HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

*

What: “The Sports Guy: Scorecard Scribblings From an Ordinary Journalist.”

Author and publisher: Brent Weber.

Price: $14.99.

As the title of this 178-page paperback book suggests, Brent Weber is an ordinary guy.

He has worked in sports television since his college days at Georgia State, but, as he points out, he’s no Bob Costas. And the only thing he has in common with Brent Musburger is his first name.

Weber, 41, has mostly toiled in the trenches, working in small markets in Georgia and Tennessee before landing a job with CNN. He later became the West Coast correspondent for CNN/SI, followed by a stint at Orange County Newschannel (OCN) before its demise in September 2001.

Weber, who lives in Huntington Beach, was once the host of the “L.A. Times Sports Prep Show” on Channel 9, but that didn’t make him a heavyweight in sports broadcasting.

So, one might wonder, why would he write a book about himself and his career? Is he that narcissistic?

However, Weber’s book is surprisingly refreshing.

The first half offers anecdotes from Weber’s career -- many of which are self-effacing and humorous.

The second half offers advice to anyone considering a career in sports journalism -- and most of it is pretty good advice.

There is some good advice in the first part as well. Weber points out that while he was doing The Times prep show and working at OCN, he also was teaching two classes full-time at Chapman University.

A girlfriend who broke up with him gave him a bumper sticker that read, “Long Hours Are Hazardous to Your Life.”

The sticker sits on the fringe of his computer to this day.

The message of this book, which is well written and worth reading, seems to be: Set goals and work hard, but don’t forget to realize what makes you happy.

-- Larry Stewart