Ekpe's Book Club

Athletes are dumb?
Let's talk about that.


Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of participating my first Ekpe's Book Club Twitter chat. I know, I'll explain. I grew up in a family of die-hard Laker fans. After a series of (unfortunate) events, my brother, the leader of our sports enthusiasm, decided he was going to dedicate his fan power to another team. I can't remember if the Clippers were the worst ranked team or if they were the second worst, I can hardly remember when my family followed the Lakers. But no matter what the ranking was, or who was injured, or how badly they were loosing, my brother faithfully spent his nights cheering and supporting them.

For much of my life, I hated sports, probably because of how much my brother loved them. Basketball was always first and he and I got into more than one argument about the remote (which he let me win). I thought basketball was boring, I didn't understand the rules and there were too many pauses. On the other hand, my brother was an expert. He knew every rule, memorized every stat, and can identify almost every player in the league.


It was when I was watching a Clippers vs. Lakers game on evening with my brother that I began to care. I used to watch my brother yell and get frustrated at something he couldn't control. But as I watched the fourth quarter, with the Clippers trailing as the game came to a close, I started feeling the same way – just a little less loudly. The Clippers ended up winning that game only by two points, but as I've learned in the past years, a win is a win.


Now back to Ekpe's book club. One night after a Clipper game, my brother told me that one of the players new to the team this year started a book club. Having a love for books and basketball, it seemed too good to be true. The book club's set up is fairly simple. Ekpe releases a book title (generally one per month) on his Twitter account (@EkpeUdoh) that everyone will read together. Then, you must sign up on his website (http://ekpesbookclub.com) to an email list that will notify you of how much to read by a certain date and at what time the discussions on Twitter will take place under the hashtag #EkpesBookClub. When I first discovered the book club, it was already in the middle of reading something so I simply followed the conversations. I made sure that when the next book was announced, I would be ready to sign up. If someone is one of the first 25 people to sign up, Ekpe sends them the book for free! I was one of those lucky people last time and received my book within two days of signing up. When it came time for the discussion, I was ready and caught up. It was an hour of interesting conversation and fun interaction with people that love reading too. When Ekpe replied to one of my tweets, I had a mini freak out that a player from the best NBA team on Earth spoke to me.

The book club is a brilliant idea the breaks the stereotype of “dumb athletes.” It's a great way to get people reading and talking.

Don't forget to sign up! (And follow me on Twitter @Caity_Says)