The Art of a Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan’s Tour of the NBA by Chris Ballard is a definite read for any fan of the NBA. It is a great insight to the game, far beyond what you just see on TV.
It’s actually taken me a few days and I’m still not really sure how to review this book.. it has a lot of good elements to it, I think too many to explain really. I kind of wasn’t sure what to initially expect when I purchased the book, as I haven’t read a basketball related book in a while, but lets just say it’s quite engaging and I had many late nights.
Chris Ballard who is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated takes us behind what we see the players do on TV. In his book, he breaks down and provides analysis of the games fundamental components. From shooting to dunking, blocking and even facets many people may not really care about; rebounding, assists. Sure, players in the NBA are they’re for a reason; they’re skilled. However, skill can only take you so far. Chris also goes as far as explaining the conditioning and training players go through to maintain they’re high level of skill and fitness.
The book also looks to provide analysis of certain players traits, such as Kobe Bryant’s “Killer Instinct” (which I hope gives all the haters some insight), LeBron James’ “Athletic abilities” (which are quite crazy) and Steve Nash’s “unselfishness on the court” to name some.
After finally finishing the book, whilst watching games I actually found myself looking for what was written about, and traits of certain mentioned players were quite evident. I guess if the book actually makes you think and pay attention to details whilst watching a game, it succeeds right?
This article was posted on February 3, 2010 at 10:31 am | Filed in books | why not add a comment?
When I first saw the previews for Sherlock Holmes I got rather excited for some reason. Not that I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, but this movie looked to have a bit of everything in it.
So, I decided to go and watch it the other night and I must say, I wasn’t disappointed. A lot of ‘Sherlock Holmes purists’ seem to have detested the movie and it has received a lot of negative reviews, I’m not sure why. I thought Robert Downey Jr played the role of an eccentric Sherlock Holmes rather well, even down to the accent. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson (played by Jude Law) seemed to work quite well – there were lots of little humorous exchanges between the two throughout the movie.
There were some good action/fight scenes. Lets be honest, if they weren’t there in the movie, it would be boring as shit. The purists need to pull their heads out. Overall, I think the touch of Guy Ritchie, the action sequences, humorous exchanges and chemistry between the lead and supporting roles all mixed in quite well. I’m looking forward to the sequel..
This article was posted on January 20, 2010 at 8:38 am | Filed in movies | why not add a comment?
After seeing some previews on TV, I cannot believe people actually found this attempt at a drama/thriller movie scary, let alone credible. I may sound pessimistic, but this shit was retarded.
The movie centres around on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who are haunted by a “supernatural presence” in their home. The movie is presented using “found footage” from the camera set up by the couple to capture what is haunting them. It starts of with the sounds of footsteps, loud noises, lights going on and off, doors opening and being shut.. to which eventually Katie is actually dragged out of her room. In the story line, she has apparently been haunted by this supernatural presence for years – yet it only decided to physically do anything to her now? Okay..
If you are literally bored shitless, high off weed or just want to watch a movie that your girlfriend might cling onto you with, then this is for you. Otherwise, save 1.5 hours of your life.
This article was posted on January 12, 2010 at 1:01 pm | Filed in movies | 1 comment has been made.
