Sport is Dead, Long Live Sport

It’s been a tough week for St. Louis sports fans. The US (led, in part, by former SLU star Brian McBride) was eliminated from the World Cup, the Cardinals have lost control of their pitching, and it was really humid all week! Despite these facts, Javier and I heroically and courageously overcame sports melancholy to begin revitalizing and retooling the store’s sports section. And I must say, we’re pretty excited about the direction it’s going in. In particular, we have several new boxing, baseball, and soccer titles on the shelves. And there are even a few new football, basketball, and golf (!!!??!!) books. Too many in all to list here, but I’ll highlight a couple for yinz.


Norman Mailer – The Fight. Two men, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, stepped into a ring in Zaire in 1975 to wage one of the most talked about boxing matches ever. The outcome of that bout changed both of their lives; it was also fodder for one of Mailer’s most well-respected works.

Roy Keane – Keane. Keane has been called brilliant, disgusting, a superstar, and a super failure. His explanations, rebutting of critics, and life story have made for a huge seller overseas (where soccer is king). Find out for yourself what all the fuss is about.

Mark Kriegel – Namath. Javier often says that Namath is one of the most Subterranean football players ever. He brought long hair and a rock ‘n’ roll attitude to a crew cut and clean living game (Mr. Johnny Unitas). And his legend (shamefully?) continues to grow—“I want to kiss you.”

Robert Whiting – You Gotta Have Wa. Whiting focuses on what makes Japanese baseball's concept of wa (“team unity”) so different from individualism in American sports. Amazingly, sport influences and reflects culture and society in Japan. Who would have thought? Certainly that kind of thing doesn’t happen in the States.

Magnum Soccer. A beautiful collection of soccer related photographs. Priests playing in a church yard, kids kicking it on the beach, Jamaican fans cheering for a losing side. And there’s an introduction written by Simon Kuper. It's great!

More to come,
Jason