No comments about The Saints, the Superdome, and the Scandal.

5 comments about Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism.

1. LaFeber was well-known and loved by his students at Cornell as a spell binding lecturer and is widely respected as an expert on the history U.S foreign relations. So at first I wondered what about Michael Jordan could possibly interest a distinguished and conscientious scholar of American history, someone not normally associated with forays into pop culture. But it's a really fascinating, thoughtful, and surprising essay. LaFeber argues that Jordan is even bigger than we think--not as a sports icon but as both a symptom and cause of revolutionary change in the global order of things. Yes, the world changed with the fall of the Berlin Wall and with the end of the cold war, he says, but the rise of Jordan is an even bigger watershed moment in world history. The real kicker comes late in the book and is somewhat understated--that there is a war between culture and capital and capital is winning. The implications of this idea are enormous and mostly frightening. This is the maelstrom Marshall McLuhan was trying to warn us about. For anyone interested in media studies, cultural criticism, or a scholarly historian's perspective on global capitalism, this book will be eye-opening and mind-expanding. And the bits about Jordan himself are pretty fascinating.



2. Just a short note to say that this is one of the most important books I have read in the past 10 years. It tackles capitalism, race, & the role of the individual in the global context in an engaging yet very well informed manner. As a History professor, I have tought this book at several major universities and it has always met with much approval from my students.



3. This book was absolutely riveting. Provides in-depth information about anything to do with Michael Jordan and basketball in terms of its relations to the world. You will not have any questions when done reading. Gives a whole new perspective on the marketing of the NBA and how things work and evolve. The author shows how one person can affect millions, even billions of people. It allows us a glimpse of how something small can be so big at the same time.



4. In Michael Jordan And The New Global Capitalism, Walter LaFaber uses his ability to research and write about something to express to the readers how important advertising is to any corporation or business. For the Nike Corporation, they partnered up with Michael Jordan and worked out a plan to advertise him and their products through worldwide telecommunications. When Michael Jordan won (which was something he did a lot), the Nike Corporation won too, because everyone wanted to be "like Mike," and the only way to be "like Mike" was to buy his footwear and apparel or other Nike footwear and apparel. This book is a good awakening to anyone interested in how our economy works for big businesses, and its also a good book for anyone interested in basketball and or Michael Jordan. This is a definite must read all in all, because even if you end up not liking this book, you will be better off having read it.



5. Lafeber really shows you how putting time and effort into something can really take you far in life. I found the book to be very fascinating because it gives all the history of how basketball got started and how MJ and Nike became such powerful household names. This book is a really good read for any MJ fan who wants to learn the whole history behind him. It shows you what global advertising can do to a persons popularity. The bottom line this book is filled with tons of very interesting facts and just tells a good story, so go pick it up as soon as you can.

2 comments about A Reason to Believe: The Blaise Winter Story.

1. Blaise tells a very inspirational story about his life and all the challenges that he was able to overcome to follow his dream. Blaise used football as a way to communicate when he was unable to talk plainly. He tells how he never gave-up and continued to believe in himself when no-one else would. Blaise had a vary successful football career and is now a successful speaker. I would highly recommend this book.



2. This book is a great illustration of where heart and determination will get you in life. Blaise Winter, from day one, had to overcome many problems. From his cleft palate to his stubborn high school principle and coach, Blaise battled against all who didn't believe and reached his life-long dream....playing in the NFL. If you are feeling down on yourself or have little confidence, read this book and allow Blaise Winter to inspire you.

4 comments about Mick Doohan: The Thunder from Down Under.

1. I ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND WOULD RECOMMMEND IT TO ANY RACING FAN FROM WAY NBACK WHEN,,,,



2. This is a nice book about Mick Doohan, a man, who is arguably the greatest motorcycle Grand Prix racer ever. Unfortunately there is very little of interest about the man himself aside from his incredible talent and psychological make-up. One stands in awe at his ability to overcome serious injury and return to complete domination. The reader does get an overwhelming sense of just how much better Doohan was than his competition. Oxley does a nice job covering Doohan's career and early beginnings and the photographs are excellent. I would have liked to read more detail and even more quotes and thoughts from his peers and competitors. The paragraphs about his and Max Biaggi's jibes and digs throughout the '98 season are the best in the book. Now that Doohan has retired, after winning an incredible 5 world championships in a row this book is well worth having in your collection.



3. Mick Doohan first and foremost is one of the most accomplished GP500 racers in all of history, his stat's. and dominance in the sport easily convey this. However, what his fans want to know most is what makes Mick really tick and what were his thoughts on specific instances and circumstances. While this is done in the book, it's only on a surface level, and the book really seems to be more of a story told to us by the author, not by Mick himself. The best part of the book is the relationship that Mick was able to establish w/ Eddie Lawson, and his thoughts after his surgery. The book is nice, the pictures are excellent, but I would only buy it second hand. I give it three stars for the pictures and Doohan history that shed fine details on what most of his fans already knew before buying the book, but overall well done and a decent Sunday read.



4. Mick Doohan is arguably the best GP500 rider and this book has so many details about his success, particularly his come-back after the accident in Assen Holland which almost ended his chance of ever walking again let alone riding a motorbike. The photos are exceptionally good.

1 comments about Bobby Bowden's Tales from the Seminole Sideline.

1. This thin book gathers a good number of stories about Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden, and the team itself.
   
   While not a serious study of the rise of college football in America, or at least Tallahassee, it does focus on the ways in which Bowden lives his life, and the resulting success of the FSU football team in the last 15 years. It focuses strongly on the period after 1990, when the team successfully finished it seasons among college's best year after year.
   
   With stories that last only a few paragraphs or so in most cases, this will entertain a Seminole fan for a short while, but it won't satisfy a desire for an in-depth look into the football program that Bowden has built over his successful, long tenure at FSU.

2 comments about OLLIE: The Ollie Butler Story.

1. David Kniss, the author and former Butler player, readily admits that this book was somewhat rushed - 16 months in the making - considering Coach Butler's 32 year career. And while this is true, Kniss still delivers a cohesive timeline of Butler's life.
   To anyone associated with the High Desert, Butler is an icon - a man who won more than 600 games throughout his career. Having played for Butler in the late '80s, I can truly say that he is one of the few men I admired growing up and I admire even more in posterity. Not only for the example that he set as an individual, but for his tireless effort in building a program that the entire community could rally behind.
   And while it's admittedly a "regional" book, I feel its appeal would have been far greater if Mr. Kniss had asked tougher questions - particularly about Butler's feud with former principal Julian Weaver. Another component this book lacks is an assessment of the impact Butler has had on his players lives. Many of his former players, myself included, still communicate with him.
   Despite its shortcomings, however, Kniss delivers a solid book on a legendary man. Now, hopefully Kniss will try his hand at documentary filmmaking.



2. This book is a great read.

   It reads like a research paper, but as family, I really enjoyed reading it.

   The first couple of chapters really kept me interested, since it had family history. I'm not much of a sports fan, but I felt Kniss' passion for the game and his respect and admiration for my uncle. I can tell that it took a lot of research and hours of work to put it together. I especially enjoyed getting in-depth accounts of stories that I have only heard in passing over the years. I never fully realized how much my Uncle O.J. went through to get to where he is today. And I probably wouldn't if it weren't for Mr. Kniss.

1 comments about Quotable Rockne (Potent Quotables).

1. As an unabashed Notre dame football fan, I can't imagine NOT owning this terrific book. Rockne was a masterful motivator and quote machine, and this book has hundreds of Rockne's best quotes. Any coach would love having his or her hands on this book to come up with ideas on how to inspire their players.

No comments about Sniffer: The Life and Times of Allan Clarke.

3 comments about Only a Game?: The Diary of a Professional Footballer.

1. Dunphy provides a great look at life in the Football Associations 2nd division way before there was ever the idea of a Premier League. The time is the early 70's and footballers like Dunphy play for the love of the game. It's a demanding life, one filled with training, travel and tough games. Millwall have just come off a good season and as the team embarks on a new season hopes are high that they will make the 1st Division. Dunphy documents the trials and tribulations of the quest for glory, and how elusive it can be. A really great read.



2. An excellent book - a unique look into the mind of a footballer playing in the English professional leagues in the mid-70s. An honest, witty and insightful diary account of the day-to-day life of a footballer, with all its ups, downs, pressures, frustrations, joys and comical relief. I recommend it strongly for anyone interested in soccer played at, or at least near, the highest levels. (Soccer America chose this book as one of their "must" soccer reads of all time.)



3. One of the most controversial figures in contemporary journalism in Ireland, this is Dunphy's account of his years as a professional footballer in the 2nd division of the English league. His depiction of what it is actually like to be a professional sportsman is insightful, witty and original.

   Definitely one of the best books about football that I've read.

2 comments about A Day of Light and Shadows: One Die-Hard Red Sox Fan and His Game of a Lifetime: The Boston-New York Playoff, 1978.

1. Jonathan Schwartz captures the sweet sadness of being a lifelong Red Sox fan (at least until 2004).



2. Unless you are a Red Sox fan, you may not know about the Curse of the Bambino. In the early part of the 20th century, the Boston Red Sox dominated the American League. One of their best players was a pitcher named Babe Ruth. The owner traded the Babe to the New York Yankees in exchange for the money to invest in the Broadway production of No No, Nanette and it's been no cigar for the Red Sox ever since.

   Jonathan Schwartz has one of the worst cases of Red Sox addiction that I have ever heard of. He has been a radio announcer in New York for over 30 years (that's enemy territory for Red Sox fans). To stay up with his beloved Red Sox, he spent almost $15,000 in long distance charges from 1970-77 to listen in to the air check for WITS in Hartford of the games (calling in from Paris in some cases).

   This is a story first published in Sports Illustrated in 1978 and covers one of the worst periods in Red Sox history: The season when they blew a late 14 game lead to the dreaded Yankees. I lived in Boston at that time, and it was painful to recall the swoon. Yet at the end of the season, they pulled a comeback and tied the Yankees. There was to be a one-game playoff in Fenway Park (determined by a coin toss) on October 2, 1978. In a prior playoff against Cleveland in Fenway in 1948 (also on October 2), the Sox had lost 8-3.

   During the slide, the worst time had been when the Red Sox lost four in a row in Fenway to the Yankees with less than a month to go. Schwartz recounts his reaction. In a funk, he impulsively walked out of his apartment with $50 and a credit card, and flew to California. Only after arriving did he remember to call his live-in girlfriend and tell her what he had done.

   With the big game coming up, Schwartz thinks he should take it easy and watch the game on television. At the last minute, he cannot resist and calls in some markers to get a press pass.

   Most of the book recounts the game. It is interspaced with pre and post game comments from the key players.

   The ironies continue to abound. You'll have to read the book to get them all. The Sox took a 2-0 early lead, but the faithful were fearful. Bucky Dent, the light-hitting shortstop, fouled a ball off his leg and play was stopped temporarily while he was treated. On the mound, the delay cost Torres (the Red Sox pitcher and former Yankee) his concentration. You guessed it. Dent hit a home run. Gossage replaced Guidry later on and stops the Red Sox from rallying back.

   The final score: New York 5, Boston 4 (or as Schwartz puts it "Destiny 5, Boston 4).

   Required reading and rereading for all Red Sox fans until the Curse of the Bambino is lifted!

   Overcome your disbelief that anyone team could have so much bad luck with so much talent by reading this engaging story of baseball tragedy!