GOT YOUR ANSWERS: A Fun New Sports Book!

By Paul Semendinger

August 28, 2024

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I received a free review copy of the book GOT YOUR ANSWERS by Mike Greenberg and Paul "Hembo" Hembekides. This is my review of the book.

This book is a fun one to have, own, and read through. It is not one that a reader would, necessarily, read from cover-to-cover. Rather, it is a book that one would flip through, find a passage of interest, and read it. The topics range across all sports: baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. In addition to the biggest sports, golf, the olympics, boxing, and more are discussed. In the book, there will, of course, be topics that readers find of interest and ones they do not. That is part of the book's charm.

Along with the topics are interesting sports trivia questions. These are not easy to answer, but they are also fun. I was able to answer a few, but not all. As such, I learned some great new facts.

Among the plethora of topics in this book are:

• What are the Top 10 most coveted trophies in sports?

• What are the top 10 dynasties?

• Who are the top athletes to wear no. 7?

• What are the Top 10 most iconic venues in sports?

• What are the Top 10 athlete blunders?

• What are the Top 5 rivalries in college football history?

Some baseball specific topics are:

• What are the Top 10 most indelible baseball statistics?

• Who are the Top 10 players in the history of the Negro Leagues?

• What is the perfect all-time baseball lineup?

• Who has baseball's Top 10 prettiest swings?

And so much more. There are 100 arguments presented in the pages. 100!

As the reader goes through the book., the answers might be surprising. For example, the greatest player in uniform number 7 is not Mickey Mantle according to the authors. They also make a claim in their reasoning that I find flawed, very flawed stating that Mantle might not even be one of the top four greatest Yankees ever. What?!

Also of note, the longest running football rivalry, one that even had a game at Yankee Stadium, Lafayette vs. Lehigh, isn't mentioned as one of the best. What?!

This book is supposed to settle the 100 greatest sports arguments, but it certainly does not do that. For example, they didn't settle the number seven question, they only added fuel to the fire. This, though, is what the book is supposed to do. It is a great tag line to claim that the arguments are settled. I can do the same - "Read my articles on SSTN, I am always correct." People do things like that all the time. It's a way to grab attention while having fun and not being too serious.

Most sports arguments can't and will not be settled by anyone:

"DiMaggio's hitting streak is the most unbreakable record."

"No, it's Cy Young's 511 wins."

"No way, it's VanderMeer's back-to-back no-hitters..."

On and on. This is the fun of talking and arguing sports.

And while Greenberg and Hembekides do not definitively settle the questions, they make reading and considering their answers a lot of fun. A lot of fun.

This is a book for every sports fan. The debates are quick to read. They are fun to read. The discussions also give the reader good topics for the next time the reader is with a bunch of friends talking sports.

Go get this book. You'll enjoy it greatly!