5 comments about A View from Above.

1. EASY READING AND GOOD INSIGHT AS TO WHAT HAPPENS TO AGING JOCKS. HE COMES ACROSS MOSTLY AS A BRAGGART AND MISSING THE GLORY DAYS; AND THE THING ABOUT 20,000 WOMEN...GIVE ME A BREAK! DID HE EVER HAVE A BAD DAY, LIKE BEING TIRED FROM THE ROAD, STD'S, HAVING A COLD/FLU/INJURIES, OR TAKING IN TOO MANY CALORIES, ETC.? THEN IF YOU MISS A DAY OR TWO, THERE'S A LOT OF CATCH-UP TO KEEP THE NUMBERS STRONG. OVERALL I LIKED THE BOOK AND HAVE TO STATE, "HE WAS A TERRIFIC, TALENTED BASKETBALL PLAYER." IT'S NOW TOUGH TO FIND THE BOOK BUT WORTH A LITTLE EFFORT AND TIME.



2. Some of the reviewers have given Wilt's book a hard time, but I felt he accomplished what he set out to do. He has given us a glance into his thoughts and ideas about so many different things. We truly have a look at the way he thought, whether we agree with his opinions or not. I certainly did not agree with everything he had to say, but gained insight into his life and saw that some of his opinions were filled with good insight. I found it interesting to see how he and other NBA stars interacted according to him. I'd love to hear their opinions as well. I enjoyed hearing about some of the stars from the old days. Wilt stood up for them and how they should be better recognized today. I'd love to see DVD's available with clips from all of the old stars. Wilt thought highly of himself and that is obvious. But, let's face it, who else ever scored 100 points in a game? He does deserve some recognition. Wilt certainly did not live a perfect life, but he enjoyed himself and experienced much and you can learn about many details if you read this book. You'll find it interesting.



3. WILT HAS MANY OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS. IN THIS BOOK HE EXPRESSES THEM FROM START TO FINISH. I AGREE WITH MANY OF HIS INSIGHTS. HE WAS A VERY INTELLIGENT GUY WHO ENJOYED THE FINE THINGS IN LIFE, CARS, WOMEN, FINE WINES, LARGE HOUSE ETC. WILT LIVED LARGE. THIS IS A NICE READ FOR FANS OF THE GREAT WILT. NICELY PUT TOGETHER.



4. WILT CHAMBERLAIN was THE GREATEST NBA PLAYER PERIOD.He Has TOO Mention Himself Because He has Never Gotten His Fair Shake.WHen He talks About Issues He Really Hits HOme.as For All THe Women He Slept With was He Any Worse than JFK OR BILL CLINTON? way overblown.Acknowledge His Impact as a Great Athlete&Great Minded Person.Very Intelligent Human Being.



5. Never have I read a work by such a self-aggrandizing braggart. Like many ex-jocks, Wilt tries to hide his bitterness that he can no longer play pro sports in self-glorification. He portrays himself as larger than life in all aspects, which really gets boring fast in reading this book. It's a good thing Wilt wasn't around in Biblical times, imagine what tall tales we'd find in the Bible if he was!

5 comments about Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA.

1. I read a ton of books, mostly history and sports books. This book does have some interestng stories, he tries to hard to preach and the book never seems to flow. Granted, I bought it for 6 bucks but it's simply not worth the cover price.



2. Keith Glass takes us behind the scenes on what goes on behind the glitz of an NBA game. He gives us lots of behind the scenes action, insider information and laugh-out loud anecdotes, which are all fun to read. However, that lies the shortcoming of this book. It is just that. Full of anecdotes. According to the cover copy, it's about the incredible truth about the NBA. The problem is, the book is so scattered, there's no central topic, even if Keith Glass said it's about NBA player's sense of entitlement, it doesn't come out that way since there are chapters that digress from this subject. Reading the book, it switches from an autobiography, to the pratfalls of being an honorable agent to stories about his clients to an advice on how to improve the US Men's Basketball team. The topics meander and Glass seems to be trying hard to be a comedy writer in his next life. Still, Taking Shots is an enjoyable if not (very) light read. It is not in the level of Terry Pluto's Loose Balls or as controversial as Phil Jackson's last book. The supposed subject on what makes the NBA fail today (as written in sleeves) is not discussed in-depth and if it was discussed, the writing is not that clear to be understood what the point is all about. Keith Glass, being an agent, should've called his agent so he could've secured a good editor for his book.



3. My largest disappointment with this book was the lack of focus on the agent aspect of Glass's life. The stories were about his clients, and there are some situation he's found himself that are the result of being an agent, but they often weren't about actually what it was like to be an agent. Negotiation tales were vague and general, most of the players he told stories about were non-stars if not entirely unrecognizable.
   
   His portion of the book that addressed what was wrong with the NBA was hardly a revelation; I think most people know that the basketball being played in the NBA is lousy, so that assessment from Glass is not shattering any illusions. Further, his suggestions for how to "fix" the NBA are pipe dreams, at best, even if some would make sense.
   
   There is enough humor and behind-the-scenes type of stories to keep the book interesting, but there's an awful lot of pages for what seems like very little substance. The content does not live up to the expectations created by the title.
   
   Finally, and this is a very picky detail, there are typos galore in this book. I generally thought books had editors to catch such things, but there is a variety of glaring errors throughout.



4. Keith Glass tells a great tale, and his many years of experience representing NBA players has given him many to tell. Glass' book is a great insight into the other side of the NBA that the general public would otherwise have no access to. But one of the greatest elements of this book is Glass' true passion for the sport, and for the part he has played in it.
   
   The book looks at Glass' upbringing, with basketball in his life from a very young age. Glass discusses how Larry Brown ended up living with his family, how Glass saw the evolution of basketball, and how he became a coach at UCLA. There's a very nostalgic and homely feel to these earlier chapters, and they definitely show a man who really loves the game and loves the relationships he has been able to establish through it.
   
   The book then looks at Glass' adventures in representing top level NBA stars and how he came into this career. The greatest stories in here are the tale of Mahamoud Abdul-Rauf, the making of Scott Skiles (current head coach of the Chicago Bulls) and the sad story of Thomas Hamilton. It really is the stories like Hamilton's, a seven-foot-four giant with exquisite skills who could never get his NBA career started due to personal problems, that make this book. The power this story has is it makes you look at how some people can throw their God-given talent away, which gives you perspective to appreciate what you have in your life.
   
   The latter chapters lack the same level of interest, as Glass discusses the various ways he NBA could improve the league and take it back to it's roots more, and further away from the greed-driven monster it has become. Glass makes some great points, but they could have been better illustrated through his stories, rather than telling the reader, point-blank. His various tales deliver this message through subtlety and through reading between the lines of what's going on, so to have this opinion forced onto the reader in the end weakened the overall tone of the writing a bit.
   
   It also plays down some of Glass' other failings, in that he makes little to no mention of his previous marriages and doesn't discuss things he has done that he has regretted. It seems, at times, that Glass is a little too ethical in a world of no ethics, and to survive in this arena, Glass says himself, you can't always hold to your morals. There would appear to be a level of censorship and restraint at times. The book could have had more effect if there were no barriers, no holds barred.
   
   There are also two times that Glass refers to the story of Lloyd Daniels, and says that he would need an entire book of it's own to tell Daniels' story. Lloyd Daniels was shot three times in the late eighties and still, to this day, has a bullet lodged in his right shoulder. He never played in college, yet went on to play for five NBA teams. Now that's a story I want to hear. Daniels' story should have made the book, even in brief form.
   
   At the end of the book you get the sense that this is the story Keith Glass wanted to tell in exactly the way he wanted to tell it, which is not so bad, but it felt like it could have explored so much more about the dark side of the glamourous life of pro-ballers. As it stands, it's an interesting read, great at times, but overall more focussed on presenting a portrait of a man who loves the game and who holds a special place in his heart for 'his' players. Again, this is not so bad, but a but more controversy and a couple more first-hand accounts of back-room dealings would have made this a more important and compulsive book.



5. I recently met Keith Glass and his wife at a college graduation party for my niece. His son, Tyler, is dating my niece, and my sister-in-law, knowing that I'm a sports fan, made sure I was introduced to Keith because, as she put it, "You know sports, you'll like him." Well, she was right. After a few minutes I realized that I did, indeed, like him. When the book came up in conversation I told Keith that I would order it from Amazon as soon as I got home, and I'm glad that I did. This was a very entertaining read. OK, it's not going to be used as a textbook in school, and it's got its share of glaring typos (I proof read books as a favor to friends who are authors) but if you're a basketball fan you're going to love this book. Keith is truly an "insider" and gives perspectives that can only be gotten from an insider. His anecdotes are filled with conversations that you would normally not hear anywhere. One, in particular, stands out. Keith used to represent the former Chris Jackson, who subsequently became Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, whom you may recognize as the Denver Nuggets player who refused to stand for the National Anthem after he converted to Islam. Keith's insight into Mahmoud's background and battle with Tourette's Syndrome is very helpful in understanding him. Heck, just imagining a Jewish agent representing a Muslim player is fun.
   At then end of the book Keith decides to opine on his "ways to fix basketball" and , while some are dead-on and interesting, I found some to be, in fact, either ideas that we've all bandied about in tavern conversation, or non-implementable. Still, it doesn't detract from the overall "fun-to-read" aspect of the book. I sense a follow-up to this book from Keith and, if so, I'll be sure to get the next one. I've already promised to lend the book out to my son-in-law and a good friend in Massachusetts, so Keith will be losing out on a few book sales. When it does return to me I'm going to see what I can do about getting him to autograph my copy.

No comments about I Remember Al McGuire: Personal Memories and Testimonials To College Basketball's Wittiest Winning Coach and Commentator, As Told By the People Who Knew Him.

No comments about Phog Allen: The Father of Basketball Coaching.

3 comments about They Call Me Big House.

1. Big House was one of the first persons I met when I was a freshmen at WSSU. Reading this book brought back some great memories. This is an Outstanding read that anyone would enjoy.
   K.B.



2. very compelling Book about Big house and His legacy which has him as One of the winningest Coaches Ever in College Basketball. but this Book reflects on the struggle and Bridiging the gap socially and spiritually. Humor keeps things into perspective in the Book,but what Big House had to deal with in Jim Crow America,etc... is no laughing matter and this book pulls no punches,but it speaks directly about the game on the court and the game of life and so much else in between. very Powerful.



3. Big House was a great coach - the fifth best in history of college basketball but more importantly he was a guy with a sense of values and a good sense of humor. He knows basketball as well as anyone in the country and has some candid comments about how to improve the game. But his real commitment was to the students he coached. He experienced the bitter bite of segregation - working for an HBCU called Winston Salem State - but his memoir is better than a rant - it is a reflection of his insight and integrity.

5 comments about Bob Huggins: Pressed for Success.

1. Bob Huggins reveals his excellent coaching skill and extreme discipline that anabled him to build a basketball powerhouse at the University of Cincinnati.



2. I just have one question for everyone who has read this book? Is Bob Huggins disguised as God or is God disguised as Bob Huggins?



3. This book excedes all expectations and tells what it is really like to run a winning program. He holds nothing back and tells it like it is. He is not afraid of the consquences of his actions because his players know that he will lay the smack down. Anyone who does not like this book must be a Xavier(Norwood University) fan or a fan of another confrence usa team.



4. This book relives the great teams of the early Nineties. If you attended UC in the Eighties and Nineties then you'll love this book



5. It what could of been an interesting book about the sometime volatile coach, Huggins spends too much time discussing season after season, game after game. The early part of the book is better. This is where he discusses how he came to be a coach. I wanted more about the behind the scenes look at coaching rather than a game by game summary

2 comments about Bruce Weber: Through My Eyes An inside look at the man, the coach and the greatest season in Illini history..

1. Everything went like clockwork from the time I ordered "Through my Eyes" by Bruce Weber until it arrived in perfect condition in the mail. Thank you so much.



2. This is very quick, easy and light reading, but it's a wonderful walk of remembrance through the 2004-2005 basketball season. It's sprinkled along the way with revelations about Bruce Weber, the man. I truly recommend the book to any Illini fan who would enjoy "reliving" that dream season.
   
   Some tidbits:
   
   * When Weber entered the Ohio State arena (before that fateful first loss), an Ohio State fan yelled, "You're going down, Coach!"
   
   Weber replied, "Thank you."
   
   * Weber's voice is the way it is because of a surgery he had when he was 8 or 9 years old. He had polyps in his throat and they were lasered/burned off.
   
   His remembrances of the Arizona game, the championship game, and the beginnings of his professional relationship with Gene Keady are a treat to read and too special to be entirely revealed here.
   
   No, it's not bestseller material (like Three Nights in August), but for rabid Illini fans such as myself, it's well worth the read.

3 comments about The Bob Love Story: If It's Gonna Be, It's Up to Me.

1. I purchased a copy of this book after hearing Mr. Love speak to a crowd of over 300 people. I was engrossed in the book from the start and completed the read on my flight home. It is a definite must read for any athlete or person who enjoys sports and believes that life is more than just a game. It provides a human look at the sports world that is so often overlooked, candy-coated and glorified. The poignancy of this book is driven home when you are priviledged to hear Mr. Love speak, see his conquest over his disability and feel the passion he has for youths.



2. It's amazing that a one-time NBA super-star ends up mopping floors, waiting on tables and enduring major abuse and embarrasment while trying to make ends meet...every NBA executive should read this to ensure that League policy does not allow this to happen again. I bought this to hear some inside details on one of my favorite NBA players of all time (I remember in 1974 going out to buy "Pro-Keds" sneakers for my season because that's what Bob Love wore)and came away stunned at what Love went through before re-claiming his life. I was vaguely aware that he'd had hard times post-retirement, but not at this level and this account, quite frankly, makes me admire him more. In brutally "straight-forward" writing he details all the problems that beset him and how his inner-strength and formidable character allowed him to keep his sanity and, ultimately, allowed him to get a semblance of dignity back. You won't get too much basketball detail here (his career takes on surprisingly few pages), but I think that this is Love's intent. This is the success story of a man resurrecting his life from the depths, some of which he helped make (failure to face his stuttering problem) and speaks to a higher level than basketball. My heart truly goes out to him and I'm very glad to hear that he's now doing well. An inspiring read!



3. The book was a slow read in the beginning. I feel to much writing was spent on his early childhood and tended to be a bit boring. The sequence of events during that time didn't flow well, seemed as though you were going back and forth.

   The middle section, the period of college & pro ball was good reading. I don't like sports but found this section a fast read. My mother is a great sports fan, so many of the names he mentioned I knew. There was very interesting detail in this section. The sequence of events flowed very well.

   The last section,was also a slow read. It was a bit boring. Didn't measure up to the mid-section. The statement he made in next to last sentence of the book is questionable. He has quite a few victim statements, example, beatings from his stepfather, teasing about his stuttering, negative relations from his second ex-wife and "Government worker" girlfriend(?). How can he not understand why, his girlfriend blew-up? What is behind the scene that he is not mentioning.

   Also, his seventh son Nathaniel was born in 1987 not 1988 as mentioned in the book. What's really interesting is that he mentions all of his kids except his oldest daughter Basha. Why?

5 comments about Shooting Star: The Bevo Francis Story.

1. Take a college with under 200 students, a young coach who has as much skill in self-promotion as basketball knowledge and a star player who is a scoring machine, but doesn't have a high-school diploma.
   
   Add in the monolith that is the NCAA and top programs who are getting pushed to the brink of defeat - or are taking big "L's" - to the upstart college, and you have an absolutely wonderful book on a lost history by Kyle Keiderling.
   
   The story centers around Bevo Francis, who scored 116 points in a game, and Rio Grande College & the journey the basketball team took from its band-box of a gym to some of the biggest arenas in the country. It also shows how the NCAA stood in judgment of the small school and ultimately did a masterful job in erasing the records set by Francis and the team from the collegiate books.
   
   As much a history on how an underdog won under the bright lights, it also is a tale how the special interests of the major programs were served by the NCAA.
   
   It is a must read for fans of college basketball or for those who enjoy stories on how - within an even playing field - dreams can come true.



2. I loved the book and found it very flattering of Bevo! I think that anyone interested in college basketball would find this book highly entertaining and informative! Unfortunately, when I asked Bevo to sign my copy, he refused and said it was unauthorized? Is this another case of someone taking advantage of Bevo?



3. For fans of traditional basketball -- where the tradition means tiny uniforms, lousy floors, crowded gyms, transport by station wagon, and honing skills in a barn -- this is literally one for the record books. The college with 100 students took on the establishment and won the hearts of America's basketball fans and the general public through the person of one of the sports' most tragic figures. From scoring 116 points in fron of fewer than 200 people to playing to packed arenas from Boston to Kansas City, the ride was short, not always sweet, but memorable.
   
   'Bevo' Francis earned his nickname from his father's taste for a regional soft drink -- Bevo -- and the name passed on to his son, once Little Bevo and, in time, just Bevo. Raised in the Appalachian hills of southern Ohio, Francis was so frail as a child he missed a lot of school time. By the time he arrived at this tiny college (although most people tghink Rio Grande College is along the river in Texas, it is in southeaster Ohio), Bevo would be a married, 21-year old freshman who still hadn't finished high school. A crafty, P.T. Barnum-like coach saw fame and fortune in building a team and a makeshift schedule around a true phenom, and Bevo rewarded his faith with a 116-point performance that season that earned national attention but also caused the NCAA to disown his performances against teams not from four-year colleges.
   
   There is some clear element of the country rube in Francis, but he comes across in this kind treatment as a bright but uneducated, malleable youth. The promotional coach turns out to be interested in showcasing Bevo's talent, at whatever the cost, running a barnstorming-like schedule against all comers. The good news is that the team generated a quarter of the school's operating budget from their appearences; the bad news is that the school turned on the team when it was clear that basketball brought a harsh media spotlight on a woefully underfunded school.
   
   You can't help but like and feel sorry for Bevo; it is almost easier to despise or at least think little of coach Newt Oliver. After a second successful but stormy season, Oliver urges Bevo to sign a terrible contract to play the oafish role to the Harlem Globetrotters, and a life of basketball and career are finsihed before Bevo would have normally finished college.
   
   Bevo Francis caught the nation's attention at a time when college basketball and Madison Square Garden were reeling from the point-shaving and betting scandals of the late 40's and early 50's. Like a shooting star, Francis shone brightly, but only for a very short time. He may have saved the sport and earned some kudos (and built Oliver's ego), but the NCAA, the Globetrotters, Newt Oliver, and Rio Grande treated Bevo poorly.



4. Times may change, but some things stay the same -- sports have strong grip on the public.
   
   I had never heard of Bevo Francis before, and reading this story makes me wonder why. Truely a remarkable tale of a "superstar" who, along with talented teamates, took the country by storm. His story was covered nationwide, and record crowds gathered to see him.
   
   Bevo Francis was an extremely talented, unassuming, and honest person. His coach, New Oliver, was a promoting promoter who "sold" Francis. Although the team Oliver had assembled was good, they played for a tiny, unknown school - Rio Grande College. Oliver felt that fame would come to the team if ONE player scored a lot of points.
   
   Bevo had his "breakthru" game in Jan 1953. The national scoring mark was 87 points. Bevo had 61 points after 3 periods, when Oliver had the team pass up shots and feed Bevo, as well as foul the opponent as soon as they touched the ball to stop the clock. By the end of the game, Bevo had scored 116 points, and Rio Grande won the game 150-85. Suddenly, all Oliver's efforts to promote the team went from no response to nation-wide acclaim. In a similiar game a year later, he scored 113 points.
   
   Despite these two "contrived" scores, Bevo was a legitimate scorer and all-around skilled player. He averaged almost 50 points a game over two seasons. The second season was entirely road games against top flight competition that Oliver arranged to maximize the exposure of his team and to generate the most income.
   



5. Bevo Francis, playing for tiny Rio Grande College in Southern Ohio, was indeed a shooting star. He averaged just under 50 points a game for two seasons and still holds the NCAA record for the most points scored in a college game (116).
   
   As would be expected, the team was built around Francis, and he made all the headlines, as well as the covers of the major sports magazines of the day. Unfortuately, his team did not receive the credit they deserved. In 1954, Rio Grande, with an enrollment of less than 200 students, played some of the nation's best teams: Villanova, Providence, Miami (Fla.), Arizona State, Wake Forest, and North Carolina State. In January of that year, I watched the Redmen beat Butler University in Indianapolis. Bevo, coming off several weeks of appendicitis attacks, scored 48 points. At the end of the game, the Indiana fans, who know their basketball, gave the entire Rio Grande team a standing ovation; something rarely seen in college play.
   
   Two years later, While in the Army, I had the privilge of playing on the same team as Roy Moses, a former Redmen. After listening to some of Roy's stories about touring the country with Bevo and the Redmen, I was hoping that someday somebody would write the definitive history of Rio Grande's two legendary seasons. Kyle Keiderling has done it, and it is an excellent book.

5 comments about The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball.

1. Charley Rosen provides readers with an entertaining book about one of basketball's most talented players, Jack Molinas. Unfortunately, it seems that some of Rosen's information might not be accurate - especially the statements about one of Jack's long-time friends, Shirley Marcus, which are based on innuendoes; and some of Rosen's statements about one of the greatest sportswriters of all times, Milton Gross.
   
   What is particularly disappointing about this otherwise interesting book is how Rosen protects the basketball establishment by putting all the blame on Jack Molinas. The fact is, a real exploration of gambling in sports could lead to a public outcry - followed by reduced advertiser support and cancelled television contracts.
   
   Molinas was no angel, to be sure - and Rosen does a pretty good job of characterizing this complex and talented athlete. But as the title of the book implies, it is the betting odds - the point spreads that appear in most major newspapers - that is more key to the problem than the actions of a single "Wizard" like Jack Molinas, or a lone referee (as David Stern would like us to believe).
   
   Sadly, the current Commissioner, team owners, as well as sportswriters and commentators, would rather sidestep the problem posed by gambling than risk the millions of dollars that are at stake from advertising, television contracts, and sports fans. (Jerry Marcus is the author of the just-published novel, Broken Trust - The Murder Of Basketball Star Jack Molinas)



2. Born to a great family and blessed with amazing athletic prowess, Jack Molinas just couldn't go straight. Brilliant by all standards of measurement, he seemed to have absolutely no way to determine right from wrong, and would always lie, cheat, or steal if he could get away with it. He developed a love of gambling early in his life, and would do anything to win in his lifetime obession with sports betting. If he couldn't bribe or convince a player to throw a game, he would spike their food to make them too sick to play. He would stop at nothing to get his way. Even an unpleasant prison term didn't stop him, and he died in a hail of bullets at his Hollywood Hills home at the hands of other criminals and sociopaths.
   
   An awesome book full of detail for the sports fan and lover of true crime stories.



3. Besides being well over six feet tall, Jack Molinas stood above the basketball competition he faced in other ways. His I.Q. was a whopping 175 and he used his native itelligence and skills on the court to fix college games for Columbia during the 50's. Later on, he was suspended from the N.B.A in his rookie season for working the same scams there. The culmination came with the basketball scandals of the early 60's and his arrest and subsequent five-year prison sentence. After leaving the 'big house' he turned his talents to upholding the law by becoming a renowned lawyer. He had spent his life manipulating and lying to people so it seemed a natural fit that he eventually moved to California with a girl friend and became a porn producer. Ultimately, his mob ties from his fix days and shady connections caught up with him however. Apparently, he had welshed on sports bets to bookies connected with La Cosa Nostra. Obviously, a very dumb thing to do for someone gifted with his level of intelligence. He was shot by unknown assailents in his home in 1974. Clearly, out of all the people he cheated in his life, the author of this book makes very clear that the person he ultimately short-changed the most was himself.



4. This is probly the most boring book I have ever read. I have read alot of basketball books and by far this is one of the worst. It seemed interesting so I bought it. Then it started out all right but by page 100 I could not keep reading it I just lost interest. I would not reccomend this book.



5. Once I started this book, I could not put it down. Jack was a person with a great deal of athletic and intellectual talent. However, I thought he blurred the line between life and the game of basketball.

   I was never interested in sports when I was growing up, but this book has certainly sparked my interest. It was a mind opening experience.

   How did I come to read this book, considering my lack of interest in sports? I heard it reviewed on Nat'l. Public Radio. When I heard the name Jack Molinas, I remembered an athletically inclined boy that attended PS 33 and PS 79 with me. My memories of him in school were good so I think of his life as he felt compelled to live it as a tragedy.