No comments about Trout Dreams (Gallery of Fly-Fishing Profiles).

1 comments about Seve: Ryder Cup Hero.

1. Seve: Ryder Cup Hero, reads like a novel. Eloquently written this book is funny, touching, and very interesting.

   If you enjoy the game of golf this book is a must. If you simply enjoy a good book it is a must.

5 comments about Game Misconduct : Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey.

1. Those who want to learn about hockey - and not just what Alan Eagleson did to it - should run, not walk, to buy this book.
   Conway's book is superb, and his work on Eagleson made him a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
   It's a must-read for any sports writer, too. It's like having an "Investigative Journalism 101" class taught to you, and for a fraction of the money you'd pay at a university.



2. This is the most interesting book I have ever read. I studied it to do an oral presentation for Grade 9 English class a few years ago and was so intrigured by the Alan Eagleson story that, now in my first year of University, I am pursuing a career very similar to that of Alan Eagleson...one in which I would essentially deal with the business side of the NHL where I would love to make some sort of a positive influence, as Eagleson did. However, Alan Eagleson's corruption, which is described in this book, is an excellent example of how one person can cause a negative influence on many people's lives through illegitimacy and how public opinion of that person can change almost instantly as a result. Russ Conway did an excellent job of investigating Alan Eagleson, and his book is a wonderful summary of his work. I would recommend this book to anybody, whether they are a hockey fan or not.



3. This is one of the most important sports books ever written. Through his exhaustive work, Russ Conway exposes the greed, corruption and financial swindling that plagued the NHL throughout Alan Eagelson's reign of terror and the financial and emotional price that so many players faced. Most importantly, Conway's work served as the catalyst for Mr. Eagleson's downfall and proving many player's assertions of corruption. Put simply, this is an important piece of journalism that every fan of sports should read, whether you are a hockey fan or not.



4. Russ Conway has written a wonderful investigative piece about a man who is truly a disgraceful figure in the history of Canadian hockey. Russ brings forth, with his own agressive style, the wicked ways of a man who calling a crook is an understatement. First, he never backed down to get his answers and his writing is first-rate. Anyone who follows hockey should read about a man who almost destroyed it.



5. All hockey fans owe Russ Conway a debt of gratitude for helping rid hockey of the parasite Alan Eagleson. He documents Eagleson's criminal and disgusting behaviour in great detail, helping fans to better understand what hockey players faced in the past, the necessary background information for many of the issues facing pro hockey today. I haven't read such a gripping book since "Net Worth". Eagleson will be back in the courts again before long, no doubt willing to lie about the charges being brought forward by a number of retired hockey players. Read this book and you'll see that the players have justice on their team.

2 comments about The Game I'll Never Forget: 100 Hockey Stars' Stories.

1. interesting stories and fun to read. a little strange to have mario on the front cover, and gretzky on the back cover, yet no story from either of them. :o(



2. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK WHICH COVERS 100 NHL PLAYERS WHO TELL US THE SPECIAL GAME THEY REMEMBER THE BEST. FROM HULL, RICHARD, LEMIEUX, AND PLANTE TO MANY MANY MORE WHO TELL US THEIR STORIES. THE STORIES ARE 2 PAGES EACH WITH SOME GREAT PHOTOS. I RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL HOCKEY FANS. A MUST READ.

2 comments about Great Time Coming: The Life Of Jackie Robinson From Baseball to Birmingham.

1. I enjoyed this book greatly and learned a lot about this complex man.

   Growing up in Brooklyn, I heard many stories about Jackie Robinson. All of them praised his courage and admired what he went through. But nobody ever thought of him as a saint, he was a complex character with many rough edges.

   Most of what has been written about him has deified him incorrectly. The author makes it very clear early in the book that he wanted to show Robinson as "warts and all". And he succeeds, Robinson comes across as a complex human being.

   Two things to note regarding the research done on this book. The author refers often to other biographies, especially when they disagree on various points. He then gives his account of the given point, a very good procedure.

   The author also notes that he was not given any access to the "official" Jackie Robinson archives and that Jackie's widow and her minions refused to cooperate in any way shape or form with this book as well as trying to discourage others. All I can say about that is how petty those actions are.

   I especially liked the depth in which the author discussed Robinson's post-baseball life, especially in the political arena. Robinson supported several prominent Republican politicians, such as Rockefeller and Nixon and took a lot of heat for his views. The author did a wonderful job in this area.

   Great job by the author is separating man and myth.




2. I'm a big Jackie Robinson fan and this book taught me things I never understood or knew! Great reading. Great insights into the life of a true pioneer! BUY IT!

1 comments about Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie Robinson's First Spring Training.

1. An excellently researched and written book. One would think that there isn't much new to be said about Jackie Robinson, who is among the two or three most written-about men in the history of baseball, but Lamb tells a story that has previously received little attention, mainly because the mainstream news media didn't think it was worth covering.
   
   Lamb points out that black newspapers covered Robinson from the moment he began spring training with the Montreal Royals in 1946, and he uses many of those papers as his sources. In retelling the story of Branch Rickey's historic decision to sign Robinson and break baseball's color line, he refuses to treat Rickey as a lone, saintly hero; he points out that, for decades before Rickey joined the fray, black newspapers, socialists, and Communists had been agitating for the inclusion of blacks in organized baseball. Lamb shows that Lester Rodney, sportswriter for The Daily Worker, was also instrumental in the struggle to bring integration to the game. His is a name that seems to have been dropped from the record when other authors retell Robinson's story.
   
   The most powerful aspect of the book is the way Lamb portrays the gagging outrageousness of the racial prejudice and discrimination Robinson faced in the Jim Crow-era American south. The vicious, buck-naked bigotry he and other blacks encountered ought to make every white American ashamed.

1 comments about Andretti.

1. When I was growing up, Mario Andretti was one of my heroes. When you put Jim Clark and Mario Andretti on the same racetrack, I was in heaven. This book is the ideal coffee-table book about the greatest race car driver of the 20th century but you may want to put your copy in a cabinet like I do (so that it doesn't get damaged). The readers of "Racer" Magazine voted Mario the best. The photography in this book is fantastic, even the older black and whites are clear. If you like racing especially the "good-old-days", then you will love this book.

2 comments about Bart Starr: When Leadership Mattered.

1. THIS IS A NICE BOOK ABOUT FORMER PACKER QUARTER BACK BART STARR. THE AUTHOR DOES A NICE JOB GIVING US A LOOK AT THE PERSON AND PLAYER. HE ALSO TELLS OF THE SEASONS THAT STARR COACHED THE PACKERS WHICH I KNOW VERY LITTLE OF. I ALSO ENJOYED THE DETAILED ACCOUNT OF EACH SEASON AND ALL THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES. THE NEGATIVE I HAVE IS THAT IT SPENT TOO MUCH TIME ON VINCE LOMBARDI. IT ALMOST COULD HAVE BEEN 2 BIOGRAPHIES IN ONE WITH ALL THE PAGES DEDICATED TO LOMBARDI. BUT ALL IN ALL IN ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND RECOMMEND IT FOR ALL FOOTBALL FANS.



2. Those interested in reading about former Green Bay Packers' quarterback Bart Starr for the first time will find this to be an interesting biography. However, if you have read previous books on the Packers such as Jerry Kramer's "Instant Replay" and David Maraniss's definitive biography on Vince Lombardi entitled "When Pride Still Mattered", you will not find anything new here. Author David Claerbaut relies heavily on Maraniss's book on Lombardi in addition to having a similar title "When Leadership Mattered." Claerbaut does delve into Starr's nine years as the coach of the Packers in addition to Starr's son, Brett, who suffered from drug addiction. As far as Starr's years as a player for the Packers is concerned what this book has to offer can be found in several other books on the team. However, if you have not read a previous book on Bart Starr or the Packers of the 1960's then you will enjoy this book.

5 comments about What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football.

1. This book is a collection of semi-autobiographies of many of the most famous NFL football players of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s when the league was just getting started and fighting for its spot in the sun. Each chapter centered around one player such as Sammy Baugh, Sid Luckman and host of other legendary players still alive to write their story. Its an insightful look of the "good old days" NFL, often funny and other time, amazing. The book has been well edited and reading is superbly entertaining as well as educational. Each chapter also got couple of short anecdotal stories on some of the legends of the game long gone like Jim Thorpe or Bronko Nagurski.
   
   When I read this book, there is no doubt in my mind that men who played this game back then, were probably the toughest players ever to played NFL football. Sure there are guys today who are built bigger, faster and all that, but these stories in this book make any reader realized how tough and mean, NFL used to be compared to today's soft touch rules design to lessen injuries. These players were in the game for 60 minutes, they have to be good in both offense and on defense. Compared that with the specialized players of today.
   
   This book is should be read by any fan of the NFL to give such a fan a good perception on how the NFL evolved and developed during the past 75 years.



2. An oral history about the NFL's early early days, like before most of us were even born and in some cases, before our parents were born. It feels like the author took these oral histories word for word so it makes for very choppy and uneven reading, not something that you can zip thru in one reading, despite the barely 200+ pages - it's nice to read about players who I've barely heard of and some I never knew about, and also about the two way players then. I think the author could have shaped the oral histories better to make it a better read, and like I always say, beware of books which Amazon sells for at the list price - there's a reason for that.



3. In the same vein as Lawrence Ritter with "The Glory Of Their Times," Richard Whittingham interviewed several of the diminishing handful of participants in the NFL's early days, took their words and wove an interesting and insightful book. Much like baseball when it started professionally, scheduling, paychecks, record-keeping and crowd size was often haphazard in those days, and players often played out of love of the game or to pick up some extra money aside from their regular jobs, mostly the latter. But the stories that they tell are wonderful - rugged men playing in football's infancy, helping to build the league that we know today through their legendary work. Many of the players included in the book are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, so these guys had the opportunity to be around a long time and see a lot of changes going on. It's a fascinating book about the birth and growth of the league, told by the guys who were there to help it grow - I highly recommend reading this book.



4. THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT NFL STARS THAT PLAYED IN THE 1920'S THRU THE 1940'S. SUCH STARS AS RED GRANGE, SAMMY BAUGH, DON HUTSON, AND SID LUCKAMN ARE FEATURED. THEIR STORIES AND INSIGHTS ARE VERY INTERSTING AND ENTERTAINING. I BELIEVE THE AUTHOR RICHARD WHITTINGHAM, DID A GREAT JOB. THIS WAS AN ERA WHEN MEN WERE MEN, THEY PLAYED THE ENTIRE GAME. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED HOW THE GAME WAS PLAYED BACK THEN OR ARE A REAL HISTORIAN OF PRO FOOTBALL THIS IS A GREAT READ FOR YOU. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.



5. Stories about great athletes that were famous and not so famous. Each of the chapters talks about an athlete that contributed to the sport in very unique ways. After reading it, I wanted to know more about some of the characters that were great athletes and times very humorous. It's a book I will re-read and recommend highly.

No comments about John Britten.