As you may have heard, I’ve recently published a work of historical fiction called “The History of the Mayan Ball League.”
During the rash of concussions players were suffering during the course of the National Hockey League (they used to play games, you know), I began thinking about the predecessors of that professional sports league, and stumbled upon ancient documents outlining the history of the Mesoamerican ball game. The ball game had, unbeknownst to many anthropologists, a professional league, back in the day, stretching across Central America and beyond. Of course, it had slight differences to the professional sports leagues of today — losers were occasionally beheaded, players were paid by chickens in an escrow account, and reporting of the day’s games was done in an Incan-style newspaper which was excellent news for the alpaca farmers — but the similarities to our own sporting entertainment today was shocking. With the lockout of the National Hockey League (one way to avoid concussions, I suppose), we can learn even *more* lessons from our forebears, as they faced very similar struggles, and dealt with them in their own special way. At the very least this book should be given to Gary Bettman, the owners, Donald Fehr, and the players’ union, in the hopes that they may model their own collective bargaining agreements on the pioneering approaches the Mayans took.
Of course, we all know about the Mayans today, and what this particular month means, in the grand scheme of things. So I humbly submit this vital work to the study of Mayan culture and pro sports, even though you may not be able to review it before the whole world ends.
I would be most humbled if you, sir (non-gender-specific ‘sir’ meant, of course), plunked down $0.99 of your hard-earned cash to read this amazing story of love, loss, and the first bobble head dolls.
For you Kindlers: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AN3CA0M/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_OGwYqb0TR6F8A
If you are Amazon-averse, there is also a NOOK version: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-history-of-the-mayan-ball-league-matthew-hanlon/1045434848?ean=2940015723922
If you are both Amazon *and* Barnes & Noble averse, there is a Kobo version: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-History-Mayan-Ball-League/book-N9KSvI-kwU2Xw0H1hcpREQ/page1.html?s=3QVUTyA3rUG6chx4iW5Hog&r=1
If you are Amazon and Barnes & Noble *and* Kobo-averse (I won’t ask what they all did to make you so), there’s an iBook version with some extra visual material, as you’d expect from something on Apple’s store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/history-mayan-ball-league/id587278189?ls=1
So get to it. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell your family, even the members you don’t like so much, like Frank. Please. I’m begging you.
