Sporting Moustaches, Aug Stone‘s most recent book, takes readers through a series of adventures centered around, as the title suggests, sports (including hockey) and moustaches. Stone is an American author, musician and comedian, with a keen ability to entertain and make you laugh. Laugh while reading, you ask? Yes, Sporting Moustaches does not disappoint.
Triumphant Tall Tales
Carefully woven ‘staches combine with superb athletes to create stories that will both entertain and educate. These narratives cover all the “bases”, from baseball to hockey (our favorite here at BTG), to less frequented sports like chess and tug-of-war. Ever thought about attaching ‘staches to a rope, and then using the ‘stache-rope to pull others across the middle line? That’s the kind of tug-of-war we’re talking about here, not that game you played in elementary school.
Obviously, we’ve all seen basketball games either in person or on TV. The premise is pretty simple – put the ball in the hoop more times than your opponent, and you win. But what if your teammate has fashioned part of his former ‘stache to the hoop, creating a certain connection to the hoop itself? He can’t seem to score at the opposite hoop, but the one with his old ‘stache attached, he can’t miss. For Agawam College and their star player, Bart Jordan, it makes for quite an interesting title run against local rivals.
Aug’s Ability
Aug Stone does a wonderful job of tying in truthful tidbits to the tall tales. Whether that be through a play on words with the character’s names, their hometowns, or anything of the sort. It is obvious that Stone is well-researched and well-versed in sports.
I personally enjoyed these connections, appreciating the artistic detail that an author has to have in order to pull that off. Connections such as the one between basketball and Agawam, a town just outside of Springfield, MA. Springfield is the birthplace of basketball and home to the basketball Hall of Fame. The ties between a French Canadian young boy named Gordie Mathieu and the sport of ice hockey need no further explanation. As stated above, Stone does a magnificent job of both entertaining and educating.
My Review
I thoroughly enjoyed each story in this book, regardless of my affinity for hockey or any other sport itself. Aug’s storytelling ability is second to none, and he has crafted stories that pull you in from the first paragraph. With witty alliterations, such as “Coach Jason Jaspers of Jupiter College’s Fighting Jackrabbits”, readers are eager to continue learning how this story plays out and what kinds of crazy turns come next.
It’s no secret that hockey players and their families are known for making crazy sacrifices in order to pursue the game they love. Whether that’s moving away from home, spending hours in a car over the weekend, or simply dropping out of school, the list goes on. In his story covering the best sport out there, ice hockey of course, Aug has a great passage on what happens when one is “bit” by the bug:
But nothing could deter Gordie’s dream. He left school the next year at age 13, it having become almost impossible to get him off the ice and into a classroom anyway…
Personal Connection
On a personal note, my favorite character in the book happens to be Arthur Lomax, but I won’t share the details of who he is and why he’s important. You’ll have to get yourself a copy to find that out. I like to think of Arthur as the long lost brother of Bernie Lomax, a popular character from “Weekend at the Bernie’s.” But the reason we, at BTG, love Bernie Lomax is because of a popular drill named after him. Referred to as “Bernie” it’s basically a continuous 3v1 where the D gets to join the rush after defending the 3v1. Ask anyone who’s played for me the last few years, it’s a staple of weekly practice – and it’s pretty fun.
Whether you love moustaches, hockey or other sports, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in either. With stories galore, you will pick it up and find it hard to put back down. As you head into the summer season, be it by the beach, pool or just in your backyard, order a copy of Aug Stone’s Sporting Moustaches today!
Post image attribution: https://www.augstone.com/
