Field of Schemes?

May 19, 2010 11:13 AM

Joeurt Puk (aka Joe Cook) is the father of Cambodian baseball. In this feature by ESPN, Patrick Hruby looks into Cook's background and finds that Cook may not be the tireless philanthropist he claims to be.

Some more about Joe:

- A blog comment in Cook's rambling writing style.
- An LA Times feature on Cook.
- A blog by Cook about Cambodia's baseball progress.
- A documentary about Joe's exploits.

posted by reenum (6 comments total)

Joeurt Puk? Is that an Italian name?
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:35 AM on May 19, 2010

no, it's Bantu.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:48 AM on May 19, 2010

So his crimes are:

1. bouts of frustration in the face of adversity
2. bouts of depression from overwork and memories of a brutal childhood
3. being an over-the-top hardass coach when his team loses
4. neglecting his family because he's a workaholic
5. amassing a small fortune in the midst of poverty
6. manic, grandiose ambition
7. adultery
8. tall tales
9. overworking his team to the point of mutiny
10. insurance fraud

Sounds like a few former bosses of mine. I wonder who I can contact for the exposés.
posted by clarknova at 12:25 PM on May 19, 2010

There are a lot of ways to spread baseball in this world, but I can't recommend insurance fraud.
posted by Copronymus at 12:44 PM on May 19, 2010

So his crimes are:

There was also some rice that went missing and some shame brought on the village.

Honestly, these ballplayers of his are sitting around waiting for some kind of payoff, otherwise they would've walked long ago.
posted by jsavimbi at 2:05 PM on May 19, 2010

This is interesting. I'm intrigued by the writing, but the habit Mr Hruby has of dangling stuff in front of your face is a bit aggravating.

I thought I'd enjoy it. I thought I'd have a fine time reading an interesting feature about baseball in Cambodia.

That was before I got to the fifteenth "that was before" sentence.
posted by koeselitz at 10:30 PM on May 19, 2010