You Gotta Play Hurt

by Dan Jenkins

From the author of Semi-Tough comes a hilarious novel chronicling one year in the life of irreverent sports columnist Jim Tom Pinch. ​Jim Tom Pinch is a unabashed sportswriter who has followed around and reported on too many blonde-haired skiers, basketball players with names like Potatus Fry, and Russian figure skaters who want to know how much a house with a toilet costs in America.Now he tells the story of a year of romance, cursing, bimbos, touchdowns, pandering, padded expense accounts­—from the Olympics to the Indy 500 to the heavyweight championship—a year that will leave neither Jim Tom nor the wide world of sports the same."Bawdy, bitter, very funny...Jenkins's farewell salute to big-time sportswriting is a tell-all novel that deflates the hype around each and every event, from the Olympics to the Kentucky Derby to Wimbledon ( Kirkus Reviews ).

Genres: Sports, Fiction, Humor, Novels, Comedy, Football, Modern

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

Dan Jenkins was an American author and sportswriter, most notably for Sports Illustrated.

Jenkins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended R.L. Paschal High School and Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played on the varsity golf team. Jenkins worked for many publications including the Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Playboy, and Sports Illustrated. In 1985 he retired from Sports Illustrated and began writing books full-time and maintained a monthly column in Golf Digest magazine.

Larry King called Jenkins "the quintessential Sports Illustrated writer" and "the best sportswriter in America." Jenkins authored numerous works and over 500 articles for Sports Illustrated. In 1972, Jenkins wrote his first novel, Semi-Tough.

His daughter, Sally Jenkins, is a sports columnist for the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of my life as a sportswriter, only a hell of a lot more interesting. Dan Jenkins could write about golf and it would be -- oh wait, he does that and it is. Anyway, it's a year in the life of Jim Tom Pinch, who has appeared in several Jenkins novels previously. This time Jim Tom has the dream job: a columnist at a national sports magazine with three psychotic ex-wives, two crazy lovers, a "shitheel" for a boss, a good-for-nothing itinerant of a son and one terribly interesting and funny year on the job. Until recently, I held this book as the blueprint for my life. Impossible to find outside of used stores (best $2 I ever spent) but if you know me and put up collateral I'll let you borrow it. Priceless.

[Diener · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is out-of-print. What a crime! Dan Jenkins is hilarious. This book takes the reader on a wild journey with an irreverent fictional sportswriter as he covers the world's biggest sporting events during the course of a calendar year. My colleague and friend Dave Shelles introduced me to Jenkins and to this book when we were both sportswriters for a daily rag in suburban Dallas. The book changed my life, for better and for worse. I absolutely love it, and recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who likes sports, is not offended by politically incorrect humor and appreciates excellent writing.

[J.K. George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure who recommended this one ... probably one of my cousins who played a lot of sports in Kentucky. It has sat on my bookshelf for a year or two and suddenly, with a couple of "free weeks" of reading between book club selections, I picked Jenkins' book up and really got a kick out of it. It's obvious that he knows the score (key the pun music) and has for years. The basic plot, if there is one, is to take the reader through a year's worth of a potpourri of sporting events of all sorts, in lots of different places, and give one the insider "dope" on that it's like to the grizzled ol' pros who cover them. Some of these are extremely "insider-like," especially some of the big golf events and college football games, but some are pretty hit and miss, and the characters, while winning the name-game of clever monikers, are usually over the top and then some. There are a few chapters that were on the lame side, but most are clever and quite a few left me laughing out loud.

The descriptions of minorities are a bit non-PC for this time and age, and the use of the N-word is over the top. Generally, the minorities are dissed pretty soundly. There is sex ... a lot of it at times. The non-athletic part of the plot involves work place politics and the old who-gets-ahead theme, and is not a super heavy-weight contributor, but if you want a read that moves fast, very fast, from theme to theme, and will keep you shaking your head with belief and non-belief, this book is a hoot. JKG

[Jestoon425 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished You Gotta Play Hurt, the hilarious, ultra-politically incorrect sports novel by late journalist Dan Jenkins. In other words, totally up my alley 🤣.

The novel centers around fictional sportswriter Jim Tom Pinch, a sarcastic, straight-shooting man jaded by too many years on the job - or too many run-ins with inept editors. 🤣

Anyone who has ever written for a living or been involved with their school paper should read this ASAP. As should those who are naturally media skeptic - you may have some of your suspicions confirmed.

There is significant overlap between the character of Jim Tom Pinch and the real-life Dan Jenkins. Both attended Texas Christian University and both had long careers in sports journalism.

Real life sporting moments are also reprised with player names changed, such as the Boston Red Sox embarrassment at the 1986 World Series, and Al Unser Jr's last lap crash in the 1989 Indy 500 which cost him the win.

However, there is also a romantic side-plot which adds a juicy human element to an already lively and charming story. It's a shame that Jim Tom Pinch isn't real. I'd love to share a beer - or J&B on the rocks - with him.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dan Jenkins’ writing style is like a mixture of Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Robbins which I liked and there are quite a few funny moments in this book. However, the shallow characters never really appealed to me and the 390-page book seemed like it could have been written in about half that length.

[Dan Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago. It was very well-written and a highly entertaining read.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't beat Jenkins on the quips and the laughs,

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1992. A fun filled ride through a year in the life of a sports columnist.

[Murray Poppins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenkins at his very best!

[Luis Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fiction. A humor-filled novel about big-time sports and sportswriting. Jim Tom Pinch travels the globe, chronicling the often absurd world of sports while juggling ex-wives, love interests, butchering editors, oily executives and a wayward son.

Dan Jenkins is probably the greatest living sportswriter. The man has such a deft touch; his words are like a smooth putt on Augusta's lush greens. This isn't his best book but it's pretty damned good.

[Richard Lister · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to laugh out loud, this is your book. Dan Jenkins at his most hilarious, spinning the tales of Jim Tom Pinch, cynical sports writer and amiable ex husband. This may be his funniest book. You can reread it and still laugh.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a funny, solid view of professional athletics from one of the best sports journalists of our time.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book validates every stereotype about sportswriters, Texans, and magazine editors. The fact that there is absolutely no plot at all doesn't keep Jenkins from making some very off-color jokes.

[J.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely, positively, my favorite book. Hands down. End of story.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny!

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was really good, quite hilarious.

[Starbuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenkins is a great satirist. His send up of the Final Four alone is worth the read.

[Cheryl S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much of a plot, lots of foul language, but it did make me laugh.