Fantasy Life

June 24, 2013
Mixing autobiography with reportage on friends and field-famous players, ESPN personality Berry delves into the psychology and, more to the point, the comedy of fantasy sports. From mustache-growing pacts to Twitter accounts devoted exclusively to intra-league trash talk, Berry introduces some of the most creative fantasy traditions known to breed league-spirit. His toneâlaid-back, wittyâsuits the beery, good-time atmosphere of fantasy sports. A one-time sitcom scribe, Berry knows how to frame a scene so its full, maybe even shocking, humorous glory shines through (See the one about the repo man, the owner of the would-be-repossessed car, and the cop who all put aside their differences to convene on the wisdom of a draft pick). Similarly, his comic timing comes into play in observations on the non-fantasy ramifications of fantasy team construction. Without abandoning his comedic baseline, Berry successfully journeys into philosophyâthat of team play, that of livingâand practical advice for leaguers concerning, for instance, how to not be That Guy. Though some sections are targeted solely towards fantasy fans ("20 Most Soul-Crushing Ways to Lose"), readers don't need a commissioner's knowledge to enjoy this insider's peek into the often astounding and always fun realm of fantasy sports.

June 1, 2013
Fantasy sports: more fun to play than to read about. Rotisserie baseball, which began as a bunch of overly intelligent baseball nerds in New York playing with numbers, has since blossomed into a multisport, multimedia phenomenon. Before the Internet, the typical fantasy league pulled its statistics from the newspaper, after which its members ran the numbers by hand; now, numerous Web outlets have programs in which the masses can draft their teams and let the technology do the stats work. One of the most notable is, unsurprisingly, ESPN, and ESPN.com offers not only online services as a repository for league stats, but also advice columnists, the best of whom is Berry, aka the Talented Mr. Roto. In his debut book, the author combines memoir, history and cultural study in what was likely intended to be the definitive volume on fantasy sports; however, the topic is too thin for this much study and analysis. A genial gent, Berry relates his entry into fantasy sports, touches on fantasy's roots and presents numerous case studies--i.e., stories from fantasy leagues around the world. Unfortunately, the autobiographical sections are less than compelling, the roots-of-fantasy stories have been told time and again, and the case studies are simply uninteresting. In addition, the long, trying-too-hard-to-be-clever chapter titles begin to grate--e.g., "The Benefits of Fantasy in the Work Place, or 'No One Seems to Realize That Adrian Peterson Isn't a Parishioner.' " Berry's fantasy advice columns on ESPN.com and his ESPN on-air work are flat-out enjoyable, so his many fans may be disappointed with this earnest yet tepid effort, which makes it clear that fantasy sports commentary is best left for the online world. Berry gave it the old college try, but the ultimate fantasy sports book has yet to be written--then again, it's possible that such an entity is a pipe dream.

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