4 comments about Through the Eyes of a Champion.

1. "Through the Eyes of a Champion" is a must read for all who were fortunate enough to watch Burls play football. It is such an inspiring biography, though, that it is a wonderful book for anyone to read. I was barely able to put the book down once I started reading it, and I finished reading it in a couple of days. Just be sure you have a box of tissues handy if you are the least bit prone to tears.

   Like Brandon, one of my sons will be an invited walk on to the Razorback football team this fall. If he works 75% as hard and accomplishes half as much, I will be the proudest Mom in the world! The book clearly demonstrates how far a person can go with the right attitude, total commitment and the hard work it takes to accomplish your goal.

   The world, and especially the state of Arkansas, are better because of this young man who set a an impressive example that each of us can aspire to follow.




2. Don't think this is a book for Arkansas Razorback fans alone. This story walks way beyond the Arkansas border and outside the sports arena into the worlds of mass appeal. Sports lovers, not known for being your more veracious readers, will be surprised when the book's end comes easily and quickly. Young people will be inspired by the story of hard work and dedication. Mothers and grandmothers will be touched by the family relationships portrayed so well. No one will close the final chapter without a box of kleenex handy.
   Read this book. As you see life through the eyes of a champion, life will never look the same again!



3. This book is a very touching story of a young man who showed that anything can be acheived with hard work and determination, even for those who dont necessarily "fit-in" with the popular crowd. And it also shows how fragile and how quickly life can be taken away from us. Also, for anyone who is familiar with Arkansas Razorback football, it would be an especially good read.

   Brandon Burlsworth came from humble beginnings, born and raised by his mother in the small town of Harrison, Arkansas. A shy, quirky, kid who wasn't the most coordinated nor the most popular boy in school, Brandon relied on his faith and determination to prove everyone wrong. He worked his way into becoming an All-State high-school football player. Wanting to become a Razorback all his life but not getting a scholarship, Brandon refused other offers and walked-on at the University of Arkansas, later earning himself a starting role for 3 years. At the end of his collegiate carrer, Brandon became an All-American lineman and the only football player in Arkansas history to earn a Bachelors and Masters degrees before they finished playing football. Being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL, Brandon was tragically killed in an auto accident on his way to church, just a few days after being drafted.

   It does have many Christian references and messages as well.




4. I am fortunate to have gone to school with Brandon Burlsworth for 4 years. Although, I was never a close friend, I watched all the Razorback football games his senior year, just to see him. We were all fascinated watching him play. I wanted to ask him for an autograph, but always thought he might think it was stupid for a classmate to ask for one. After reading this wonderfully written book about his life, I realize, it was me who lost out never going up to talk to him. I cannot say enough good things about this book and how it just grabbed my heart and kept me reading. After reading this, it may change your life and your thoughts.. Brandon was so well loved around here in Harrison, and around the world. We know he is in Heaven looking down on us. Everyone should have this book to read when they are down. Brandon brought meaning to life... and you will see that in this book.

3 comments about Extraordinary Lives: 34 Priests Tell Their Stories.

1. The text is very honest and encouraging. Was recommended to me by a Roman Catholic priest. The book makes life as a priest sounds exciting. Lots of good advice for discernment and life in general from first hand experience. Shows that obedience and celibacy are blessings to welcome. I most definitly agree with the publisher's review. It offers reasons to become a priest and reasons to stay a priest. As a young man myself, it offers an appealing alternitive lifestyle. Only complaint: there were no "simple" parish priests. All were truly extraordinary, as the title implies, however, I would have liked to read about a priest who is happy with one role in the Church - pastor of a parish without the additional responsibilities of vicar, vocations director, etc. However, it does remind us that priests are called to fill multiple roles in the Church at one time. Truly an uplifiting book and definitly recommended for anyone who wants to understand the Priestly ministry more fully. Example advice from the text: If you are too busy to pray, you are too busy. I know that is advice I need to follow. I hope for similar books in the future.



2. If you have come to believe the Catholic Priesthood is about to become part of the dustbin of history, then reading this book may cause you to think again. This is a refreshing and inspiring look at 33 men who are living lives that are personally satisfying and which bring a dimension of service to the world which is diffferent from any other. Particularly interesting are the differing, yet singular threads which run through the stories related. This is well worth reading.



3. A very inspirational account of men who are happy with their vocation to the Roman Catholic priesthood. It is a welcome breath of fresh air in contrast to so many other books which proclaim priesthood in a negative light (and wrongly so!). In this book you will encounter men who have struggled, men who have had fascinating experiences, men who have rejoiced, both young and old. I would recommend this book for any priest, seminarian, or for anyone considerding a vocation to the priesthood, as well as for those who feel that priesthood is dead! It is not! Read about these extraordinary lives!

1 comments about Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man.

1. Marino Amoruso opens this adoring biography of Gil Hodges by recounting his one childhood meeting with the great Brooklyn Dodger First Baseman, then swinging a bat for the Mets:
   
   "Gil, you're my favorite player."
   "And you're my favorite fan."
   
   Music to the ears of any six year old. How many "favorite fans" did Hodges have? After reading this brief book I discovered the answer was simple: "All of them."
   
   Gilbert Ray Hodge was born in Princeton, Indiana and raised in Petersburg, Indiana. As a young man, Hodges (nobody is sure when the family name pluralized) was discovered by the Brooklyn Dodgers. After serving his country as a Marine in World War II and earning several Bronze Stars (the reasons for which he never discussed), Hodges returned to Brooklyn to become one of the beloved "Boys of Summer."
   
   Hodges may indeed have been the most beloved member of that team. He married a Brooklyn girl, Joan Lombardi, and made his permanent home on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, where he raised his children. Amoruso publishes several family photos in this book, but never invades the privacy of Mrs. Hodges or the Hodges children, so we are left to assess the impact of this family man upon his family just through a series of silent images in which everyone is smiling. One picture IS worth a thousand words. No one is perfect and no one is a paragon, but Gil Hodges clearly tried to be the best man he could be.
   
   Hodges was never booed by the notoriously fickle fans at Ebbets Field (or anywhere else), even when he fell into a potentially career-threatening slump in the early 1950s. Instead, the people of Brooklyn sent him religious medals (Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir), prayed for him (Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and cheered him the louder each time he took the field. Brooklyn's Manager, Walt Alston, benched Hodges for a game or two; but, as Amoruso recounts, the problem was solved when Hodges was advised to make a small change to his batting stance.
   
   Hodges took the lesson to heart; the experience made him a more effective ballplayer. He became a student of the game, analyzing the styles of both his teammates and opposing players. This habit stood him in good stead when he became a Manager later on.
   
   There were many greats on the Brooklyn Dodgers teams of the 1950s, but Hodges was "The Quiet Man." Stoic and silent, but always friendly, Hodges rarely said anything unless it needed to be said, never argued umpires' bad calls, and only became involved in rhubarbs in order to stop them. Several stories are told of how Hodges would separate fighting men by lifting them up by the scruffs of their necks, and (always politely) depositing them in their respective dugouts. Such was his prodigious strength. His hands were huge, and he could swing six bats at once in the on-deck circle. Yet for all his size and power, Hodges never engaged in the time-honored crude habit of "bench jockeying," nor publicly showed anger. He was far more likely to ask after an opposing player's wife and kids and health. As a result, he became one of the most popular men in baseball. His Dodger teammates have nothing but kind words and lauds for his "consistency" and his "stabilizing influence" on that mercurial team.
   
   Amoruso wrote the scripts for Baseball - Dem Bums: The History of the Brooklyn Dodgers and The Brooklyn Dodgers, An American Treasure. In THE QUIET MAN he focuses less energy on Hodges' playing days with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets, acknowledges Hodges' managerial contributions to raising the awful AL Washington Senators from their customary last place, and spends much time on Hodges' management of the New York Mets, whom he brought from worst to first in 1969, leading them to their first World Series Championship in 1969. For anybody who remembers, the Summer of 1969 was the summer of the first moon landing, the summer of Woodstock, the year of "Broadway Joe" Namath and the New York Jets, but it very much was the Season of The Mets.
   
   Most of his Dodger teammates were surprised when he decided to manage, if only because most baseball managers are loud and sometimes obnoxious. Hodges was anything but. Hodges led by example. He expected his ballplayers to hustle, and pulled them if they didn't. He expected them to follow his rules, and chewed them out (privately) if they did not. He insisted that his team be well-dressed and well-groomed at all times, as befit public figures. He taught his team to think about the game, to work together, and most crucially, to be confident. He commanded respect, not by demanding it but by giving it to others. He rarely raised his voice, so when he did, it was both memorable and a little scary for the young Mets players. To a man, the '69 Mets agree that they were not the most talented team, but that their World Series Championship was due in large part to Gil Hodges' ability to draw the best from each man.
   
   Sadly, Gil Hodges died of a massive heart attack in 1972, just two days shy of his 48th birthday. Born into a family with a history of premature death from heart conditions, The Quiet Man held it all inside, and it ultimately killed him. The outpouring of grief for Hodges by fans, former teammates, opponents, indeed everyone, was unprecedented.
   
   Shamefully, this fine man who encapsulates all that is best in baseball within himself, is STILL NOT (as of this 2008 writing) a member of the Hall of Fame.
   
   In GIL HODGES: THE QUIET MAN, Marino Amoruso gives us a public portrait of one of the finest men to play our national sport. Little truly personal information is disclosed in this book, but that's perhaps as it should be. An intense and private person, and a truly quiet man, Hodges would no doubt appreciate Amoruso's respect for his desire to keep things to himself.

No comments about Legacy of the Gladiators: Italian Americans in Sports.

2 comments about The Best Book of Baseball Facts and Stats (Best Book of Baseball Facts & Stats).

1. This book has become a mainstay at my house, and a favorite of my family's as a reference tool. It's not as in-depth as Total Baseball or the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, but it gives quick summaries of Hall-of-Famers careers, great pennant races, important games from history, and also lists award winners, record holders, and seasonal batting and pitching leaders. The portability of this book makes it much easier to bring to games or to have near the TV.
   
   A great resource, and well-written.



2. This book is filled with lot of biographical information of teams, players, stadiums and such interesting games that occured in the past. If you like this kind of information such as statistics of the player and such as things you'll love this book as I do !
   Let's read it an screams PLAY BALL !

No comments about Thierry Henry: The Biography: The Amazing Life of the Greatest Footballer on Earth.

No comments about The Bast Boys: A Remarkable Story of the Small-College Professor and the Athletes He Coached On Some of the Best Cross Country and Track Teams in the Nation.

5 comments about The Brewer Twins: Double Take.

1. Just one of these guys is enough to turn your head...but a matched pair?...Double your pleasure, double your fun...with DOUBLE TAKE, DOUBLE TAKE,....you get the idea. Can you imagine.....?(finish this with your own fantasy)



2. The book is pretty boring. The text is lacking, and skips anything in depth about these twin dudes. The pictures could be so much better. They really skipped over the Joe Magazine affair of their lives. Too bad, as that was the best of the Brewer boys as far as I am concerned. It was real, and heartfelt - this book is not.



3. They're brothers. They're twins. They're lovers? That's what many of their photographs suggest. Pictures of the twins undressing each other, holding each other, caressing each other, gazing into each other's eyes, and almost kissing each other. I don't know if the brothers were wanting to show the public their incestuous relationship or if the photographer somehow persuaded them to do it but it has made them into two of the most successful male models on the planet and for that I applaud them.



4. Written for a child and about as thrilling as watching a Presidential debate on a hot summer day...

   Don't waste your money or time on this - not even for a die-hard Brewer fan!




5. The Brewer Twins, Keith & Derek, would, each on his own, be among the most beautiful youths on the planet: it would be difficult to find anyone to match such perfection. But here we see this beauty mirrored - and more than just doubled. These are not just two exquisitely-formed guys who happen to be brothers: they are twins, with the shared intimacy that goes along with that. The striking point about most of the photos in this book is that their physical beauty is complemented and emphasized by the beauty of their friendship and fraternal love for each other. One does not simply admire their beauty: one cannot help but delight also in the sheer joy of seeing such closeness between two guys. We catch a glimpse of something very precious here, something that warms the heart as well as appealing to the eyes. Male beauty does not come better than this: these guys are the stuff of which the Greek myths of Adonis & Narcissus, Achilles & Ganymede are made - only the Greeks never imagined there could be two such fair youths. Buy it: you'll enjoy hours of pleasure gazing upon the beautiful Brewers - I know I have.

3 comments about The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.

1. Exactly What It's title advertises - an alphabetical listings of players and personalities associated with the Negro Leagues of Baseball. Ranks with "Only the Ball Was White" and The works of John B.Holway as essntial to a study of the subject. Definitely recommended.



2. Editor James A. Riley is a renowned expert on the rich history of Negro League Baseball. His crowning achievement is honoring more than 4,000 players and those involved in management between the years of 1872-1950 in this comprehensive biographical encyclopedia.
   
   Included are biographies and statistics on each individual and team, a bibliography that lists the materials used in the research, along with a register of the interviews that Riley conducted.
   
   The Negro Leagues had a major economic and social impact in the black community, featured some of the greatest players & teams that the sport has ever had and was an integrated business on the diamond, inside the front offices and in the stands.
   
   I have always compared the play in the Negro Leagues v. the white MLB to that of the AFL v. NFL and ABA v. NBA; that it was on par or superior to the other major league. The encyclopedia is a celebration of the legacy left by those who not only challenged the institutionalized racial hatred of the times, but triumphed in ways that we can learn from and must never forget.



3. ...I question that love if you do not have this book. This is the most concise collection of biographies, stats, and information about every human involved with the development, management, and participation in every Negro League that ever existed. Even players whose first name was not known is listed with at least a few words about when they played and for whom. And the players with extensive history is detailed along with stats and other great side stories about them. There is even information on the teams in the Negro Leagues, which I found most interesting. I don't know of any other book that has as much information on the lesser-known players and behind-the-scenes people in the Negro Leagues than this one. If you are a Negro League fan, you probably already have this book. But if you are a baseball fan in general, you MUST have this book.

4 comments about Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of Everest.

1. Tashi Tenzing Sherpa is a grandson of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who was (with Edmund Hillary) the first person to summit Mount Everest. Tashi has also summitted Everest, and now works as a Himalayan expedition guide from his new home in Australia. A half-dozen other relatives, and quite a few friends, have also summitted mountain - - and, for the most part, successfully descended the mountain as well.
   
   This book is meant to tell the story of Everest from the Sherpas' eyes. It certainly succeeds at this. The appendix, which lists all Sherpa summits, provides documentation of these mountaineering successes that differs significantly from the stories of heroic foreigners on Everest that we outsiders tend to hear. From this perspective, it's not surprising that Tashi managed to score two A-list people to write forewards to his book, Sir Edmund Hillary and the Dalai Lama. Both of these men have been advocates of the Sherpas, and Tashi does right by them.
   
   Though successful in its documentation, its success is more mixed as a book. It succeeds most when, in the middle, it is the most personal. The book is less interesting when it tells stories that other people could, in principle, also have told.
   
   The book falls into three parts. In the first, Tashi tells the story of the Sherpa people in general, and provides capsule stories of some early Sherpa mountaineers. These stories seem as if they've been told elsewhere, and they don't really benefit from the fact that Tashi has personal knowledge of some of the players.
   
   The second part draws on family memories and Tashi's own experiences to tell the stories of Tenzing Norgay, his descendants, and Tashi himself on Mount Everest. This part moves well, and tells a compelling story.
   
   The third part returns to presenting capsule stories of particular Sherpas on Everest. Again, Tashi's personal ties disappear here, and many of them read like encyclopedia entries.
   
   The book includes a large number of black-and-white pictures, past and present, which are very interesting. On a final personal note, I finished reading this book at roughly the same time that Sir Edmund Hillary died, a fact that lent poignancy to the book when I learned of Hillary's death the next morning. For that reason, it lingers a bit more with me than it will probably linger with you. But if you're interested in Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpa people, you'll probably enjoy the book.



2. Tashi Tenzing has transcended the popular myth of a load carrying Sherpa, living day to day on the lower slopes of Everest. Instead he is well educated in western ways and fully aware of the politics and modern methods involved with mountaineering, soliciting clients and making a very good living. He has, however, (with the help of his ex Australian wife) managed to genuinely explore his ethnic heritage and trace the history and movements from Tibet to the Nepalese Solo Khumbu area to India's Darjeeling, of his famous grandfather, Tenzing Norguay, who successfully completed the very first climb of Everest with Ed Hilary in 1953. Not unnaturally perhaps, there emerges a hint of bitterness against the ways in which his grandfather's generation were treated by early western expeditions, most of which started out from Darjeeling and attempted the north face route from the Tibet side. These observations are to be expected because Tashi is looking at the past from the perspective of a more critical present. Notwithstanding the author's viewpoint, we learn a lot about the role of Sherpas and their great contributions to Himalayan climbing. This newer book adds to to the Tenzing family biographies and accounts by Tenzing Norgay himself and by Jamling Tenzing who is Tashi's uncle by another wife of the original Tenzing. Adding authenticity and respect for Tashi is the fact that in May 2007 he, himself, summited Everest (from the Tibet side) for the third time with a lady European client.



3. This is a very valuable reference book written by Tashi Tenzing, grandson of the legendary Tenzing Norgay. It provides detailed accounts of the lives of Sherpas and their contributions to Himalayan expeditions.
   
   The first chapter introduces us to the mountains and the people living in their shadows. The author traces the origins of the Sherpa people and how the summit of Everest came to be a prized trophy which sparked a race between European nations.
   
   The next few chapters deal with the history and politics of Everest expeditions, mentioning pioneering tigers of the snow like Ang Tshering. Only in the 4th chapter does Tenzing Norgay come into the limelight. The author goes into great depth and detail, revealing the rather human side of this idol.
   
   Chapter 6 gives us a brilliant historical account of Tenzing's successful summit of Mt Everest in 1953. The uniquely Sherpa point of view is refreshing. Like Tenzing's life after the climb, the book then runs into an anti-climax.
   
   However, the author picks up the momentum again, writing about his own quest for Everest. Tashi reached the summit in May 1997 and became the first third generation Sherpa to accomplish the task.
   
   The book finished off with writeups on other Tenzings and other outstanding Sherpas on Everest. I would recommend the book for readers who are interested in history and biographies. It's fair that the book is not just about Tenzing Norgay, but the sheer amount of details, including a lot of "family matters" not related to mountaineering may cause the reader looking for adventure stories to lose his focus. This is a good reference but not a page-turner.



4. This book written by a grandson of Tenzing Norgay, the most renown Sherpa, and his wife living in Sydney is very unique, as all other previously published books on Everest expeditions or anthropology of Sherpas were written by so-called "non-Sherpa" mountaineers born and grown-up outside of Himalaya region. This book tells us a fascinating "insider's" story about the development of sherpas' community with the discovery of the highest peak on the earth (Mt. Everest) in Hamalaya region, and a subsequent increasing rush by overseas mountain-climbers to this rather remote and isolated region of earth. The 1953 great success by the sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand in reaching the summit of Everest for the first time opened the "golden" age of Himalaya trekking, and changed dramatically the way of life in Sherpas' community, better or worse, depending on the given aspects. Among many inspiring episodes interwoven in this book, the life-long "multi-cultural" friendship of the Swiss climber Raymond Lambert and the NZ climber Sir Edmund Hillary with Tenzing Norgay and his family is most moving for myself, a Japanese amateur alpinist living overseas for more than three decades. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first ascent, we have recently translated this book into Japanese, and are planning to publish it for Japanese youth and olds in 2003. The German, French and Italian versions of this book are also scheduled to be published around May 29, 2003, comemmorating this historical event or moment. Depending on your own mother tongue, you are highly encouraged to read one of these five versions including the original English to share the excitement associated with scaling the world-highest peak with the sherpas in Himalaya region or those now working overseas in a variety of fields other than mountaineering.