the rise of mediocrity

Paul Shirley is a pro basketball player.

Kind of. He plays IN the pros, which I guess, by definition makes him a pro basketball player (but that's also like saying that I played football in high school. I was ON the team, but saying I played would be an overstatement). He's not Kobe Bryant or Shaq, and he's definitely not Michael Jordan. He's actually an anomaly, a player that's good enough to be pro but not good enough to really outshine anyone. Imagine that. So saying he's mediocre isn't really accurate. No, he's not mediocre at all because his career proves that wrong. He's just mediocre in a relative sense of the word.

Anyway, his supposed mediocrity in pro basketball inspired him to start a not-so-mediocre career in writing (he started by blogging during his brief stint with the Suns). Eventually, an ESPN blog and a ridiculously hilarious and eye-opening book came from it (pictured above).

I've always been a fan of comedic non-fiction (essays? memoirs?). David Sedaris. Sarah Vowell. Chuck Klosterman. If any of these people's names have a place on your bookshelf, you should probably check this out.

So you should read this if:

1. you like basketball.
2. you don't like basketball.
3. you like laughing.
4. you like voyeur looks into the world of pro sports.

Go here:

Paul Shirley Blog Archive @ ESPN

Check out the book @ Amazon