4 comments about Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon.

1. On rare occasions, the right person is at the right place in the right time to carry out an extraordinary task. When Roland Lazenby set out to write a biography on Jerry West, that was one of those special moments.
   
   For starters, Lazenby is one of the best sportswriters in the business. Of all the many books written about the Chicago Bulls dynasty, his masterpiece "Blood on the Horns" sits above all the others (even ahead of Sam Smith's "The Jordan Rules.") He also wrote THE book on the history of the Lakers franchise, "The Lakers" and then followed it up with the bigger more impressive tome "The Show." He's one of the very few writers who doesn't fall under the spell of basketball demigods, such as Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, and do their bidding. He does his homework and reports the facts and puts them out there.
   
   Second, he's a Lakers fan. I did not know this for some time, because he has written on many teams and written multiple books on the Bulls. Writing about what you love versus what you know has got to energize a writer, and you can see it here. To borrow a phrase quoted by those associated with West, how can you NOT be jazzed to write about "Jerry F***ing West?" The man IS the Lakers. He played 14 years, coached 2 years, scouted for the team, and served in various front office roles, including General Manager for 20 years. He built the 1980s and the early 2000s dynasty. This book radiates energy, and I imagine it was extremely difficult to craft this out, balancing love and fairness, rounding out the character and keeping the story pushing forward while covering such an extensive career.
   
   The third reason has to do with West himself. The advantage of the autobiography is that the person telling the story knows more about himself than anyone. When you read a biography about a great person in history, there is a certain amount of guesswork, albeit educated. For instance, no one REALLY knows what George Washington was feeling during certain times. We can read his letters, but without talking to him directly, we don't know the full truth. At the same time, the disadvantage of the autobiography is that people value themselves probably more highly than they ought. No one wants to look like the bad guy or the screw up, so some points are glossed over or rationalized, even if it's a case of the person convincing himself that this revised history is the truth. To see this point illustrated, read Pete Maravich's autobiography "Heir to a Dream" and then read Mark Kriegel's excellent biography "Pistol." An outside observer is often more brutally honest about the subject than the subject. Besides this book and Kriegel's the other biography that really stands out is Robert Cherry's biography about Wilt Chamberlain, "Wilt: Larger than Life." The advantage Lazenby has over Cherry and Kriegel is that Jerry West is still alive, whereas Maravich and Chamberlain had passed away, so he was able to interview West himself. Furthermore, West is 71 years old, so he has a sense of perspective and is more likely to be honest looking back in retrospect to past relationships and performances, unlike a biography written about a 32 year old player in the prime of his career.
   
   Finally, and probably most importantly, former Lakers General Manager Pete Newell said to understand Jerry West, you have to understand West, you have understand West Virginia. Lazenby, a West Virginia native, understands West Virginia. He spends significant time explaining the background of West Virginia, including the settling and conflict dating back to the French and Indian War, along with the exploitation of the land, resources, and people by large mining corporations. And beyond understanding the land and the people of the state as a whole, Lazenby also sets the background to West's upbringing. You have to understand his parents to understand why he is such a perfectionist. To understand his parents, you have to understand his grandparents. Lazenby goes into detail on this, along with some even more distant relatives. He spends three chapters setting up back story before we even get to West playing basketball in high school. In doing so, you really get into the mind of West and although he is a hard man to understand - namely his nervous energy, and inability to be sit back and take satisfaction in the fruit of his work - you still see WHY he is the way he is. And that is why this book is so special. Most books are more interested in the events rather than the "whys". Lazenby answers both.
   
   You also get to see West's view on this relationships with key people in his career: Fred Schaus, Elgin Baylor, Jack Kent Cooke, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry Buss, and Phil Jackson.
   
   The one question I always wondered was knowing West's perfectionist attitude and his wont for reliving the failures to win the championship in 6 meetings with the Celtics (along with past failures in college) and subjecting himself to misery, when the Lakers finally won the title in 1972, West went through a shooting slump in the finals and conference finals. I always wondered how he dealt with winning the finals, yet performing at a sub-standard level. Had I met West, I would never have asked him this. After all, when you stand before "Jerry F***ing West", you are in the presence of royalty, so how could you do anything except heap praise? Yet Lazenby does address this issue in detail - proving why he is one of the best at what he does. He's a fan, yet he's fair.
   
   When I finished this book, I knew more about the subject matter than I did in any other sports book, and probably more than any other historical character. This is not just a good sports book, this is a textbook example of how to write a biography. This can proudly take its place alongside David McCollough's biography on John Adams and Edmund Morris' "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" on the bookshelf, both of which won the Pulitzer Prize, but have nothing on this book. This is the best 3-dimensional analysis of a character in any biography I have come across, and I have read many: sports and non-sports.
   
   I own and have read so many basketball books that I created a website for my books with book reviews. I rate my books from 1-5 stars. I have often wondered which 5-star rated book was the best, and I had never been able to pick one out that stood above the rest - until now. This book stands out so far above the rest, that I had to create a new rating: 6-stars. The master sports author who created two previous brilliant works has created his magnum opus.



2. Having been a Laker fan since the early 70's, I couldn't wait to read about my all-time favorite Laker. The author does an excellent job following the life and career of Jerry West. Starting with his childhood in the Depression, this is the time in his life where his "perfectionism" began. With hard work and the demands of his mother, Jerry would carry this burden through-out his entire life. Looking back over the years, Jerry said he had no idea why he played so hard except he was desperate to please his mother, to make up for the great loss she had suffered due to the death of his brother, David. During his college years, Jerry encounters "Hot Rod Hundley"(from West Virginia and future Laker) and Oscar Robertson. The 60's were especially difficult due to the constant losing to the Boston Celtics. During the '72 season the Lakers finally hit pay-dirt with a World Championship and a record 33 game winning streak. After his career was over, Jerry would be the Lakers' general manager and be involved with the organization he loved. I enjoyed most of the book, but found myself saddened with the fact of the underlining events that haunted this super-star. The demand for perfection is impossible to endure yet essential to greatness, basketball's select few---this is Jerry West. Jerry once said certain players, the elite, have a little extra "dust sprinkles" on them at birth---this is Jerry West. The image and character of Jerry West is what being a professional is all about. Maybe that is why Jerry's silhouette is the logo for the NBA. Would also recommend Wilt: Larger Than Life and Chick: His Unpublished Memoirs and the Memories of Those Who Loved Him as companion reading.



3. Jerry West is one of the most important figures in NBA history, and in this great biography, Roland Lazenby chronicles the life of the man who led the Los Angeles Lakers to numerous Finals appearances and NBA championships as a player and general manager.
   
   The book begins by tracing West's lineage to the eighteenth century, provides a vivid picture of West's childhood in mid-20th century West Virginia, and recalls many of the trials his family had at that time. The book describes how West learned the game of basketball, and traces his playing days at East Bank High, at West Virginia University, and on the 1960 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.
   
   West is most famous for his playing career with the Lakers, and much of the book covers those 14 seasons, including the inner workings of the Laker squad and West's famous playoff battles with the Boston Celtics. The author discusses how the same perfectionism that caused West to work so hard at the game and achieve such success had its negative aspects.
   
   Lazenby documents West's post-playing days as a coach and general manager, and discloses some of the issues that led to West's departure from the team in 2000. This very well-researched book is made even better by the many interviews the author was able to obtain that yielded many fresh insights about West's career. This volume would be enjoyed by anyone keenly interested in NBA history.



4. It's been over thirty-five years since all-time great Jerry West retired from the NBA so it's a daunting task to attempt his biography in a way that will seem fresh and meaningful to longtime Jerry West fans... but author Roland Lazenby succeeded in just such a quest. The author has done yeomen's work in combining archival historical articles, books and interviews... along with recent interviews with former teammates... associates... family members... and probably most impressive of all... former fiery members of competitive teams. I was raised to believe the greatest compliments a ballplayer could receive were from his peers... both teammates and competitors. An example of such haloed praise for West was proffered by Boston Celtic Tom Heinsohn who played... coached... or announced the six straight NBA championship series that West's Lakers lost to the hated Celtics: "WEST AND (TEAMMATE ELGIN) BAYLOR WERE TWO OF THE FIVE GREATEST PLAYERS EVER." Despite the fact that Jerry West finally got his elusive championship as a player by defeating the New York Knicks in 1972... a season that included *THE GREATEST CONSECUTIVE GAME WINNING STREAK BY ANY PROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ANY MAJOR SPORT IN HISTORY (33-STRAIGHT-GAMES)... Jerry's career both in college as an All-American at West Virginia and as a FOURTEEN-TIME-ALL-STAR for the Los Angeles Lakers... will be remembered by Jerry... as well as by those close to him... by the self-imposed anguish that was his daily life. He... like his Mother... was a perfectionist... and a single loss would nag at him inconsolably for months. It's this festering self-doubt and loathing that led some close to him to observe that despite all he accomplished in his career "HE NEVER SEEMED TO FIND ANY JOY IN IT." This self-imposed psychosis is probably the most amazing thing that a reader who is otherwise overly familiar with Jerry West's accomplishments will take away from this book. Hot Rod Hundley who preceded Jerry as a West Virginia All-American... and also preceded West as a first round selection by the Lakers so aptly said: "WEST ACCOMPLISHED TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS I DID IN MY CAREER, BUT HE'S ABOUT A TENTH AS HAPPY AS I AM."
   
   There are plenty of unmatched statistics such as during the six NBA finals series against the Celtics in 1962,63,65,66,68, and 69... he averaged 31,29,34,35,32, and 38. In the 1964-65 six game Western Conference playoff series with the Bullets, "WEST AVERAGED 46.3 POINTS PER GAME, A RECORD THAT HAS WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF EVEN MICHAEL JORDAN'S BEST." Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan wrote: "NO CELTIC OPPONENT HAS EVER HAD MORE FANS WISHING HE WOULD SWITCH UNIFORMS, AND THAT INCLUDES MICHAEL JORDAN."
   
   *JERRY WEST WAS NAMED THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER OF THE 1969 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES... THE ONLY TIME IN LEAGUE HISTORY THAT THE MVP CAME FROM THE LOSING TEAM!*
   
   The reader will hear no holds barred comments from West regarding such luminaries as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jack Kent Cooke, Jerry Buss, Fred Schaus, Phil Jackson... and many others. You will learn... or be reminded that West is probably the most loved and respected player to ever come from the state of West Virginia... in fact the author who is also from West Virginia says that his Father worshipped Jerry West. "I OFTEN TELL PEOPLE THAT THERE WERE TWO PICTURES ON THE WALL OF OUR HOME WHEN I WAS A BOY. ONE WAS OF JESUS. THE OTHER WAS OF JERRY WEST. THE PICTURE OF JESUS, I TELL PEOPLE, WAS HUNG HIGHER THAN THE PICTURE OF JERRY, BUT ONLY BY ABOUT AN INCH OR TWO."
   
   The only part of this book from my perspective that was not five star quality was approximately thirty-odd pages near the beginning of the book that went into the history of West Virginia as far back as the 1700's. Perhaps I... like many other potential readers was simply chomping at the bit to immediately get to the main subject... my childhood hero Jerry West. I grew up in Los Angeles while West was playing for the Lakers. I wore his number 44 on my high school team... my junior college team... and on my military team. I practiced day and night imitating Jerry's unstoppable jump shot until mine was one and the same.
   
   In my house... Jerry's picture was higher on the wall than any other.

5 comments about Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal That Rocked the NBA.

1. What a fabulous book. Tim Donaghy rise and fall is one for the ages. Fast paced, at times funny and very captivating. Some of the stories are absolutely mind-boggling and told with such conviction -- the reader will never watch an NBA game without thoughts of this book in the back of there minds. He seems like a stand up guy, as he faced the music. Highly recommended for any sports fan!!!



2. 
   
   Tim Donaghy has been in the headlines for several years. He was a well-paid ($275,000 per year) referee of professional basketball. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to transmit wagering information. He was sentenced to serve 15 months in federal prison in Pensacola, Florida. This is his story.
   
   Donaghy begins his mea culpa by describing how he and a few of his high school buddies would bet on virtually anything. After working almost ten years in the NBA, he came to know the likes and dislikes of other referees and, based on that information; he could accurately predict the outcome of most NBA basketball games. Substantial bets were made through his friends, at least one of them a mob-related bookie. Donaghy steadfastly denies that his bets influenced the way that he refereed games. On the other hand, he does admit that referees often had wagers or agreements among themselves with respect to how calls would be made in favor of or against specific players or coaches.
   
   The gambling and the operations of the NBA are described through short vignettes, most of them interesting, and most of them involving well-known players or referees. Usually, the superstar players and the league executives are unfavorably portrayed. Donaghy's strongest invective is directed at the executives who run the NBA. The style of this part of the book is similar to those "Tales of the [insert the name of a school] Hardwoods" books that proliferated a few years ago. Although the stories are interesting, there tends to be a lot of repetition.
   
   Donaghy's own experience is more personally related in the chapters dealing with the federal grand jury proceeding and his time in prison. These chapters are well written and interesting.
   
   Donaghy's view of the NBA as an organization interested in putting on a show rather than a sporting event, and affording special treatment to superstars rings true. However, the elephant in the room is the veracity of the author. Donaghy recognizes that. Indeed, the book begins with a foreword written by a former FBI agent who assures us that Donaghy is a credible witness. When was the last time you saw that? It is a problem whenever you deal with someone who freely admits to having practiced deception and duplicity for personal gain. Can you believe what he tells you? It's your call.



3. The book is well-written. Too much data to be ignored. Unbelievable that a bunch of refs were convicted of tax evasion in the 1990s, and still ref in the league - yet this guy has been made such a scapegoat - labeled a rogue ref rather than the NBA taking action to clean up its act and get more rigorous. I always wondered why the NBA had a much higher at-home-winning-percentage than MLB or the NFL. Ref-bias surely is part of it.



4. For me, I just don't trust the guy at his word. I had more questions than answers after finishing this book. Some things just didn't sit right - Donaghy doesn't seem to know the difference between a "teaser" bet and a "parlay". His claim that the NBA allows bigger market teams and star player teams as the only ones to advance to seven games in the playoffs is pure conspiratorial nonsense - if it was all about ratings, the NBA would have lined up Cleveland (Lebron) and L.A. (Kobe) last year - especially after NIKE invested millions of dollars in advertising into those Lebron and Kobe puppets. THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Many times over the past thirty years, teams have swept in four game series. How many times in the past twenty years has San Antonio won the championship? Four or five times? That's one of the smallest NBA markets there is. So it is obvious that many of his claims land around fifty percent, which means they don't hold any water. (For those of you that look at median averages and percentages.) Many people don't seem to understand the difference between a "fix" and "inside information", and there is a HUGE difference. The problem with basketball is that it can be manipulated by the referees so easily. The good thing is that you rarely ever hear of an NBA player involved. (They make too much money and the risk is so great.) It's almost impossible to keep a secret if more than one person has knowledge of a situation - Donaghy got away with it for only three years.
   There is a claim by Donaghy that Ref Steve Javie does not like Allen Iverson. The spread record between 2003 and 2007 of games involving Javie and Iverson is 7 wins and 6 losses (51%), had you bet against Iverson. It's obvious this player/ref relationship inside knowledge stuff did not get Donaghy to his 75% win mark. He's flat out lying. Ref Dick Bavetta is said by Donaghy to keep games close, so you would think betting on large spread underdogs would be a gold mine in games Bavetta was a ref - again, 50% of the time the favorite won in a blowout - no advantage in betting.
   Another example is the supposed "fix" game Donaghy worked in 2006 between the Suns and Spurs - it is somewhat contradicted, although the foul differential was very questionable. Phoenix is almost twice the market size as S.A.. So Danaghy's claim that the NBA favors larger markets is obviously not the case if the Spurs were "fixed" to win. Many of Donaghy's claims have been debunked, although I agree with his suggestion that Mark Cuban should take over for David Stern. I would recommend this book as a light read for those that love betting on the NBA and understand how spreads work and gamble on sports. In that case it can be entertaining. Otherwise I would say read the excerpts online and pass on the book.



5. I loved reading this book. Tim Donaghy was very insightful on what goes on in the NBA. I'm a big fan of the NBA. The only problem with reading this book is that I can't take the games seriously anymore. Whenever there's a bad call, I see it as being fixed and not just a bad call. Also, I know the teams I love to watch, like Dallas and Phoenix, will never win a championship because the referees don't like the owners and the referees will throw a game to favor the people they do like. Tim's got nothing to lose and throws everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, under the bus. If you're a big NBA fan like myself, you can't miss this one.

5 comments about Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson.

1. If you are a Coach Richardson fan, you will find this book quite interesting. A book you can sit down and read in no time. After reading you will understand that all he has said through the years is true.



2. Rus Bradburd's telling of the life (so far) of legendary basketball coach Nolan Richardson is partly a basketball story, from a junior college in hardscrabble West Texas to Final Fours and a national championship at Arkansas. More importantly, though, it's the story of a man from a poor neighborhood in El Paso fighting through daunting obstacles to achieve the pinnacle of success in a place where many wished him to fail, and the scars left by those battles. Perhaps most importantly, this book tells the story of a nation's struggles with racism, both subtle and overt, over the last half-century. Because of people like Nolan Richardson, much progress can be seen; as Bradburd's book makes clear, however, fear and bigotry remain alarmingly present in our country. This is an important book, for basketball fans and non-fans alike.



3. I couldn't care less about basketball, but I loved this book. Basketball is simply a lens - a brilliant lens in Bradburd's expert hands - through which the author examines fifty years of racial relations, politics, history and civil rights struggle. Nolan Richardson is a fascinating character -- complicated, visionary, driven, irascible. At times he appears the most disciplined man alive and at others, out of control. He is portrayed as utterly human in dealing with a doomed marriage, a sick child or school politics. At the same time, he can become larger than life in breaking barriers and attaining impressive firsts on and off the court. His story, America's story in the second half of the last century, is full of heroism and flaws, anger and compassion.
   
   This is an epic story, and you don't need to like basketball to find Nolan's story riveting any more than you need to love war to find yourself transfixed by Achilles'.



4. I was a student at the University of Arkansas during the some of the first years Nolan Richardson was a coach and I follow college basketball. I have numerous problems with some of the facts. It appeared that the author wanted to make every problem Nolan Richardson had a race issue. I was turned off by the behavior of some of his players. I had a class with Todd Day, a star player. He only appeared in class only to take tests except for once when he appeared at the end of class to receive a test he took. Day's attitude toward education has changed. The author told Rick Schaefer, the SID during Nolan's time, that he would call him for an interview, but never did. He never called Harry King, the AP writer who covered Nolan Richardson. I would deduct a star-and-a-half automatically because Rick and Harry are impeccable sources of Razorback history. The author should have dwelled on Nolan's ego. He is a paradox. He did and does good things, but he also rubbed many people the wrong way with his comments, with his hiring of Bill Walker as his attorney because of Walker's reputation and the way some of his players played like thugs with the trash talking and over-the-top physical play. The team did not represent the school and state well at times because of the off-the-court problems and the teams play on the court at times. I wish the author would have mentioned the conflict Nolan had with the coaches at Little Rock Parkview, the recruiting of Jason Jennings, who said in an interview that appeared in the Three Rivers Edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he played with a herniated disc in his back but was told he only had a pulled muscle. Jennings' father and uncle even met with Frank Broyles about Nolan. Many people who follow Razorback basketball were upset that so many in-state, student-athletes went out of state because they did not receive offers from Nolan and then had standout games against the U of A. I wished the author would have talked about the caucasian players that transfered from the U of A or the TU player who said in an interview in Sports Illustrated that when Nolan was the TU coach, he was forced to take a courseload that he did not want to take. Also, I deduct a star for the author quoting Wendell Griffin throughout the book. Griffin has been disciplined as a judge for his actions and statements.
   
   The author spelled Ohio State as Ohio Sate and made a mistake about Wake Forest, a university who beat Eddie Sutton's first NCAA-bid team in an upset.
   
   I am a student of Arkansas sports history. I enjoyed reading the book published by the U of A press about John McClendon. However, while some of the things he said were true about the Arkansas' and the U of A' past, he exaggerated a racist angle. There is racism on both sides that I have encountered. Today, it is about individual character. Also, most people have grown and it would be a few who have animosity toward African-American people. Stan Heath was fired because his teams appeared undisciplined and had numerous off-the-court problems. It had nothing to do with Nolan's buyout.
   
   Also, the author should have noted that the state is different from the northwest to the southeast and it is not just racial. The northwest has mostly dry counties where alocohol can't be sold, but the southeast is mostly wet. The northwest is mostly mountainous, but the southeast is flat. The northwest's growth has abated somewhat, but most towns and communties in southeast Arkansas are declining in population because of the lack of jobs.
   
   The University of Arkansas is an inferior university in many ways. It is just not about race. From my years in school, it had a problem with the Greek system that dominates too much in campus activies and austerity among many faculty and staff that seemed to feel dealing with students was a bother. I wish those things had been covered more in the book. I am sorry for what Nolan went through and the people who the police had used the dogs. However, the campus police had corruption issues when I was there. During my time in school at the U of A, I was falsely arrested in a situation where not only did I have witnesses who could back my whereabouts, but I had other undeniable proof. The campus cop was trying to pull a power play on me because I remembered him as a cop who sided with a fraternity member who hit my truck and drove off. I eventually was released when they found he person who committed he crime. I told Larry Slammons, the campus security chief mentioned in the book about the cop and he laughed at me. Slammons was an equal opportunity incompetent. The author probably would have figured after research that there was a high horse with many people with U of A. I had a minister at a U of A campus ministry at the time tell me I would go to hell because I did not appreciate him trying to embarrass me because I was reared in a rural area. Egos and power trips were a part of life no matter your skin color.
   
   Before an author writes about Arkansas, he should travel around the state from Blytheville to Bentonville and Lake Village to Mena to get a read on its people. He should go to Sim's BBQ in Little Rock, What-a-Burger in Russellville or McClard's BBQ in Hot Springs and do research. It is tough to make blanket statements about a state. There are things in this state's past that I'm embarrassed. I am sure many people from other states would agree with me about their state. However, constant references about the confederacy of the past are an anachronism. The book would have been better if the author had stuck with the facts of Nolan Richardson and not editoralized.



5. "Forty Minutes of Hell" is great reading, even for the non-sports fan. Nolan Richardson's life is a saga of grit, determination, and basketball coaching brilliance with no compromise of personal integrity. Bradburd's account of this multi-championship winning coach is thorough and as fast-paced as Richardson's famous game. Richardson's controversial statements about race are not ducked. In fact the book begins with his famous/infamous press conference at the University of Arkansas in 2002 which was a prequel to his termination there. Like any hero, Richardson is not perfect, and Bradburd doesn't gloss over Richardson's mistakes. The El Paso chapters will surprise many readers--it's a city with a rich basketball tradition, alongside its Mexican-dominant culture and its prescient civil rights litigation. What Nolan Richardson has accomplished is truly amazing--coaching the winning teams of all three major college basketball titles and storming his outspoken way into sports history.

5 comments about Hard Work: My Life On and Off the Court.

1. The only problem with this book was that I couldn't put it down. I'm not even a UNC basketball fan.



2. EXCELLENT book! I bought one for my daughter and her friend - both UNC basketball wannabes! I enjoyed reading the book myself! A+++++



3. It was a gift for my son and he was very happy with my purchase.



4. Well written and of such great substance. No better topic and very straight forward and seemingly honest in it's content. Coach Williams is obviously a tribute to the game and humanity as a whole. Doesn't hurt that he is also from the reviewers front yard either. Good book, thanks!



5. This would be a fine gift for the college basketball fan that always roots for the UNC Tar Heels over Duke. In //Hard Work//, Coach Roy Williams comes off a national championship season to tell the story of his life. Williams is portrayed as extremely likeable and modest, if far too much of a Goody Two Shoes. It may be hard for someone to relate to a person as focused as Williams has been his entire life. Since high school he had only one goal: to be a sports coach. Interestingly, he tells us of his motivation as a young man whose father deserted the family when he was 11, "I saw coaching basketball as a way to give some kids the father figure I never had."
   
   The fault with //Hard Work//, as with most "as told to..." autobiographies, is that Williams' personality never quite manages to land within its pages. It reads like something that might have been scripted by an adoring UNC student, although all in all it's far from being a bad tale. This reader, however, would prefer to read a self-penned autobiography that contains a few grammatical errors yet retains the voice of the person telling his own story. Something is lost in translation when a professional writer has to select the words of a subject's life story.
   
   Reviewed by Joseph Arellano

2 comments about Lebron James: The Making of an MVP.

1. "LeBron James: The Making of an MVP'' chronicles James from his childhood in Akron all the way to superstardom in the NBA. It follows in a long line of wonderful books by Terry Pluto, the award-winning sports writer of the Akron Beacon-Journal and now the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland Cavaliers beat reporter Brian Windhorst is Pluto's co-author.
   Accompanying the text are 90 outstanding color photos taken by the staff of the Plain Dealer. They record James from high school -- where in addition to being a basketball prodigy, he was also a football player of note -- all the way to the NBA. In addition, factoid boxes called The LeBron File, revealing interesting tidbits about James, are scattered through the text.
   The authors spared no detail in this portrayal of James. In addition to covering LeBron's pro career, they have talked to many who made an impression on him during his high school career. That includes teachers at St. Vincent-St. Mary as well as coaches and teammates.
   These interviews reveal a side of LeBron that you won't find in newspapers. Apparently being blessed with an athletic body is not enough to gain the success he has had. The authors constantly show examples of LeBron's drive and character. Eager to please in any situation, LeBron comes across as an extremely positive role model. Even as a kid when he lived part-time with the Walker family, LeBron adapted to a family routine, fitting in and helping with household chores.
   Later, that kind of attitude would prove beneficial when he was not fully accepted by Cavaliers teammates during his rookie season. He continued to do his best, and the Cavaliers dumped some players in order to fit players around him. His best included not just scoring points but being the ultimate team player.
   Versatility is the name of his game. The authors point out that LeBron would be a star if he were shorter and could not score because he's such a good passer.
   Thus, he has the scoring ability of Michael Jordan and the passing ability of Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. So containing him defensively becomes quite the chore.
   I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in James. This is so much more than just a basketball book. It probes the character and off-the-court life of a basketball superstar as much as his on-the-floor contributions.



2. This is an excellent for anyone who wants an insight into the character and development of LeBron James

5 comments about My Losing Season: A Memoir.

1. Pat Conroy's work is normally a little negative and down beat for me. However this book grabbed me by scruff of the neck and pulled me through it.
   
   It is authbiographal and because it is so well written,unlike many others I have read, it is utterly compelling.
   
   I really enjoyed this one.
   
   J. Robert Ewbank, author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"



2. Probably 98% percent of sports books are about winners. I mean, how many athletes want to lay out their worst moments in public for all to acknowledge. Conroy takes on the challenge as he writes of his basketball career at the Citadel. Instead of reading one painful chapter and laying the book gingerly aside, I had to read more. He captivated me by opening up his increasingly ravaged emotions and presenting that rare description of what the athlete goes through who fights like heck, yet loses game after heart-wrenching game. Amazingly, Conroy succeeds so well, that I surmise some non-athletes could pick up the book and be entertained. Some say Americans are so consumed with the winner mentality, the happily ever after syndrome, that we will not dare enjoy a book that reveals the dark side. This book proves them wrong.



3. I watched "Great Santini" and I cried. Someone else knew what I had felt. Pat had succeeded where I had failed. My Dad expressed his disgust regularly with me while I was at home. I was insufficiently manly for him from grade school to high school. I preferred the library to giving someone brain trauma on the gridiron. I got an appointment to West Point and it was complete repudiation for him. I just wanted him to be proud of me but he saw it as me eclipsing his star in the most spectacular fashion. He didn't make it to my swearing in on the Plain-he was busy. This book was validation for me. I guess I can't be clinical in my dissection of this piece but it did it for me. I had read it while I was in a mudlogging trailer in the Permian Basin. I just had to have my own copy. Yes, I recommend it.



4. If you are a Conroy fan, this book will give you an insight into his life. Expands on The Great Santini. I throughly enjoyed this book even though I am not a basketball fan.



5. "Parents and players. I would like to introduce our special guest speaker for this year's high school athletics awards banquet. In his brief three-year career, former Coach Henry Terwilliger amassed an amazing won-lost percentage of .367. Even when one of his teams had a player recruited by the state university, it lost more games than it won. Now, of course, Coach Terwilliger is a successful automobile insurance salesman. But he's agreed to kick off our banquet tonight by offering a few inspirational words for the future from his vast experience while distributing business cards in the back of the auditorium."
   
   How often I yearned to hear an introduction like that during the years I attended numerous high school athletic banquets with my kids. Instead, it was always a presentation by some coach who was a winner--the kind of leader to inspire everyone else to also become a winner. Don't they know that somebody has to lose? And, more importantly, don't they know that losers learn more than the winners? They just have less fun learning it and more reluctance sharing those experiences. That's why we need this book by Pat Conroy.
   
   Anyone who has had the guts over their lifetime to get out there and compete at anything knows you have to lose more than you win. A good baseball hitter swings and misses at three times as many pitches as he hits. Individually, he loses two or three times for every time he wins. But he becomes a winner if he uses those losing swings to learn about the pitcher.
   
   Conroy's brilliant memoir of his lost 1966-67 season as a senior point guard for the Citadel uses basketball instead of baseball to make that same point on a larger scale. As a result, it becomes much more than a sports memoir. It becomes required reading for the game of life. Forget Coach Terwilliger. Just read Conroy instead.

5 comments about Drive: The Story of My Life.

1. My 12 year old son enjoyed this book about the life of Larry Bird. I purchased this book for a very low price & it was money well spent. This book will stay on his shelf for years to come.



2. Book outlines apparently the life as Larry Bird as written by him. Pretty basic stuff here. A good read if you were a Bird fan back in the past. Of course I emmulated my game after him while playing in two leagues as a teenager, now don't care much about basketball. So for me, it was somewhat of an enjoyable read. Didn't take long went right through it. Some interesting things about him was that his dad killed himself, and Bird's deep attitude about not being superficial I found especially interesting. However, he tries not to make any enemies here and there's nothing to controversial to be found. Interesting to see how someone of his stature kept his head together.



3. As a fan of Larry Bird, I found that this book did not meet my expectations. As one of the best trash talkers in the game, I anticipated a larger degree of wit among this writing. Unfortunately, although detailed, Bird's story comes off somewhat bland and does not encompass much of Bird's state of mind; instead focusing merely on citing the events in his life.
   
   For those seeking to learn about the life of one of the NBA's greatest champions and who also have an interest in basketball, there are some good nuggets of information available. When Bird first came into the league, for instance, he considered the three point shot as something that was well out of his range, the distance too great. Revelations such as this will come as a surprise to those who only know of his champion style heroics. Had the book contained a more significant amount of this new and fascinating information, it certainly would have rated higher.
   
   Bird certainly provides a behind the scenes look into basketball; however it lacks any noteworthy reflection from Bird on the topic. If you are looking for an inspirational piece from the mindset of one of sports great champions, you will be rather disappointed.



4. It is quite likely that this bloke from absolutely nowheresville Indiana's picture would be next to a dictionary that had an entry that said 'White Men Can't Jump'. If you can do everything else though, you can win a lot, and even get some of those Championship type ornaments to hang in your stadium and about your preosn.



5. This is the story of a person who is one of the greatest players of all time, Larry Bird. He grew up in the small town of French Lick, Indiana. He came from a very poor family of six. His mother was a hard worker and took care of the family. Larry's father, Joe, worked for little money at a shoe company. This was hard for Larry, but it got worse. His father committed suicide when he is young, which forces his mother to work two jobs.
   
   Larry didn't always love basketball. His first love was baseball. He also liked football, but these two sports didn't work for him, so he decided to play basketball. Larry didn't really start liking basketball until his sophomore year, but then he starts to live for the sport. His high school coach helped him improve his skills and during Larry's junior and senior year he goes to the state championship. After high school Larry goes to Indiana State University, where, during his senior year, they go to the NCAA championship to face Michigan State and Magic Johnson. Unfortunately, Larry lost in the most watched final ever.
   
   My favorite part of the book is the Foreword by Magic Johnson because it explains how Larry Bird changed the game of basketball forever.
   
   This book is similar to with other sports biographies. It shows how Larry worked hard to get where he is similar to Bo Knows Bo by Bo Jackson. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys sports and is a fan of Larry Bird

5 comments about Shooting Stars.

1. This is a very great book, it is very inspiring for any one who loves the game of basketball or likes lebron james. Great Book. High Recommendations



2. Well written, entertaining tale of five young St. Vincent-St.Mary high school basketball players and their quest for a high school national championship. The strengths of this book rest upon the enthralling personalities and challenging circumstances experienced by the individual players and coaches. It's amazing the amount of details that can be recalled by James; especially conversations and extensive in-game details (which can become a bit tedious). Co-written by Buzz Bissenger, author of "Friday Night Lights", the reader is transported into the personal lives and ambitions of the "Shooting Stars". Well worth reading and provides vivid details of young Lebron James and his ascendancy from H.S. champion to the top tier of the NBA.



3. In "Shooting Stars", by Buzz Bissinger & Lebron James, the main characters are LeBron James,Little Dru Joyce,Coach Dru(father of Little Dru),Sian Cotton,Willie McGee,and Romeo Travis. LeBron,Little Dru,Sian, and Willie pretty much grew up together, playing basketball together in the AAU tournament being coached by Coach Dru,hence his nickname, who would also later on become their St. Vincents head coach in their junior and senior seasons.The conflict in "Shooting Stars" is one of Man Vs. Man, the Fab Four fighting those who persecuted the Fab Four for not attending and playing basketball for Butchel High School, but instead attending a "white" school, St Vincent's-St Mary's. Another conflict in the story consisted of the St Vincent's team and the teams they played throughout the high school tournaments. Also, a third conflict was one of Man vs. Surroundings, LeBron James growing up in poverty and having to move constantly, Willie having to uproot from Chicago to Illinois, and Romeo transferring from the high school he played at as a freshman to a St. Vincent's school where he had trouble making friends, but eventually befriending the Fab Four.
   
   The hard work and determenation in practices and in AAU basketball led up to the rising action. One event was when the then Fab Four played the AAU National Championship and lost, making them tougher and stronger. Also, Romeo Travis joining the team led up to their number one ranking in the country, as close as a national championship win they would get since there is no high school national championship. Third, the defeat of Mater Dei, a private catholic school powerhouse, certainly led up to their number one ranking. What did I like about this novel? Virtually everything. This book was not only about LeBron James, which most would come to expect, it highlighted the whole Fab Five. For Example, there was a whole chapter on Willie McGee and a whole chapter on Romeo Travis alone. Also, after reading this book you feel like you know the Fab Five personally. The book tells every small detail about their run to number one. Last, this books starts with background information on the players' personal lives, not just their life on the court.



4. This book takes a look at LeBron's high school basketball experience, which is interesting. And it's written by Buzz Bissinger, who is a good sports writer. But the sum of the parts wasn't as interesting or compelling as I hoped. About half-way through, my attention wandered. After "Three Nights in August," I hoped for more.



5. I have to say I have not read the book personally, but I purchased the book on Amazon for my 14 year old who HATES reading (to put it mildly) and he is reading it and says, "I like this book". These are words I never thought I would hear come out of his mouth. Ever.
   
   PS he did say it has the F-word a few times (bummer).

5 comments about Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior.

1. I've used this multiple times as a foundation for building better corporate teams and getting talented people working together.



2. I have read this book twice since buying it a short time ago. It's quite readable and entertaining, not to say insightful.
   
   This is a book written in Phil's voice and reads something like a diary he would have kept. It gives some good biographical information on Phil, his years in school, as a player for the NY Knicks, as a beginning coach and how he came to combine his spiritual searches with basketball playing and coaching. Most of the examples given and stories told pertain to Phils years as head coach of the Chicago Bulls. There are a number of references to books on Zen and Indian spirituality that have influenced his thinking
   
   The only critique I would have is that the book's sense of time is rather fragmented and does not progress in a strictly linear fashion. There are references to events that occurred earlier and those to come later. So, I had to construct my own timeline to track the strict evolution of events--a minor chore--but it would have been helpful if the book had supplied this.



3. Yep, he's the coach. I like to compare this with the newer book. Ladies need to read his books (and coach Wooden's) to understand the game.



4. Good read from the perspective of a man charged with taming the egos of ego-maniacs.



5. This is an opinion rather than a review.
   
   This is a very compelling book. I originally bought this book as I was a Scottie Pippen fan. As an Arkansas native we tend to root for anyone from Arkansas. And by osmosis I became a fan of the bulls and Jackson.
   
   While you certainly may want to don your skeptic hat, I believe that Jackson truly has a strong belief in his array of spiritual artillery. While engrossed in the book, I found myself believing him too.
   
   Now that some time has passed, I may not tightly cling to the original themes espoused in the book but I still hold this tome in high regard as one of the best books ever written on teamwork. Indeed, I would rank this book higher than most - if not all - management books that have been written on leadership and teamwork. It is that good. In fact, I have listed Sacred Hoops on many of my Amazon "business" lists and guides.
   
   I can also recommend How to Argue & Win Every Time: At Home, At Work, In Court, Everywhere, Everyday, High Altitude Leadership and Power Ambition Glory
   
   I hope you find this review helpful.
   
   Michael L. Gooch, SPHR

5 comments about Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich.

1. The word "Icon" is becoming overused in much the same way as the words "Superstar" and "legend. But in the case of Pete Maravich, it is no exaggeration. He was a household name, and very possibly the greatest college basketball player who ever played.
   
   His life was a sad, tragic, twisted affair punctuated by his mother's suicide, alcohol dependence, loneliness and a relationship with his father that never really brought any joy.
   
   Pistol Pete brought excitement and joy to huge numbers of fans at LSU and later, Atlanta, New Orleans and Utah. Although a decent man, his leadership was always questioned, and his presence, and his pocketbook brought jealousy to his teams and teammates.
   
   He was a true artist on the court, and played the game at a higher level than his contemporaries. Much like many other misunderstood geniuses in other fields, questions still abound.
   
   What if?
   
   He had a coach in the pros who really understood how to harness his talent?
   A GM understood the type of team to build around him?
   He had a great big man, like Jabbar, Lanier or Chamberlain to pass to?
   He had signed with the ABA out of College?
   
   His standards were impossibly high, and his achievements, as great as they were, never measured up to his own perception of greatness.
   
   This book is cordoned off into three sections. The first is about Press Maravich, his father, and a fascinating case study in his own right. The lion's share is about Pete, and the final section is about his two sons who were both children at the time of his shocking, untimely death at the age of forty.
   
   This book is full of mysticism and spectres. Maravich was a man of his times, New Age, but he was also searching for peace in his life.
   
   I found this book to be a riveting read, about a fascinating subject.



2. "PISTOL" IS SIMPLY WONDERFUL. HE WAS TRULY ONE OF THE GREATEST BASKETBALL PLAYER IN HISTORY RIVALING MICHAEL JORDAN AND LARRY BIRD. HIS BOOK REMINDS MANY OF US WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN HIM HOW TRULY REMARKABLE HE WAS.



3. I saw this book for over a year and had no interest in it because I had read Maravich's autobiography "Heir to a Dream." How would a stranger know more about Pete Maravich than Pete Maravich? But, I ended up buying it off the cheap shelf and I'm glad I did.
   The story of Maravich is unique because you can't tell it without telling the story of his father, Press Maravich, because they were joined at the hip. Press was an old school coach rooted in the fundamentals and devised a lot of unique drills for his growing son. He was a pioneer for people like Marv Maranovich. He created a ubber-basketball player. However, instead of creating the most dominant player ever, he created the most flashy player. His goal was to make Pete the first million-dollar basketball player, so he trained Pete to throw outrageous passes, as opposed to say, learning defense. When he coached Pete in college, he threw out everything he believed (team play and strong defense) and instead used blatant double-standards, all to make sure his son received individual glory and scoring titles.
   Meanwhile, Pistol Pete felt the burden of living up to the legend he was becoming. He was not socially adept, yet suddenly, he is idolized by millions. He faced resentment from teammates and resentment from old school opponents. He drank heavily and became depressed as he felt he could never live up to what others wanted, before finding redemption through Jesus Christ.
   Why is this book worth reading? Combined with Maravich's autobiography, it provides a three-dimensional look at the man. Maravich's autobiography is more sanitized. You can't expect him to harshly criticize the man he idolizes, even when it seems obvious. Mark Kriegel researched Pistol Pete and Press' lives in detail, interviewing countless others and telling the story from an outsider's view. Kriegel's a very good writer, and he wrote one of the better sports biographies.



4. Fantastic job by Kriegel. Amazing insight into who Pete was and the role Press (his dad) played in his life. Would have made a great fiction book, hard to believe the whole thing is actually true.
   
   Well worth the 99 cents plus shipping.



5. Like a lot of other reviews I thought this was a nice breezy read. Didnt think I would find it so readable. Pleasant surprise. Pistol Pete really was a big deal. Remember him well from my school days. Today he is rarely mentioned. Too bad. Commend the author on bringing him back to the fore. The reason for the 4 stars was the over-attention paid to Pete's father Press. I understand that in order to get a complete picture of Pete, you have to get to know Press. Still, the details on him were actually, to me, better detailed and more relevant than those about Pete. Pistol is revealed to be into UFO's with contrasting ideas of holistic diet and alcohol consumption along with other ideas that are considered fringe. Somehow these details just dont seem to tell the complete picture of Pete. I felt that there wasnt a well rounded portrayal of him. The mother seems ancillary and his pro career is overly detailed in some areas and not enough in others. Before i knew it, his career was over. I think much of the issues were with the relatively few sources in the book. In many cases they were not involved with Pete and contribute only minimal insight. Still, the book was really good and dont want to harp on the bad. Just good to see Pete back where he belongs.