1 comments about Zina: My Life in Women's Tennis.

1. Zina Garrison will go down in history among the ranks of "favorite" athletes who had the heart, the talent, the physical tools and the skills to conquer her sport's pinnacle -- yet sadly, never did.
   
   An Olympic doubles gold medalist; a 1990 Wimbledon finalist; a two-time US Open semifinalist; the player who ended the great Chris Evert's career and the ONLY player to be a top 10 women's rankings mainstay in the modern tennis era for eight years who spent half that time WITHOUT an endorsement deal ... Zina's pro tennis career is marked with near misses, disappointments and victories indistinctive enough I'm scared the average tennis fan will forget her in 10 years.
   
   Lost between Althea Gibson's trailblazing, shocking Grand Slam championships of the late 1950s and the awe-inspiring, megawatt champion Williams Sisters of the new millennium stands Zina Garrison -- a crafty player from Houston, Texas who served and through experience suffered the pains of being one of the few top African American tennis players in a lily white sport.
   
   This book brings you Zina's childhood ... learning the game after following older brother Rodney to a local park and rising to become the best junior in Texas and eventually the Junior Wimbledon & Junior US Open women's singles champ (I think those titles are curses sometimes -- Chanda Rubin also won both titles in the 1990s and never made good in her pro career).
   
   In between her triumphs of making it to the World's top 10 with best friend and fellow Houstonian Lori McNeil, Garrison battled boughts of depression (stemming from both of her parents dying during her childhood -- her dad as she was but a babe and her mom during her teens years -- as well as her first husband's infidelities) and bulimia she later attributed to looking at images of her trim, white competitors and feeling "ugly" because, by today's more celebrated standard, she had a more full-figured, muscular, curvacious body like J. Lo and Serena Williams.
   
   If you're the kind of reader who likes interesting books with tons little known facts, you'll really enjoy "Zina: My Life In Women's Tennis."
   
   For every champion, there's an also-ran who was good enough to be that champ but for whatever reason never reached that summitt.
   
   Particularly for African Americans who understand our struggle in this country for equal rights, an equal playing field and for general social acceptance, this "one step forward, two-steps backs" idea is nothing knew.
   
   Hopefully, Zina Garrison does realize that her success and her late 1980s/1990s image on television had more to do with the budding childhood successes of a new generation led by the Williams Sisters who dared to dream of conquering tennis because they saw other positive role models before them that made that dream possible.
   
   You'll find no tales of drug abuse, sexcapades or alcohol addictions in this book. Zina, by comparison, led a pretty quiet and well-adjusted life both on and off the tennis court.
   
   Her story, like many, is a throwback to a different time in American sports history when top athletes conducted themselves with class, competed hard but still found time to value friendships among their competitors.
   
   Zina was that kind of champion.

No comments about Yogi Berra: An American Original.

No comments about Golf Now!.

5 comments about Chasing the Dream: My Lifelong Journey to the World Series.

1. Unlike most of you reviewing I grew up as a southern girl and fell in love with the New York Yankees in the late fifties.
   
   I too think Torre has been one of their best managers although there have been others. The book was too much about Torre himself and not enough about my team.
   
   A little too much ego involved but would have to have it to be a Yankee manager or probably even a player.
   
   I have, over the years, read much about my team, and would not rate this as one of the best nor the worst. Just hope we win this year.



2. Great guy, great story. Read this book and see how it came about that Joe Torre is one of the classiest things that has happened to Major League Baseball-



3. This is a good book about an exemplary player, manager and overall good person from the game of baseball. The book puts forth his philosophy of working hard to achieve your goals. I was impressed even more than I already was with Joe Torre after reading this. How he got to manage the Yankees and to successfully perform with quiet restraint and insightful reason once he made it that prestigious position makes for very fine and captivating reading.



4. As an avid Yankee fan, I was looking forward to reading this book, and I was not disappointed. With the help of Tom Verducci, the book was put together very well and kept me interested the entire time.
   
   Many people see Joe Torre as only a great manager, however, he was a very good ball player as well. As you read the book and learn about his experiences while growing up in the Major Leagues you learn why he does certain things as a manager, which I found to be possibly the most interesting part of the book. It was great the way he explained how he dealt with certain situations, based on his past experiences. It was interesting to see exactly how he thinks during a game and how he bounces ideas off the great Don Zimmer. The 96 Yanks were a special team, and he definitely helped them win with this managerial techniques and philosophies. This would only be the first championship for what would soon be a dynasty.
   
   The book covers his entire life, from childhood to the time he wrote the book. You see exactly how certain aspects of his childhood stayed with him and influenced his personal life for years. Torre is a great man, with a very interesting past, and this book will teach you a lot about the game and the way things are behind the scenes of the game. You will also notice how baseball goes through changes during his time in the game. If your a Yankee fan, this is a must read. If you aren't, you will still find it to be enjoyable if you are a fan of baseball.



5. While I am a Yankee hater I admire Joe Torre.
   I enjoyed the book and learned a lot more about a great person and manager

2 comments about The Story of the Development of NWATNA: A New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming.

1. Judging from the other reviews, I wasn't too sure what to expect from this book, and I must admit that I found myself pleasantly suprised. Most wrestling books like Flair's and Russo's, whilst they're interesting reads and worth reading in their own right, do come off as being kind of full of sh-t when it comes to certain people or aspects of their careers that they just bury outright for no real reason other than ego. Jerry Jarrett on the other hand comes across as very sincere, and doesn't so much bury folks as offer constructive criticism which is a nice change of pace. This book is a brutally honest portrayal of the wrestling business that is a must read for anyone interested in the backstage goings-on. More than that however, this is also a book about one man's views on life, religion and relationships that comes across very emotively (if such a word exists) and eloquently.
   If you're thinking "hhmmmm, should I buy it, I dont know if I can be bothered to read the same thing about how vince is evil and how mistreated this guy was" don't worry, this isn't ur usual fare in terms of wrestling biographies. Buy it and find out for urself, you won't regret it.
   (hey, if u do u can just send it back neway!)



2. I'm a long time wrestling fan, and an avid reader. Seeing that professional wrestling is a passion of mine, I try and read as many books on the business that I can. I had heard some interesting things about The Story of the Development of the NWATNA through the grapevine, so my interest was peaked when it finally arrived at my door.
   
   This book is written in journal form, since it is actually Jerry Jarrett's personal journal ... complete with typos and grammatical errors. It reminds me of the online "Live Journals" that are popular with alot of the independant wrestlers nowadays. This style makes the read different, it makes the reader feel as if they're taking the journey with Jerry. In that sense the book is unique, but that style gets old rather quickly.
   
   All in all this is an easy read, but it jumps around too much. One can't really blame Jerry Jarrett for that since he initially wrote this journal for his own personal pleasure, not for the entertainment of others. To further prove that, on many occasions throughout the book he mentions how the story he is currently ( at the time ) living would, "make a great book someday".
   
   You see the range of emotions from Jerry that any person that goes through stress deals with. If there is one thing that I can praise this book for, it is making the author seem "more human". You don't see Jerry Jarrett as a millionaire with a legendary mind for the world of professional wrestling, you see him as a father, a husband, a friend, and a businessman. I would venture to say that this is one of the most intimate wrestling books, mainly because it was not initially written for national distribution, and that in and of itself is an accomplisment and sets this book apart.
   
   The downsides to this book is the jumping from story to story. There are too many characters to truly follow and at times too much going on to comprehend. I'm sure this didn't come across as such when Jerry wrote the journal, since he lived it and didn't intend on wrestling fans reading it, but it comes across that way to the reader. The positive side however is that this is a unique and intimate journey with Jerry done in a style that has not been utilized in previous wrestling related books.
   
   This is a book for the passionate wrestling fan, that's about all that would enjoy it, and even some of them may find the rambunctious nature of the book a little less than appealing. All in all it's a middle of the road book for me. You enjoy it while you're reading it, but you're not horribly disappointed when you finish.

No comments about Greatest Sports Heroes of All Times: North America Edition (50 Plus One) (50 Plus One) (50 Plus One).

5 comments about Talking on Air: A Broadcaster's Life in Sports.

1. Mr. Coleman is considered one of the finest of baseball broadcasters, but his (and Mr. Valeni's) writing is rote - tell a lot of familiar yarns, and hope Red Sox fans will buy the book.



2. I AM FROM CLEVELAND AND I GREW UP WATCHING HIM COVER THE SPORTS ON CHANNEL 5 NEWS. HE ALSO HAD AN EXCELLENT SHOW CALLED QUARTERBACK CLUB COVERING EACH WEEKLY BROWNS GAME. HIS CAREER IS A GREAT ONE. I THINK HIS BOOK IS VERY INTERESTING, WELL TOLD, AND ENTERTAINING. HE HAS MADE MANY RELATIONSHIPS WITH A GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE SPORTS WORLD. I SALUTE KEN AND HIS GREAT CAREER.
   THIS IS AN EXCELLENT TELLING OF HIS CAREER AND THE EVENTS HE HAS BEEN A PART OF. A MUST READ FOR CLEVELAND AND BOSTON FANS.



3. Ken Coleman was the announcer for the Browns and the Indians. I enjoyed reading about Jim Brown of the Browns and other football players. I remember a lot of the ball players for the Indians. They were noted for having one of the best pitching staffs in baseball in the late 1940s and 1950s. Ken was also the announcer for the Red Sox.



4. Although Ken Coleman was primarily identified with the Boston Red Sox, you don't have to be a fan of the Bosox to enjoy this book. (I'm a Tigers' fan.) Ken was blessed to be a part of the Cleveland Indians, Coach Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns during the days of the great Jim Brown, Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, and two stints with the Boston Red Sox, including the Impossible Dream year of 1967 (The Year of the Yaz.) The most interesting story that I found was Ken's telling for the first time the story of the decline of Indians' pitcher, Herb Score. People attribute Score's decline to the 1957 line drive off the bat of Yankees' infielder, Gil McDougald. However, Coleman relates that Score had his ankle injured in a spring training pickup basketball game in 1958 and tried to come back too soon before his ankle had a chance to heal and ended up with a sore arm. Ken provides us with a good summation of his career and his subsequent retirement from play-by-play work. He wanted to continue on a year-by-year basis, but an excuse was given that an announcer was wanted who would insure of being there for four full years. We are all remembered by what we give to others, and Ken Coleman gave his listeners and others he came into contact with a lot to remember. The Lord doesn't permit us to know all the good we do for others, but, in time, He will reward us. Thank you, Ken, for sharing your career with us.



5. Talking On Air: A Broadcaster's Life In Sports is the biographical story of Ken Coleman, former Boston Red Sox broadcaster who worked in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1989, including ten years with the Cleveland Indians and four years announcing games for the Cincinnati Reds. In the twenty years he spend as the voice of the Boston Red Sox, Coleman became known to millions of New England baseball fans, making him an institution throughout the region, and eventually resulting in his election to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. Talking On Air is a "must" for baseball enthusiasts in general, and Boston Red Sox fans in particular!

4 comments about Knockout: The Sexy, Violent, Extraordinary Life of Vikki LaMotta.

1. Hyped to be something interesting and sort of exciting to read about, the jacket cover pretty much sums up the whole book. Not enough pictures, which was a disappointment, and although I found myself thinking that she was basically a nice woman, and very beautiful, and also not a liar, she just isn't that interesting. I wish it had had more photos, that would have been worth the so so writing. Ultimately, it was a more like a magazine story. I would not recommend it.



2. I remember Vikki LaMotta's Playboy layout so well...no one could believe a 51-year old could look so great! I really think that helped shape today's image of what "over 40" can really be. I was a kid when she was in the magazine and remember how lovely she was and how interesting her life was. I was so happy to find this book, although sad to hear she is now gone.
   
   This book is a real inspiration to be a survivor...no matter how beautiful you are, life can really throw some curveballs. It's entirely up to you how to work it to your advantage, as Vikki did beautifully. And with MUCH style, courage and most of all, HAPPINESS and JOY.
   
   I highly recommend this for a really enjoyable (auto)biography.



3. 
   
   Every sports fan middle-aged and up remembers Jake LaMotta, former middleweight boxing champion of the world.
   
   Every sports and movie fan middle-aged and up remembers Robert De Niro's star turn playing Jake LaMotta in the biopic Raging Bull.
   
   And, if you happen to be a sports, movie, and Playboy magazine fan, middle-aged and up, then you definitely remember a certain heart-racing pictorial from the November 1981 issue, featuring Jake's former wife, Vikki LaMotta, the aptly-named "Knockout!"
   
   Vikki LaMotta was probably the most breathtaking Playboy model ever. It wasn't just her perfect hair, face, and body that appealed to us young men of the time. It was the fact that she was 51 years old, but looked 25! "Move over, Mrs. Robinson," we said. "Move WAAAY over!" Oh! She was hot.
   
   Those of us who recovered sufficiently to actually read the short biography accompanying Vikki's pictorial were further impressed by her fortitude, considering her poverty-stricken childhood and the later, tempestuous relationship with Jake LaMotta. We were impressed because Vikki actually looked and felt better later in life than before.
   
   This was important. Young people can't help thinking, at certain crucial times, "What's going to happen to me? What will I look like? Will I be trapped, stuck doing this or that? I don't want to 40 and 50! Ugh! Who's going to want me? It's not fair to get old and fat and ugly and tired. Life's not fair."
   
   True, life isn't fair, but the very fact that someone like Vikki LaMotta existed and flourished as she did despite the odds, Vikki was proof positive that life can indeed get better as you get older...if you're willing to learn from experience and take charge of your life. Like all the greatest sex symbols, there was actually much more to her than looks.
   
   As I've indicated, it was a milestone article and pictorial; Vikki LaMotta became an icon to millions of young men. If we could find real-life girlfriends who looked/acted even remotely like Vikki, we'd be doing just fine!
   
   Of course, young men have a way of becoming middle-aged. So too do our heroes and inspirations get older, and ultimately pass on, as did, regrettably, Vikki, in 2005.
   
   As you might expect, Vikki's famous Playboy article really only scratched the surface of her life. Everyone knows Jake LaMotta's whole story, but it would be 25 years before we heard Vikki's whole story - and her encounters with such luminaries as Babe Ruth, Johnny Carson, and Frank Sinatra, to name but a few.
   
   While Vikki had actually finished writing her story back in 1987, it seems that, after much serious self-debate, she finally decided it should only be published after she passed on. And so it fell to the esteemed sports biographer and novelist Thomas Hauser (Muhammad Ali, Missing) working with Vikki's son from a second marriage, Harrison Foster, to prepare her manuscript.
   
   We'll never know how much of the resulting text is really Vikki and how much is tweaking by Hauser and Foster, but, ultimately, this doesn't matter. The finished work is immaculate - both text and pictures are laid out in a pleasing, organized fashion; not too little, not too much. Easy on the eyes, you might say.
   
   Hauser and Foster have done an excellent job in presenting Vikki's story as one of self-discovery, but not in some sickly-sweet cloying way. Even if you've seen Raging Bull, you can't predict many of the turns this story takes; you will not have read anything like it. You'll smile at the good parts, cringe at the scenes of abuse, and, most importantly, you will keep reading, even when Vikki's at her lowest points.
   
   Speaking of that, readers might well wonder, as I did, "Why did she stay in these abusive relationships?" Well, why does anybody? In Vikki's case it had something to do with women's roles in the 1940s and 50s. Vikki was both a devoted partner and a sexy showgirl, and it seems that Jake could not reconcile the two in his mind, hence the mammoth jealousy. Vikki's hesitancy to take charge any sooner than she did reflects more the gender roles of the time than a lack of courage. Once she made her mind up about this guy (and the ones that followed) she did not change it. As to how she did it, you'll have to read the book.
   
   Among the images beautifully evoked here: the sweat, smoke, and noise of the Bronx in the 40s as well as the overripe colors and whoopee-party life of Miami nightclubs and hotels in the 50s. Vikki's personal growth as the book goes on is completely enthralling: she's never quite sure what she's doing next, nevertheless, she always seems to strike a wise, admirable balance between caution and fun (despite the many shake-ups in her life) and her kids are always her first concern. This quiet strength extends successfully to her later years with her own cosmetics business and the legendary Playboy pictorial. In particular, Vikki's anxieties about the photo shoot itself are beautifully described ("I felt deformed", she says, incredibly, of her nude shots).
   
   By journey's end you may find yourself, as I did, almost moved to tears at the sheer courage and warmth of someone you have never met. From the time she was a little girl named Beverly Thailer, the conditions she often lived in would've turned most people into a sociopath. Not our Vikki. For her, it was, "No! I'm gonna go outside and have adventures. Maybe I'll hang out with those nice taxi drivers. I wanna do something." I believe Vikki's choice to look for another way, her choice to be inquisitive, actually saved her life, over and over again.
   
   It all makes me wish I'd seen Vikki in action, I wish I'd heard her voice. ...And yet, damn it, I HAVE met Vikki LaMotta, through this wonderful book (Movie producers, take note!).
   
   I loved it. You don't absolutely have to be a serious sports, movie, or even Playboy fan to get into this. Simply put, anyone who loves a unique, well-told story of survival should pick this up.
   
   Not liking this book and this extraordinary woman would be as wrong as not liking the sun.
   
   For all I know, Vikki LaMotta IS the sun.
   
   And, as anybody can tell you, there's a lot more to the sun than just being hot.



4. if you have seen the Classic Movie "Raging Bull" well then you get a strong idea about former Champion Jake LaMotta. well this Book pulls no Punches about Abuse, sex, Lifestyle,survival&everything else in between. Vikki LaMotta was a Hot looking Mama all through Her Life,but had to endure alot of Drama in Her day to day life. She came into contact with a Whose who of Powerful Cats out in Hollywood&what have you. this Book is very detailed&Honest. One of those Books where you will slowly read&just take in all you have read. a must Read.

5 comments about Wilt: Larger Than Life.

1. Robert Cherry takes anecdotes from famous and regular people whose lives' intertwined with Wilt Chamberlain, and mixes them in with his narrative summary of the legend's life and statistics to form a biography that entertains while never sensationalizing. Anyone interested in the NBA or college basketball is going to find this book to be a captivating read.
   
   Highly recommended, but be aware that the one thing the book lacks is a statistical record of Wilt's collegiate and NBA career.



2. Wilt Chamberlain once said "Nobody loves Goliath. I'm here to say that after reading "Wilt, Larger than Life" I refute that. The book gave an indepth look at not only Wilt the basketball icon, but Wilt the person. It explored relationships he established outside of basketball and how he maintained those frendships until his untimely death. After reading the book I also had more appreciation for Wilt the basketball player. I feel that not only was he one of the greatest players of all time, but he met and exceeded all of the expectations that were placed on him when he very well could and was in some cases viewed as a freak of nature.



3. At the risk of sounding redundant. This book was great and gives a lot of insight into a very fascinating individual. Personally I could have done with less information on what exactly happened in the quarters of key basketball games and more on the other things that Wilt did throughout his life. However this was still a good purchase, worthwhile read, and I am very greatful for the author to have taken the time and effort to write this book.



4. Great book. I loved every page except page 155. That Bob Kashey character can't be real. I know a Bob Kashey that hangs out at Chile's in Lake Mary, Florida and this can't be him although he keeps insisting it is. In any case, it is a great book, well worth the investment.



5. This is the third consecutive book I've read that is badly in need of some editing. Let's start with the front cover, which displays the following quote from sportswriter Dick Schaap: "The definitive biography . . ." Really? The book's copyright date is 2004 . . . Dick Schaap DIED in December of 2001.
   
   Regarding Chamberlain's athleticism and interest in track and field, the last sentence of page 61 reads, "He certainly had the requisite speed, stamina and strength to become an Olympian, maybe even a medalist". Fair enough. But then, the opening line to the next paragraph starts, "Because one can't speculate on what he might have accomplished in track and field . . ." Hello? Rewrite!!!
   
   Add to that the annoyingly endless use of parenthetical phrases to embellish sentences that need no embellishing, and this book can be hard to read. There are so many examples of this, that it's impossible to realize just how annoying it is without actually reading the book. Figure on a mininum of one per paragraph, and as many as three in one sentence.
   
   The saving grace of this book is the subject. Wilt Chamberlain was without question one of the most interesting and accomplished of America's 20th century athletes. For me, greatness in athletics is about winning, which is why I'll always choose Bill Russell and Jack Nicklaus as the greatest of the century. But for statistical accomplishment, only Wayne Gretzky and perhaps Jim Brown can compare to Wilt. And as physical specimens go, Jim Brown is probably the only team sport player whose speed, strength and endurance match up to Wilt's. The other measure, and the one that probably puts Wilt up on his highest pedestal, is the somewhat nebulous "impact on the game". Bobby Orr in hockey and Lawrence Taylor in football are the only other athletes I can think of who are even in the shadows of what Wilt did for basketball. This was truly a remarkable athlete and an interesting man off the field as well. Although I wouldn't give this book a strong recommendation to the casual sports fan, if you are looking for an in depth biography about a great basketball player and a pretty good overview of basketball in the 50's and 60's, this is not the worst place to wind up. But I'd look elsewhere first.

4 comments about Mastering the Art of Horsemanship: John Lyon's Spiritual Journey.

1. I thought this book was interesting, just because it is the only book that is written about the man and not the horse training principles he usually writes about. Also, if you pay close attention to the last chapter you can find plenty of "behind the scenes" information if you read between the lines. He certainly has had a rough life and been through a lot more than I thought. And although I thought he had trained horses all his life, that wasn't the case. Definately worth reading and the pictures are gorgeous.



2. I think this book was very insightful regarding a man famous for his work with horses. I sometimes got the feeling that the 'dirt' was being left out, but the book was entertaining and insightful nonetheless.



3. Not a particularly skillful accounting of John's journey. Not particularly insightful, either. I found myself wondering about what was left out of the book. More behind the scenes information would have given us more with which to connect to John.



4. John Lyons is an incredible horseman. If you've been to his symposium or watched his tapes, you will buy this book to learn more about him. If you don't know him, don't start with this book, because you need to see the man himself in action, see how gently and respectfully he treats horses, how quickly and calmly they learn from him, to know why this book would be interesting. His voice and manner are so reassuring that when I go out, I leave his symposium tapes that I bought on his website on for my dog. I wish his story could have been written by a truly masterful writer and become a best-seller. This book gets the facts across but could have been deeper and more complex, like the man.