2 comments about Scoring at Half-Time.

1. This book is not an autobiography but a great look back on the experiences of the late great George Best among others. It was a captivating hilarious read which makes me wish I could have seen him in one of his after hours shows. The book is a show in itself and shows a side of what football (Soccer in N. America) was and still should be really all about...the good times. Sadly George did this to excess and eventually paid the price but then what a life. The stories are not all about George Best but collections of various football lore. Well worth the purchase price.



2. Captivating reading from cover to cover brought back memories of the golden age of football in the 60's and 70's. Great look at the life of one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Fantastic insights into Bestie's life and the life of a professional footballer of the times. Also sheds some interesting and entertaining tidbits on some of the other football stars of the day.

5 comments about Winston Churchill (Penguin Lives).

1. Let's say you know absolutely nothing about Winston Churchill and in a few days you're about to meet the President of your company who happens to be a true blue card carrying Churchillian. How can you make an impression on this man?
   Well if I were that man, I wouldn't be reading Martin Gilbert's complete biography. Instead I would read John Keegan's Penguin version of Winston Churchill
   Keegan minces no words, he gets right to it from Winston at Harrow onto Sandhurst and his military career in India and Africa.
   Keegan goes right to the jugular in explaining the Conservative politics of Churchill onto his jumping the aisle to the other party and later his high office during World War I and after.
   He describes Winston's wilderness years and goes into detail of Churchill's leadership during World War II.
   All is described and gives the basic essence of this multi-talented man of the 20th Century.
   In keeping with the abbreviated Penguin format, I say in closing, good show. Five Stars!!



2. I've never been a big fan of Winston Churchill, but after reading esteemed historian John Keegan's succinct biography of the man, I must say that I like AND respect him just a little bit more. Keegan himself confesses that he never thought much of old Winston until he stumbled across an old recording of his speeches (in NYC of all places) and realized what a gifted and inspirational orator and leader he was. He led his beloved Britain through her darkest hours in modern history, to a victory that was anything but assured. The people seemed to genuinely love him, and his sentiment was seemingly mutual.
   
   His years as Prime Minister during WW2 are the most well known, but Churchill led an amazingly full life, and his life of public service began way back in the late 19th century. Keegan describes how the young Winston, who did poorly in school, but had an undeniable intelligence, educated himself in politics, history and the English Classics. He was a romantic who was in love with his small island nation, and he dedicated his life to it. He was a brave soldier who served in numerous wars, including WW1, and while it would be fair to say he was a little too fond of war, he was no different from the average English officer of the time in this regard. In my eyes, his major fault was his hypocrisy. It just seems hard to reconcile his staunch imperialism with his constant talk about the virtues of freedom and liberty, and how Britain was the main proponent of such things. I would have liked for Keegan to address this point a bit more, but for such a short biography, I can let it slide.
   
   I was intrigued to learn that Churchill and IRA founder Michael Collins were on friendly terms and greatly admired each other. In fact, Churchill apparently had a "gut sympathy for fighters" which is why he had more respect for the Irish and Boers of South Africa than he did for Ghandi and his passive movement in India.
   
   Anyways, the book is extremely well written and entertaining, and I found it to be an overall excellent introduction to the life of one of the most important figures of the 20th century. 4.5 stars.



3. In 1895 when his father died, the sickly and indifferent 21-year-old military cadet Winston Churchill was flat broke, the legacy of a father who was a compulsively extravagent wastrel.
   
   Lord Randolph had been syphilitic since early youth. His mother, American-born Jennie Jerome whose father was a stockbroker and part-owner of 'The New York Times', was always attracted to men other than her husband or her sons (Winston, born 1874, and John Spencer, born 1880). In modern terms, they were trailer trash; in Phoenix, Sheriff Joe would have set aside a bunk in his tent-city jail for Winston.
   
   But, instead of slums, Winston was born and brought up in Blenheim Palace, built 1704-22 and still one of the great estates of England. American ex-presidents get palatial libraries as their memorials; the British rewarded their leaders with mansions and great estates. Blenheim Palace was one of the finest, far better than the estates later awarded to Nelson and Wellington.
   
   Perhaps it was the milieu of Blenheim Palace, but Churchill matured into a man absolutely convinced of the majesty of the British virtues of patriotism, loyalty, courage and fair play. For him, being British meant manliness, courage, tenacity and ultimate moral decency. It resonated with the vigorous American spirit of Theodore Roosevelt and the beauty of the strenuous life.
   
   President George Bush is reported to keep a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office; perhaps as a reminder of the complete contrast to himself. Bush ducked the Vietnam War in the Texas Country Club Air Guard; Churchill eagerly sought war, even though he hated it.
   
   Like Ulysses S. Grant, Churchill was a gifted wordsmith instead of a stumblebum. He free-lanced as a journalist while serving as a British officer and was sometimes earning 20 times his military pay. He never stopped learning, he wanted facts, order, reason. His mother sent him crates of books while he was on duty, and he devoured them all.
   
   Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener described him as a "medal-hunter" and "self-advertiser" who was "super-precocious" and "insufferably bumptious." It was a good assessment. But, the public loved his books and even the Prince of Wales praised him. Whatever one thinks of Churchill, his career and successes are due to his own effort, intelligence, work and nerve.
   
   In brief, this is the story of a man who might well have ended up as a Soho souse, but instead became the greatest man of the past century. He did it through his own efforts, not because of Daddy's friends, money or ability to pull strings.
   
   This book defines the character of a great man.



4. Doubtless this biography is insufficient to really understand Churchill, but for those who are fairly ignorant of the man, it provides a useful quick sketch, and perhaps a jumping off point for further reading.



5. Let me make clear at the outset that I am no historian. Indeed, I wouldn't even qualify as an amateur historian. I am just your average 30-something fairly ignorant reader living a period of love for more or less recent history. Given this premise, I found this little book quite perfect for what I was looking for.
   
   This is a short, entertaining, and VERY well written biography of one of the greatest men in the 20th century. Because of the serious limits of my knowledge on the subject, I certainly cannot judge on the accuracy of the reports. However, to the best of my knowledge, the author is considered a reputable WWII historian. Indeed I liked this book so much that I also purchased his history of WWII. You can read this book in a day, and it will entertain you like a good novel, while also informing you as few novels would do.
   
   I would not pay too much attention to those reviewers that complain about this book not delving into Churchill's shortcomings as a man or as a politician. This is a very small book, about 190 small-format pages. You can hardly expect a comprehensive treatise from such a book. Also, I suspect that emphasizing Churchill's shortcomings would be like emphasizing Hitler's moments of tenderness with his lovers or with some German children during the Nazi regime. I mean, they surely happened, but it's not what you want to spend pages on, if you have only limited space to devote to the topic, isn't it? Besides, even if the Churchill that emerges from this book is certainly a truly great man, he does not emerge as a perfect great man. To me that was enough, and I am glad I read this book.
   
   I am grateful to the author, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a short, beautifully written biography of this man, to whom I certainly owe something...

5 comments about The Player: Christy Mathewson, Baseball, and the American Century.

1. As a baseball fanatic, why wouldn't I read about one of the greatest pitchers of all time? I think the book would have been a lot better if Big Matty wasn't such a boring guy.I was hoping for some sort of foul play, foul language but there was nothing. A lot of " boy, that Mathewson sure was a heck of a guy" and "I wish we were all like Christy" If you want to read a boring book with little to no excitement, pick this one up. However, if you want excitement and emotion, head towards Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Satchel Paige or Hal Chase.



2. I agree with just about all the positive and negative critisms I've read here about this book. It's definitely worth reading...but just don't expect too much.



3. When I was given this book, the gift-bearer informed me that it was the perfect gift for me, "... a book about baseball AND U.S. history.". Being the grateful recipient of said gift I of course bit my tongue, didn't respond, "How do you separate the two?", and accepted the gift in the spirit it was given. Now, after reading it, I realize how smart my niece is. The book is indeed about both, and without wandering too far from its subject, (Christy, in case there is some confusion), is a very enagaging read. Similar books about this time period in baseball tend to get repetitive and somewhat choppy to read by piecing together newspaper reports and box scores. This author alleviates that problem by also tracking events in the U.S., (and the world as 1914 approaches), while Christy pitches his way through his baseball career. This is recommended for baseball novices, hard core fans and anyone in between as it's a nicely written book.



4. "The Player" provided a trip back in time to what it was like playing ball around the turn of the century through the times of the first World War.
   
   To understand what Mathewson meant to the game itself is truly amazing. Not only being a phonomenal pitcher with exceptional control, he realized that he was a role model for others, not only the young kids that idolized him, but the everyday american worker. To know what he gave of himself to others off the ball field, his charity work, volunteering for WWI at the age of 37, gives us a better insight to the individual.
   
   The book also tells of his attempts to clean up the game, before the Black Sox scandal. He knew it was going on, tried to warn others, but no one would listen.
   
   A great read if you want to get a much clearer insight into one of the greatest ball players of all time. One that is unfortunatelly forgotten by too many in today's game.



5. This book is a decent read but it is less a biography of Mathewson than it is a commentary on the times and events that he lived through. I had hoped to learn about who Christy Mathewson was and what made him so great and instead I felt like I read an overview of the major events in baseball and history during the late 1800's to the mid 1900's.

3 comments about The Earl Campbell Story: A Football Great's Battle with Panic Disorder.

1. I turned 40 six months ago and suffered my first panic attack shortly aftewards. I was rushed to the hospital, thinking it was a heart attack. I was lucky. The ER doc diagnosed it correctly as a panic attack.
   
   I went to my family physician the next day and he gave me a thorough exam, then recommended a psychiatrist to help me with my panic attacks. He also recommended I read The Earl Campbell Story. I had no idea who Earl Campbell was, since I am not a sports fan but I read the book. Mr. Campbell, your book really helped me. I found the front of the book very helpful, because it described who you were and how great a football player you were. Then when the panic attacks started, I thought I was reading about my own experience.
   
   I think it took a tremendous amount of courage for you to step forward and write this book. It really helped me and I can't thank you enough.



2. I thought the book gave good detail on Panic Disorder and how it can affect anybody. The first couple of chapters went on to long about how he grew up and gave no information on his disorder until later in the book. I believe the book should have began when he started to develope Panic Disorder.



3. Be forewarned that panic does not come into this book until page 83 (of 208). Also be forewarned that it's written at maybe a sixth-grade reading level. (Neither of these is necessarily a bad thing.)

   It's a simplistic and lengthy testimonial. There are some reconstructed dialogues that feel artificial, some of the chronology is hard to follow, and people appear out of nowhere or disappear after being identified in detail.

   The first 82 pages are mainly football, with lots of numbers and stats. There's an entire chapter on his sausage business that reads like a promotional pamphlet: "All of our meals are precooked and specially sealed with a newly developed technology to keep them fresh. Customers only have to pop them into a microwave oven for three minutes before serving. These meals have become big sellers for us because they are convenient and taste great" etc. (p. 153). And not only that, but "Today I feel as confident about my ability to make a great-tasting meat product as I used to feel about my ability to run with the football. I think both are God-given talents" (p. 153). There's nothing to tie this to the supposed theme of the book.

   We get glimpses of Campbell's "pride" (anger at a doctor's suggestion that he try Prozac, sudden disgust with one who asks him to ingest caffeine as an experiment, lashing out at doctors who, attempting to arrive at a diagnosis, inquire whether he uses drugs), glimpses of his warm feelings, and mere hints at "fear of failure" and an "emotional man". Just when he starts to tell us something interesting, he quits and moves on.

   You get the feeling this guy wants to talk about it but he doesn't want to talk about it.

   This is also hinted at by some contradictions. In one chapter he can't attend banquets because crowds bother him, but a few pages later he says "My panic disorder has no effect on my ability to function in the business world" (p. 149). If these are both true, some discussion would help.

   Many panic sufferers would like to wave this book around as evidence that panic does not equate with general wimpiness. It's just disappointing that more substance isn't given here.

3 comments about John Elway: The Drive of a Champion.

1. Considering the wealth of information present in their archives, I would have expected more from the folks at SI for their retrospective of John Elway. All in all, SI writers have been fair and appreciative of John's playing over the years and this book goes even farther, leaving out the worst memories and amping up the best. It's out of print now but can usually be found on Ebay fairly easily.



2. This book is not to be missed for John Elway fans. It reprints a total of 18 Sports Illustrated articles covering the career of John Elway, ranging from 1981 (when he was still a junior at Stanford) to 1998 (his first Super Bowl victory in SB XXXII). Photos that appeared in the original articles are also reprinted with each story. Left out are what might be termed the "negative" articles (i.e., none of Elway's first 3 Super Bowls are covered), while several of Elway's more amazing regular season and playoff victories are reviewed, leaving the reader with an overwhelmingly positive impression. In this book, you can read about how heralded an athlete Elway was all the way back in college, and how his acclaim followed him through his career in the NFL. One critique I would give this book is that, for space, all the articles have been edited, and so each chapter includes several annoying ellipses (...) that let you know you're not reading everything that was originally printed. However, the bulk of the stories are included. If you are interested in reading an objective (i.e., non Denver beat writer) account of what type of QB John Elway was and how he helped the Broncos (and the Stanford Cardinals), this book is not to be missed!



3. This book covers the Elway career from College all the way to the big game in January where he finally got his much deserved Lombardi. It has several excerts and SI Photos from the past. A true collector's item

No comments about James Stewart: Motocross Great (Edge Books).

1 comments about Tales from the Drag Strip with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits.

1. This book is just like sitting down and having a conversation with drag racing's greatest driver. I have been a fan of Don Garlits all my life. This book contained details I did not know about familiar Garlits stories. Definitely worth the money and time. I will be re-reading this book, something I never do.

5 comments about The Tao of Bruce Lee: A Martial Arts Memoir.

1. I apologize for being this directly self-promotional. I recently learned that TAO OF BRUCE LEE was judged one of the ten best sports books the year that it was published. The following is the mini-review that was published in BOOKLIST at that time.
   
   All best, Davis Miller
   
   "Miller, Davis. The Tao of Bruce Lee: A Martial Arts Memoir
   
   Miller combines a biography of Bruce Lee with his own coming-of-age story as a "karate kid" in the early 1970s. Whether describing how a viewing of Lee's Enter the Dragon changed his life or dispelling many of the myths behind the Lee legend, Miller manages to turn the story of two lives into a fascinating study of the nature of the hero in popular culture.
   
   BILL OTT, Editor"



2. The subtitle, A Martial Arts Memoir, describes what this book is really about. It's not a biography about Bruce Lee - though various "facts" and "myths" about him are detailed or debunked. Rather, it's a tale of how Bruce Lee's movies, athleticism, martial arts prowess, focus and determination, philosophy, and larger-than-life persona awoke the dormant soul of a ninety pound weakling. The Tao of Bruce Lee details Davis Miller's transformation from sad, loner, directionless, teenage failure into an accomplished martial artist, writer and, most importantly, vibrant, purposeful human being. The misery of Miller's life before seeing Bruce Lee explode on the screen in Enter the Dragon is, in places, gut-wrenching. But the sadness and despair are replaced by optimism and an the urge to yell, "`atta-boy!" as the young Miller slowly wriggles out of his cocoon. Miller's is a story of possibilities; if he can discover himself, find meaning and contentment in life, anyone can. Beside the quasi-spiritual autobiographical stuff, Miller touches on Bruce Lee's martial arts skills and reputation, his meteoric rise to superstardom, particularly in Asia, the facts surrounding his death and his enduring worldwide impact. There is a lot about Muhammad Ali and comparisons and contrasts between these two very talented men (and what they gave to the world.) Miller brings up Ali so much, one may wonder why he didn't simply write one book, The Tao of Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee. This book is better on reflection than when actually reading it. I like it more now - and would rate it higher - than I did when I turned the last page this morning. It has a good aftertaste.



3. The subtitle, A Martial Arts Memoir, describes what this book is really about. It's not a biography about Bruce Lee - though various "facts" and "myths" about him are detailed or debunked. Rather, it's a tale of how Bruce Lee's movies, athleticism, martial arts prowess, focus and determination, philosophy, and larger-than-life persona awoke the dormant soul of a ninety pound weakling. The Tao of Bruce Lee details Davis Miller's transformation from sad, loner, directionless, teenage failure into an accomplished martial artist, writer and, most importantly, vibrant, purposeful human being.
   
   The misery of Miller's life before seeing Bruce Lee explode on the screen in Enter the Dragon is, in places, gut-wrenching. But the sadness and despair are replaced by optimism and an the urge to yell, "`atta-boy!" as the young Miller slowly wriggles out of his cocoon. Miller's is a story of possibilities; if he can discover himself, find meaning and contentment in life, anyone can.
   
   Beside the quasi-spiritual autobiographical stuff, Miller touches on Bruce Lee's martial arts skills and reputation, his meteoric rise to superstardom, particularly in Asia, the facts surrounding his death and his enduring worldwide impact. There is a lot about Muhammad Ali and comparisons and contrasts between these two very talented men (and what they gave to the world.) Miller brings up Ali so much, one may wonder why he didn't simply write one book, The Tao of Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee.
   
   This book is better on reflection than when actually reading it. I like it more now - and would rate it higher - than I did when I turned the last page this morning. It has a good aftertaste.



4. When I first read the Tao of Bruce Lee, I was expecting another biography of Lee (and being a die-hard fan of Lee, that would have been perfectly fine), but this book turned out to be a lot more than that.
   
   The first half of the book deals with the life of Davis Miller himself - growing up as a scrawny, ninety pound kid in North Carolina - and the profound impact Lee had on his life. Inspired by Lee, Miller finds the motivation to try and better his meaningless life by practicing hard to become the greatest Martial Artist alive (or as he puts it: "lightning on limbs"). I am sure the discipline and dedication he learnt while practicing Martial Arts helped him later in his life as a writer.
   
   The second half of the book focuses more on Lee, and tries to remove the "thick mist of money making" that has obscured the true story of Bruce Lee by presenting a very honest and well researched account of Lee's life. Overall, an extremely well written and readable book.



5. "I desperately need something to read", I suddenly recalled when I was heading for my favourite coffeshop. So, I popped in and started to look for something, and this book sort of beamed at me. I got it under the impression that it was a biography about Bruce Lee, but it turns out that it is more a book about Davis Miller's relation to Bruce Lee and how Lee has influenced him. It is very easy reading and a quite nice book, and at page 97 and onwards a small biography about Bruce Lee (or Li Jun Fan, which was his real name) appears. Apparently it is hard to find any books with true facts, Davis Miller claims that this one shall be rather close to truth, and you will learn that Bruce Lee wasn't the lonely martial arts master that one thinks. If you like martial arts in general, and more specifically Bruce Lee, get this book, you will finish it within a couple of days and it is fun reading.

5 comments about The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle.

1. I was surprised to see 13 others had reviewed this book, apparently without tongue in cheek. Ellison's ghost-written autobiography (the cover credits "with Larry Platt", but the acknowledgments thanks Stacey Pascarella) qualifies for, no, defines the term "Waste of paper."
   
   ...Unless you recognize the name Lou Albano and remember the tent-sized Hawaiian shirts and the rubber-band grooming aids dangling from the thin ,straggly goatee. Those were heady days early in the new age of Rock and Wrestling, and Moolah was a great part of the stage show (before the steroids and stars got too big). Oh, it still is a waste of paper even then, but it's a mildly fun and nostalgic waste of paper.
   
   This isn't a real autobiography, it's WWE entertainment (If you loved this, you'll love our other books in the series about Chyna, The Rock, and other great WWE stars pumped on the ad page in the back!), part of the output of a tightly-controlled and scripted entertainment enterprise. There really is a lady wrestler stage-named The Fabulous Moolah, and she really did live, thrive, and survive through the early days of professional wrestling when crowds, venues, and paydays were small, few, and far between.
   
   Unfortunately, not much of that true history comes through here. That story would be bittersweet and powerful, this is just, well, WWE entertainment. Lillian, someday before its too late, tell us the real stories.
   
   But still . . . .
   
   Moolah's goin' down!
   Piper's Pit
   Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
   
   Yep, even the Renaissance is nostalgia now. So this was worth every penny of the 50 cents I paid for it at a used book sale.



2. Lillian Ellison (aka "The Fabulous Moolah") made it in spite of a motherless upbringing amidst twelve brothers and a dazed father. She deserves all the credit in the world, not only for succeeding, but for championing a segment of the wrestling business not generally accepted when she entered it. Women's wrestling has always smacked of "carny", as does its male pantomime counterpart. This Lady made it (sans drugs, cocaine, pot or steroids!) with dignity, self-confidence, and very little to eat in her early mat years. That she last won her title back at the age of 76 is nothing short of astounding. A lot of people can't even walk at that age. Her life - and how she lived it - make for great reading, but I'm sure even greater living. Now that it's over and completed, and the final chapter has been written, we can truly realize that Lillian Ellison - The Fabulous Moolah - was, indeed, FABULOUS, in every sense of the word.



3. The Fabulous Moolah will go down as the greatest Woman's wrestling champion of all time. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it is TRUE. Moolah is an example of someone coming along at the right place and the right time and meeting the right people. The place, New York; the time, early 80s; the people, the McMahons. The McMahon family used a few loopholes and slightly rewrote history and claimed Moolah was Woman's champion for "several decades". Moolah was THE GIRL when the WWF was expanding in the early 80s, and became the postergirl from Woman's wrestling when it was taken national, even though her best years were behind her.
   
   This book..... okay, I admit it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a great story. But as with many WWE-produced books, I'm not sure where truth begins and lies begin. It's flat out Moolah's perspective, and she dances around some of the issues that might diminish her status if people actually knew. I continually got the impression that Lillian couldn't see much further outside of "Moolah's World" and had a poor sense of the reality around her.
   
   It seemed like every single page of this book resulted in me changing my opion of Lillian Ellison -- from good to bad, to good, back to bad, and so on. In all fairness she HAS done a lot for woman's wrestling, but she also did a lot of horrible things like screwing her roster of girl wrestlers out of unfair booking fees. I think this is a scar on what could have been a legendary career.
   
   Rating: I give it a generous 5 out of 10. I enjoyed this book, but I wouldn't recommend that anybody MUST READ it. If you want a better look at the early days of Woman's professional wrestling then I recommend picking up Penny Banner's book..



4. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT THE LIFE AND WRESTLING CAREER OF LILLIAN ELLISON AKA(FABULOUS MOOLAH). IT IS INTERESTING AND ENTERTAINING IN MOST PARTS. SHE SPENDS ALOT OF TIME TELLING US HOW GREAT THE MCMAHON FAMILY IS (WHY NOT, THEY ARE HER EMPLOYER)BUT NOT ENOUGH TIME ABOUT BEHIND THE SCENES. SHE ALSO MAKES US BELIEVE THAT SHE GAVE EVERYONE WHO WRESTLED HER THE BEATING OF THEIR LIFE. I THINK ALOT OF THIS BOOK HAS BEEN EXAGGERATED BY MOOLAH. BUT YET I LIKED IT. NOTHING GREAT BUT STILL AN OK READ.



5. The Fabulous Moolah tells her life story, but fails to tell the whole story. Perhaps it is her great respect for the history of wrestling or perhaps because it is a book written under the supervision of the WWE, she fails to really delve into the stories of her life.
   Her childhood and formative years are covered with enough info to paint the picture, but without too much detail. She covers her personal life pretty well (at least the high and low points), usually with quite a bit of humor and openness.
   Her wrestling career is covered from a wrestling storyline perspective. Historically speaking, it is fascinating to read the names and places. Unfortunately, it would have been more entertaining to reveal some of the behind the scenes stuff, or even any of it! The book is written as if the battles are really fought, the titles really won and the action totally unscripted. With just a little dose of reality, this book could have been a big winner from one of the greatest in the sport!

No comments about Andrew Sockalexis.