2 comments about Brian Urlacher: Windy City Warrior.

1. I bought this book for my nephew and he loved it! It's a nice hardcover and had great pictures.



2. I just finished Jim Sumner's book. It's called "Tales From The Duke Blue Devils
   Hardwood". It's a great read and nearly impossible to put down. The Book Chronicles Duke Basketball history beginning with Wilbur "Cap " Card a Trinity College graduate from 1902 who returned to introduce basketball at Trinity in 1906 and culminates with the Blue Devils 15th ACC title in 2005.
   The majority of the book was taken from interviews from the likes of Mark Alarie,Tate Armstrong, Gene Banks, Joe Belmont,Vic Bubas, Tom Butters, Johnny Dawkins,Randy Denton,Danny Ferry, Mike Gminski,Bernie Janicki,Jack Marin,Dan Meagher,Gary Melchionni, Jim Spanarkel and Robby West to name a few.

3 comments about Brett Favre: A Packers Fan's Tribute.

1. Reviewed by David Olvera for Reader Views (3/07)
   
   "Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute" does not mince words and the book stays true to its title. Kertscher evaluates Favre's legendary career from crummy rookie in the pro ranks to NFL god. Rather than a long and microscopic analysis of the patron saint of Lambeau, the author cuts to the chase and offers great snapshots of Favre's career. Favre's beginnings, his hallmark comebacks, the Super Bowl, the MVPs, all laid out in clean episodes.
   
   Kertscher also stays true as a fan. You can easily tell the author is endeared to the Packers and he relates that fandom to the reader. You cannot help but relate to Favre, the Packers, and their fans after reading this book. Sure Favre is an All-American, apple pie, Stars and Stripes kind of guy, but the author's examination of his career and even his addiction to painkillers takes you that much closer to being apart of the Green Bay scene.
   
   I would have liked to have seen closer examinations of his personal life, especially his relationship with his father. Although I am not a Packer fan, the passing of Favre's father and Brett's on-field performance afterward was a profound NFL moment regardless of affiliation. I won't knock the author too much for it though...too close an examination would not fit well with the book's overall theme and feel.
   
   The author's writing style is quick and to the point. I get the feeling that Kertscher isn't going for a Pulitzer and that makes the book very versatile. You can hand this book to any child and they could easily become a "Cheese Head." A great coffee table or waiting room piece...or simply what the title says...a book for fans. "Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute" is not the essential autobiography of Favre, but its strength is in its candid approach to the career of an NFL great.



2. As a Packer Fan we had to have this book but it is a great story for any football fan. Brett Farve will go into the history books as one of the BEST Quaterbacks. Very Enjpyable.



3. I just wanted to let other Packer fans know that this is a book
   to read if you are a Brett Favre fan, well done Tom!!!
   The pictures in this book are great and by the Packer photographer
   Jim Biever, great shots. They bring back memories.
   Tom writes this book as a true Packer fan and shares stories, pictures
   and records that maybe we have not read, if you can believe that...
   Order this book today and give a Packer fan a nice gift for Christmas
   they will really enjoy the book.
   I have added this book to my collection of Brett Favre items.
   We will all miss Brett Favre! But of course one never knows...
   Brett could return in 2007!

1 comments about I Remember Tom Landry.

1. Tom Landry was a model of consistency both
   on and off the field, despite his detractors
   like the jerk Bayless! Twenty winning seasons
   in a row. Even though never liking the Cowboys,
   they were consistant and Landry, Tex Schramm
   and Ernie Stautner were the reason! God bless
   Tom for giving some class back to the game!
   Even if he was a Cowboy!

No comments about Tiger Boogie.

No comments about Johnny Unitas: The Best There Ever Was.

No comments about The Long Gravel Road To Bama: The Story Of Richard And Jimmy Grammer.

2 comments about Brown's Town: 20 Famous Browns Talk Amongst Themselves.

1. Great book for a unique insight into the history of the franchise and the experience of being a Cleveland Brown with unique one-of-a-kind illustrations and great stories as told by players. Browns fans will love it!



2. Alan Natali delivers dozens of excellent stories as told by former players.
   
   The title of the book leads one to believe that there was a free-for-all meeting of these former players, but that is not the case. Each talks with Natali individually, and he splendidly pieces together their anecdotes.
   
   Natali introduces each interview with a short essay pertaining to that player's life and accomplishments. The essays are well written and informative, as is the author's introduction.
   
   All in all, this is a fine piece of work.

No comments about Rod: He Beat Death at Its Own Game, the Non-Believers at Theirs and Won His Ultimate Victory.

1 comments about Quotable Lou: The Wit, Wisdom, and Inspiration of Lou Holtz, College Football's Most Colorful and Engaging Coach (Potent Quotables).

1. Lou Holtz is one of the greatest one-liners in Sports today. But his quotes, based on a no-nonsense philosophy of "responsibility and accountability", i.e., you are responsible for your actions, you are accountable to your school, coach and team mates, and family apply to everyday life as well.

   The book is very well organized and is easy reading; the quotes are often sprinkled with humor and satire.I highly recommend it to readers of every age.

1 comments about Always a Badger: The Pat Richter Story.

1. Always a Badger: the Pat Richter story
   
   Biographies of sports figures usually prove a disappointment, even to those who admire of these individuals. Some contain an element of autobiography, where the figure is named as an author together with a well-know sports writer; and for the most part these books are not good. [Exceptions occur when the athlete is articulate, and the writer is well-above average--an unlikely combination. Don Drysdale's (with Bob Verdi) Once a Bum, Always as Dodger is just that.]
   
   Vince Sweeney's Always as Badger: the Pat Richter Story (Trail Books, 2005) is a pleasant reminder that straightforward biographies need not be all bad. Minimally, Hugh V. "Pat" Richter, Jr. has had a two-part adult life: first, as an extraordinary athlete; second, as an imaginative business leader in both private and public sectors. Having known Pat since my teenage years, and watched his work from a distance, I submit that these two features are specially intertwined. One learns much from competitive athletics that serves one's posterity. Sweeney's book establishes this theorem.
   
   I shall not dwell on Richter's athletic skills. These are of the stuff of legends, and well-documented elsewhere. What I can say is that his All-American football years, and his special performance in baseball [to a lesser degree in basketball] at Wisconsin were marked by an uncommon grace. This important disposition seemed to have a significant impact on those with whom he played. Readers will get a sense of this grace in early chapters, and providentially, the notion that it will play a role in Richter's later life.
   
   Richter's post-Madison athletic career was played out with the Washington Redskins. While his NFL records did not approach the fame of his Wisconsin years, the times and personalities prove fascinating. Among the names are these: Otto Graham, Vince Lombardi, Edward Bennett Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. Richter as the leader of the NFL Players Association in the "lockout" of 1970 proves an interesting tale.
   
   Mindful of a need for longer-term employment, Richter had been working on a law degree from the University of Wisconsin in his off-season times. That degree was awarded in 1971. He joins the then privately-held meat packing firm of Oscar Mayer. The 1971-1989 period shows a steady progress for Pat in that firm. One cannot but think that his mentor, P. Goff Beach [Mayer's CEO], had much to do with this; but I know that Goff found Pat one of the best that he had ever attracted to the firm. The reader will find that Richter was a great "reader" of trends in business management, that he understood the long-term consequences of the sale of the Mayer firm, and its subsequent mergers into General Foods and then Kraft.
   
   We have, then, Richter residing in Madison in 1989. If things were not looking up at the Mayer division of Kraft, then southwest of his office, things were looking terrible in the Wisconsin Athletic Department. How bad? Well, large and expanding deficits linked to lousy football performance and over-extended programs; and, most-serious, the economic consequences of Title IX constraints.
   
   This terrible mess at Wisconsin was not unique, but it might have been larger. It would have been good for Sweeney to address this. I have some views on both topics: first, many schools were not sufficiently-led to understand the sea change; second, Wisconsin had many years of very poor leadership both from the top, and at the Director's position. In this time period I would mark up but one institution, the University of Michigan, for excellence in management of its athletic program, where the incomparable Don Canham read the tea leaves, balanced the budget, and produced regular championships in all sports. [The rules of the review provide that I cannot reveal further elements of the Richter-Canham story, but this is another reason to read the book.]
   
   Who would have taken the Wisconsin Athletic Director's position? Well, only a risk taker like Richter. And that is why this book needs reading. You will see the corporate skills [strategic management planning, asset management, and careful selection of human capital] rolled out in a not-for-profit, but large scale enterprise. People to be found, prices to be set, costs to be understood, facilities to be constructed: these are the themes of Richter's leadership. There are the constant tensions between the academic leadership of the University, and those of the state's political leaders. There are, frankly-reported some "hick-ups" along the way. The outcome, in retrospect, looks to be a perfect plan. If Richter had required a book that said that this severally-dimensioned success was his first vision, I might have fallen for it. That Sweeney has got the "fullness" of the starts and stops, is to be celebrated. Economists talk regularly about "learning by doing". In this case we have the chance to see that learning & the doing done pronto.
   
   I am not above offering some criticism of this book's construction. The index is lousy, something that should not happen in this day of electronic composition. A glaring case in point is Pat's wife, Renee, who fails to get named and page-linked. Further, this book needed a better proof-reader.
   
   Two sets of readers will get the most value from this book: those who appreciate the complexity of modern athletic program management, and those who anticipate participating in today's collegiate athletics. With luck, some for the latter will go on--like Pat Richter--to leadership in the arena that the former appreciate.