ST. AMANT, Mark 1967-

PERSONAL: Born December, 1967, in IL; son of Lou and Lynn St. Amant; married; wife's name Celia. Education: Franklin and Marshall College, B.A., 1990.

ADDRESSES: Home—Boston, MA. Agent—Bob Mecoy, Creative Book Services, 66 Grand St., New York, NY 10013. E-mail—mark@markstamant.com; editor@thesportsrag.com.

CAREER: Advertising copywriter, sports humor writer, and freelance writer; creator of Sports Rag online, 2002–. Worked variously scaling and gutting fish on Cape Cod, MA, teaching soccer to fourth graders, driving a car that advertised an oldies station in Hartford, CT, and working at a public-relations firm in Boston, MA.

WRITINGS:

Committed: Confession of a Fantasy Football Junkie, Scribner (New York, NY), 2004.

Work represented in anthologies, including Hyenas Laughed at Me and Now I Know Why: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure.

SIDELIGHTS: Since 2002, Mark St. Amant has maintained an adult-oriented satirical sports Web site, The Sports Rag, which touts itself as "the most trusted name in fake sports news." Drawing on his interest in sports, St. Amant's book Committed: Confession of a Fantasy Football Junkie explains his fascination with fantasy sports, in this case football, which has increased in popularity to the point that there is a World Championship of Fantasy Football held in Las Vegas, Nevada. On a regular basis, St. Amant came home from his public-relations job to sit in front of his computer and television screens, managing his imaginary team with actual National Football League players, using their statistics. Owners of these fantasy teams score points based on the performances of the players they have chosen. Eventually, St. Amant convinced his wife to let him stay home, play, and write a book about fantasy football. He includes a history of the hobby that began with professional football writers in the 1960s, and that eventually expanded to encompass millions of participants with the help of the Internet.

Library Journal contributor Larry R. Little wrote that in Committed St. Amant "chronicles the trials and tribulations of his plunge into sports obsession while also serving as a guide for the novice or experienced player." Booklist critic Wes Lukowsky called Committed "an informative, engagingly written, and very funny guide to an often-misunderstood area of sports fanaticism."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. Amant, Mark, Committed: Confession of a Fantasy Football Junkie, Scribner (New York, NY), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2004, Wes Lukowsky, review of Committed, p. 52.

Library Journal, October 1, 2004, Larry R. Little, review of Committed, p. 90.

Publishers Weekly, August 2, 2004, review of Committed, p. 60.

ONLINE

Mark St. Amant Home Page, http://www.markstamant.com (March 5, 2005).

Sports Rag Web site, http://www.thesportsrag.com/ (March 5, 2005).