Nothing But Nets

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED columnist and bestselling author Rick Reilly’s latest collection is sure to delight sports fans of all ages and interests

A portion of proceeds from the sales of the book will go to Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign initiated by Reilly to send anti-malaria bed nets to Africa.

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HATE MAIL FROM CHEERLEADERS
AND OTHER ADVENTURES
FROM THE LIFE OF REILLY
By Rick Reilly

Each week, many of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S 21 million readers turn right to the back page for SI's most popular feature, Rick Reilly's award-winning column, "Life of Reilly." A 22-year veteran of the magazine and 11-time Sportswriter of the Year, Reilly took over SI's back page in 1998, and his column immediately attracted a devoted audience who helped make his 2000 book, The Life of Reilly, a New York Times bestseller.

Now Reilly's legion of fans will be delighted with his latest collection, HATE MAIL FROM CHEERLEADERS AND OTHER ADVENTURES FROM THE LIFE OF REILLY (SI Books; Publication date: May 2007; $25.95 US/ $31.95 Canada hardcover), which features an Introduction by Lance Armstrong and an original Foreword by Reilly. The title of this new book signifies the strong reader response Reilly's columns typically generate: he once wrote that cheerleading isn't a sport and there was a not-so-light-hearted backlash.

This new collection includes 100 of Reilly's favorite columns over the past six years, including Nothing But Nets, where he teamed up with the UN Foundation, encouraging any reader who has ever gotten a thrill by throwing, kicking, knocking, dunking, slamming, putting up, cutting down or jumping over a net to donate $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed net. Other columns featured include "Fairway Robbery," in which he derides preposition golf courses (e.g., The Experience at Marina Meadows); "The Hero and the Unknown Soldier," Reilly's moving tribute to late NFL star Pat Tillman, who lost his life while serving in Afghanistan; and "It's Men Just Being Men," Reilly's funny first-hand account of appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss "Why Men Go to Strip Clubs and Other Burning Questions."

The book covers virtually every sport and hot topic, from parenting, kids and school athletics, to fan idolization and team loyalty, and from controversial subjects such as racial injustice, steroid use and exorbitant salaries in sports, to the latest personalities and trends in baseball, NASCAR, cycling and more!

Alternately side-splitting and heart-warming, but always opinionated and provocative, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's HATE MAIL FROM CHEERLEADERS AND OTHER ADVENTURES FROM THE LIFE OF REILLY brings together the best work by the best columnist in the business and also makes the perfect Father's Day gift this year.

A portion of proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. The UN Foundation is now partnering with SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and other corporate groups to bring Nothing But Nets to the American public. Following the overwhelming response from the column, Reilly traveled to Nigeria to see firsthand the need for and the first distribution of the bed nets. To date, $4 million has been raised for Nothing But Nets.

HATE MAIL FROM CHEERLEADERS
AND OTHER ADVENTURES FROM THE LIFE OF REILLY
By Rick Reilly, with an Introduction by Lance Armstrong and a Foreword by Reilly
SI Books
Publication date: May 2007; $25.95 hardcover US; ISBN 10: 933821-12-4