Brooks on Books: The Worst Call Ever! by Kyle Garrett and Patrick O'Neal

This breezy exploration of the worst officials' calls in sports history does what it sets out to do: provide entertainment without asking too much of the reader. If it sounds like I'm slighting the authors and their work, well, I don't think they did a bad job, but the product just isn't quite enough value for the hardcover retail price. If you get it at a discount, it's a good read; if you want to check it out from the library (as I did), it's a fine time killer.

One thing that's curious is the notable lack of list-ing in this book. The authors present an overall top 10 list of all-time worst calls across all sports, but from then on, the book is organized by sport, with the calls seemingly random (not even chronologically arranged) within that chapter. This approach is convenient on one hand because it lets you skip material that doesn't interest you (Good-bye, hockey), but more attempts to rank the calls might have made a livelier book.

The text is often irreverent but does a good job at conveying the particulars of each situation and providing necessary context for each flub. Each entry is brief but sufficient, but I still think that overall the book is missing something. Again, it may not be worth a full-price buy, but I think I've seen it in the bargain bins, and it's a solid purchase at a discount.