Synopses & Reviews
Here at last is a book ab out pro sports for the women who love them. It’s not a book for women who want to impress their husbands or boyfriends. It’s not a book that gets all worked up over Title IX or Mia Hamm or the virtues of the WNBA. It’s not a book that encourages women to play pro football or fill their heads with the kind of meaningless stats men can’t seem to get enough of. This is a book that covers sports in a way women can relate to. It captures all that women love about sports—the drama, the agony, the ecstasy—in a language women will gravitate toward, not be excluded from.
GameFace gives women what they love most about the sports they love: the
stories behind the games. Compelling stories about the players’ lives. And the lives of their wives and girlfriends—and sometimes their drug dealers and defense attorneys. Stories cover everything from Doc Ellis’ 1970 LSD-inspired no-hitter against the San Diego Padres to the Minnesota Vikings 2005 sex-o-palooza boat cruise. Chapters tackle bad sports fashion, sports stars who tried and failed to become rock stars, race and sexuality in sports, how marketing is ruining (and saving) sports, and many other subjects male commentators are not talking about. And there are hard-hitting questions about why there aren’t more women in the press room and the front office (thanks a lot, M rge Schott). But more than anything,
GameFace is a fun read. Enlightening, yes. But mostly entertaining. It’s filled, for example, with just the sort of fascinating, irreverent Top 10 Lists that female fans will love:
Top 10 Juiciest Sex Scandals Top 10 Sexist Athletes/Executives Top 10 M oments That Give Us Hope (Billy Jean King kicking Bobby Riggs’ ass) Top 10 Confirmed Steroid Users Top 10 Dirty Plays Top 10 Best (and Worst) Sports Cities Top 10 Ways to Put a Man Who Dares to Question Your Sports Knowledge in His Place
And many more!
Written with equal parts passion and knowledge—and a barbed wit as well—GameFace will inspire female fans everywhere to reclaim sports from statistic-worshipping, cliché-spouting male commentators and reconnect with the essential human storiesthat make the games we love really come to life.
Synopsis
Here at last is a book for women who love professional sports that is at once smart and saucy, deep and dishy. Its not a book for women who want to impress their husbands or boyfriends. Its not a book that gets all worked up over Title IX or Mia Hamm or the virtues of the WNBA. And its not a book with a pink cover.
In short, the joy and passion of following pro sports is too often eclipsed by an emphasis on factoids and statistics, and here, finally, is the antidote. GameFace: The Kick-Ass Guide for Women Who Love Pro Sports by Erica Boeke and Chris De Benedetti captures the action and drama of pro sports -- both on the field and off -- from scandals to tailgating and from thugs to heroes.
GameFace is also packed with never-seen-before lists and tips including:
*How to get into the pit at a NASCAR race
*Sports Wives & Girlfriends Hall of Fame & Shame
*Best & Worst Performances of The Star Spangled Banner
*Best Ballpark Eats
*Best Sports Movies & TV Shows
*Athletes & Teams That Give Us Hope
GameFace will inspire female fans everywhere to regale stat-spewing guys at water coolers and sports bars with mesmerizing tales of thrilling victories, agonizing defeats, and the magical (and sometimes hilarious) moments that only pro sports can deliver.
About the Author
Erica Boeke started her career as an editor of the San Francisco Giants magazine and is now a writer in New York City. Chris De Benedetti is a Bay Area journalist and won a California Newspaper Publishers Association Award for his coverage of the Oakland Athletics attempt to move to Fremont.