From: Ballantine Books Publisher: Ballantine Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Ballantine Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 976 Publication Date: November 11, 2008 Release Date: November 11, 2008
Product Description: For more than ten years, the ESPN Sports Almanac has been the go-to reference for answers to nearly every sports question. From all-time record holders to yearly champions, from auto racing to the Iditarod, from the Australian Open to the Super Bowl—the ESPN Sports Almanac 2009 covers all the bases, with hundreds of photographs, thousands of tables, countless facts and figures, plus expert analysis from ESPN’s most respected commentators. Add fan input from ESPN.com’s SportsNation polls, along with ESPN’s unique blend of irreverence, and this new edition remains the reigning champion among sports information resources.
New for 2009: • Full recaps of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and Ryder Cup 2008 • Expanded sections of pro-football records • More in-depth fantasy sports league analysis • Bigger and better coverage of ballparks and arenas, mixed martial arts, and more
great gift book Bought the book for a sport fun Great cover many stories inside to enlighten anyone life!!
Great resource on sports trivia I love books like this. Jam-packed with facts, including sometimes little known facts. Sports trivia catches my attention. . . .
The ESPN Sports Almanac exemplifies the genre.
It begins with a look at the past year in sports. My favorite section in this part of the book is "Extra Points," weird things that happened. For example, John McEnroe, playing in a kind of "old-timers" match got thrown out of his match for going ballistic over a line call. I thought he'd mellowed?
Following are sections organized largely by sport: baseball, college football, pro football, college basketball, pro basketball, hockey, and a host of other topics (such as Halls of Fame, Olympic games, motor sports, and miscellaneous sports (such as bowling, chess, Westminster Kennel Club competition, Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champs, and so on).
Take baseball as an illustration. You have team hitting and pitching statistics (Among Chicago White Sox hitters, Jermaine Dye had the highest average among those with 125 or more at bats [.292], while Bobby Jencks had the lowest ERA among Sox pitchers [2.63]). I could spend an entire evening porting over such figures. There are also box scores of the 2008 post-season games; World Series winners from 1903 onward; home run champions each year; batting champ each year; Cy Young Award winner; and so on and on and on.
Another feature is a listing of Halls of Fame. For instance, looking at the Hockey Hall of Fame, I see some of the players whom I watched on TV and listened to on radio in the 1960s (Stan Mikita, Jean Beliveau, Gump Worsley) as well as recalled some classic officials (Andy van Hellemond and Ray Scapinello). The Boxing Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame, Bowling Halls of Fame, and so on.
Anyhow, if you like sports statistics and trivia, this book will be a treasure for you.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
