At one point in Man Versus Ball, Jon Hart’s editor, frustrated by the author’s shenanigans,
calls him “the George Costanza of journalism.” But really, he is the opposite
of the bumbling Seinfeld character
(save for being really funny). Rather than try to cut corners and take the lazy
way out, Hart goes out of his way – often way way out of his way – to make his life as difficult as possible by
diving head-first into whatever whacked-out sports-associated role he can
find.
I was surprised at how much I learned from Hart’s book. He
introduces us to the cutthroat and surprisingly fascinating world of soda and hot dog vending at Yankee Stadium, takes
us behind the scenes of pro tennis after qualifying to become a “ball person”
at the U.S. Open, he shows us how amateur football players hammer their
bodies to hell for no pay and rarely any glory, and he joins the National
In-line Basketball League (which, yes, is basketball played on inline skates), a sport I
didn't even know existed.
Among his many adventures, Hart essentially becomes a series
of different real-life characters. He races up the Empire State Building as a
stair climber, puts in a painful stint as a professional wrestler nicknamed
Johnny Love, a Venice Beach party guy. After training with the top mascot guru
in the business, Hart lands a role as a hockey mascot, dressed in a neon pink
gorilla suit.
As “The Joggler,” I know all about running along the fringes
of so-called real sports. After all, I did star in an award-winning documentary with the
tagline, “Fame. Fortune. Usually neither.” The thing is, it’s not about all of that. What I've learned in my time as a marathon joggler is that it’s about
doing the best you can, whether you’re running a marathon while juggling,
dunking basketballs on inline skates or jumping around dressed as a pink
gorilla. I was slightly disappointed that the book didn’t include any joggling,
but will wait patiently for Hart’s sequel, Man
Versus Juggling Balls.
Man Versus Ball is
a raucous rollick along the frayed fringes of the sports world, where I think Hart finds
more real-ness than you typically encounter in the major professional sports. “It’s not about
superstars or championship teams,” Hart writes, but along the way, he does find
plenty of superstars in their own way – all unheralded misfits, in one way or
another, himself included.
Find Man Versus Ball on Amazon HERE.
