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Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History
From Mike Pesca, host of the popular Slate podcast The Gist, comes the greatest sports minds imagining how the world would change if a play, trade, injury, or referee's call had just gone the other way.
No announcer ever proclaimed: "Up Rises Frazier!" "Havlicek commits the foul, trying to steal the ball!" or "The Giants Lose the Pennant, The Giants Lose The Pennant!" Such moments are indelibly etched upon the mind of every sports fan. Or rather, they would be, had they happened. Sports are notoriously games of inches, and when we conjure the thought of certain athletes - like Bill Buckner or Scott Norwood - we can't help but apply a mental tape measure to the highlight reels of our minds. Players, coaches, and of course fans, obsess on the play when they ask, "What if?" Upon Further Review is the first book to answer that question.
Upon Further Review is a book of counterfactual sporting scenarios. In its pages the reader will find expertly reported histories, where one small event is flipped on its head, and the resulting ripples are carefully documented, the likes of...
What if the U.S. Boycotted Hitler's Olympics?
What if Bobby Riggs beat Billie Jean King?
What if Bucky Dent popped out at the foot of the Green Monster?
What if Drew Bledsoe never got hurt?
Upon Further Review takes classic arguments conducted over pints in a pub and places them in the hands of dozens of writers, athletes, and historians. From turning points that every sports fan rues or celebrates, to the forgotten would-be inflection points that defined sports, Upon Further Review answers age old questions, and settles the score, even if the score bounced off the crossbar.
No announcer ever proclaimed: "Up Rises Frazier!" "Havlicek commits the foul, trying to steal the ball!" or "The Giants Lose the Pennant, The Giants Lose The Pennant!" Such moments are indelibly etched upon the mind of every sports fan. Or rather, they would be, had they happened. Sports are notoriously games of inches, and when we conjure the thought of certain athletes - like Bill Buckner or Scott Norwood - we can't help but apply a mental tape measure to the highlight reels of our minds. Players, coaches, and of course fans, obsess on the play when they ask, "What if?" Upon Further Review is the first book to answer that question.
Upon Further Review is a book of counterfactual sporting scenarios. In its pages the reader will find expertly reported histories, where one small event is flipped on its head, and the resulting ripples are carefully documented, the likes of...
What if the U.S. Boycotted Hitler's Olympics?
What if Bobby Riggs beat Billie Jean King?
What if Bucky Dent popped out at the foot of the Green Monster?
What if Drew Bledsoe never got hurt?
Upon Further Review takes classic arguments conducted over pints in a pub and places them in the hands of dozens of writers, athletes, and historians. From turning points that every sports fan rues or celebrates, to the forgotten would-be inflection points that defined sports, Upon Further Review answers age old questions, and settles the score, even if the score bounced off the crossbar.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published May 15, 2018
74 people are currently reading
931 people want to read
About the author
Mike Pesca
1 book8 followersMike Pesca covered sports for National Public Radio for ten years. He has contributed to the Washington Post, Basketball Prospectus, Baseball Prospectus, and Inside the NFL. He is the host of Slate's daily news and opinion podcast The Gist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
July 1, 2018
Enjoying alternate history discussions and the pull of organised sports, I was curious to read Mike Pesca’s collection of essays on ‘what if’ moments in sporting history. From the outset, Pesca explains, as editor, that he was not looking to have contributors focus too specifically on a single event and how that might have changed a game’s outcome, but more how an event might have led to a complete change in the sport or how the public came to accept this. Academic? To a point, but I like to think about the larger outcomes rather than the simple ‘Jenga block’ changes a single move would have made in an isolated game. Pesca calls on individuals to discuss such issues as: had Wayne Gretzky never signed with the Edmonton Oilers, had the National League agreed to adopt the Designated Hitter in gameplay, had (American) football never taken off in North America, and should a certain basketball winning team been able to travel back in time and played other superstar teams. True, these topics may not interest all sports fans, but the essays within offer the reader an opportunity to suspend belief while also analysing some of the facts that could have turned a league or a player onto a different path, thereby altering the game entirely. Not all essays were up my alley, but the thought-provoking nature left me intrigued and hoping to find more collections of this nature (or that Pesca will recruit more essays for another collection). While it is hard to find a group that might appreciate a recommendation, I suppose sports history buffs might enjoy this collection, even if they focus attention on a few essays.
Essays by a collective are much harder to review than a number of writings by a single author. The cross-section of thoughts and topics proved to be highly educational and entertaining, though I will be the first to admit that not all essays caught my attention. That being said, I also had no idea of Pesca’s story or life before I found this book, so I cannot say I was a fan and wanted to see how he fared as an editor. The essays were usually short and to the point, but did delve into interesting analysis on the topics at hand. Some, admittedly, were silly and could likely have found a better home on the cutting room floor (basketballs larger than hoop rims?), but I was able to suffer through these and get to some of the more historically controversial issues and focus my attention. I know which sports I enjoy and I have a decent grasp on their histories, but this one definitely opened up my mind and left me wondering ‘what if’ on countless occasions.
Kudos, Mr. Pesca, for editing such an interesting collection. I would love to read more from some of the contributors and leave others by the wayside. Well done for sure!!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Essays by a collective are much harder to review than a number of writings by a single author. The cross-section of thoughts and topics proved to be highly educational and entertaining, though I will be the first to admit that not all essays caught my attention. That being said, I also had no idea of Pesca’s story or life before I found this book, so I cannot say I was a fan and wanted to see how he fared as an editor. The essays were usually short and to the point, but did delve into interesting analysis on the topics at hand. Some, admittedly, were silly and could likely have found a better home on the cutting room floor (basketballs larger than hoop rims?), but I was able to suffer through these and get to some of the more historically controversial issues and focus my attention. I know which sports I enjoy and I have a decent grasp on their histories, but this one definitely opened up my mind and left me wondering ‘what if’ on countless occasions.
Kudos, Mr. Pesca, for editing such an interesting collection. I would love to read more from some of the contributors and leave others by the wayside. Well done for sure!!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
July 6, 2018
Sports fans are constantly asking themselves the question, "What if...........", especially when a fumble, a missed catch, a penalty, an interception, etc made all the difference in a game or sport. This humorous book is a look at counterfactual sporting scenarios and how they might have had more effect on a sport than just a loss or win. The author assembles 31 chapters, written by sports historians, athletes, reporters, and fans, of "what ifs" and the sometimes unusual results as imagined by these contributors.
Some of the "what ifs" are:
+ What if the US had boycotted Hitler's Olympics.
+ What if the Olympics had never dropped Tug of War as an event.
+ What if Billie Jean King had lost to Bobby Riggs.
+ What is the Jets hadn't beat the Colts in Super Bowl III.
+ What if Tom Brady hadn't stepped in for the injured Drew Bledsoe.
+ What is baseball teams only played one game a week.
The sports fan might not always agree with what might have happened but will certainly have a great time reading about the opinions of the author(s). This is a book for the sports fan only and I highly recommend it to that fraternity of which I am a member!
Some of the "what ifs" are:
+ What if the US had boycotted Hitler's Olympics.
+ What if the Olympics had never dropped Tug of War as an event.
+ What if Billie Jean King had lost to Bobby Riggs.
+ What is the Jets hadn't beat the Colts in Super Bowl III.
+ What if Tom Brady hadn't stepped in for the injured Drew Bledsoe.
+ What is baseball teams only played one game a week.
The sports fan might not always agree with what might have happened but will certainly have a great time reading about the opinions of the author(s). This is a book for the sports fan only and I highly recommend it to that fraternity of which I am a member!
June 1, 2018
This is a real hit-or-miss mixed bag of a book. I guess that makes sense given the nature of it. Pesca is the editor, not writer. He's assembled a collection of 31 pieces by various sportswriters and fans, each taking on the question of "What if" -- what if some event in sports history played out a bit differently. Some do a really good job, and others ..... really don't. Basically, the articles fall into two categories: 1) those where the writer makes a serious effort to try to seriously envision how things would've been different (if at all) and what implications there would be based on what we know. 2) The other articles are just cases where the writer feels like spouting off whatever random sports fanfic he feels like, without really basing it on anything.
There are more articles in the first group than in the second, but those in the second group tended to stick in my memory more because they were so fucking terrible. Often, it was a writer trying to be humorous, only to prove how lame their sense of humor was. For example - let's look at probably the single stupidest article in the piece: actor Jesse Eisenberg's "What If I Hand't Written That Fan Letter to Dan Majerle in April 1993?" Eisenberg ponders how his letter could've upset the clubhouse dynamic for the Phoenix Suns, causing them to lose the finals to the Chicago Bulls. I mean, this is all meant tongue-in-cheek - but it is so fucking stupid. While that's the stupidest article in the book, it's not the worst. That dishonor falls to Stefan Fatsis's "What if Bucky Dent Hadn't Homered over the Green Monster in 1978?" What's wrong with this one. Well, for starters the majority of the article covers a fictionalized recap of an alternate universe game where the Yankees win. So it's complete sports fanfic. After the recap, Fatsis says that afterward, the Red Sox signed a series of prominent black free agents, healed the city's racial divisions, won more titles, while the Yankees withered and haven't won another World Series since. Yeah, he gives no reasons for why this would be the case. He just says so. By itself, this wouldn't make it worse than Eisenberg's dreck. No, what sets Fatsis's piece apart is what an obnoxious jerk Fatsis comes off as. In his fanfic game recap, he envisions attending the game with some fellow Yankees fans, and he uses the word "Massholes" to describe Red Sox fans about a dozen times. So it's a stupid article that backs up its points with nothing and the author comes off like a jerk. It's a tough call, but I'd say it's a tad worse than Eisenberg's piece. Other bad attempts at humorous sports fanfic include: if the Olympics never dropped tug-of-war, if the basketball was bigger than the basketball rim, and what if the last game of the 2016 World Series contained every sports movie cliche.
But most of the articles aren't like that. Most really try to seriously look at their topic - and many do a very nice job. Leigh Montville looks at What If Muhammad Ali had been given that draft deferment. Montville contends his boxing career would've been better, but he would never be the sort of cultural touchstone he became. One of the best articles looks at if the Jets lost Super Bowl III, and argues rather effectively for a whole series of things that would've ended up differently: Shula never going to the Dolphins, the Colts' owner never trading his team with Rams owner Robert Irsay (and thus the Colts never leaving Baltimore, etc). Sometimes, some of the best articles argue that if things had gone differently, the impact would've been .... not as much as you'd think. Wayne Coffey argues that if Billie Jean King lost to Bobby Riggs, things largely would've worked out roughly the same. Riggs's only chance for a great payday would be a rematch, and King was the sort to not give up. Title IX had already passed. Elsewhere, Ben Lindbergh's article about What If baseball started testing for steroids in 1991 argues it would've have made a huge difference in the game, but would've blunted a lot of the hysteria around steroids in baseball.
Maybe the best piece in the book is also the longest: "What if Nat `Sweetwater' Clifton's Pass Hadn't Gone Awry?" by Claude Johnson. In part it's interesting because it's about such an obscure event - but Johnson convincingly argues it was a big one. Clifton was a black basketball player in the 1940s before the formation of the NBA whose club nearly defeated George Mikan's squad in a title game. Clifton's team was all-black and the others were not. Had that pass gone differently, it might've been impossible for the NBA to not include the black team (and thus black players) when it began from the consolidation of other leagues a little later. Maybe not - the nature of a What If argument is we'll never know for sure - but it's well done.
Large chunks of this book deserve five stars. Far too many parts deserve one star. Thus the overall three-star rating.
There are more articles in the first group than in the second, but those in the second group tended to stick in my memory more because they were so fucking terrible. Often, it was a writer trying to be humorous, only to prove how lame their sense of humor was. For example - let's look at probably the single stupidest article in the piece: actor Jesse Eisenberg's "What If I Hand't Written That Fan Letter to Dan Majerle in April 1993?" Eisenberg ponders how his letter could've upset the clubhouse dynamic for the Phoenix Suns, causing them to lose the finals to the Chicago Bulls. I mean, this is all meant tongue-in-cheek - but it is so fucking stupid. While that's the stupidest article in the book, it's not the worst. That dishonor falls to Stefan Fatsis's "What if Bucky Dent Hadn't Homered over the Green Monster in 1978?" What's wrong with this one. Well, for starters the majority of the article covers a fictionalized recap of an alternate universe game where the Yankees win. So it's complete sports fanfic. After the recap, Fatsis says that afterward, the Red Sox signed a series of prominent black free agents, healed the city's racial divisions, won more titles, while the Yankees withered and haven't won another World Series since. Yeah, he gives no reasons for why this would be the case. He just says so. By itself, this wouldn't make it worse than Eisenberg's dreck. No, what sets Fatsis's piece apart is what an obnoxious jerk Fatsis comes off as. In his fanfic game recap, he envisions attending the game with some fellow Yankees fans, and he uses the word "Massholes" to describe Red Sox fans about a dozen times. So it's a stupid article that backs up its points with nothing and the author comes off like a jerk. It's a tough call, but I'd say it's a tad worse than Eisenberg's piece. Other bad attempts at humorous sports fanfic include: if the Olympics never dropped tug-of-war, if the basketball was bigger than the basketball rim, and what if the last game of the 2016 World Series contained every sports movie cliche.
But most of the articles aren't like that. Most really try to seriously look at their topic - and many do a very nice job. Leigh Montville looks at What If Muhammad Ali had been given that draft deferment. Montville contends his boxing career would've been better, but he would never be the sort of cultural touchstone he became. One of the best articles looks at if the Jets lost Super Bowl III, and argues rather effectively for a whole series of things that would've ended up differently: Shula never going to the Dolphins, the Colts' owner never trading his team with Rams owner Robert Irsay (and thus the Colts never leaving Baltimore, etc). Sometimes, some of the best articles argue that if things had gone differently, the impact would've been .... not as much as you'd think. Wayne Coffey argues that if Billie Jean King lost to Bobby Riggs, things largely would've worked out roughly the same. Riggs's only chance for a great payday would be a rematch, and King was the sort to not give up. Title IX had already passed. Elsewhere, Ben Lindbergh's article about What If baseball started testing for steroids in 1991 argues it would've have made a huge difference in the game, but would've blunted a lot of the hysteria around steroids in baseball.
Maybe the best piece in the book is also the longest: "What if Nat `Sweetwater' Clifton's Pass Hadn't Gone Awry?" by Claude Johnson. In part it's interesting because it's about such an obscure event - but Johnson convincingly argues it was a big one. Clifton was a black basketball player in the 1940s before the formation of the NBA whose club nearly defeated George Mikan's squad in a title game. Clifton's team was all-black and the others were not. Had that pass gone differently, it might've been impossible for the NBA to not include the black team (and thus black players) when it began from the consolidation of other leagues a little later. Maybe not - the nature of a What If argument is we'll never know for sure - but it's well done.
Large chunks of this book deserve five stars. Far too many parts deserve one star. Thus the overall three-star rating.
July 5, 2018
Not just in sports, but in many aspects of life, “what if” is a question often asked when wondering if something could have happened differently. For 31 sports occurrences, this question is answered by many authors in an entertaining book edited by Mike Pesca, who also wrote one of the stories.
Many different sports are addressed in the book, from baseball to horse racing to an obscure Olympic event, the tug of war. Most the stories make for great reading. The reader will see that there is really no specific theme to the collection of stories – some are meant to be factual and the conclusions are based on research of the key people in the occurrence. Some read like pure fiction and really should be treated as such. Some can be downright funny, such as the last story about game 7 of the 2016 World Series and comparing it to many sports movies.
One quibble I have with the book is the cover. On the cover there are four classic sports moments. They are Bill Buckner’s error in the 1986 World Series, “The Catch” by the late Dwight Clark, a photo from Super Bowl XXXIV when Kevin Dyson fell just short of the end zone on the last play (although the photo is not from that play) and Charles Barkley holding the NBA championship trophy with the Phoenix Suns. The last one is fictional – and the only one in which there is a story to go with the photo. Why would the other three photos be used if stories were not in the book to go with them?
As with any collection, there are some great stories (the aforementioned 2016 World Series, Sweetwater Clifton and the early days of the NBA and Muhammad Ali receiving his draft deferment) and a few clunkers (Bucky Dent not hitting the famous homer in 1978) but there are many more of the former than the latter. Between the variety of sports, the variety of styles to tell the story, and even the variety from fact to pure fiction, this book should have something for everyone who enjoys reading about sports.
I wish to thank Twelve Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
Many different sports are addressed in the book, from baseball to horse racing to an obscure Olympic event, the tug of war. Most the stories make for great reading. The reader will see that there is really no specific theme to the collection of stories – some are meant to be factual and the conclusions are based on research of the key people in the occurrence. Some read like pure fiction and really should be treated as such. Some can be downright funny, such as the last story about game 7 of the 2016 World Series and comparing it to many sports movies.
One quibble I have with the book is the cover. On the cover there are four classic sports moments. They are Bill Buckner’s error in the 1986 World Series, “The Catch” by the late Dwight Clark, a photo from Super Bowl XXXIV when Kevin Dyson fell just short of the end zone on the last play (although the photo is not from that play) and Charles Barkley holding the NBA championship trophy with the Phoenix Suns. The last one is fictional – and the only one in which there is a story to go with the photo. Why would the other three photos be used if stories were not in the book to go with them?
As with any collection, there are some great stories (the aforementioned 2016 World Series, Sweetwater Clifton and the early days of the NBA and Muhammad Ali receiving his draft deferment) and a few clunkers (Bucky Dent not hitting the famous homer in 1978) but there are many more of the former than the latter. Between the variety of sports, the variety of styles to tell the story, and even the variety from fact to pure fiction, this book should have something for everyone who enjoys reading about sports.
I wish to thank Twelve Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
June 16, 2018
As I kind of expected, I liked some of the essays more than others, because I cared about some of the sports or teams/individuals more than others. But some I really liked: “What if the United States had boycotted Hitler’s Olympics?”, “What if the 1999 U.S. women’s national soccer team had lost the women’s World Cup?” (which featured a nice twist), and especially “What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs?”. I’ll be thinking about that last essay for a long time.
June 8, 2023
Some absolute bangers but a lot of kinda mid stories
April 8, 2019
Based on the cover, I was expecting a mainstream “What If?” sports book, revolving around the standard famous moments every fan has gone over 1,000 times. This book went in a much weirder direction, and I appreciated that. The rapid flips between writing style from chapter to chapter — sometimes going from reasonable retrospective discussion to in-another-reality alternate history — could’ve been handled a lot more smoothly. Ultimately, the tongue-in-cheek eccentricities made it more of a memorable learning experience than anything else.
July 14, 2018
Great concept, the essays themselves are a mixed bag. Shira Springer on a hypothetical US boycott of the ‘36 Olympics was my favorite. I also enjoyed the chapters by Katie Baker, Jeremy Schaap, Peter Thomas Forntale. Louisa Thomas, Will Leitch, Michael Macambridge, and Claude Johnson, to name a few. Most readers are probably best served to pick and choose or breeze through the subjects of less interest.
August 31, 2020
I have received this title via NetGalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review
This was such a unique book. It consisted of some many "what-if" scenarios, which is what every sports fan thinks at least once a season. Some of these stories were ones I had known of, but others I hadn't. I liked that it covered every sport we can imagine; hockey, baseball, basketball, chess, etc.
This was such a unique book. It consisted of some many "what-if" scenarios, which is what every sports fan thinks at least once a season. Some of these stories were ones I had known of, but others I hadn't. I liked that it covered every sport we can imagine; hockey, baseball, basketball, chess, etc.
February 14, 2022
It was kind of fun to speculate on alternative sports outcomes. Naturally some of chapters were better or more interesting than others. Some were funny; some tried to be but were not. Of course I disagreed with some posited outcomes of alternative histories.
November 21, 2023
Jon Bois the GOAT as always. The rest of the book is fine, I liked the Jesse Eisenberg section.
May 31, 2018
http://www.themaineedge.com/sports/sp...
Sports fandom is a funny thing. Not only do we love talking about what happened in a given game or season or career, but we also love asking questions about all those things. Specifically … what if? What if something changed fundamentally about the games that we love? And what if those changes resulted in more changes and those changes led to still more changes and so on?
That’s the guiding force behind “Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History.” Assembled and curated by Mike Pesca, this collection of essays takes a look at what might have happened if certain aspects of the sports world had played out differently. Some of them address the topic at hand with scholarly seriousness, while others work with tongue planted firmly in cheek, but all of them are engaging looks at diverging potential paths through sports history.
Bear in mind, these aren’t necessarily pieces about merely changing outcomes of specific games; the reality is that most individual contests (even championships) don’t matter in the grander scheme. A different victor would rarely have the sort of broad impact that Pesca wanted these essays to explore.
And broad impact is what we get. Across these 31 essays – written by all manner of experts and luminaries – we’re granted an opportunity to witness some compelling alternate histories play out.
The very first essay sets a serious tone. We hit the ground running with Leigh Montville, who writes about the possible repercussions of Muhammad Ali receiving his draft deferment. Instead of a cultural icon, perhaps Ali goes on to simply be a great boxer. Yes, he wouldn’t have had those lost years of his prime, which could have resulted in a more impressive record. But Ali’s struggles were what made him into such a giant societal figure. He’s a top-notch fighter, not a legend.
Another fascinating what-if comes from Shira Springer, who extrapolates what might have been if the United States had ultimately boycotted the 1936 Berlin Olympics on both individual and societal levels. Still another – written by Mary Pilon – wonders about a world where Title IX never was.
There are a couple of essays that discuss potential reinventions of football – one discussing how things might have changed if the game had been changed earlier, another about if the game was created today. Baseball is well-represented as well. A couple of favorite writers of mine – Ben Lindbergh and Will Leitch – penned essays; Lindbergh’s was about MLB beginning steroid testing in 1991, while Leitch’s wondered what baseball would be like if played just one day a week.
While individual contests aren’t a focus, there are a couple of what-ifs along those lines as well. What if Bucky Dent hadn’t hit that homer in 1978? What if Tom Brady never took over for Drew Bledsoe? What happens to the merger if the Jets lose Super Bowl III? What if Team USA hadn’t won the 1999 Women’s World Cup? What if Buster Douglas hadn’t defeated Mike Tyson? What if Billie Jean King hadn’t beaten Bobby Riggs?
And then there are the straight-up goofy ones. Noted sports weirdo Jon Bois has a great piece about the basketball being bigger than the rim. There’s a fun and funny alternate history revolving around the Olympics never dropping Tug of War. There’s a story about the 2017 Golden State Warriors time-traveling to play the NBA’s great teams and a great one where Game 7 of the 2016 World Series turns into every sports movie ever made.
Speaking of basketball, there’s a great series of injury what-ifs. The best of them are probably Bob Ryan’s musings on a healthy-kneed Bill Walton and Claude Johnson’s deep dive into how fixing a single errant pass in the late 1940s could have completely altered the NBA landscape.
And those are just some of the what-ifs at play.
“Upon Further Review” captures the sense of inquiry that comes with being a sports fan. Sports impacts society to a much greater degree than many people realize; some of these essays illustrate that reality beautifully. Others are wonkier, focusing more on how changes might affect the sports themselves. Still others are gleefully absurd, recognizing the inherent irrationality of sports fandom while still celebrating it.
It's a collection of top-tier writing talent here, covering a wide array of subjects. Even the most casual sports fan will find essays that engage and excite. Football, basketball, baseball – they are certainly the sports that receive the most attention. But hockey, boxing, soccer and the Olympics are represented. Even horse racing and chess get their due. It’s a broad swath of sports fandom being addressed.
“Upon Further Review” is a smart, thoughtful book. Every one of these 30-plus essays is worth a look; every reader will likely find themselves drawn to a different favorite, but they all have something meaningful to offer – even if it’s just a laugh. Sports are a vital component of our cultural fabric; it’s a lot of fun to wonder at the different ways those threads might have been woven together.
Sports fandom is a funny thing. Not only do we love talking about what happened in a given game or season or career, but we also love asking questions about all those things. Specifically … what if? What if something changed fundamentally about the games that we love? And what if those changes resulted in more changes and those changes led to still more changes and so on?
That’s the guiding force behind “Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History.” Assembled and curated by Mike Pesca, this collection of essays takes a look at what might have happened if certain aspects of the sports world had played out differently. Some of them address the topic at hand with scholarly seriousness, while others work with tongue planted firmly in cheek, but all of them are engaging looks at diverging potential paths through sports history.
Bear in mind, these aren’t necessarily pieces about merely changing outcomes of specific games; the reality is that most individual contests (even championships) don’t matter in the grander scheme. A different victor would rarely have the sort of broad impact that Pesca wanted these essays to explore.
And broad impact is what we get. Across these 31 essays – written by all manner of experts and luminaries – we’re granted an opportunity to witness some compelling alternate histories play out.
The very first essay sets a serious tone. We hit the ground running with Leigh Montville, who writes about the possible repercussions of Muhammad Ali receiving his draft deferment. Instead of a cultural icon, perhaps Ali goes on to simply be a great boxer. Yes, he wouldn’t have had those lost years of his prime, which could have resulted in a more impressive record. But Ali’s struggles were what made him into such a giant societal figure. He’s a top-notch fighter, not a legend.
Another fascinating what-if comes from Shira Springer, who extrapolates what might have been if the United States had ultimately boycotted the 1936 Berlin Olympics on both individual and societal levels. Still another – written by Mary Pilon – wonders about a world where Title IX never was.
There are a couple of essays that discuss potential reinventions of football – one discussing how things might have changed if the game had been changed earlier, another about if the game was created today. Baseball is well-represented as well. A couple of favorite writers of mine – Ben Lindbergh and Will Leitch – penned essays; Lindbergh’s was about MLB beginning steroid testing in 1991, while Leitch’s wondered what baseball would be like if played just one day a week.
While individual contests aren’t a focus, there are a couple of what-ifs along those lines as well. What if Bucky Dent hadn’t hit that homer in 1978? What if Tom Brady never took over for Drew Bledsoe? What happens to the merger if the Jets lose Super Bowl III? What if Team USA hadn’t won the 1999 Women’s World Cup? What if Buster Douglas hadn’t defeated Mike Tyson? What if Billie Jean King hadn’t beaten Bobby Riggs?
And then there are the straight-up goofy ones. Noted sports weirdo Jon Bois has a great piece about the basketball being bigger than the rim. There’s a fun and funny alternate history revolving around the Olympics never dropping Tug of War. There’s a story about the 2017 Golden State Warriors time-traveling to play the NBA’s great teams and a great one where Game 7 of the 2016 World Series turns into every sports movie ever made.
Speaking of basketball, there’s a great series of injury what-ifs. The best of them are probably Bob Ryan’s musings on a healthy-kneed Bill Walton and Claude Johnson’s deep dive into how fixing a single errant pass in the late 1940s could have completely altered the NBA landscape.
And those are just some of the what-ifs at play.
“Upon Further Review” captures the sense of inquiry that comes with being a sports fan. Sports impacts society to a much greater degree than many people realize; some of these essays illustrate that reality beautifully. Others are wonkier, focusing more on how changes might affect the sports themselves. Still others are gleefully absurd, recognizing the inherent irrationality of sports fandom while still celebrating it.
It's a collection of top-tier writing talent here, covering a wide array of subjects. Even the most casual sports fan will find essays that engage and excite. Football, basketball, baseball – they are certainly the sports that receive the most attention. But hockey, boxing, soccer and the Olympics are represented. Even horse racing and chess get their due. It’s a broad swath of sports fandom being addressed.
“Upon Further Review” is a smart, thoughtful book. Every one of these 30-plus essays is worth a look; every reader will likely find themselves drawn to a different favorite, but they all have something meaningful to offer – even if it’s just a laugh. Sports are a vital component of our cultural fabric; it’s a lot of fun to wonder at the different ways those threads might have been woven together.
January 2, 2019
As several reviewers have noted, the challenge in summing up this book is its dramatic variability from essay to essay. It depends greatly on the particular interests of the reader, as many essays will be unable to capture personal interest, even if it does the service of offering sufficient context.
Still, I don't want to hold the book back too far based on its inclusion of topics that couldn't interest me anyway. It's going for breadth, and that's fine. Instead I'll note some general trends and identify some of the essays I liked best. Because there's no need to read this cover to cover; if an essay isn't working for you, there's no reason not to just skip it.
The essays break down into a few general categories:
1) What if this specific play/game had gone differently? Would things be different generally?
2) What if the weird, niche sport I like was as popular as the NFL?
3) What if the nature of the sport I like were different due to rule changes, either historical or projected into the future?
4) What if historical events outside the sport that impacted it were different?
5) Miscellaneous dalliances with the absurd.
For #1, the interest level will depend a lot on the reader. For those with no investment in certain games, players, franchises or sports, this will be unlikely to resonate. But for those that do like that thing, however, it can be intensely interesting.
#2 got the most uninteresting. Every author in this category seemed to dream about Lebron James playing the weird sport they like and it being on TV a lot. The good ones questioned whether the sport would still be likable in the same way.
#3 is some of the most broadly appealing. We may not know much about specific histories in sports, but most readers will have a general understanding of sports they don't follow. Seeing the chain of events that might follow from a fundamental reassessment of that sport's norms is a fun thought experiment.
#4 is often pretty good too, since these take broader social forces that emanated from and impacted sports in ways that non-fans can relate to.
#5 is deeply variable, mostly based on one's sense of humor. It crosses over with several categories, but clearly several authors felt more license to take the project other than fully seriously.
So here are some essays that typified what the book does well:
-What if Major League Baseball Had Started Testing for Steroids in 1991? by Ben Lindbergh
I'm a fan of the author, and this essay is the reason I checked out the book. It's a clear, statistically-driven analysis of the ways that we tend to overestimate the impact of the so-called Steroid Era on baseball.
-What if Football were Reinvented Today? by Nate Jackson
Football, as a sport, is at a strange place right now. It has a political edge that is impossible to ignore, and the ramifications of its health risks are becoming hard to ignore for more and more people. This essay, from a former NFL player, examines ways to retain the fundamental characteristics of the game while also making it safer and more exciting. Worth taking seriously.
-What if the Olympics Had Never Dropped Tug-of-War? by Nate DiMeo
One of the best absurd pieces, the author not only highlights a strange piece of Olympic trivia, he makes a ridiculous idea seem interesting by asking how the sport might have grown in stature as a political metaphor in the Cold War era.
-What if Basketball Rims were Smaller than Basketballs? by Jon Bois
Probably one of the few legitimately funny pieces, it simply consists of a broadcast of a basketball game in which scoring points is physically impossible, but everyone keeps trying.
At the end of the day, it's a fast read. It's likely that there's something here for most fans of sport, including some things you probably wouldn't think would catch your interest. Some drag and some won't catch your interest regardless, but you can just skip those.
Still, I don't want to hold the book back too far based on its inclusion of topics that couldn't interest me anyway. It's going for breadth, and that's fine. Instead I'll note some general trends and identify some of the essays I liked best. Because there's no need to read this cover to cover; if an essay isn't working for you, there's no reason not to just skip it.
The essays break down into a few general categories:
1) What if this specific play/game had gone differently? Would things be different generally?
2) What if the weird, niche sport I like was as popular as the NFL?
3) What if the nature of the sport I like were different due to rule changes, either historical or projected into the future?
4) What if historical events outside the sport that impacted it were different?
5) Miscellaneous dalliances with the absurd.
For #1, the interest level will depend a lot on the reader. For those with no investment in certain games, players, franchises or sports, this will be unlikely to resonate. But for those that do like that thing, however, it can be intensely interesting.
#2 got the most uninteresting. Every author in this category seemed to dream about Lebron James playing the weird sport they like and it being on TV a lot. The good ones questioned whether the sport would still be likable in the same way.
#3 is some of the most broadly appealing. We may not know much about specific histories in sports, but most readers will have a general understanding of sports they don't follow. Seeing the chain of events that might follow from a fundamental reassessment of that sport's norms is a fun thought experiment.
#4 is often pretty good too, since these take broader social forces that emanated from and impacted sports in ways that non-fans can relate to.
#5 is deeply variable, mostly based on one's sense of humor. It crosses over with several categories, but clearly several authors felt more license to take the project other than fully seriously.
So here are some essays that typified what the book does well:
-What if Major League Baseball Had Started Testing for Steroids in 1991? by Ben Lindbergh
I'm a fan of the author, and this essay is the reason I checked out the book. It's a clear, statistically-driven analysis of the ways that we tend to overestimate the impact of the so-called Steroid Era on baseball.
-What if Football were Reinvented Today? by Nate Jackson
Football, as a sport, is at a strange place right now. It has a political edge that is impossible to ignore, and the ramifications of its health risks are becoming hard to ignore for more and more people. This essay, from a former NFL player, examines ways to retain the fundamental characteristics of the game while also making it safer and more exciting. Worth taking seriously.
-What if the Olympics Had Never Dropped Tug-of-War? by Nate DiMeo
One of the best absurd pieces, the author not only highlights a strange piece of Olympic trivia, he makes a ridiculous idea seem interesting by asking how the sport might have grown in stature as a political metaphor in the Cold War era.
-What if Basketball Rims were Smaller than Basketballs? by Jon Bois
Probably one of the few legitimately funny pieces, it simply consists of a broadcast of a basketball game in which scoring points is physically impossible, but everyone keeps trying.
At the end of the day, it's a fast read. It's likely that there's something here for most fans of sport, including some things you probably wouldn't think would catch your interest. Some drag and some won't catch your interest regardless, but you can just skip those.
January 17, 2019
“What if...” is a common question asked when something better or worse could have happened in a certain situation, especially in sports. Mike Pesca has taken the stories of thirty-one writers and edited them into a collection of “the greatest what-ifs in sports history”. Upon Further Review takes an in-depth analysis with many famous “what-ifs” in sports history. With no clear theme to these stories, there is a wide variety of sports ranging from baseball to horseback riding and almost every of other sport you could name. “What If Football Were Reinvented Today?”, Written by Nate Jackson, is a clear favorite. This story dives into what America’s pastime, football, would be like if it were reinvented today.
Jackson’s story mainly focuses on the dangers of football and how many of the injuries that come with it can be prevented. Since the beginning, football has been considered too dangerous of a sport to play, and it is true. Football can leave you in a world of hurt, during, and even after your playing days. “Sunday’s symphony of smashing helmets causes a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE; along with the ubiquitous broken bones, torn ligaments, snapped tendons, and degenerated joints. Football in many cases, equals pain and suffering. It always has.” (106) Jackson digs deep into the root of the problem to develop a safer, reinvented game. He keeps the structure of the game how it is and focuses on the playing style that causes players to get hurt. Usually most injuries take place on the line of scrimmage, or if you’re not familiar with that term, the line from where the ball is snapped and also where the lineman line up. Most injuries often take place here because of the hard hits and massive men. Jackson proposes spreading out the offense to limit injuries. No more pockets for the quarterback who is practically irrelevant in this style of offense. Also, Jackson believes speeding up the game to limit the big hits, due to the lack of stamina, will help make the game more safe, but also more interesting and fast-paced. Jackson makes rule changes to spread the game out and make it faster for these reasons. He concludes his story with how this process will not only prevent injuries but help bring more fans and revenue to the sport.
This book, as I expected, was filled with multiple well-written, interesting stories, but also, multiple asinine stories that were far-fetched. I believe that the gems of the book are worth the digging through the stories to find. Although not all stories were interesting, I would recommend this book to any sports fans, even many casual sports fans could interpret and understand the majority of the stories. I really liked many of the ideas throughout the book, especially Jackson’s. He makes a great point about how football promotes players bad eating habits. “Why encourage the creation of these outsized bodies in sport, knowing that they face grave health risks in life? “ (108) I really like the way he deciphers how linemans size is the root of all injuries and by changing the rules this would no longer be a problem. I believe this is a good read to any sports fans trying to spread their horizon of sports, as well as learn more about sports history.
Jackson’s story mainly focuses on the dangers of football and how many of the injuries that come with it can be prevented. Since the beginning, football has been considered too dangerous of a sport to play, and it is true. Football can leave you in a world of hurt, during, and even after your playing days. “Sunday’s symphony of smashing helmets causes a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE; along with the ubiquitous broken bones, torn ligaments, snapped tendons, and degenerated joints. Football in many cases, equals pain and suffering. It always has.” (106) Jackson digs deep into the root of the problem to develop a safer, reinvented game. He keeps the structure of the game how it is and focuses on the playing style that causes players to get hurt. Usually most injuries take place on the line of scrimmage, or if you’re not familiar with that term, the line from where the ball is snapped and also where the lineman line up. Most injuries often take place here because of the hard hits and massive men. Jackson proposes spreading out the offense to limit injuries. No more pockets for the quarterback who is practically irrelevant in this style of offense. Also, Jackson believes speeding up the game to limit the big hits, due to the lack of stamina, will help make the game more safe, but also more interesting and fast-paced. Jackson makes rule changes to spread the game out and make it faster for these reasons. He concludes his story with how this process will not only prevent injuries but help bring more fans and revenue to the sport.
This book, as I expected, was filled with multiple well-written, interesting stories, but also, multiple asinine stories that were far-fetched. I believe that the gems of the book are worth the digging through the stories to find. Although not all stories were interesting, I would recommend this book to any sports fans, even many casual sports fans could interpret and understand the majority of the stories. I really liked many of the ideas throughout the book, especially Jackson’s. He makes a great point about how football promotes players bad eating habits. “Why encourage the creation of these outsized bodies in sport, knowing that they face grave health risks in life? “ (108) I really like the way he deciphers how linemans size is the root of all injuries and by changing the rules this would no longer be a problem. I believe this is a good read to any sports fans trying to spread their horizon of sports, as well as learn more about sports history.
September 19, 2018
The what if book of sports. That is what this book is about, the author has taken essays written by others and put together an interesting tail of what if? The United States boycotted the 1036 Olympics, would that have made more of an impression on the World to what was happening in Germany at the time, we would do it in 1980, interesting why we did not in 1936. What would have happened if the Giants did not win the pennant in 1951, the broadcast of the “Shot heard around the World”. A world series that had two young rookies Willie Mays for the Giants and Mickey Mantle for the Yankees, the Giants would lose. The author talks of other sporting events like Bucky Dent’s shot that put the Yankees back into the post season in 78, and what if Billy Riggs had beaten Jean King, that one I really did not read because at the time she was much better than him anyway. The chapter I liked was at the beginning about Cassius Clay, who later changed his named to Muhammad Ali. When you read this chapter the author takes you back to 1966, and how six months before the 24 year old Ali said “I have no personal quarrel with those Viet Cong”, that was his explanation, he went on to say a few more things and one must remember at that time he still could not eat at certain restaurants, or stay at hotels because of his race and this was after he won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics, and most of this was happening in his home town of Louisville. His hearing lasted three hours and had no government witnesses, but there was a lengthy report from the FBI. But in a letter sent to Ali’s draft board by a white southern judge he recommended that a Conscientious Objector classification should be granted. This would have been just another one of Ali’s stunning upsets, but wait this letter from the judge did not matter the justice department rejected the letter and recommended that Ali be classified as 1-A and subject to the draft. Everyone of course knows what happens, well think what would have happened if that letter would have stood would he have become as huge maybe, but really that justice department helped him because when it to the Supreme court they first were going to rule not in his favor and when that letter was produced it was unanimous in his favor, he did lose 4 and half years but what is he known for fighting the U.S. AND WINNING. Overall a good book. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
April 23, 2019
This book is a collection of short vignettes that examine a series of sports stories that might have turned out differently with a particular twist of fate, as well as the analysis of the long term implications of the "alternate reality." As one might imagine, with over thirty different writers participating, the quality of the individual chapters varies enormously. A couple of the chapters were so, well stupid, that they were almost unreadable. (The TNT b-ball analysts breaking down a game in a sport where the hoop is smaller than the basketball? What a waste of time.) A couple of chapters were pretty far-fetched, silly even: horse racing is still one of the top spectator sports in 21st century America; the most popular Olympic sport is the tug of far. There are some good stories for barroom arguments: how would the current Warriors have stacked up against Jordan's Bulls and Kobe's Lakers (the "what if" is "what if time travel were possible"); what were the most significant injuries in NBA history? One chapter that I really liked as a Buffalo Bills fan was: what if Drew Bledsoe hadn't been knocked out of a Patriots' game in 2001, and sixth round draft pick Tom Brady had never taken his place in the Pats line-up? (Brady leaves the NFL the next year and becomes a high school coach and Belichick is a TV analyst a few years later.) There is one very interesting chapter about the birth of the NBA and how the powers that be conspired to keep an all-black team named the New York Renaissance out of the original league. This chapter relates the claim that Abe Saperstein, the owner of the Harlem Globetrotters, made a deal with the other early professional leagues: he would make his team available to play exhibition games before the league games in order to boost attendance, and the professional leagues would not sign black players, leaving some of the best players in the world available only to teams like the Globetrotters. But my favorite chapter was the first, which argued that Muhammad Ali, and the world, actually benefitted from his absence from boxing during his prime due to his refusal to fight in Vietnam. Had Ali not been suspended, the writer argues, he would now simply be regarded as one of boxing's greatest fighters, but not as one of the greatest political/inspirational figures of the 20th century. In any event, the book is a quick read, and one can easily skip over the chapters that don't appeal without sacrificing any continuity.
July 4, 2018
(Audiobook) I tend to like history and sports, and I really like counterfactual history, especially when it comes to sports...thus, this work is very much in my proverbial wheelhouse. I really enjoyed reading/listening to the various scenarios postulated in this work. Pesca compiles a work that is an entertaining mix of very realistic scenarios to some of the more whimsical and imaginative counterfactuals you could come up with in an article.
Yet, there is so much to learn and gleam from the analysis that goes into a counterfactual. The idea that the 2016-2017 Golden State Warriors could so convincingly trounce the 1996-1997 Chicago Bulls in a one-game match up seems way out there, but then the analysis of the difference in rules and how both teams executed their offenses and how they played defense was very enlightening. The idea that track and field or horse-racing could have trumped football as the greatest sporting focus for American athletes and spectators or that the capstone event for any Summer Olympics was the tug-of-war seems far-fetched...but once you get into the meat of the writing, it becomes apparent that actually, those scenarios could have happened. To make an effective counterfactual, you have to have the understanding of the details and actions that happened in reality, and how, realistically, that counterfactual could become a reality. This work manages that (at least for the realistic scenarios).
I did enjoy some of the lighthearted segments (the idea that the 2016 World Series between the Cubs and the Indians came down to a mix of almost every single sports-related movie in the past 50 years was quite amusing...as was the idea of the game of basketball played with a ball that was so much larger than the rim...). It was clearly a labor of love for those who wrote the articles, and thus, it was a labor of love to read/listen to the works. You can agree or disagree with the outcomes, but you can't deny the work that went into those articles. The various readers do a great job with the material, but they would have had to work to screw it up. For me, this was a must-read/listen, and for any fan of sports/history, this is absolutely worth the time to read/listen.
Yet, there is so much to learn and gleam from the analysis that goes into a counterfactual. The idea that the 2016-2017 Golden State Warriors could so convincingly trounce the 1996-1997 Chicago Bulls in a one-game match up seems way out there, but then the analysis of the difference in rules and how both teams executed their offenses and how they played defense was very enlightening. The idea that track and field or horse-racing could have trumped football as the greatest sporting focus for American athletes and spectators or that the capstone event for any Summer Olympics was the tug-of-war seems far-fetched...but once you get into the meat of the writing, it becomes apparent that actually, those scenarios could have happened. To make an effective counterfactual, you have to have the understanding of the details and actions that happened in reality, and how, realistically, that counterfactual could become a reality. This work manages that (at least for the realistic scenarios).
I did enjoy some of the lighthearted segments (the idea that the 2016 World Series between the Cubs and the Indians came down to a mix of almost every single sports-related movie in the past 50 years was quite amusing...as was the idea of the game of basketball played with a ball that was so much larger than the rim...). It was clearly a labor of love for those who wrote the articles, and thus, it was a labor of love to read/listen to the works. You can agree or disagree with the outcomes, but you can't deny the work that went into those articles. The various readers do a great job with the material, but they would have had to work to screw it up. For me, this was a must-read/listen, and for any fan of sports/history, this is absolutely worth the time to read/listen.
April 5, 2022
Under further review is a what if about lots of different sports and is written by Mike Pesca. These what if’s go anywhere in this book from Boxing to Baseball. I do not usually read non-fiction books however I love sports so I decided to give this book a try.
I like this book because not only is it about sports but it is about a certain topic that all sports fan’s discuss at one point or another, that being the what if’s. One of my favorite what ifs in this book is what if the 2017 Golden State Warriors went back in time to face the 1995 Chicago Bulls. The book then goes on to compare the statistics of both teams and also goes into the era of each team (basically it compares how other teams played in those years.) Lastly I should mention that each chapter is a what if scenario.
This book did not really have a set ending meaning there was no shocking or action filled thing at the end of the book. It was just what if’s on sports. My favorite part/chapter was the one I just mentioned or another one. That other one was about what if Muhammad Ali went into the military. It then goes into talk about the story behind it and the different scenarios. I think I like this one because I was not really into boxing but this particular chapter got me interested.
Lastly, I would really recommend this book to anyone. I mean even if you don't watch or play sports it's not like you need to know the rules. This book is similar to not much else and thats why I liked it. The author managed to write not only a non fiction sports book but also make it really interesting.
I like this book because not only is it about sports but it is about a certain topic that all sports fan’s discuss at one point or another, that being the what if’s. One of my favorite what ifs in this book is what if the 2017 Golden State Warriors went back in time to face the 1995 Chicago Bulls. The book then goes on to compare the statistics of both teams and also goes into the era of each team (basically it compares how other teams played in those years.) Lastly I should mention that each chapter is a what if scenario.
This book did not really have a set ending meaning there was no shocking or action filled thing at the end of the book. It was just what if’s on sports. My favorite part/chapter was the one I just mentioned or another one. That other one was about what if Muhammad Ali went into the military. It then goes into talk about the story behind it and the different scenarios. I think I like this one because I was not really into boxing but this particular chapter got me interested.
Lastly, I would really recommend this book to anyone. I mean even if you don't watch or play sports it's not like you need to know the rules. This book is similar to not much else and thats why I liked it. The author managed to write not only a non fiction sports book but also make it really interesting.
October 4, 2018
This is an interesting premise that needs no selling to any sports fan, since all fans wonder about the what-ifs in sports. What if X had happened? What would the effect have been, and what about the butterfly effect? The book is hit or miss. It's a big collection of essays, all by different authors, so there's no through line. Some of them are overly detailed and serious. Some are imaginative. Some are humorous, or at least meant to be. Some are by Jesse Eisenberg, for no real reason at all. The good news about the essay aspect is you can skim or skip the ones that aren't interesting to you.
I wasn't particularly interested in finding out how Jesse Eisenberg's letter to the Suns changed the course of human history, and you probably won't be either. But the history behind Nat Sweetwater Clinton and the NBA was very interesting, and there are other fascinating topics. But these aren't the what-ifs you're expecting. There's no what-if a trade happened or what-if a shot was made or rimmed out, not the big sports moments we all wonder. These are broader and more theoretical.
The cover shows Bill Buckner and Dwight Clark, but this book is not about those moments. Skip around and grab a few essays that look interesting to you. A few stuck with me, but most were skims or misses. It felt like a lot of the authors were just writing about a pet project interest. You won't be missing much if you skip.
I wasn't particularly interested in finding out how Jesse Eisenberg's letter to the Suns changed the course of human history, and you probably won't be either. But the history behind Nat Sweetwater Clinton and the NBA was very interesting, and there are other fascinating topics. But these aren't the what-ifs you're expecting. There's no what-if a trade happened or what-if a shot was made or rimmed out, not the big sports moments we all wonder. These are broader and more theoretical.
The cover shows Bill Buckner and Dwight Clark, but this book is not about those moments. Skip around and grab a few essays that look interesting to you. A few stuck with me, but most were skims or misses. It felt like a lot of the authors were just writing about a pet project interest. You won't be missing much if you skip.
February 13, 2019
This book was...fine. I think I didn't appreciate it as much as I could of because I'm not a huge sports fan (plus I have a terrible memory), so a lot of the chapters were, I'm guessing, very clever about mentioning things that didn't really happen, etc. But a lot of it was lost on me.
I bought the book because I saw Jon Bois wrote a chapter, and as expected "What If Basketball Rims Were Smaller Than Basketballs?" was funny! Other chapters I particularly enjoyed were:
- "What If Billie Jean King Had Lost to Bobby Riggs?" - I grew up in Houston and had heard of the Battle of the Sexes, but didn't realize it was such a big deal at the time!
- "What If a Blimp Full of Money Had Exploded over World Track Headquarters in 1952?" - this one wasn't super interesting but the premise is pretty hilarious :-)
- "What If Baseball Teams Only Played Once a Week?" - I had read an article about this premise before (maybe by the same guy?) but it was still pretty interesting.
- "What If Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton's Pass Hadn't Gone Awry?" - Lots of interesting stuff about the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional basketball team in the 1940's that almost got to join the NBA.
- "What If Game 7 of the 2016 World Series Had Turned Into Every Sports Movie Ever Made?" - pretty funny, even if I'm pretty sure I only got like 20% of the references :-)
I bought the book because I saw Jon Bois wrote a chapter, and as expected "What If Basketball Rims Were Smaller Than Basketballs?" was funny! Other chapters I particularly enjoyed were:
- "What If Billie Jean King Had Lost to Bobby Riggs?" - I grew up in Houston and had heard of the Battle of the Sexes, but didn't realize it was such a big deal at the time!
- "What If a Blimp Full of Money Had Exploded over World Track Headquarters in 1952?" - this one wasn't super interesting but the premise is pretty hilarious :-)
- "What If Baseball Teams Only Played Once a Week?" - I had read an article about this premise before (maybe by the same guy?) but it was still pretty interesting.
- "What If Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton's Pass Hadn't Gone Awry?" - Lots of interesting stuff about the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional basketball team in the 1940's that almost got to join the NBA.
- "What If Game 7 of the 2016 World Series Had Turned Into Every Sports Movie Ever Made?" - pretty funny, even if I'm pretty sure I only got like 20% of the references :-)
December 5, 2020
This was a mixed bag as an audiobook. Some of these counterfactual speculative essays would be a better read than listened to, especially when the narrator is reading stat lines. The most fun essays were the completely goofy ones- what if tug-of-war remained an Olympic sport, and became central to world history? What if track and field had money, and famous athletes from other sports participated in that sport rather than basketball or football? (Apparently baseball players mostly remain baseball players). What if baseball teams only played one game per week?
A second set, where authors speculate how a changed game or play outcome would change an individual or team's fortune had good and boring essays. It was sad learning the truth about how the Harlem Globetrotters actively stymied integration in professional basketball, which led to an interesting "What If?" An essay about a baseball playoff game was so vividly written, I actually went to YouTube to verify how the game ended in real life. Others were less memorable.
Finally, the least successful essays were those around "What if so-and-so didn't get injured?" Except for one about the New England Patriots, I generally just let the audio play in the background and just got whatever I could from ambient osmosis.
But, if you're a sports fan, and you're looking for something that will make you think, and occasionally laugh, I recommend reading or listening to this book.
A second set, where authors speculate how a changed game or play outcome would change an individual or team's fortune had good and boring essays. It was sad learning the truth about how the Harlem Globetrotters actively stymied integration in professional basketball, which led to an interesting "What If?" An essay about a baseball playoff game was so vividly written, I actually went to YouTube to verify how the game ended in real life. Others were less memorable.
Finally, the least successful essays were those around "What if so-and-so didn't get injured?" Except for one about the New England Patriots, I generally just let the audio play in the background and just got whatever I could from ambient osmosis.
But, if you're a sports fan, and you're looking for something that will make you think, and occasionally laugh, I recommend reading or listening to this book.
September 28, 2018
The theme of the book is an attractive: What would have happened in sports if.......? Editor Mike has Pesca has wide a wide range of sports for his contributors. The problem is one of editing. The chapters are so different in form and content that it’s difficult to find a theme.
Chapter 19 has a long !?and sometimes tedious analysis of NBA in juries.
The chapter on “what would have happened” if the Dodgers stayed in Broklyn asks a big question about urban life but.....there are too many things to consider.
Bobby Fisher gets a chapter!!!
A chapter asks what would happen if MLB played only on Sunday. There would be far fewer pitchers. But, would anyone pay attention to the game?
One chapter delves deeply into human psyche by asking if “Nixon Had Been Good at Football?” The immediately prior chapter asks the less-than-human-exploration question: Whaty If the National League HAd the DH?”
The strangest chapter is “What If Basketball Rims Were Smaller than Basketballs?
On the other hand, one chapter—early in the book—explores what would have happened if the US had boycotted the 1936 Olympics.
Pesca has a good idea for a book. The execution gets tangled up in too many themes.
Chapter 19 has a long !?and sometimes tedious analysis of NBA in juries.
The chapter on “what would have happened” if the Dodgers stayed in Broklyn asks a big question about urban life but.....there are too many things to consider.
Bobby Fisher gets a chapter!!!
A chapter asks what would happen if MLB played only on Sunday. There would be far fewer pitchers. But, would anyone pay attention to the game?
One chapter delves deeply into human psyche by asking if “Nixon Had Been Good at Football?” The immediately prior chapter asks the less-than-human-exploration question: Whaty If the National League HAd the DH?”
The strangest chapter is “What If Basketball Rims Were Smaller than Basketballs?
On the other hand, one chapter—early in the book—explores what would have happened if the US had boycotted the 1936 Olympics.
Pesca has a good idea for a book. The execution gets tangled up in too many themes.
March 19, 2019
Are you a sports fan who likes to play the what-if game? Perhaps you've asked yourself, what if the United States had boycotted the Berlin Olympics of 1936, preventing Jesse Owens from winning five gold medals and showing up the Nazis on a global stage? What if pro football had evolved with a whole different set of rules than what we have now, of if the sport of track and field, improbable as it may seem, had somehow grown into the hot media commodity that pro basketball is today? How might the 1978 World Series have transpired were it not for Bucky Dent's unlikely home run? What if Bill Walton had actually managed to have healthy knees during his NBA career?
If you know Mike Pesca from the podcasting world, you'll know that he combines a good-humored curiosity with being the smartest guy in the room. He also brings other sports nuts and eggheads into the conversation, as writers like Stephen Fatsis and Jeremy Schapp join the fun. A few of the scenarios are not quite as great as the others (I can pass on "What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs?" by Jon Bois) but the discussion of Muhammad Ali not getting his draft deferrment or Title IX never happening were highly thought provoking.
If you know Mike Pesca from the podcasting world, you'll know that he combines a good-humored curiosity with being the smartest guy in the room. He also brings other sports nuts and eggheads into the conversation, as writers like Stephen Fatsis and Jeremy Schapp join the fun. A few of the scenarios are not quite as great as the others (I can pass on "What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs?" by Jon Bois) but the discussion of Muhammad Ali not getting his draft deferrment or Title IX never happening were highly thought provoking.
April 12, 2019
I listen to Pesca every weekday, and especially like when he gets contrarian. And I liked the audio previews of this book (especially the Brooklyn Dodgers segment on NPR). But most of the book fell a little flat for me. Rather than being projections into alternate realities, they were mostly history lessons. Fatsis nailed his piece with emotion, Bois was fun (if too long) about basketball, and Hock and Jackson’s serious thoughts on changing how athletes are treated were definitely worth reading.
Maybe it’s like any collection of essays/short stories by various writers: if you’re finding something for everyone, not every thing will be to every reader’s liking.
(I should add that, yet again, Gladwell introduces something speculative, then immediately acts as if it’s establish fact. That’s his whole schtick!)
Maybe it’s like any collection of essays/short stories by various writers: if you’re finding something for everyone, not every thing will be to every reader’s liking.
(I should add that, yet again, Gladwell introduces something speculative, then immediately acts as if it’s establish fact. That’s his whole schtick!)
June 20, 2018
As a fan of sports and of alternate history and the concept of What if... stories, I thought this would be a great read. I was actually disappointed with this collection. Of the 32 short stories, there were more misses than hits with an average of below the Mendoza line. I would have liked it to have focused on a single sport instead of dying sports like horse racing and boxing. Most disappointing is that the stories were more flight of fancy and not real What If... scenarios. For example: "What If basketballs were bigger than the rim?" or "What if the last game of the 2016 World Series was a sports movie?" Again, it really had little to do with sports history other than the setting of fiction.
August 27, 2020
Very mixed reaction to this book. I really loved the introduction by Malcolm Gladwell – I love his reading style and his “what if” information that look at how US sports today might look different based on where most US slaves came from in Africa was very eye-opening – but still “what if.” I also liked the couple of chapters written by and read by women – What if there were no Title 9 and What if Billie Jean King had lost – very revealing suppositions. I also learned quite a bit about certain sports – e.g. horse racing, But, most of the chapters were read in read in loud voices and were ironic or attempts to be funny (but were not) - both approaches that I really dislike. Still, the chapters are short and I enjoyed enough of the book to make it worth listening to.
September 18, 2023
This book is a collection of essays, each of which is a sports journalist’s thoughts about what might have happened had certain sporting events/decisions turned out differently – What if Bobby Riggs beat Billie Jean King? What if Major League Baseball was only played once a week? What if Wilt Chamberlain ditched basketball for track?
Despite this book’s rather low rating on Goodreads, I hoped it would be an entertaining listen. Unfortunately, maybe because I really don’t care much about some of the sports discussed, it didn’t really hold my interest. A few of the essays caught my attention, and one on American football made me chuckle a few times, but overall, the book was disappointing.
Despite this book’s rather low rating on Goodreads, I hoped it would be an entertaining listen. Unfortunately, maybe because I really don’t care much about some of the sports discussed, it didn’t really hold my interest. A few of the essays caught my attention, and one on American football made me chuckle a few times, but overall, the book was disappointing.
March 27, 2024
Reviews of each segment (out of 10):
Ali draft deferment 9
Football never existed- 5
US boycott of Hitler Olympics- 8
2017 Warriors time travel- 4
Horse Racing Most Popular- 6
Dan Majerle fan letter- 6
Gretzky not an Oiler- 6
MLB steroid testing- 7
Bucky Dent- 5
Tarkanian- 5
NFL invented today- 7.5
Always PR flaks- 8
No Title IX- 8
Brady didn’t fill in for Bledsoe- 7
1999 USWNT loss- 6.5
Tug of War- 5.5
Billie Jean King loses- 8
Tyson beats Douglass- 7
NBA injury history- 6.5
Dodgers leave Brooklyn- 6
Track Money- 7
Baseball 1x/week- 9
Bobby Fischer mental help- 4.5
Rims smaller than basketballs- 2
Jets lose SB III- 8
NL had DH- 5
Nixon good at football- 7
Walton had good knees- 6
Sweetwater Clifton pass- 5
Roger Bannister trained today- 7
Game 7 of 2016 WS as a movie- 3
Ali draft deferment 9
Football never existed- 5
US boycott of Hitler Olympics- 8
2017 Warriors time travel- 4
Horse Racing Most Popular- 6
Dan Majerle fan letter- 6
Gretzky not an Oiler- 6
MLB steroid testing- 7
Bucky Dent- 5
Tarkanian- 5
NFL invented today- 7.5
Always PR flaks- 8
No Title IX- 8
Brady didn’t fill in for Bledsoe- 7
1999 USWNT loss- 6.5
Tug of War- 5.5
Billie Jean King loses- 8
Tyson beats Douglass- 7
NBA injury history- 6.5
Dodgers leave Brooklyn- 6
Track Money- 7
Baseball 1x/week- 9
Bobby Fischer mental help- 4.5
Rims smaller than basketballs- 2
Jets lose SB III- 8
NL had DH- 5
Nixon good at football- 7
Walton had good knees- 6
Sweetwater Clifton pass- 5
Roger Bannister trained today- 7
Game 7 of 2016 WS as a movie- 3
May 24, 2024
As others have noted, there are some really thoughtful and well written essays in this book. But then there are some that are absolutely atrocious. I went down the list and rated every essay...trying to come up with a fair composite score for the book. It ended up being 3.45 stars on average. I ended up rounding down because those poor attempts at humor or fanfics should have been edited out of this book. It was a shock...because teh first essay about Ali set such high expectations for this book.
I recommend reading this...but if you get 2 pages into a particular essay and think its garbage...it probably won't get better. Feel free to skip to the next one...wish I had followed my own advice.
I recommend reading this...but if you get 2 pages into a particular essay and think its garbage...it probably won't get better. Feel free to skip to the next one...wish I had followed my own advice.
August 31, 2018
A collection of mostly so-so essays and inside jokes (if you're not already a sports fan) with the occasional flash of brilliance.
Easily the highlight of the book is "What If Football Were Reinvented Today?" - a true gem and worth the cost of the book. I truly hope this becomes the blueprint for an American pastime that causes less traumatic brain injury, especially for the thousands and thousands of young athletes who just want to play ball.
Thought-provoking honorable mentions include What If...
- Muhammad Ali Had Gotten His Draft Deferment?
- the United States Had Boycotted Hitler's Olympics?
Hmm... I thought there were more but those were really the main standouts for me. 3 for 31... how's that for a batting average?
Easily the highlight of the book is "What If Football Were Reinvented Today?" - a true gem and worth the cost of the book. I truly hope this becomes the blueprint for an American pastime that causes less traumatic brain injury, especially for the thousands and thousands of young athletes who just want to play ball.
Thought-provoking honorable mentions include What If...
- Muhammad Ali Had Gotten His Draft Deferment?
- the United States Had Boycotted Hitler's Olympics?
Hmm... I thought there were more but those were really the main standouts for me. 3 for 31... how's that for a batting average?
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