5 comments about The Soccer War.

1. It is a striking book. Mr. Kapuscinski is a great writer and the narrative is simply wonderful.
   
   It is a great account of the cold war, as fought in Africa and Latin America.



2. Kapuscinski is the master of international journalism. Often he prefaces his accounts by saying something to the affect of, "Everyone told me that trying to get into the Congo was suicide. I had to do it." The result is a perspective that no one else is able to give, a sometimes brutal but eye-opening account of the effects of war.
   The best part of The Soccer War to me is Kapuscinski's ability not only to report on war, but to capture the humanity of the people involved. He is in this way an anthropologist as much a journalist. True, this book covers extensive topic matter: Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Algeria, Congo, Burundi, Cyprus, etc, but Kapuscinki's voice is powerful enough to unify these seemingly disparate stories.
   If you are curious about world history, if you want a humanistic and first-hand view of events that have shaped our world today, this is your book. There were times when I was literally on the edge of my seat wondering if Kapuscinski would make it out alive. Of course, we know he did because he pubished a book about these experiences.
   
   Visit my blog: http://www.writingup.com/blog/namingame



3. It's almost impossible to process the news with the same perspective after reading this book...what was true in the 60s still rings true today. I picked up this book while simultaneously reading articles in Esquire and The New Yorker about people (Bill Gates, Bill Clinton...) trying to make a difference in Africa. While I was made hopeful by the observations in today's mainstream press, I grew increasingly frustrated when confronted with the dark reality that Kapuscinski exposes.



4. As somebody who once lived in Honduras before the infamous soccer war of 1969, I long had Kapuscinski's book on my "must read" list. Though I bought it five years ago, I didn't get around to reading it till just now. I'm glad I did. THE SOCCER WAR is another sterling volume from this master of description.
   
   THE SOCCER WAR isn't a book about the absurd war between El Salvador and Honduras, triggered by World Cup qualification matches, but really caused by El Salvador's overpopulation and the subsequent overflow of Salvadorenos into much-emptier Honduras. The war may also be ascribed to the fact that neither country has been able to tame its landowning classes, who continue to this day to run rampant over the poor masses of people. In any case, this war, which happened decades ago, occupies only 30 pages of a 234 page book. The rest of the book contains vignettes from Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Burundi, Algeria, Tanganyika, Syria, Cyprus, and Ethiopia. I think another title would have given readers a better idea of what the book is about. Anyway, I would not say this book is about particular societies or countries, rather it is about the human condition. Kapuscinski, if you have read any of his other (excellent) work, specializes in inserting himself into extreme situations----war, rebellion, conflict, and abnormal behavior. Where the strictures of daily life have fallen down, we find him reporting, usually at considerable risk to his person. He is nearly burned to death in Nigeria, nearly executed in Burundi, nearly lynched in the Congo, nearly blown up in Honduras. In every case, he manages to portray some participants as humane and decent, or as simple people caught up in events beyond their control. He never writes off groups of people as `wild' or `barbarous', but manages to `read' them even as he faces almost certain death. The absurdity of all this violence, the violence that never ends on this planet, comes through loud and clear. Ryszard, you wrote your best, but nobody in charge listened. Readers of the book, however, will come away with a better understanding of human nature and its universal similarity on every continent, among every race and religion. From the stupidity, waste, and blood, we can learn. We just don't.



5. The Soccer Wars is a timeless diary( timeless in the sense that it lacks chronology, not timeless in the sense of transcendance) that bounces from Eastern Europe to West Africa, the Great Lakes region, Central America and through the west back to Poland. Kapuschinski is usually a more thourough analyst and offers insights along the journey.He suggests many times that this is the book "he never got 'round to writing". Unfortunately, the lack of flow, ideas and critical thought makes it a book he shouldn't have written.

5 comments about Adventures in Larryland!: Life in Professional Wrestling.

1. This a must read whether you are a fan of wrestling or not! It may be a short book, but the entertainment value more than makes up for the large font everyone seems to be concerned about. You get an insiders view of the way wrestling used to be instead of the new hyped up matches. Larry takes you on his journey into the world of wrestling from his beginnings. He allows you into his inner circle and shares some very colorful and entertaining experiences through the ups and downs of his career. It is well worth the journey and I would highly recommend this book to anyone!
   The only reason you would not like this book is if you work for Vince McMahon!!



2. This book was a fast read, with much humor, which provided an excellent review of professional wrestling from the 1970s up through the 1990s when World Championship Wrestling was locked in a television rating war against the World Wrestling Federation (later changed to World Wrestling Entertainment)in an attempt to win over the hearts and souls of the fans. This book should be picked up by serious fans of pro wrestling. There are nuggets of solid information into the workings of pro wrestling which can be picked up from Larry's stories. One of the unique stories presented in the book is the relationship between Larry and his mentor, the great Bruno Sammartino, wrestling's original Living Legend. The story of their dealings with the McMahons, Vince Sr. and Jr. is the stuff of legend. Wrestling fans throughout the world will truly enjoy Adventures in Larryland!



3. I read this book in two short sittings...not because I couldn't put it down, but because it was so short. This is more like someone jotting down notes than an autobiography. Years would pass in one sentence. Nothing particularly groundbreaking at all, more like a few interesting anecdotes.
   
   His matches with Eric Bischoff and Scott Hall set records? Uhhhh...maybe that's because the Bischoff match was on the undercard of Hogan/Sting? That's like Koko B. Ware saying his match with Butch Reed at WrestleMania III broke all kinds of records.
   
   Go buy Jericho or Bret Hart's autobiographies instead. Pass on this one.



4. Here's what you will not learn:
   
   -You will not learn anything about Larry Zbyszko's personal life. Although he mentions a crazy girlfriend, three wives, and pictures of children, you will not learn anything about them much less that he is married to Kathy Gagne!
   -You will not learn where he got the name Zbyszko from.
   -You will not learn anything about his professional career from 1981 - 1984 as he goes from WWF to AWA with just a bare mention of Georgia later in the book. The fact that he was rumored to be blackballed for two years and was stuck doing outlaw/indy shows headlining with David Sammartino is never mentioned. This could have been the most interesting part of the book.
   -You will not learn much about his WWF/WWWF tenure except for the feud with Bruno which does make for very entertaining reading.
   
   I got through this book in a couple of hours as it is less than 200 pages although Amazon is saying 240. Just not true even with pictures.
   
   Some stories are definitely entertaining but so much was left out it was ridiculous and a slap in the face to any reader. His exaggerations were ridiculous too. While he has every claim to the Shea Stadium gate with Bruno, he also claims that he and Saito sold out the Tokyo Dome and that his 2 PPV matches in 1997/1998 for WCW set PPV buy-rate records. He even tried to say he wrestled in front of a sold out crowd when he won the title. He didn't even say he won it in a battle royal in the Minneapolis Auditorium in front of less than 2,000 fans.
   
   I was really looking forward to this as I thought he would fill in the blanks but this was a very lazy effort with large print and small margins to boot.
   
   His timelines are also all over the place as he says that WCW brought in Hulk Hogan for purposes of Nitro.
   
   Really poor effort overall.
   
   Just like his wrestling technique, he stalled right through this effort and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker with my wallet.



5. Best part of the book was Larry's one true great angle: the 1980 Sammartino feud. Did a great job re-telling and re-visiting. The setup for this match was step by step laid out beautifully. It made go ahead and watch both the set up match from tv, and the classic Shea Stadium cage match. Really fun stuff.
   Biggest complaint of the book was the length. Bret Hart's book is 5 bucks more and you get literally 4+ times the content. Larry's book is less than 200 pages and has old-lady huge font. This book took me just over 1 hour to read. For twenty bucks. Probably a good thing tho, it was edited right down to the meat. No crap, just a quick concise bio. A tad better than average. Only for hardcore fans who will throw down big bucks for a little book.
   ***Remember to discount the reviews from people who have only 1 review. Chances are they're friends of the author and that 5 star review is worthless.

5 comments about Grand Slam, The: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf.

1. In The Grand Slam, Mark Frost tells the story of Bobby Jones and the way in which his inconceivable 1930 championship run changed the sport of golf forever, in such a lively and engaging way that readers will be on the edge of their seats even though the outcome has been assured for 75+ years. Each of Jones' Grand Slam wins is recounted in painstaking detail, giving Frost the opportunity to paint an illuminating portrait of the golf world of the 20's and to set Bob's accomplishments against the backdrop of the times in which he lived. He reached his athletic peak at a time when people were beginning to tire of the frenetic pace of the Jazz Age and longed for a simpler time. Bob Jones possessed all the qualities Americans appeared to be searching for, and so, like the other sports heroes of the Golden Age he was quickly elevated to demi-god status. Frost does a wonderful job of peeling back the layers of the legend to reveal the human being underneath. He has proven yet again why he is one of the best writers working today. This book is a must for all true students of the game, but should appeal to non-golf fans as well.



2. I had high hopes for this book. I read it in preparation to attend the Masters, which I got to do this year and it was amazing.
   
   That said, this book was just average. I felt like the author added things to the book without a true need. I appreciate the fact that Frost was trying to explain the times that Mr. Jones was rooted in, but he seemed to stray from the main topic on numerous occassions.
   
   There were points when he was talking about golf, Mr. Jones and the courses they played... then he would stray into international politics and not for a brief explanation but rather 2 to 3 pages on the industrial revolution or WWI or the Depression. I get that those are important subjects to mention but the explanations got in the way of the biography I thought.
   
   In addition, the explanation of the golf read like a front page story or first-hand recap in the USA Today not a backstory of the event. I understand the need to recap key matches but Frost appeared to recap nearly every match and it got to be too much. I did appreciate the brief bios of other golfers of the period. That was interesting and necessary.
   
   The bio was roughly 450 pages. The same story could have been told in 300 pages and included the same key points. I would have liked more anecdotes and interesting stories that described Jones the man not Jones the golfer and/or ball-striker etc.
   
   I might recommend another book on Jones that doesn't detail things that really don't educate you that much about who he was and what he stood for.



3. Purchasing this book I had expected nothing more than the chronicle of Bobby Jones' assualt on the 4 golf majors of 1930. I got so much more. This book is certainly one of the better biographies I've ever read. Though Frost never goes too in depth into the private life of Jones, the writing style is exceptional, the sports action is compelling, but the most amazing thing is how the entire thing is brought together and every new section begins with an exceptional framing of where the event stands within the confines of history. Truly an amazing first rate bio.



4. Frost's follow-up effort to the outstanding "The Greatest Game Ever Played" - the movie adaptation of which will be released by Disney this fall - this meandering tale tracks the career of Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur golfer of all time, climaxing with his assault on the Grand Slam (back then, it was the US and British Open and Amateur titles) in 1930. After winning the Slam, Jones retired from tournament competition, at the age of 29. After reading Frost's harrowing account of his physical and mental anguish during the ordeal, you'll certain understand why.
   
   Aesthetically, this book doesn't hold together nearly as well as "Greatest Game". Frost includes far too much "background" information (most of which is, quite honestly, common knowledge) about everything from the origins of World War I to the Scopes "Monkey Trial". The bits of early 20th-century lore than festooned the pages of "Greatest Game" were a welcome addition to the storyline, helping us to understand the time and place. Here, they are an annoying intrusion. Despite this unfortunate slip, Frost's prose is still enjoyable to read, and the story will be of interest to anyone who has an interest in the history of golf.



5. Any golfer has heard about Bobby Jones, this book brings his life into focus for all of us. Bobby Jones played this game as an amateur and never was a professional golfer. He won many tournaments both here and in England as was able to afford this by the help of his father.
   
   He was married and they lived with his parents as the many travels Bobby had to make playing golf, it made it handy for his family to be cared for. I was surprised that Bobby Jones had quite a temper and his language was not the best either. He tried to control this but he was such a prefectionist that whenever he made an error he let out his frustration this way.
   
   This book covers all his winnings from a very young age until he won the Grand Slam with were all the big tournament in one year. A terrific feat that has not been done to this day. Until Tiger Woods did it but his was done covering from one year to the next.
   
   If you love history and love golf, this book is worth the read.
   
   Letta Meinen

1 comments about Gerrard: My Autobiography.

1. As an American who loves watching the Premier League games every weekend, I have become a huge fan of Liverpool. Reading this autobiography of Steven Gerrard helped me gain insight into the depth of the football culture from youth leagues to the professional ranks in England. Gerrard's story is a fairly typical young boy achieves his dreams tale, but he is engaging and the book is lively and highly readable. His competitiveness and drive come through on every page and the background on some of the better known personalities in European football were very enlightening to this Yank since we obviously don't get the coverage here.

5 comments about Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas.

1. This item arrived quickly and in good condition. This is more 'times' than 'life', but the combination works well and delivers a great book.



2. When I read that Unitas was receiving a new biography I was very excited. After reading many great sports-related books in the past few years (Maraniss' "When Pride Still Mattered," Kriegel's "Namath," Barra's "The Last Coach," and everything by Halberstam), I just knew that Unitas had to be getting his just due. Sadly, this is not the case. I can't believe the favorable reviews for this book! There is nothing new that is not found in others concerning the Colts and Unitas. The '58 Championship and Super Bowl III make up the majority of this book--who hasn't heard, read, or seen everything there is to know about these games? The author had the opportunity to fill in the gaps between and after these events, but fails to do so.
   More attention could have been paid to Unitas' other 2 MVP years--1964 & 1967. Also, a fuller account of the politics surrounding Unitas' demise in Baltimore would have been interesting. A frank post-career history should have been included--I'd like to know how he was screwed by his business partners as much as how his kids thought he was a great dad.
   All-in-all just a major disappointemnt. I really thought the author kind of mailed it in on this one.
   Too bad. Johnny Unitas was the greatest, and he deserved a better treatment.



3. It's not often that a book can "transport" the reader back to the time and with the feeling that they experienced at the time the depicted events were happening but "Johnny U" does just that.
   
   As a kid growing up in a town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the Colts were our team and Johnny U was our man. In our neighborhood, every kid who took his turn at QB in a vacant lot game became "Johnny U" (or Berry or "the Horse").
   
   As I read this book, the times, the excitement, the flavor of that era once again became real to me. If you were a Colts fan during the time of Johnny U, you can feel it. If you are a younger fan of football, you can get a real flavor of the game and the place of that time.
   
   It was a time when the Quarterback was the field general, calling most if not all the plays. It was the time before the "spike" when a QB in the two minute drill called 2 plays in the huddle and executed them both for gains or a win. It was a time when the sideline was the 12th man on the field and it was a time when your QB (#19) put the ball where only his teammate could catch it and stop the clock at the same time. We never seemed to worry if the Colts were down by less than 14 points at the 2 minute warning. Johnny U and company could (and often did) still pull out a win.
   
   If you are a football lover or sports fan who wants an excellent history book, it doesn't get any better than "Johnny U".



4. I couldn't put this one down! Almost made me late to work. Easy to read, bringing great names to life. As I read, I came to feel that I personally knew Unitas, Nomellini, Tittle, and the rest. It makes me sad that the days of "smash-mouth" football are gone!



5. I wasn't around in the days of Unitas but reading this book gives one a feel of what life was like in the 1950's NFL and it definitely gives us a good look at Unitas the man.
   
   Johnny Unitas comes across as a legend and leader. What more could a team or nation want from a sportsman?
   
   If you want to read a good, solid book and get a fair bit of hero worship (not a bad thing), then this is the book to read.

5 comments about Break Point: The Secret Diary of a Pro Tennis Player.

1. Very human account of the stresses of the men's tour.Filled with self deprecating humor,this is one of the best Tennis books I have read



2. BREAKPOINT is a journal of Vince Spadea's 2005 pro tennis season. It chronicles his ups and downs on the international tennis tour. He records his successes and failures on the circuit and his feelings about them as he falls from a Top 20 ranking to 77th .
   
   The book contains a few interesting tidbits about Courier, Agassi, Federer, Blake and other celebrities but many of those seem like payback digs. Mostly Spadea is self-involved with a comeback that fizzles at the age of 31 and a game that fails him at key points. Page after page laments his failures of direction, confidence, coaching, and results. After a while, the incessant self-doubt and whining becomes a bit tedious.
   
   It is hard to feel really sorry for a pro tennis player who has earned more than $4 million playing a game he enjoys and then complains about it for 279 pages.



3. I love tennis. I watch so much--especially when the Slams are on--that even I admit it can be excessive. So it was nearly inevitable that I would read this book. Some comments made by TV commentators/retired tennis players about this book made it sound like Spadea dishes dirt. He really doesn't. If anything in this is "dirt" then I don't understand the term. Although this book is not well-written by any stretch of the phrase it is entertaining--but mostly unintentionally so. His writing makes him seem like an anti-social, immature complainer. The funny part is that Spadea clearly *believes* that he is a fun, artistic, over-looked gem of a man. All that said the book has merit if only to demonstrate the way that the pro tennis tour consumes a person so wholly that they often don't get socialized the way everyone else does. Spadea seems stunted, has poor social skills, and has few interests outside of tennis. (I have seen these traits in other tennis pros.) The one obvious interest is his supposed "rapping". Even that is (mercifully) absent in the second half of the book. We learn that Spadea has an odd focus on James Blake, offers a weak denial to homosexuality with hints to the contrary in the 240 pages preceding it, and that he called his mother in during a match that he was losing. At age 30. The book documents a year on tour, and not a particularly successful one. So it's not an uplifting book about a compelling hero. But in trying to relate the difficulties of life on the pro tour Spadea--unbeknownst to him--also shows us that it can hold a person back in areas outside of tennis.



4. Hoo boy. More whining from a third-rater* about how he doesn't get enough respect; I've just finished reading Nathalie Tauziat's opus, and now this. But at least Mlle. Tauziat was the French Nº 1 for seven years.
   
   The bulk of the book is concerned with Mr. Spadea's year of 2005 in tennis, with brief descriptions of, and anecdotes about, players, coaches, fans, and other denizens of the tennis world, including women. The author's relationships with these are also described. By his own admission he doesn't try to get close to other male players (p.59), and this in itself is a problem for the book, because he's unable to portray them with any depth; nevertheless, I found myself hoping he makes a lot a money from it, because if all his relationships with women are like those described herein, one has to wonder if he'll be left with much else.
   
   There's certainly scope for an "in-the-trenches account of life near the top of the pro tennis tour". Unfortunately, this one is neither particularly interesting, nor particularly informative; it's too self-centred to be either.
   
   All of this does not of course mean that Mr. Spadea is a bad person, or that getting to the Top 20 is a contemptible achievement. Nor does it mean that his book is entirely without interest (hence the three stars). In fact, some of it has a kind of horrifying fascination, and parts of it (such as the tips on how to pick up girls) are unintentionally hilarious.
   
   But if you want an informative, charming and witty book about tennis, get Gordon Forbes's A Handful of Summers: as I write, it's still available second-hand in the US, and if that fails it's still in print at Amazon UK (although the in-print [HarperCollins] edition is a cheesy one with no photographs).
   
   *Rule of thumb (admittedly arbitrary, but at least well-defined) for the purpose of this review:
   
   First-rater -- those who have won three different Slam championships; or in a particular Slam have won it three times, or have won the Triple Crown (singles/doubles/mixed) in one year .
   
   Second rater -- all other Slam champions.
   
   Third-rater -- everyone else.
   
   This is not as brutal as the obvious definition, which also has the defect of not being applicable before the ranking system was invented:
   
   First-rater -- those who are or have been Number 1.
   Second rater -- those who are or have been Number 2.
   Third-rater -- those who are or have been Number 3.



5. if you are a tennis junkie. I came away not sure if I like Vince that much, and taking everything he wrote with a hefty grain of salt. But the inside take on the day to day of the tennis circuit was fascinating as well as the inside view of the other players.

5 comments about Cobb: A Biography.

1. Tyrus Raymond Cobb, over a twenty three year career compiled a major league record that will likely never be matched. With a career batting average of .367, he won twelve batting titles, recorded 892 stolen bases, 4191 hits in 11,429 at bats, and played in 3,033 games . When Babe Ruth came on the scene during the last several years of Cobb's career baseball fans were caught up in long ball fever. Unimpressed, Cobb once hit five home runs in two consecutive games simply to show how easy it was to hit homers.
   
   He played the game with an intensity and ferocity that both intrigued and appalled the baseball fans of his generation. Reportedly sharpening his steel spikes to a razor's edge he would slash any second baseman or catcher to the bone who showed the audacity to block the baseline. Cobb was not a pleasant man to be around on or off the field. He was hated and feared even by his own team mates, yet he did more for baseball than any player before him, or possibly since.
   
   Al Stump goes behind the scenes and tells the tragic story of a man who battled baseball officials and his own demons all of his life. Toward the end of Cobb's life Stump lived with him while writing his biography and was on edge the whole time. Even in old age Cobb was tempermental, demanding, and feared by those he came in contact with.
   
   If you're a baseball fan, or simply enjoy a well written biography, this is one that you won't want to miss.



2. I found this book very fascinating. Stump gets into the complexities of a baseball perfectionist while interweaving the complexities of a truly disturbed and unstable man. The story is well told and intriguing.



3. Those who saw the movie "Cobb" know that it centers on the last year and a half of Ty Cobb's life, when he hired sportswriter Al Stump to help him write an autobiography [though Cobb was a highly literate man, who really didn't need a ghostwriter]. Ty Cobb was dying, and knew it; cancer and diabetes were about finished with him, and he wanted to tell his story while he could. This is Al Stump's story of that experience.
   
   Ty Cobb was a strange, difficult, complex, man. His manner was not designed to make him well liked, but he really didn't care. His fellow Tigers may not have cared for him, but they were well aware that he was the greatest player in the game, and that he gave 100% on the field. Some of the popular stories [the sharpened spikes, and, until cancer got the best of him, the drinking] are lies, but the statistics aren't. Cobb always saw himself as an outsider, a member of an aristocratic Southern family, who really didn't belong.
   
   Cobb and Stump had quite a time, and Cobb's book did get written. They visited casinos, churches, the Hall of Fame, Cobb's daughter [who rejected him, though she was willing to have his money after he died], and got Ty his medical care. Stump stayed till the end. Al discovered that Ty was financially supporting a number of old ballplayers, and their widows...he turned Christ's admonition around, publicizing his bad deeds, and keeping the good secret [the support was anonymous; Cobb's lawyer hired another lawyer to pay it].
   
   A psychiatrist could have a grand time with Ty Cobb. PTSD? Probably...what his Mom did to his Dad would throw anybody for a loop. Cobb did give his mother all the love money could buy, but even that may have been more than she deserved. He took chances, from the way he played ball, to his Army service as a Captain in the Poison Gas Division in WWI...no soft job in Special Services for Ty Cobb.
   
   This is a fine book about a very difficult subject...brilliant, hard driven, complex, Ty Cobb was the greatest baseball player that ever lived. He may have had some faults as a person, but NOT as a ballplayer. You can't understand Ty Cobb in one book any more than you can Thomas Jefferson [there actually are parallels]...Al Stump obviously disliked his subject, but his skill and honesty are enough to make the greatness shine thru. Read this, but also read Charles Alexander, and Cobb's own book.



4. This is a searing biography of baseball legend Ty Cobb (1887-1961). As the author shows Cobb was a superbly talented and intelligent ballplayer, and he still has the highest lifetime batting average (.367). Cobb was also intensely competitive, and so mean and fast-tempered that even roughneck players feared and detested him. The author examines Cobb's upbringing in Georgia (including his father's being shot dead by his mother) and his long career (1905-1928) in baseball. Readers learn of Cobb's many batting and stolen base titles, his unproven involvement in a 1919 fix, and his years as player-manager for the Detroit Tigers. Cobb was careful with his dollars and blessed with investment savvy that made him rich - players calling him "penny pincher" had an instant fight on their hands. The book also takes a brief look at his life after his playing days ended.
   
   As many know, a dying Cobb hired the author to write his autobiography - and that first book said what Cobb wanted. This second and more honest effort appeared three decades later, and is far from pretty. We see Cobb as a volatile racist lout, unpopular as a player, and shunned in his later years by both his family and by those struglling ex-players that the financially generous Cobb helped. This second biography is relentless, revealing, and not for those with a weak stomach.



5. "Cobb" by Al Stump: This is THE book that made me truly appreciate the game of baseball and Ty Cobb. I read all 400 plus pages in three days of reading and it was very difficult to put down at the end of the night. Do not confuse this book by Al Stump with the one he co-authored with Ty Cobb titled "Ty Cobb My Life in Baseball." That book was more of a PR campaign for Ty Cobb to help improve his image in the public eye. "Cobb" however is 100% pure, raw, and insane Ty Cobb. It is within this book that you will learn why so many people say that Ty Cobb still is the best that ever was in baseball. You will also learn why so many players and fans thought he was possessed with the "furies"; in fact many questioned his sanity. Ty Cobb hit .367 over 24 seasons, won over a dozen batting titles and was the first ball player to ever be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I was surprised to learn that Ty Cobb had founded a hospital system, an educational foundation and helped down-and-out ballplayers. Truly one of the best baseball books I have ever read. Robert Pedersen www.fatherachildsright.org

No comments about Sports Illustrated: Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated).

1 comments about Rick Mears: Thanks: The Story of Rick Mears and the Mears Gang.

1. Kirby did an excellent job writing about a super race car driver and a super nice person. I was both saddened and happy that Rick retired when he did. I think he could have reached the magic number 5.

2 comments about Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime With the Cubs.

1. Williams is not shy in telling about the discrimination he and other people of color experienced during his minor league and major league career. I enjoyed his recollection and feelings regarding the Cubs' 1969 collapse and his memories of a large number of his former teammates.



2. It is an honor to be the first person to review this excellent book about the life of Billy Williams. In an age of baseball books called Vindicated and stories of steroids and other sordid aspects of the game it is refreshing to read this book about a player who exemplified class and a love for the game of baseball and a love for one woman his entire adult life.
   
   I am a lifelong Cubs fan and I began following the team in around 1965 when I was 7 years old. Everyone knew about Ernie Banks back in those days but Billy Williams was a very unsung hero of those teams. I once saw him get 5 hits in one game.
   
   In the book Billy is pretty outspoken about the racism he encountered as he moved up in the cubs organization. He came very close to quitting for good and what a shame that would have been if Buck O'Neill hadn't tracked Billy down and brought him to his senses.
   
   My favorite chapter was one where Billy goes down a long list of his cubs teammates giving us glimpses into what it was to be a baseball player before the years of free agency and exorbitant salaries.
   
   Billy also talks about his time with the Oakland A's just after they had won their three championships in a row.
   He discusses his desire to manage in the major leagues and his years of coaching for the A's and the Cubs and his experiences with Sammy Sosa during the 1998 season.
   The book concludes with the text of Billy's Hall of Fame speech.
   If you followed the Cubs during the 60's and 70's this book will be a nice trip down memory lane.