Sports Guy does Dallas

Texas is big enough that it makes more sense to measure distance not in miles, but in hours of driving. Dallas is a three hour drive from Fort Hood. If you don't think that's a long way to go for a book signing, you have three hours to change your mind. More if you hit rush hour.

This didn't deter Staff Sgt. Joel Gibson from attending the final stop of The Sports Guy's promotion of the soft-cover edition of "The Book of Basketball," which had hit New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco before ending in Dallas. While Joel's dedication to his favorite sports writer is impressive, it pales next to his wife's perseverence.

She tagged along on his Quixotic quest despite not completely understanding what she was getting herself into. Joel is originally from East Bridgewater, Massachusets, and Bill Simmons started his writing career on AOL as "The Boston Sports Guy," before ESPN hired him in 2001, so she understood how his Red Sox, Celtic and Pats-centric view of sports would appeal to her like-minded hubby. She put her own twist on the distance traveled. "A Boston sports writer signing books in Dallas? At least the line will be short."

While Simmons hardly shies away from a pro-Boston slant in his columns and books, his appeal extends at least to the four corners of this tour. 500+ snaked their way through the Dallas Borders' bookstore, while about 850 turned out in D.C. After his previous tour to promote the hardcover version of his book, Simmons remarked that his hand had morphed into a claw. This time? Not so bad. "The last time was worse, because I did like, nine signings in twelve days--that was stupid. I think four...four in five nights is about the most you'd want to do."

While the turnout wasn't daunting for the Sports Guy's claw, er...hand, the couple had a long line in front of them after the longer drive. Joel expected this, and his wife got the picture before she saw the line. "The parking lot was full. We parked about three lots away."