3 comments about Paterno: By the Book.

1. "By the Book" chronicles the life of Joe Paterno. It begins with a description of his childhood and prep school years in Brooklyn, takes us through his football career at Brown University, and how he became the head coach at Penn State. The book is rich with descriptions of Penn State players and seasons up through the 1988 season. But, this book is much more than a football story. It's a view into Joe Pa's heart and soul. It is a portrayal of his values, his motivations, his vision and dreams. These, not just for his football team, but for his family, his university, and his profession. Much more than a fun read for Penn State fans, it is a valuable resource for aspiring coaches and players searching to find the essence of their relationship to their sport.



2. Published before the 1989 season, Paterno: By the Book provides a great deal of insight into the mind of one of the greatest college football coaches ever. The book is more memorable for Paterno's musings on life, recruiting, winning, losing and growing up with a strong mother rather than for his specific thoughts on the numerous games he has coached. Assuming the book is in fact an accurate portrayal of Paterno, it is clear that he will never voluntarily step down from Penn State, no matter how bad things get. He is determined and driven to succeed. He will not quit and he will not go quietly. From many of his remarks in the book about Penn State, it is clear he feels the same way a number of his supporters do, Penn State owes Joe loyalty for his many years of service. A solid sports book about sports...and life.



3. This book is a must read for football fans, coaches, players, and for anyone interested in how to succeed in sports competition. Although it is his life story, one can garner many pearls of wisdom about how to succeed, how to compete in an honest and sincere way, and the values that must be instilled in any sports players, young and old. You can find out why a man would turn down a 1 million job to coach at Penn State for 100K. Or why Joe Paterno rolls up his pants for games. Most of all, you can find the nuances and ideals behind the most successful college football coach, and the most successful college football program, in history.

5 comments about Baseball's Forgotten Heroes.

1. Baseball is a game rich in history and stories abound about those who have played the game. Author Tony Salin has provided us with stories of players who are known to true fans such as Chuck Connors, Billy Jurges, Frenchy Bordagaray, and Larry Jansen. A number of stories of very obscure players who have interesting tales to tell as well is also in the book. I especially enjoyed the pronounciation of names in the back of the book. I had hoped to see the name Chris Van Cuyk listed, but, alas, that one will continue to mystify me. The book is a quick read and is worth your time.



2. Are you tired of reading the same stories about the same baseball players? Pick up this great little book for a different look at the game. Instead of rehashing old stories the author delves into the careers of some little known but colorful characters. The interviews, though somewhat rough around the edges, allow the author to give you the conversational type of history, as if you were sitting across the kitchen table from these baseball nomads. It's the kind of book you find yourself saying, "I could have written this book". But hey, the author followed through on his idea, and I look forward to seeing more of the same type material from him.



3. This is a book written by someone with a lot of love for the game of baseball. It will mostly benefit others with the same love: Salin has found sufficiently obscure figures that I had only heard of half of them. Where feasible, he lets them tell their own stories, thus preserving their style of speech and bringing them to life (very important as most are very elderly or since deceased).

   Salin must be a persuasive fellow and is certainly a persistent one; he wangled an interview with the very reclusive Pete Gray, who played major league baseball with only one arm (true story). He has gathered a collection of amusing and interesting stories that tell a lot about the times in which his subjects played.

   And as if all that weren't enough, there's a great bonus at the end: a pronunciation guide to baseball people's names. How is someone like myself, born in the early 1960s, supposed to know how to pronounce a lot of the names of the past? What a superb inclusion, and the list is both long and phonetically clear. I couldn't believe my good fortune when I got to that part, having thought that the book was over, and was so pleasantly surprised. It was like a performer coming out for a superb encore.

   Well worth the money and time for enthusiasts of baseball history. I'm going to keep my eye on this author, and I hope we get more.




4. This book, like Andrew Torrez's critically acclaimed _Off Base_, appears to be part of a growing trend among baseball authors to encourage their readers to think "outside the box." Salin's ideas, like Torrez's, are provocative and entertaining.



5. Tony Salin's collection of stories in "Baseball's Forgotten Heroes" is a reminder that baseball's charm is created by more than the superstars that the media cling to when trying to get the average fan's attention. As much as I enjoy reading about Williams or DiMaggio, Baseball's Forgotten Heroes is a fresh approach that I hope will set a standard for future volumes. Throughout history, baseball has presented many men with fascinating stories that have been otherwise overlooked. Fortunately, there is at least one author with the desire and perseverance to publish some of these unsung-heroes' stories. The style of this book would appeal to anyone regardless of his or her degree of passion for baseball or knowledge of the sport, but it is a "must-have" for any baseball enthusiast's library. I hope Salin is able to produce many sequels to this wonderful model of baseball literature. HOF!

2 comments about Behind the Mask.

1. I have read this book a few times and am so glad that he was able to write it. This type of treatment needs to be shown to the world. How much longer will it be before people are accepted for their abilities without regard to their sexual orientation?



2. Dave Pallone did something in baseball that, to my knowledge, no one else has ever done: he came out of the closet. Pallone wasn't a player, but rather an umpire. It cost him his job. Reading this book you will find that you are angered and uplifted. Pallone did not deserve the treatment he received from baseball. Pallone's treatment will be the reason that any others in baseball who are gay, remain in the closet. After all, we can't have anyone who is in team athletics acting in a non-acceptable manner... Funny isn't it that drugs, illegitimate children, murders, assaults, etc. are all acceptable behavior by professional sports, but homosexuality isn't.

   This book will provide you with an insight into something that is rarely spoken about. It isn't great literature, but then it isn't supposed to be. It is a biography of a person during a specific time. I recommend this book.

5 comments about Trailblazing: The True Story of America's First Openly Gay Track Coach.

1. This book should be required reading in all high school classes. It is
   a testament to the courage of the writer and his team of athletes.
   Their acceptance of a coach who had the courage to come out to his team and the community is inspiring and these young athletes show they are far more mature and understanding than the school administration.
   
   
   This is an well written, absorbing story which I found hard to put down.
   I have purchased about 10 copies to give to young people that I know.



2. I currently have a class with Gumby (Soc of Sport @ UCI), and reading this book was one of the requirements. However, it wasn't just another class textbook--in addition to being educational, it was extremely inspiring. I have not been exposed to many gays or lesbians (maybe a few lesbians and bisexuals here and there, but I was never close to them), in fact, I have been exposed to more conservative, anti-homosexual, and heterosexist views for most of my life, so many of the things Gumby brought up in his book were new to me. For instance, I never really thought about how hard it must be not just for a person to come "out of the closet" but how it would affect his close ones. Though I'm not close to Gumby, I learned a little more about how and why he thinks certain ways, mainly due to his treatment and experiences before and after "coming out". In addition to learning about issues on homosexuality, heterosexism, and how hegemonic masculinity can be, I learned more about how these issues are dealt with in the school administrative and sports arena through Gumby's experience. If you are interested in these sociological issues, or just want inspirational/motivational support in coming out as a homosexual, then READ THIS BOOK! It has definitely changed my view on homosexuality forever.



3. I am no fan of athletics or stories about same, but I found Eric Anderson's book an engaging memoir. He keeps the whining down to a minimum and provides instead a truly inspirational piece about an individual who would just not give up on attaining his goals, no matter what obstacles were strewn in his way. Sometimes I found myself skeptical at how easily and immediately accepting his friends, family, colleagues and students were of his homosexuality, but I am inclined to give Anderson the benefit of the doubt. He strikes me as an honest man. His life could certainly serve as some sort of model for young folks of all and any persuasions or predilections: perseverence is the key to success; hard work is unavoidable.

   I would liked more about Eric's personal life, but perhaps that would have thrown the book out of focus, because TRAILBLAZING is as much about the talented young runners as it is their hard-headed, hard-working young coach. And if we are lucky, Anderson might even be penning a sequel that gives us further details about his life and loves. Let's hope.




4. I am usually loathe to read biographies of individuals under the age of 40. As Benvenuto Cellini once wrote:

   "All men. . . who have done anything of excellence, or which may properly resemble excellence, ought, if they are persons of truth and honesty, to describe their life with their own hand; but they ought not to attempt so fine an enterprise till they have passed the age of forty."

   Coach Eric "Gumby" Anderson, however, is an exception to this admonition against youthful indulgence. While he glosses over the more personal aspects of his life, like coming out to a gay-friendly mother, his professional struggle to coach track at the high school level is more than worthy of book-length treatment.

   Coach Gumby lives in less than an accommodating part of California (Orange County), though it is still probably more "socially progressive" than most other areas of the nation. He demonstrates that a steadfast commitment to pursue one's life calling -- the unyielding exercise of individual volition -- can overcome those orthodox cultural hurdles rooted in misinformation, fear, and the anti-social desire to exert power over other persons.

   All persons - gay or straight - who yearn for a civic community where individuals are judged according to their unique merits and talents, as opposed to their "identity," shall find a superlative instructor in Coach Gumby. There is still much work to be done, and his story shows that genuine progress comes from courageous acts of individual initiative and persistence.

   The human quest for freedom against the incursion of others' belligerence pertains to all, regardless of sexual orientation. I know that I am a much richer person for having read "Trailblazing," and I strongly encourage all parties to learn from, and empathize with, Coach Gumby's successes and failures (many of which were the product of others' shortcomings).




5. Eric Anderson's book gives us a powerful and up-close look at sports in society and the importance of teamwork. Combining a rigorous account of the fast-paced high school distance races he coached to victory with a compelling and shocking journey, Anderson clearly illustrates homophobia is still very much present in our culture and that sport, when abused, reinforces and perpetuates discrimination and male dominance. His powerful journey urges us to form new perspectives on sport, the system that creates and manages it, and the ludicrous racist, sexist and homophobic beliefs which plague our society today. This book is truly a gem--a must read for every high school and college student and for anyone interested in sports, sociology or humanity.

1 comments about Michael Schumacher: The Greatest of All.

1. Delves on how Schumacher stacks up against the best drivers
   of all time. Contains some interesting anecdotes about
   Schumacher finishing a race in the top 10 with the car stuck
   in 5th gear! Could have added more anecdotes though. Interesting read nonetheless, finished it in one sitting.

5 comments about If This Is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy.: The Tommy Leonard Story.

1. Genre: Non Fiction/Biography
   Title: If This is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy.
   The Tommy Leonard Story
   AUTHOR: Kathleen Cleary
   
   Tommy Leonard was and still is an outstanding character, well know by many. He began life in a poor family. His parents finally had to send he and his sister to Shurtleff Mission, a home with the sole purpose helping children of destitute families while teaching the gospel. Tommy was determined to leave the mission, but each time he ran away, he was caught, returned and punished. He was finally freed of his mission experience and lived with several different families during his youth. As he grew into his teens and young adulthood, he became known for drinking and partying and having a way with the girls but Tommy was also a runner. He loved to run and after a stint in the Marine Corp, he continued running in marathons, becoming known for his promotion of health and fitness. He founded the Falmouth Road Race.
   Kathleen Cleary has captured the personality and warmth of this man. He is truly loved by so many. Even those who have never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, can sit back and chuckle at many of the events of Tommy's life, or share in the heartfelt love that Tommy has for his fellow man. The reader will also find a selection of pictures dating back to his life in the mission and forward to 2004 where he is seen with Edie Doyle in front of the Boston Red Sox World Series trophy. So many years with so much to tell, and Kathleen Cleary has been able to share these years, giving us a view of an extraordinary man.
   
   
   
   Reviewer: Elaine Fuhr, Allbooks Reviews



2. I am not an avid runner. Nor have I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leonard. Readers may not know the people or recognize the local names in this book, but the Kathleen Cleary's message is unmistakably universal: Tommy Leonard touched the lives of many and made his and our world a better place. Read this book and learn how and why he did it. The title alone is worth the price of admission into Leonard's remarkable life.
   Mike Considine, Lenox, MA



3. This book is a true delight from start to finish. In this day and age where we hear so many stories of people doing bad things, it is so uplifting to read about a man who is such a good person through and through. Kathleen Cleary has captured the spirit of Tommy Leonard for everyone. I highly recommend this book and I promise it will bring tears to your eyes, a smile to your face and probably quite a few belly laughs. Enjoy!



4. Joe Concannon, Boston Globe sportswriter and chronicler of the Boston Marathon, tabbed Tommy "The Guru" as every runner of note made their way to the Eliot Lounge, from all corners of the planet so that they could counsel with the great one: Thomas Francis Leonard!
   
   Read this book and find out why, or read this book and feel all warm & fuzzy like. The man has had quite a life.
   
   The quotable Tommy:
   
   ". . . Tommy Leonard, the running guru at the Eliot Lounge talking in a TV interview about the particular appeal of the Boston Marathon: "It's better than sex."
   
   Tommy got some strange looks from folk's after that one.
   
   A great book to enjoy over the Holidays!



5. This book is very interesting and well-written and is not just for running fans. The life of Tommy Leonard serves as an example of how enthusiasm and a positive attitude can prevail over almost any difficulty life may throw at you. If you want to read an uplifting book, this is the one!

4 comments about Lone Star J.R.: The Autobiography of Racing Legend Johnny Rutherford.

1. Overall, I liked this book. The story of JR's early racing days and his travels with Jim McElreath as they followed the IMCA circuit was good reading. In addition, the details of his 1966 Eldora crash and recovery as well as his experience driving the Smokey Yunick NASCAR Chevy in 1963 was very interesting. I would have liked more technical detail on what happened to his race cars to cause poor finishes at Indy in 1973, 1982, etc.



2. If you are a fan of Johnny Rutherford and racing in general, this is the book for you. The book gives insight from inside the racing world. It is a highly detailed account of Johnny's personal life and his racing career. I found his personal struggle to become a big time driver very interesting, as he started at a relatively late age for his era. It was also interesting for me to read his explanation of the many changes in racing and what was expected of a driver from his first race until his retirement. The candid comments and numerous photographs, make the reader fell like he has had a personal converstaion with J.R. himself. I believe almost anyone will enjoy this book.



3. If you are a fan of Johnny Rutherford and racing in general, this is the book for you. The book gives insight from inside the racing world. It is a highly detailed account of Johnny's personal life and his racing career. I found his personal struggle to become a big time driver very interesting, as he started at a relatively late age for his era. It was also interesting for me to read his explanation of the many changes in racing and what was expected of a driver from his first race until his retirement. The candid comments and numerous photographs, make the reader fell like he has had a personal converstaion with J.R. himself. I believe almost anyone will enjoy this book.



4. If you are a fan of Johnny Rutherford and racing in general, this is the book for you. The book gives insight from inside the racing world. It is a highly detailed account of Johnny's personal life and his racing career. I found his personal struggle to become a big time driver very interesting, as he started at a relatively late age for his era. It was also interesting to me to read his explanation of the many changes in racing and what was expected of a driver from his first race until his retirement. The candid comments and numerous photographs, make you fell like you've had a personal converstaion with J.R. himself. I believe almost anyone will enjoy this book.

No comments about Pele: Memorias De Mejor Futbolista De Todos Los Tiempos (Biografias y Memorias).

5 comments about Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at a Thirty-Year Slump.

1. I agree 100% with everything Roger Launius said - curses are not curses, unless you have inept managers and even more inept front offices - the Indians had players just as good as anyone else, and their pitching in the late Sixties was among the best in the game - what killed the Indians' chances were inept front office people like Frank Lane and Gabe Paul, people who were far more interested in promoting themselves and bettering themselves than their teams - people like Gabe Paul were just happy to have a team to run.
   
   The corresponding curses of the Red Sox and the Cubs were/are also due to inept management and inept front offices - people who jockey for position to appear in the news or for control of the team, like what happened with the Red Sox with the LeRoux-Sullivan(?) rift - people who were more concerned with their own egos than the good of the team - maybe the Cubs need to quit promoting venerable Wrigley Field, etc. and get more serious about fielding a winning team.
   
   I read this book many years ago - I'm hoping that Pluto wrote this book as an exercise in folly.



2. The Cleveland Indians are as much a hard luck team as the storied Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Cubs; they just don't get as much media attention. They were one of the best teams in the American League during the latter 1940s and 1950s, winning a World Series in 1948 and a pennant in 1954, but the last pennant race that they really participated in was in 1959. That is, until the 1990s when the team took several division titles and two pennants, 1995 and 1997, but lost in the World Series.

   Author Terry Pluto contends that the demise of the Indians on the field can be traced to the April 1960 trade of slugger Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. It wasn't a particularly good trade; Colavito was a ball-crushing slugger and a fan favorite but Kuenn was a batting champion who specialized in flares to the gap. For more than thirty years thereafter the Indians were pretty awful. The team did poorly on the field, which prompted fans to stay away from the games, which put the team into the red, which prompted the team's ownership to sell or trade its best players and to forego investment in its farm system, which led to even poorer performance on the field, and the continuation of a downward spiral.

   There are an enormous number of bumbling incidents in the history of this baseball team, all detailed in excruciating detail by Pluto. Take the example of Rick Manning's contract. Before the beginning of the 1978 season the team sent him a contract offer 25 percent less than he was paid in 1977, despite the restriction in the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement against cutting a player's salary more than 20 percent. It was a mistake, pure and simple, but emblematic of the team's slipshod management. Rather than allow him to become a free agent, the Indians resigned Manning to a five year, $2.5 million contract instead of $75,000 for a one year contract. It was stupid. So was letting Jim Bibby get away in 1978 by failing to pay him a $10,000 merit bonus he had earned during the 1977 season for making 30 starts. This incident became legendary and some of the players even wrote a little ditty about it:
   "Pack up all my gear and dough
   Here I go
   Ho, ho, ho
   Bye, bye, Bibby.
   No one here understands me,
   Look at the late check they tried to hand me...
   Bye, bye, Bibby" (p. 196).

   Then there was the June 1974 ten-cent beer night in which drunken fans rioted, went after members of both teams playing that night, and forced a forfeit. That was a disaster, but at least no one was seriously injured. What a screwy attempt at a promotion! What did the team's leadership think would happen? It ranks as one of the all time worst episodes in the history of Major League Baseball. Then there was the team's one foray into the free agent market. The Indians signed Wayne Garland to a ten year, $2.3 million contract in 1977 and Garland injured his arm in his first spring raining game. He never recovered. Then there were ridiculous trades: notably a 1965 trade to reacquire Rocky Colavito, but they had to give up both Tommie Agee (who went on to star with the New York Mets during their championship season in 1969) and Tommy John (who won 286 games after departing Cleveland).

   The real curse of the Indians has nothing to do with Rocky Colavito. It has everything to do with incompetent management. Terry Pluto indicts Gabe Paul for most of the mismanagement. He served as general manager and/or owner of the Indians for more than 20 of the 30+ years that the Indians were horrendous. His supporting casts of buffoons includes general managers Frank Lane-known to all by his nickname of Trader because he loved to make deals to move players and almost all of them were Indian losses-and Phil Seghi. Perhaps the epitome of ineptitude was when the dignitary scheduled to throw out the first pitch at an Indians game couldn't make it and was replaced by Bozo the clown. The irony is striking.

   Terry Pluto ends his book with a review of movement of the Indians from doormats to dominators of the American League. That really began when Dave and Dick Jacobs bought the team and infused it both with new leadership, who knew what they were doing, and the cash necessary to succeed.

   "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" is an interesting and informative book. It does not seek any universal truths, but it does entertain and offer some insight. For Indians fans it will be painful, but perhaps cathartic.




3. Terry sums up perfectly what it's like to be a sports fan in Northeast Ohio since 1955. The talent we've had is incredible, the results even more incredible in that not much good has ever come of it. It will bring back tons of bittersweet memories.



4. Failure on the baseball field may not be enjoyable for a team's fans. But it can often produce some funny, poignant literature. Terry Pluto's "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" is a great example of the genre. Pluto is well-qualified to offer this tale of the Tribe from the mid-50s to the mid-90s. He grew up as a fan, then covered the team as a professional sportswriter. (Cliff Johnson once told him, "I've been ripped by better writers than you.") Anyone who watched as Herb Score was injured, Rocky Colavito was traded, and the team settle into a long era of mediocrity, will no doubt find a special resonance in these pages. Who can forget the immortal Jack Kralick, Joe Azcue or Chico Salmon? Or in more recent times, Super Joe Charboneau? Pluto has a wonderful gift for finding the humor or pathos in the story of the Tribe in this era. It's a worthwhile read for anyone who enjoys good baseball yarns.--William C. Hall



5. Terry Pluto wrote two of my favorite sports books, "Loose Balls" and "Our Tribe", this one makes three. Reading this will be great entertainment for the casual or die-hard Indians fan. Those who don't fit those two classifications will probably enjoy it also.

5 comments about Jeff Gordon: Racing Back to the Front--My Memoir.

1. This book tells about his life from a very young child all the way through Nascar championships. Very fast reading and not a lot of depth and detail, but wrote well. I did find it interesting and I am not a fan. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book.



2. If you are a Jeff Gordon fan, this book is a must. Provides great insight.



3. Anybody that loves Jeff Gordon and to watch him race this book you have to read. Being a huge Jeff Gordon fan I enjoyed reading this the minute it arrived. Awesome Read!!!



4. As a huge Jeff Gordon fan I couldn't wait to get my hands on his book and it did not disappoint. It makes an easy and entertaining read and I found I couldn't put it down. Even if you've followed Jeff like I have for years, the book offers a little more of his personal insight to different situations and what he was really feeling. Not what the media wanted us to think. He touches upon all types of different issues thru-out different stages of his racing career. For any racing fan would enjoy this book, for the Jeff Gordon fan this is a must read !



5. Very strong book following Jeff's lap by lap experience of key races in his past. For those of us that know Jeff's professional achievements, the book was fell short in getting to better know him. The book summarizes key personal turning points in his life. Understandably so, he is a guarded person off the track and the book follows that philosophy.