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Laptop Dancing and the Nanny Goat Mambo : A Sports Writer's Year
Introducing the Bill Bryson of sports reporting. This is a wry, hilarious insider's account of the sports journalist's life. Tom Humphries is a passion machine according to his colleagues at the Irish Times. Yes, he may sit in the press box, but in his heart, he is in the right place. On the terrace. For Tom is a true sports fan. And it shows in his passionate style of writing, which has won him several awards and thousands of sports fans. This book will contain some achingly hilarious and menacing accounts of his sporting year including: an interview with Clinton Morris at Crystal Palace; waiting with his daughter to try to get an autograph from Roy Keane; the Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City and Lillehammer; World Cup 2002, when he broke the news of Keane's return to Ireland; the time spent with Sergio Garcia at his home in Spain; the Ryder Cup; the Euro athletic championship in Munich and many more sporting occasions.
- GenresNonfiction
373 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 20, 2017
This is a memoir of a journalist who covers sports of any description, from pairs ice-dancing to football to Gaelic football to golf to running. The year in question contains a Winter Olympics and a football World Cup, so we get a good international look at the job. And what a slog it is.
The Irish Times sent out one or two sportswriters to major events like the Winter Olympics without their being suitably qualified to comment on the sports. As a horsewoman I have more than once encountered articles written by some random journalist who knew nothing about the sport and hadn't asked anyone for the correct terms to describe the class they were looking at or the correct spelling of the names of riders and horses. Yet all sports have to be covered by the hapless reporter who just reads a book on the topic and asks his better informed fellows. (I didn't notice any horse sports in this book. The Irish Times has a sister paper called The Irish Field for the purpose.)
I enjoyed the look at the international travel and wearying treks around stadia, press rooms, hotel rooms, hired mobile phones and hired small cars. All the journalists we meet are men, as are the majority of sportspeople, and there is some cynical commentary on Irish politics. The author tells us "2002 was a long, difficult sporting year to get through" as he had to wear himself out while not seeing his family at home for weeks. This was accentuated because of the two major events. The football seemed to be his field of expertise and enjoyment. Sadly I am not interested in football or its overpaid prima donnas, because a lot of the book is occupied with a particular Irish team in the World Cup held jointly by Japan and South Korea. The author also reflects on whether he is growing tired of a job he would have begged for ten years previously. And whether he does this job because he has never been good at anything else. Maybe he's comparing himself unfairly to the top-range sports people he encounters. I enjoyed some of his gently humorous writing, mocking himself and others as well as praising others.
I dislike the title and cover, but the contents are a lot better. While I've no idea how well the book sold, the title gives no hint of the contents (particularly not on the spine) and we're told halfway through that nannygoats is slang for quotes, but most people won't know while reading the title. If it had been 'Laptop Dancing: A Sportswriter's Year' that would have fitted on the spine. The cover is so cluttered and strange as to be off-putting, to me. The publisher TownHouse went out of business shortly afterwards.
If you are interested in sports journalism and how the media cover major sports, this will be a good read. This is an unbiased review.
The Irish Times sent out one or two sportswriters to major events like the Winter Olympics without their being suitably qualified to comment on the sports. As a horsewoman I have more than once encountered articles written by some random journalist who knew nothing about the sport and hadn't asked anyone for the correct terms to describe the class they were looking at or the correct spelling of the names of riders and horses. Yet all sports have to be covered by the hapless reporter who just reads a book on the topic and asks his better informed fellows. (I didn't notice any horse sports in this book. The Irish Times has a sister paper called The Irish Field for the purpose.)
I enjoyed the look at the international travel and wearying treks around stadia, press rooms, hotel rooms, hired mobile phones and hired small cars. All the journalists we meet are men, as are the majority of sportspeople, and there is some cynical commentary on Irish politics. The author tells us "2002 was a long, difficult sporting year to get through" as he had to wear himself out while not seeing his family at home for weeks. This was accentuated because of the two major events. The football seemed to be his field of expertise and enjoyment. Sadly I am not interested in football or its overpaid prima donnas, because a lot of the book is occupied with a particular Irish team in the World Cup held jointly by Japan and South Korea. The author also reflects on whether he is growing tired of a job he would have begged for ten years previously. And whether he does this job because he has never been good at anything else. Maybe he's comparing himself unfairly to the top-range sports people he encounters. I enjoyed some of his gently humorous writing, mocking himself and others as well as praising others.
I dislike the title and cover, but the contents are a lot better. While I've no idea how well the book sold, the title gives no hint of the contents (particularly not on the spine) and we're told halfway through that nannygoats is slang for quotes, but most people won't know while reading the title. If it had been 'Laptop Dancing: A Sportswriter's Year' that would have fitted on the spine. The cover is so cluttered and strange as to be off-putting, to me. The publisher TownHouse went out of business shortly afterwards.
If you are interested in sports journalism and how the media cover major sports, this will be a good read. This is an unbiased review.
August 23, 2023
Rereading the section about a BBQ in Saipan and the jokey references to a 13-year-old child within it is abhorrent. Couldn't believe what I had read.
November 14, 2023
Kinda hard to write a good review now, knowing what I know about the author who was a neighbor of mine.
November 27, 2015
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13724143
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13724143
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews