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Product Description
He’s been called a journeyman. Even Paul wouldn’t dispute that classification. Regardless, Bill Simmons, ESPN.com’s “The Sports Guy,” has said of Paul Shirley, “We could finally have an answer to the question ‘What would it be like if one of our friends was an NBA player?”
There’s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball’s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America’s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he’s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age.
With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley–whose writings have been described as “wildly entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal–drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he’s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team’s “sixth man,” and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink.
From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team’s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it’s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider’s look at a pro baller’s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton’s Ball Four or John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, Shirley’s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan’s bookshelf.
From the Hardcover edition.
There’s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball’s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America’s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he’s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age.
With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley–whose writings have been described as “wildly entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal–drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he’s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team’s “sixth man,” and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink.
From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team’s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it’s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider’s look at a pro baller’s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton’s Ball Four or John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, Shirley’s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan’s bookshelf.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A humerous, honest insight into the life of a pro-player who did not atomatically get drafted into the NBA but has struggled in his career since leaving college. Definetly a recommended read - very entertaining and intelligent throughout.
Format:Paperback
A change of pace from the normal 'season with' type of book - written by a relatively normal person with a detached view of events surrounding him - a must for anyone who likes to get inside any pro team.
Format:Paperback
I bought this book within days of it coming out, read it within days of it getting here, and it's presently making the rounds across my team...everyone seems to have a slightly different reaction to it:
People who sit towards the end of the bench (or have any experience playing in America) generally find it hilarious and on-point; starters and (local-league) superstars and coaches-maybe not so much.
Whilst I love this book because of the self-defacation from the author, the constant sarcastic tone and the random stories that Mr. Shirley tells-you've got to understand that he was an outsider looking in, his involvement with the team in question was next to nothing...so if you're buying this book for NBA insight, you won't get as much as you'd hoped (other than the peculiar habits of superstars...but hey, just look at any pro sports team/press and you'll see it on a daily basis).
Paul Shirley is undoubtedly funny, and an excellent writer, and I couldn't put the book down, and for that alone I give this book 5 stars, but please don't buy the book expecting a mammoth insight into an NBA club-you'll be disappointed.
People who sit towards the end of the bench (or have any experience playing in America) generally find it hilarious and on-point; starters and (local-league) superstars and coaches-maybe not so much.
Whilst I love this book because of the self-defacation from the author, the constant sarcastic tone and the random stories that Mr. Shirley tells-you've got to understand that he was an outsider looking in, his involvement with the team in question was next to nothing...so if you're buying this book for NBA insight, you won't get as much as you'd hoped (other than the peculiar habits of superstars...but hey, just look at any pro sports team/press and you'll see it on a daily basis).
Paul Shirley is undoubtedly funny, and an excellent writer, and I couldn't put the book down, and for that alone I give this book 5 stars, but please don't buy the book expecting a mammoth insight into an NBA club-you'll be disappointed.
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