LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE
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In honor of the NCAA games, I thought I’d blog about heroes in sports. There aren’t many of them that I have found. And I’ve actually heard that sports heroes, just like romances set on cruises or foreign locales, are considered a bit of taboo. I wonder why? The few romances that I’ve read with sport heroes have been great.
For example, I already blogged on one of my favorite sports heroes, Cal Bonner, from Susan Elisabeth Phillips’s book, Nobody’s Baby But Mine. I also loved football heroes Joe Ryan (in Marlie Morgan’s Just Joe) and Patrick O’Casey (in Sandra Canfield’s Night into Day), both heroes that showed a decidedly gentle and unspoiled nature in general, but especially towards the “scarred” women in their life who needed extra TLC.
Like cops, men in sports just exude TOUGHNESS and it’s that raw combination of toughness with the ability to be tender and loving that makes a woman go weak at the knees (at least this particular woman).
I heard one person posit that the reason why sports heroes are considered a no-no is that women are sick of husbands/boy friends/significant others who spend a lot of time in front of the television watching sports, and thus don’t want to experience the pass-time in any way, shape, or form in fiction. Someone else told me they think it’s because sports heroes fall into the rich-and-famous category that is too hard for the average person to relate to.
Whatever the reason, they are hard to find. I know one author, Bella Andre, who will be writing about sports heroes in an upcoming series for Pocket Books about the bad boys of football. So again, there are never any absolutes when it comes to writing and writing what moves you.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you shudder at the thought of a sports-minded hero? Do the men in your life zone-out in the football (or basketball or golf or other sport) zone?
March 26th, 2008
Virna 
in
Virna's Columns |
Everyone loves a good hero, but what do readers, agents, editors, and writers love most? Join us as we delve under the covers and find out!
March 26th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I love sports like a man does, especially American football, so I’d love sports heroes in romance novels. They really are hard to find, though, and they’re not always well developed. My favorites are Bobby Tom in Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s Heaven Texas, and Luc Martineau in Rachel Gibson’s See Jane Score.
The main thing that I sometimes don’t like about books that have a sports hero is that sometimes the book seems a little too chick lit-ish for me in a Sex and the City kind of way, and sometimes too much emphasis is put on the flashy celebrity lifestyle, designer clothing names, fast cars, etc., and it’s done in a way that is not just about the hero living that lifestyle because he’s a star, but it positions it as the lifestyle that everyone is or should be aiming for because it means you’re successful. To me, that’s a rather immature view of the world, something I’d expect to see in a college kid’s point of view.
That’s the other thing that I don’t always like about sports hero novels. The hero and heroine seem so young, like 20-25. I tend to prefer reading about 30+ characters.
Something that I think might put other readers off sports-hero books is that the real sports world doesn’t contain a lot of heroes with the kind of qualities that heroes in romance novels have. In reality, sports celebrities are kind of known to be less than admirable and not the best relationship partners. Even super popular and admired Tom Brady has the baggage of mistreating and leaving his pregnant girlfriend for a Victoria’s Secret model. And the treatment of the groupies surrounding these guys is difficult for a healthy modern day woman to look past. So that might be what puts people off reading about basketball and football stars as romantic heroes.
If I could ever find a book about a football hero that has the studly appeal of Tom Brady, the heart and soul of Brett Favre, the values and decency of the Manning brothers, and knows how to live well, but isn’t impressed by money being flashed around in a vulgar fashion, then that might be the perfect book for me.
Now who’s gonna write it?
March 26th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Oh, and I forgot to add that during football season, I can be found watching games from 11am Saturday morning till 9pm Sunday night. And March Madness? I’m entered in the bracketts pool with my friends for the $500 big prize. And the golf Masters coming up next month? I’m already getting chills ad goosebumps when I see the advertisements on TV.
So if I could actually FIND a man, then he can zone out all he wants. I’ll be right there beside him. I’ll even serve drinks and snacks
March 26th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Ooooh, sounds like you’d be the perfect person to write such a hero, Lone, because you’ve got all the know-how and the passion for it. I’ll be the first to buy it, I promise! And I loved Luc M. in See Jane Score, too!! Even if he did tell the heroine she wore “lesbian glasses.” I totally laughed at the picture of her in her cow pajamas by the vending machine, knowing that this was the woman that was going to bring Luc to his knees. And you’re so right about the image of “success” portrayed in a lot of the books, and how we can’t help but compare it to the ways modern day sports heroes ruin their “success”– at least by our account.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I’m the gal who runs from sports heroes books. In law enforcement, I dealt with a few well known figures, and they were rude, obnoxious, acted like we should all be kissing their feet. In one case a Raider, who was giving me a very bad time, in the booking area, told me, and I quote, “I can do what I want. And you’ll go along with it.” I put him in a very small side cell for a very long time, because as I told him, “I can.” He spent the rest of the night, threatening me with his lawyers. Then don’t get me started on the Vic thing and the dogs. That was simply disgusting.
I think the sports figures who behave badly over shadow those who are good family people, and the in general nice guys, whose egos are under control. We don’t notice, because they aren’t in the lime-light by way of doing something so stupid you can’t but wonder what they were thinking. And then the debate starts on wither or not their getting special treatment, or not.
For me that’s why I don’t read sports books of any kind, and rarely watch it. The only time I’m really exposed to any major sports event is when my sons are hanging out with my husband, then he gets more involved.
The public has turned these guys into Gods. I’m sure there are some great author who have written some great books with a sports hero. I just haven’t read them.
I agree, Lone you should write the sports hero book…You know your stuff. I’d read yours.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I tend to agree with Lee. The amount of money that professional athletes are paid is something I really struggle with. We’re cutting money to education and don’t value our children [who are the future], but we pay these people boatloads of money to run around a field or court, and I have a hard time buying into that.
Fundamental differences aside, however, I also agree with Lee that the few bad apples spoil the barrel. If the athlete LC described is written about, I’d definitely read it, maybe because he’d be the exception to the rule where his fellow athletes are concerned. But the arrogance of athletes in general would make me hesitate before picking up that book. Will it be peppered with a cast of jerks? Will the hero’s ‘real’ nature ring true? Will I be able to buy into his problem, whatever it is? These are the questions I know I’d ask myself, and I’m not sure unknown answers would propel me to the check out line with the book.
All that being said, I did, however, read and like SEP’s Nobody’s Baby but Mine. But didn’t Cal have the same sensibilities as other athletes until he really fell for the heroine? It’s been a long time since I’ve read it, but I seem to recall that he had to dig out the buried side of himself that wasn’t ‘Godlike’ before he was able to see the heroine and fall for her. I know she stereotyped him, too, but in the end, it did work. [I think that was my first official romance, btw! I was initiated by SEP. Not bad.]
Interesting topic, Virna. Bottom line, I would never seek out a book with sports stars as heroes, but if one came recommended, I’d give it a go.
I’m with the others, LC… Write that book! I think you’re meant to. =)
March 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Lol! Y’all I’m doing good to write a blog post a few days a week. I’m no book writer. I wouldn’t have the patience or discipline, much less the knowledge of how a book is written.
I can give sports advice, though!
March 26th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
You’ll be our go-to gal then…if any of us decide to attempt the sports hero. Deal?
March 26th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Deal! I can do that for sure