Friday, September 19, 2014

Review: What are the Chances?

Rare plays in sports history

The Set-Up:
The stats are split up into four categories: Rare, Really Rare,
Super Rare, Almost Impossible, and Never Happened

Rare talks about the number of home runs in a season or touchdowns in one game or assists in a basketball game or blocked shots in basketball or goals in a hockey season.

Really Rare mentions passing yards in an NFL game, goals in a NHL season, steals in a NBA game, teams ranked #1 for an entire NCAA season, or no-hitters thrown by rookies in an MBL game..

Super Rare shows off comebacks from 3-1 in an NBA playoff series, 1,000 assists at the NCAA level, passing yards for a NFL season, and the number of aces in one tennis match.

Almost Impossible showcases a Women's and Men's team both the NCAA basketball champions, strikeouts in one game, goals in a World Cup soccer game, and points scored in a NBA game.

Never Happened I like the inclusion of this chapter- stats that almost happened, but never did.

The Good: Great stats, fantastic pictures, interesting trivia, and set-up in straight forward, easy to read chapters that are perfect for sports fans.

The Bad: Again, there are only a handful of examples for women's sports. Are they not rare enough? If I found them with a few moments of searching, should more be included??
What about these:
Mia Hamm played for a national team at the age of 15
Lisa Leslie was the first WNBA player to win the regular season MVP, the All-Star Game MVP and the playoff MVP in the same season (2001)
Candace Parker was the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament
Did Babe Didrickson not have any rare moments in sports history?

Overall:  Besides the lack of women mentioned, I really enjoyed reading this one, so I can see how easily readers will flock to this book and love it for the stats and the photos and they will enjoy talking about the numbers with others
* This book was sent for review

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