spelunkers, mushers, jumbo-sized marathoners (aka "clydesdales"), surfing grandmothers, bowhunters (featuring Terrible Ted Nugent's bowhunting camp for kids), polo players (including Ginger Baker of Cream fame), and evangelical powerlifters ("the Power Team"). Here's an excerpt from my favorite section, which is about the Power Team:
"These are some mighty men about to hit the stage," an unseen announcer screamed through the PA system. "With an average height of six-foot-four, a massive weight of three hundred thirty pounds - all of it rock-solid muscle - they are nationally ranked power lifters, some of whom bench-press over six hundred pounds! And they're not here to brag on their muscles, but to brag on Jesus."
The eight members of the Power Team ran up to the stage on thunderous feet, wearing red, black, and blue warm-up suits, weight belts, and boxing shoes. To a man, they were as big as a semitrailer truck. They pumped their fists in the air and stood before us bouncing lightly on the balls of their feet, ready to kick some religious butt.
"Fasten your seat belts. If God is for you, who can be against you?"
"Woo! Woo! Woo!" the audience screamed, instantly ready to rock and roll.
We were less than an hour into the first night of a six-night revival, and already it seemed that Sin was going down in a terminal headlock, and Grand Junction would never be the same....
I had heard about the Power Team not from Christian friends, but from a succession of potheads - quintessential late-night cable TV channel surfers. To the stoned, there is nothing more entertaining than the sudden, near hallucinatory vision of this troupe of power-lifting missionaries led by former Oral Roberts University football star John Jacobs....
[My nephew] bought a comic book in which John Jacobs and the Power Team defeat a lisping South American drug lord. From that and an orientation video, we learned that the Team conducts seventy crusades each year, saves close to a million souls here and abroad - notably in Russia - and consists of "world-class athletes who inspire people to follow Christ - and to move away from drugs, alcohol, and suicide." (At the same time, we were pressured not to let our long-distance dollars go to support "nudity, profanity, or the Gay Games." We could avoid this by signing up with Lifeline, a Christian long-distance provider.)" People Who Sweat, pp. 126-8.
You should absolutely go to any lengths to find and read this book. My rating: 8/10, finished 3/17/11.
"These are some mighty men about to hit the stage," an unseen announcer screamed through the PA system. "With an average height of six-foot-four, a massive weight of three hundred thirty pounds - all of it rock-solid muscle - they are nationally ranked power lifters, some of whom bench-press over six hundred pounds! And they're not here to brag on their muscles, but to brag on Jesus."
The eight members of the Power Team ran up to the stage on thunderous feet, wearing red, black, and blue warm-up suits, weight belts, and boxing shoes. To a man, they were as big as a semitrailer truck. They pumped their fists in the air and stood before us bouncing lightly on the balls of their feet, ready to kick some religious butt.
"Fasten your seat belts. If God is for you, who can be against you?"
"Woo! Woo! Woo!" the audience screamed, instantly ready to rock and roll.
We were less than an hour into the first night of a six-night revival, and already it seemed that Sin was going down in a terminal headlock, and Grand Junction would never be the same....
I had heard about the Power Team not from Christian friends, but from a succession of potheads - quintessential late-night cable TV channel surfers. To the stoned, there is nothing more entertaining than the sudden, near hallucinatory vision of this troupe of power-lifting missionaries led by former Oral Roberts University football star John Jacobs....
[My nephew] bought a comic book in which John Jacobs and the Power Team defeat a lisping South American drug lord. From that and an orientation video, we learned that the Team conducts seventy crusades each year, saves close to a million souls here and abroad - notably in Russia - and consists of "world-class athletes who inspire people to follow Christ - and to move away from drugs, alcohol, and suicide." (At the same time, we were pressured not to let our long-distance dollars go to support "nudity, profanity, or the Gay Games." We could avoid this by signing up with Lifeline, a Christian long-distance provider.)" People Who Sweat, pp. 126-8.
You should absolutely go to any lengths to find and read this book. My rating: 8/10, finished 3/17/11.
Displaying 1 of 1 review