Things People Do in the Name of Competition

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media
In “Field of Dreams”, Shoeless Joe Jackson comes out of a cornfield and can’t believe where he ended up. “Hey, is this heaven?” he asks in awe and wonder. If a baseball field in Iowa is as close as it gets to the great beyond, what’s the alternative? Leave it to Rick Reilly to answer that question in his new book, “Sports from Hell: My Search for the World’s Dumbest Competition.”

Once Considered Jewels, Baseball Cards Have Lost Luster

Hey Free Keon and Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Readers!
Allow me to preview my latest Seamheads.com post. This book made me put off Rick Reilly's sure-fire hit, "Sports from Hell" off till next week if that tells you anything. Enjoy!

Remember the days when “gem” referred to the rock on a lady’s finger or to a pitcher’s performance? Remember the days when you’d scrounge up three or four dollars for a pack of cards, hoping that you’d find that 1:150 insert? Today we journey back to yesteryear with Dave Jamieson’s “Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession.”

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links returns on Thursday.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Round 2: NBA Hoops from a Different Angle

Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA. Could you pack any more explosive words into that title? I think not. Keep the matches out of reach too.