By Brendan Barnes, Staff Writer

Tracing the roots of college’s most popular sport, Chronicle Books’ “The Book of Beer Pong: The Official Guide to The Sport of Champions” is one of the first organized attempts to legitimize Beer Pong as an actual sport. However, sparing readers the tedium of a mind-numbing sports rulebook, authors Ben Applebaum and Dan Disorbo are anything but dry in the presentation of their case. Instead, our guides couch the formalities of the “sport” with a consistently refreshing humor that skillfully conceals any hint of instruction or regulation.

In what, perhaps, should be the book’s dullest chapter—the history of Beer Pong and its forerunners which date back all the way to classical Greece—Applebaum and Disorbo unleash bottle after bottle of jokes, concluding that, after thousands of years, humans have slowly acquired “the proud tradition of throwing stuff at things.” Expectedly, the other chapters—or ‘Cups’ as they are known in this book—that are more conducive to humor spill over with jokes.

Not surprisingly, “The Book of Beer Pong” provides all a potential player will ever need to know about Beer Pong…and more. From successfully choosing a suitable partner to the actual rules of the game, no cup is left untouched. In addition to these helpful hints, ‘The Book’ gives the new player other tips on playing better, including grips, stances and even physics. ‘The Book’s’ most amusing passages come in the descriptions of the most controversial part of Beer Pong: the distractions. Notable diversions include the magic hand-waving of the “Copperfield”; the mind-boggling and dazzling “Cirque”; and the self-explanatory, female-only “Other Rack.”

The only time Applebaum and Disorbo are oddly out of humor is when they draft up their official rulebook. But, at thirteen articles, the rulebook is too succinct to be boring, but still thorough enough to answer most questions a curious beginner might have about Beer Pong.

Ultimately, the humor of ‘The Book’ is the driving factor that makes it such an amusing read. However, as comedians so often do, Applebaum and Disorbo use that humor for a much more serious purpose: to explain that Beer Pong, now, is simply too widespread to be considered an underground sport. In creating their argument, Applebaum and Disorbo have been precise. The humor and jokes are not without purpose: each bit of comedy simultaneously presents a laugh and a reason why Beer Pong should be recognized as an official sport—and not just as another basement game. The Beer Pong leagues popping up around the United States have brought the game to greater attention, but Applebaum and Disorbo realize that it ultimately depends on regular people to step up and hit the final cup.  

Excerpt from “The Book of Beer Pong” (Photo Courtesy of The Book of Beer Pong)