Recommend a Sports Book

[tominator89 0]

Probably the one at Bally's. MGM is also good.

 

 

Also, while you're at one of those fine sports books, read "The Blind Side" by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. Not only a great sports book, but it's one of my favorite books period. It's got two main story lines in it... the first follows the evolution of football, starting at the emergence of Lawrence Taylor, the second follows Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher's amazing story. Really. Read this.

 

I thought The Blind Side sucked. It had a few interesting stories regarding the left tackle position (Taylor, Walsh, etc.) but the overwhelming majority of the book was about Oher and the shady family that adopted him.

 

That isnt really a reason why it sucked, but rather, a description of the book. "Ice cream sucks, it's cold."

 

My description of the book explains why it sucked. It did not focus on the evolution of the left tackle position as the title implies. Rather, it focuses at least 70% on Oher and his shady family.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Probably the one at Bally's. MGM is also good.

 

 

Also, while you're at one of those fine sports books, read "The Blind Side" by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. Not only a great sports book, but it's one of my favorite books period. It's got two main story lines in it... the first follows the evolution of football, starting at the emergence of Lawrence Taylor, the second follows Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher's amazing story. Really. Read this.

 

I thought The Blind Side sucked. It had a few interesting stories regarding the left tackle position (Taylor, Walsh, etc.) but the overwhelming majority of the book was about Oher and the shady family that adopted him.

 

That isnt really a reason why it sucked, but rather, a description of the book. "Ice cream sucks, it's cold."

 

My description of the book explains why it sucked. It did not focus on the evolution of the left tackle position as the title implies. Rather, it focuses at least 70% on Oher and his shady family.

 

Come on, even a shmuck could see the double meaning in the title "The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game." It covered the evolution of the left tackle fairly well, and then went on to tell an amazing recruiting story that speaks to part of football dont see, and the evolution from a game, into something far more than that... something, and I'll be vague as to not spoil it, that would lead the people in the book to do what they do. A book about the evolution of the left tackle would be 35 pages long, with pictures and a Jonathon Ogden scratch and sniff page.

 

[tominator89 0]

Probably the one at Bally's. MGM is also good.

 

 

Also, while you're at one of those fine sports books, read "The Blind Side" by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. Not only a great sports book, but it's one of my favorite books period. It's got two main story lines in it... the first follows the evolution of football, starting at the emergence of Lawrence Taylor, the second follows Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher's amazing story. Really. Read this.

 

I thought The Blind Side sucked. It had a few interesting stories regarding the left tackle position (Taylor, Walsh, etc.) but the overwhelming majority of the book was about Oher and the shady family that adopted him.

 

That isnt really a reason why it sucked, but rather, a description of the book. "Ice cream sucks, it's cold."

 

My description of the book explains why it sucked. It did not focus on the evolution of the left tackle position as the title implies. Rather, it focuses at least 70% on Oher and his shady family.

 

Come on, even a shmuck could see the double meaning in the title "The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game." It covered the evolution of the left tackle fairly well, and then went on to tell an amazing recruiting story that speaks to part of football dont see, and the evolution from a game, into something far more than that... something, and I'll be vague as to not spoil it, that would lead the people in the book to do what they do. A book about the evolution of the left tackle would be 35 pages long, with pictures and a Jonathon Ogden scratch and sniff page.

 

The book has two main audiences: 1) football fans who want to learn more about the left tackle position and 2) people who enjoy Oprah-style "inspirational" stories.

 

A problem arises when someone like myself falls into category 1 and finds that perhaps 20% of the book outlining actual football information. So, to me, the book was a waste of time. What further hurt my opinion of the book was the bias Lewis displayed for the Tuohy family and the shady activities they did in order to get past NCAA requirements.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

:07 Seconds Or Less by Jack McCallum

- A fascinating book about the Phoenix Suns 2005-06 season. A lot of interesting behind the scenes stuff (especially about Marion's fragile psyche, Barbosa's inability to communicate with anyone but Mike D'Antoni's brother and D'Antoni telling Tim Thomas "we're not gonna resign you so play your ass of and get a contract and then be lazy") and a nice insiders look at those two great LA series that year and the loss to Dallas. Really good read.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I love that cover, too.

[Guest Beastalentier]

":07 Seconds" is the same as saying "$100 dollars." Don't editors exist?

 

I've never really felt anything for the d'Antoni iteration of the Phoenix Suns, by the way. Like, I guess they're fun to watch, but I neither yearn for their inevitable playoff implosion nor root for them to win. I already got burned a couple of years ago hoping for the Nash/Nowitzki/Nelson Mavericks to shake things up and they never did. I don't care about the Suns.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I Still Hate Losing

 

Larry Blowea, picked it up at the 99 cent store, dude was managing the wrong team if he hates losing so much.

[Gert T 0]

 

 

I bought this book at a church garage sale for three bucks. Conroy, who wrote The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides was a Point Guard at the Citadel in the mid-60's. Really good read, although depressing at times. A person coming to the end of their athletic career will be able to relate to his tale.

 

 

[C Dubya 04 0]

I just finished reading through "God Save the Fan" by Leitch from Deadspin. Basically, if you like the site, you'll like this book. Not the best written, but he brings up some good points along the way and you will laugh throughout.

[Red Baron 0]

I've been reading Hockey: A People's History by Michael McKinley. It's amazing and there is so much backstory to a lot of important things in hockey history, like the Summit Series, and how the Montreal Canadiens almost declared bankruptcy during the 40's.

[nogoodnick 0]

Bravesfan, or Fokai as he's apparently taken to calling himself gave me Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy? to read a few years back and I was skeptical that a book about golf could be interesting. In it Reilly becomes a caddy for multiple professional golfers and celebs and shares his experiences. Surprisingly entertaining and something I've been thinking about reading again.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Bravesfan, or Fokai as he's apparently taken to calling himself gave me Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy? to read a few years back and I was skeptical that a book about golf could be interesting. In it Reilly becomes a caddy for multiple professional golfers and celebs and shares his experiences. Surprisingly entertaining and something I've been thinking about reading again.

I've been meaning to pick that up. My dad got me Hate Mail From Cheerleaders for Christmas, and even though it was all columns, it was still a great read.

[CanadianChris 0]

It's a great book. I loved the chapters where he caddies for Jack Nicklaus and high-stakes gambler Dewey Tomko.

[TheSSNintendo 0]

Glow Pucks & 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History

 

Pretty good book, especially if you enjoy some humor.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Chris Coste's The 33 Year Old Rookie.

 

I was disappointed, honestly. Coste's is a nice story, and that he wrote this without a ghostwriter is phenomenal. It is short however, and is desperately lacking in details. The 2005 Red Barons for example are covered in less than two pages. What is there is largely fact driven. It is good to get the story of what happened, but at no point do you really reach to the soul of the participants. You get the facts, but you don't really get a deeper understanding of the game in any fashion.

 

Recommended only for Phillies fans or fans of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks.

[Mik 0]

http://www.amazon.com/Hate-Like-This-Happy...r/dp/006074023X

 

 

This was a critically acclaimed best seller. It's written by an ardent Tarheel fan who tries to take an unbiased look at the rivalry. I'm currently re-reading it and it truly is a good book. Recommended for any college basketball fan, really. It gives a good perspective to how much the Duke/UNC rivalry means to people who live in North Carolina.

[Guest (Loggins Name)]

As someone who is familiar with neither college basketball nor the state of North Carolina, can you tell some of us what it does mean? Is it mostly a class rivalry sort of deal?

[Mik 0]

Actually, that's a big part of it. They view Duke as elitists and transplanted New Jersians coming down and thumbing their nose at Southern tradition. There are many instances where they bring up the elite world view that Duke, both as a university and basketball program, has that everything and anyone is beneath it.

 

There is a section where he is interviewing a Duke law professor who happens to be an ardent Tarheel fan and he says that you can always spot the students who went to Duke undergrad because it doesn't take them very long to bring up money and they never talk about anything other then themself. That's pretty much a microcosm of the main viewpoint the book takes.

 

There are many pictures painted throughout the book where completely rational people express absolute hatred for Duke basketball (or UNC but mostly Duke).

 

But that's not the whole book. Basically it follows the 2005 championship Tarheels. He scores interviews with Shavlick Randolph, J.J. Redick, Dean Smith, Art Heyman (famous Duke player from the 50s, 60s), and even Coach K. himself.

 

He also gets into the inner circle of Melvin Scott, who if anyone remembers was a little used shooter from the Doherty days who saw his playing time drop to almost zero when Roy Williams came in. But all of those sections are extremely interesting because Melvin is from inner city Baltimore. The type of inner-city Baltimore you see on The Wire. And basically everyone in Baltimore is constantly telling him what he's doing wrong and how he doesn't get the playing time he deserves, etc. It's a really good look at just how much pressure even non-star college players can be under.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I just finished up Joe Posnanski's "The Soul of Baseball," his book about traveling with Buck O'Neil. Absolutely splendid, probably the best new baseball book I have read in the last two years.

[Brett Favre 0]

"Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich" by Mark Kriegel has been great from what I've read thus far (mostly on his father and how obsessed he was with basketball). Maravich IMO is arguably the most skilled basketball player ever. He was talented, but what set him apart was his crazy ass work ethic (like 8 hours a day of practice since he was like 9 years old). That was detrimental to his personal life though.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Has anyone read The Yankee Years yet?

[Guest]

I plan on picking it up from the library in a while. Four people have put holds on it.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I'm reading Ditka 1985 autobiography cash in, its pretty bad, but his Geogre Halas stories make me want to find a good book on the Papa Bear

[BruiserKC 0]

Curt Smith..."Voices of The Game"- great book talking about the legendary voices that were part of baseball's lore.

 

W.P. Kinsella..."Iowa Baseball Confederacy"...nice piece of fiction from the man that gave us "Field of Dreams".

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Has anyone had a chance to read or peruse The Fielding Bible II? I had it pre-ordered from Amazon but ended up canceling my order when fangraphs.com added UZR data to their free content. I don't know if it's worth it to get the book now.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Has anyone had a chance to read or peruse The Fielding Bible II? I had it pre-ordered from Amazon but ended up canceling my order when fangraphs.com added UZR data to their free content. I don't know if it's worth it to get the book now.

I bought the first one, don't plan on buying the second. I'm finding a lot of these Bill James/Baseball Info Solutions corroborations have a ton of barely usable information, and not a great deal of substance when it comes to the writing.

[Youth N Asia 0]

 

Good quick read about a guy that makes it to the majors but has more problems than he can deal with. Crazy dude...played by Anthony Perkins in the movie actually