The Twig Book Shop will host longtime sports writer Mike Monroe for a presentation of his newly-published book, 100 Things Spurs Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. The book is a guide to little known Spurs facts and trivia, and offers various to-do suggestions intended to help the casual Spurs fan become an expert.
Monroe’s career as a longtime NBA writer spans more than 50 years. He covered the Denver Nuggets for the Denver Post before coming to the San Antonio Express-News in 2004. He now covers the Spurs for the Rivard Report.
The book has been in the works for about three years, Monroe told the Rivard Report Wednesday. He and his editor had been waiting for the right moment in Spurs history to publish the book.
“The first contact I had with (the publisher) was in the summer of 2013,” Monroe said. “We wanted to wait until the next season was over, and sure enough the Spurs won the championship in 2014. That’s when the process really began.”
He turned in the manuscript just in time for his September 2015 deadline. But when the Spurs signed LaMarcus Aldridge and David West, editors put the book on hold again.
“I thought the Spurs would have another great season and a championship. I was right on one count: last season was the Spurs’ best regular season ever,” Monroe said. “And everybody waited for the Spurs-Warriors Western Conference Finals that never came to pass. Since then we’ve made a lot of revisions.”
The book was revised to include a chapter dedicated to Tim Duncan and his retirement, statistics about Parker and Ginobili, and developments on Gregg Popovich.
It was a challenge to limit the book to 100 tidbits, Monroe said, so he made sure to include the essentials.
“I spent about a month just compiling a list in general. It doesn’t take you very long to realize that it’s hard to cut the list down to just 100 things,” Monroe said. “What you should know is that Tim Duncan is the most important player in franchise history. Actually, at the 1997 draft, the Spurs seriously considered drafting someone else over Duncan. So I learned a lot while writing this book and think that a lot of people will, too.”
Monroe has covered each of the six Spurs championship appearances and has been on the front line of the highs and lows of the franchise. He spent much of his time in covering the Denver Nuggets before writing for Fox Sports Online, the Express-News, and now the Rivard Report.
The veteran sports writer’s work was acknowledged in 2014 when he was honored with the Professional Basketball Writers Association Phil Jasner Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Coach Pop at the At&T Arena at halftime of a game.
Monroe will be on hand at the Twig Sunday for a short talk, a Q&A session, and a book signing this Sunday..
To read our review of another Spurs book, Spurs Nation, click here.
