First impressions of books aren’t necessarily the best. Generally, it takes me a good 25 to 50 pages of a book to know whether I am going to really like it or if plowing through is going to be a chore. The opening two sentences of Josh Swade’s The Holy Grail of Hoops: One Fan’s Quest to Buy the Original Rules of Basketball had me worried that I would absolutely hate this book. Swade writes in his author’s note: “In this book there are many references made to traditional religion. I sincerely hope no one takes offense to these comparisons as they are intended to be more tongue-in-cheek than serious in nature.”
These sentences offended me on a number of levels. First, it was really weak to open the book with an apology. Second, I was worried that Swade was some sort of religious fanatic and was going to try to cram some sort of analogy between religion and sports down my throat (this worry turned out to be somewhat unfounded). Lastly, I don’t think anyone should apologize for making fun of religion (directly or overtly), but that is neither here nor there.
I was also hoping that there was more to the book than the subtitle, but “one fan’s quest to buy the original rules of basketball” pretty much describes what happens. Swade, a Kansas native and Jayhawk fanatic, finds out that the grandson of Dr. James Naismith, who invented basketball and is buried in Lawrence, Kansas, is going to put two yellowed sheets of paper with the original rules of basketball up for auction. They had been housed at the Basketball Hall of Fame, but the institution in Springfield, Massachusetts had not displayed the original rules properly. The Naismith grandson repossessed the rules (as was his right), but was now selling them for major profit.
Swade, who relocated to New York City after college, went on a mission to have the pieces of paper bought and returned to Kansas. If there is one thing I did like about the book, it was Swade’s unapologetic insanity to make sure that he completed the mission to the best of his ability. [Apparently, there was a 30 for 30 documentary about the adventure, but I am not a fan of the series, so I missed it.] At one point, he does question the ridiculousness of his mission, but he quickly moves on from his self-examination to his quest.
Swade also provides a nice history of Kansas basketball. The school has only had eight coaches over its history, including Phog Allen, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, and Bill Self. The author’s family is comprised of die-hard Jayhawk fans and Swade often compares his fandom to his faith in Judaism. The two pieces of life have many things in common, including benefits that are basically lost on me. As a KU fan, Swade writes about the basketball games like … a fan. If the Jayhawks win, things are all right with the world. If not, everything is terrible. The sports writing felt flat to me, which is a shame because under Self the Jayhawks play a beautiful brand of team basketball.
My biggest complaint is the inanity at the center of the book. I am not a collector and I have never really understood the value of heirlooms. When I was in middle school, I bought baseball cards. One of my friends would tell me a card’s alleged value and I would wonder, “to whom?” Most of Swade’s potential donors give him the brush off. Not even Kansas University seems interested in donating to the campaign. He does find a sympathetic and very rich Jayhawk alum who goes all-in on the auction for the rules. In the end, Swade and his sugar daddy win the Sotheby’s auction for the rules for the preposterous price of $4 million. I could only wonder how many different ways that enormous sum of money could have been better spent. College athletics are a self-sustaining monster that don’t really have anything to do with higher education. The money probably would have been donated to Kansas in order to build a better training center for the athletes or better dorm rooms to attract the best athletes to Lawrence. All in all, I respect Swade’s determination and spirit, I just wish it had been channeled into something even remotely worthwhile.
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Perry Missner is a college basketball enthusiast who writes for RotoWire along with several other outlets. He welcomes your comments on Twitter at @PerryMissner or via email at [email protected]
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