Recently, I (along with some other Cardinal bloggers) was asked to review a new book coming out. Being that it got me a free book and I’m an avid reader, I was up for the task.
So, Wednesday, The Best St. Louis Sports Arguments showed up at my door. A trade paperback-sized book, it numbers 265 pages (not counting the index and biography of author Bryan Burwell) and puts out 100 different debatable topics.
Actually, that 100 number is a little inflated. For example, Burwell runs down his “dream team” for the Cardinals–but each player is counted as a separate question, from 31 to 51. It would make sense if you only got to use each position once. I mean, if you had to argue the best pitcher in Cardinal history, sure, that’s a topic. But when you get to select 5 starters, three first basemen, two second basemen, two third basemen and 6 outfielders, it seems a little padded. A better job is done with the football squad, where it is more limited to one per position.
There’s a lot of Cardinal baseball in this book, but it is not 95% about the Birds, like you might imagine. There are a lot of topics about the Rams and football Cardinals, not to mention the St. Louis Hawks of the NBA. College sports were also addressed, but I felt that was a little bit of a “cheat” as well.
