Customer Rating:  
Summary: Goofy Book That Lacks Focus is for Mayne Fans Only
Comment: If you love Kenny Mayne's goofy, dry sense of humor then you may enjoy this humor book. It's not a serious look at the history of sport (though there are a few "relevant facts" tossed in) but rather a humor book in the style of the recent books from Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert. Because it lacks any focus and hyper-actively jumps from thought to thought with little development of any single idea the book ultimately is only for those male readers who have a short attention span and probably don't like to read much.
He covers traditional and oddball sports, including badminton, bocce, rowing, dodgeball and wiffle ball. There's also a section on carnival games. These chapters range from a a couple paragraphs to five pages, so none are really developed enough to make much of a point.
He includes pictures drawn by his daughters, shares some personal information (which we don't know if it's true because so much of the book is written in a mocking style), and even spends time talking about Dancing with the Stars. It may make a good book for dad for Christmas or Father's Day.
Unless you are a huge Kenny fan the book is probably not your thing. There isn't enough solid information in it and the joking tones gets old really fast. It would have been better if he would have truly done some solid research, presented an interesting perspective on sports history and then tossed in some humor along the way. Instead he has written a book that ends up being just one big joke--and it isn't that funny.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mike Hegan, Spencer Haywood, Lori Beiberstein, and Carolee
Comment: ...are memories I share with Kenny. I received the book for father's day and finished it sitting in the grandstands at the US Open at Torrey Pines. I enjoyed the book a lot, but it's probably because Kenny and I have fairly parallel memories of Seattle area sports - Pilots (I still have my Pilots Mike Hegan bat day giveaway), Sonics, Seahawks, Huskies, etc. - and because we both went to TJHS (I was a year ahead). Coincidentally, we both were on our honeymoons when Cal Ripken broke the record.
Trying to be objective, I wish there were a few more sports stories and sports memories, even if they were Seattle-centric or solely Kenny's. Kenny does overuse several literary devices, but I doubt that's intentional since he'd probably claim he doesn't know what literary devices are. He certainly didn't learn about them at TJ.
I am going to have my wife read the book to see if she can be more objective/critical since she didn't go to school with Kenny and knows little about Seattle sports (except what I have told her). I'll make sure she posts a review.
Give it a read... if you do, you'll never approach Monopoly trades in the same way again. Nice job Kenny!
Lyle Personette TJ '76
Customer Rating:
Summary: A GIFT FROM MY FATHER
Comment: My Father bought me the book and warned me that I could not stop reading it once I started. For everyone who loves Kenny's unique sense of humor and that "special way" of reporting sports and other stories at ESPN, the book is every bit written with the same humor only much more. One does not have to be a sports fanatic (although I am) to enjoy the book. It only requires wanting to be entertained for a couple hours and forget about the ills of the world for awhile (especially the election crap) The book tells a lot about Kenny Mayne, his family and his life in a very humorous way. My father who is 61 years of age told me he could identify with almost every sport mentioned. He also said that he (Bob Carper Ashley,Ohio 1958 holds the record (988) for wiffle ball home runs in a summer in case Kenny reads this review. But at 28, I must say, I loved the book. BUY IT! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! THANKS FATHER! AARON CARPER.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amusing, but got a little tired by the end
Comment: Overall, Kenny Mayne cracks me up. I love his Dance Center segments on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. I've long enjoyed him on SportsCenter as well.
I expected more of the same stuff in this book, and that's exactly what I got. Even though it's supposed to be an incomplete and inaccurate history of sport, I honestly expected a little more about the spors themselves. Instead Kenny seems to segue a lot into childhood memories.
While I wanted more of his quirky take on sports, I found myself really enjoying the look back to childhood. His talking about wiffle ball, and it being the second greatest sport of all time really made me laugh because it sparked memories of my own. While I can't claim to have hit 843 home runs in a single summer, I laughed and reminisced about my own childhood while reading through his.
There were chapters in there that seemed a little like filler and nothing more, and frankly, I wouldn't have minded more about the relation to sports growing up.
Overall though, it was a quick, fun read. I was done with it in a day. If you like Kenny Mayne's sense of humor, you'll enjoy the book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Tears of a Clown
Comment: If you enjoy the "Wild-n-Crazy Guy" character portrayed by Kenny Mayne during his SportsCenter appearances and special assignments for ESPN, then this is a logical stop in the ever-expanding media universe of the network.
But if you find his fare as forced as the musings of a freshman pledge in an off-campus fraternity house on a very late Saturday night, then it's best to take the smaller dose of Mayne's chuckles when sitting in an easy chair, with your hand on the remote.
It would be inaccurate to say there is a middle-ground with Mayne's shtick; it is either hilarious or the sports version of tears of a clown.
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