Customer Reviews

The Happy Heckler

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

MY GAWD! This is a horrid book and it seems the author spent two hours banging it out on his old Commodore 64 computer. You should be able to sue for pain and suffering after reading this snoozer. How did it even get published?

Good book. It was a great gift for a Rays fan. They're winning. It's hard to go to games with kids when there are a lot of people just yelling for the heck of it. This guy knows how to do it. He goes to the games with HIS kids too. A good book by a true fan.

The subtitle of the book is HECKLING IS A BAD THING?

Rob Szasz's book on heckling is, surprisingly, one of only two books I know of on the subject. The "Tampa Bay heckler" has written a book about his experiences in good-natured heckling of opponents of his team, the Devil Rays (who need all the help they can get).

Ron is always tasteful in his heckling (and in the book), avoiding off color language and steering clear of anything personal that would be hurtful to the players he targets. Anyone who has watched a Tropicana game on TV (or been there) has heard Rob Szasz. He makes the point that he most enjoys the players who get a chuckle out of his heckling. The ones who can't take a joke aren't really very good targets, anyhow.

The whole thing is in fun, and so is the book. I wish we had more fans like Rob Szasz.

I'm a huge baseball fan and I can recognize that people go to games to voice their opinions. That's all fine and well; however, it's no wonder this guy is a heckler. Everything he has to say can be summed up in 3 words or less so why did he write this book?

What a piece of trash. I immediately regretted my purchase after I finished the last page. Oh well, the good news is that last time I was at the Trop I didn't hear this loudmouth and he's no longer audible on television either. It's too bad this terrible book will never disappear like he has.

First off, the kid review was as stated-based on a FEW pages. He obviously did not read the first line of the introduction..."This book is about me"(hence the reason for a lot of the sentences beginning with "I".

Now, what do I have to say about the book. I think the author achieved his goals of 1) showing that heckling can be fun and that 2) it can be a positive way of being an active fan for your team. According to the web-site (...), heckling has been around for over a century and has been used at several sports. My critism of the book would be that an editor would have helped to deal with the repeatitive statements in the book and would have clarified the statement "he takes me yard". Otherwise it really was an enjoyable book.

Having looked at the first few pages of his book at the Trop, I noticed that there were a lot of I's(No ego here) The clerk there said they had sold 3 or 4 copies so I guess others are of the same opinion as I

I was extremely disappointed with this book. Honestly, this might be the worst book I've ever read. This will save you time, the author is an average guy who had decent seats at Marlins games. He did not renew his seats, the team sold them to some one else and he complained it was the teams fault. The team then gave him the opportunity to sit closer. Since then, he talks loudly at Marlin home games. Because the attendance is so low and he sits close to the field, he is heard and gets attention. That is it. No more.

I thought I would hear funny stories or quotes from his games. Here are two. Brad Fulmer had missed the plate trying to avoid the catcher's tag. Fulmer got upset and thrown out of the game. The next day the author heckles, "Watch the plate, it's hot, it's really hot! Don't get too close to that plate, you might touch it! You don't want to touch that plate, Brad! You don't want to touch that plate! You might be safe!"
Here is one of those quotes towards Raul Mondesi, who does not hit well with RISP, "You're not due, you're not due, men on base. Scoring position, you're not going to get your hit." "Don't listen to the trade rumors Raul, baby, don't listen to those trade rumors. They're not true, you're not going anywhere you're safe. You're safe in New York. Just don't get those hits with runners in position." He should have simply wrote about those stories, with out the countless pages he babbles about everything else.

I knew he was not a professional writer. That was okay. I thought the book would read as though I was hearing a fan talk about going to the games and telling funny stories. The problem is, there seems to be an agenda of him wanting to brag about himself and complain about others. I would hate to have a conversation with this guy. He'll spend pages talking about trying to lose weight but loving to eat at baseball games b/c the food taste better at the ballpark. Okay, fine. The problem is this diet story is told in the middle of another story that is being told of yet another one. It's like watching a movie on basic cable that is average at best. And having a ton of terrible commercials all through the movie.

I love baseball. Do not buy this book. I won't feel bad for any one who reads this review and still buys the book. Don't do it.