Review of “Mulligans”

Needing just a good quick sports read (any sport), I found it in this collection of (mostly) golf essays by a well-known golf writer. Here is my review of “Mulligans”.

Title/Author: “Mulligans” by Curt Sampson 

Rating:  4 of 5 stars (very good) 

Review:  While every sport has excellent stories about accomplishments by participants, not every sport can have great individual stories that tie so well to the play on the field. Golf is one of those sports that can, and this collection of essays by noted golf writer Curt Sampson does just that - gives the sport some great personal stories.

Like any other collection of literary items, be they novels, short stories or poems, some will be great, some not so great and some in the middle. I found most of these stories to be quite good. One interesting note about then is that if the story is about a golfer who had a famous moment or tourney and Sampson writes about it, he describes the golfer’s mind and actions just before the famous moment. Two examples are my two favorite stories in the book. 

One is on Tiger Woods in his historic victory at the 2019 Masters. The story ends when he’s about to start his Sunday round, which just added to the wonder of how he was able to accomplish that win. The other story that follows this script is on Jan van de Velde’s famous 1999 finish at the Open. Many know about his famous meltdown on the 72nd hole, but Sampson writes a great essay on va de Velde’s first 17 holes on that Sunday, ending it when he’s about tees up on 18. 

This is a quick, entertaining and informative read about a variety ofvgolfers across many years. Recommended for any level of golf fan. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Mulligans-Timeless-archive-best-selling-Masters/dp/B0FKPTBX3Q/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

Review of “On Her G

It’s been awhile since I last posted a review here, but that’s because I have read books on other subjects the past week and a half - shocking, I know. So, to get back on track, I listened to an audiobook written and narrated by Christine Brennan, a sportswriter I have followed and admired for a long time. More of her good work is on display here in this book on Caitlin Clark. 

Title/Author: “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports” written and narrated by Christine Brennan

Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent) 

Review: Basketball had never seen such interest and conversation (both good and bad) in one player like the attention given to Caitlin Clark from the 2023 NCAA Women’s Final to the end of the 2024 WNBA season. This book by accomplished sportswriter Christine Brennan is an excellent account of Clark’s accomplishments on the court and all of the attention her play and presence received off the court.

Brennan also narrates the audio version of the book, which really enhances some of the content. This is most evident when she twice mentions controversial topics about Clark in which she (Brennan) wrote about in her column. One was the decision by USA Basketball to leave Clark off the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, a decision that shocked many. Another involved Brennan interviewing DiJonai Carrington, then of the Connecticut Sun (now a member of the Minnesota Lynx) about an unintentional poke in the eye on Clark. Why that’s notable is that Carrington, her Sun teammates and later the players union called for the banishment of Brennan due to the insensitivity of her questioning.

These two issues are just a very small sample of what Brennan writes about on the “bad” publicity around the attention given to Clark. But there is so much more good about the young star from Iowa that Clark fans - which Brennan frequently reminds are many - should love to read about. Whether it’s her play on the court, her poise when answering questions at press conferences, or the attention she receives from opposing players on the court or elsewhere, the book does a great job of making the reader understand Clark better. It also begs the question, which Brennan does ask at least indirectly, of why Clark is not better supported by the league. She was quickly embraced by her teammates - the stories of Clark’s interactions with Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston are great. 

This is just a small sample of the type of information on Caitlin Clark that any women’s basketball fan will want to absorb. Whether they are long time fans of the women’s game like I am or they are brand new to the sport and became a fan due to Clark, this book is for them. 

Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Her-Game-Caitlin-Revolution-Womens/dp/1668090198/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EKogTfL8Y9ZHfljcb_rQ0-31jynunpS9O1eIcFQMAuZJf_CnLStv4hUtTHPXS2AUcIBWPes9i0WfGLve_AJySYsUIk6BxQMD8orWrpCBwuc9RAhIEd_dXcbroGfFw3lETvJj-Y0R2g7IJ_F8svlRgxksR5WYPxfjO0viaGD8qxWPvTlRJwW_VqHnNQTVgtxTXN55twMvx5gRJeA-tmyikqnS4yIeXVkCwKOYz0AWF4U.0cowJANWEE-KigTD9OQ01kS2zneOZ7iqyShBQyZ9ctY&qid=1761605830&sr=8-1 

Review of "Game Changer"

Normally, the books I read about the business side of sports are about labor disputes.  This one instead focuses on on the work of a team's general manager.  It's a very good description of the job. 

Title/Author:

“Game Changer” by Bob Whitsett

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good) 

Review:

If someone followed professional sports in the Pacific Northwest during the 1990’s, chances are good that he or she has heard of Bob Whitsett. He was the general manager for the two NBA teams in that region at the time, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Portland Trail Blazers.  Plus, for a short time, he was also the GM of the Seattle Seahawks.  All of this work made him one of the more prominent front office personnel at the time and he writes about this work in this memoir.

The most interesting story of the book, in my opinion, was the work he did to keep the Seahawks in Seattle.  For those who were not aware or did not follow football at that time, the team threatened to move to Anaheim unless Seattle built the team a new stadium. Whitsett worked hard to secure the votes to get the stadium, negotiated contracts (his arrangement to sign two players in the midst of the campaign for the new stadium was very good) and still ran the Trail Blazers at that time. It shows just how much multitasking that he was doing.

Multitasking is a good word to describe what Whitsett writes about, as he was constantly at work – or so it seemed.  Whether it was contract negotiations, putting out fires, public relations, working with players or a multitude of other tasks, Whitsett was on top of his work.  It goes with his upbringing, and he started out in the business by doing anything needed.  As he called it, he started as a “gopher” with the Indiana Pacers and worked his way up, becoming one of the youngest GM’s in the NBA when he got the job with the SuperSonics.

One of the big topics he has in the book is negotiations. On this topic, I do believe that this topic had the best stories and also included a nice checklist for anyone who has to do negotiating in their job. While each skill he describes is explained by how he handled contract negotiations with players and their agents, they had great tips for everyone else as well.  Also, he had a great story about his first draft choice signing, Clark Kellogg.  Kellogg was a first round draft choice by the Pacers, but at the time, the team didn’t have enough revenue to pay Kellogg the going rate for a first round draft choice. As Whitsett could only amount one maximum amount and let Kellogg and his agent know this, he nonetheless signed the player. How he pulled it off is an excellent tale on how one can still accomplish their negotiating goals. An excellent book by an excellent sports executive

I wish to thank Flashpoint Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: Amazon.com: Game Changer: An Insider's Story of the Sonics’ Resurgence, the Trail Blazers’ Turnaround, and the Deal that Saved the Seahawks: 9781959411260: Whitsitt, Bob: Books

Review of "Rocket Men"

It seems hard to believe now, but for a long time, there were no Black quarterbacks in professional football.  This book by John Eisenberg is a very good read on the history of this injustice. 

Title/Author:

“Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football” by John Eisenberg

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Professional football has become quarterback centric as people at that position, while always important, now more than ever will be important to their team’s fortunes.  There are several Black quarterbacks now leading successful NFL teams and compiling gawdy statistics.  They include Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray.  However, it hasn’t always been this way.  For a long time, due to the racism of NFL owners, talent scouts and the league in general, Black players were denied the opportunity to play at the position.  Accomplished football author John Eisenberg gives a very good historical account of this travesty and how it has improved, albeit slowly.

Eisenberg makes the case throughout the book that there were many Black players who were denied the chance to play the position professionally and tells in detail what went behind the decisions to have other (read: white) players man that position.  At times, it feels like Eisenberg is taking a sledgehammer to convince the reader that this was wrong and that it was only due to prejudicial thinking by white coaches, scouts or owners that was the reason for this. That is an exaggeration on the part of this reviewer, and surely Eisenberg did not mean to communicate the issue as such, but so many points and facts are repeated that it felt that way – such as frequent references that Doug Williams is the only Black quarterback to have led a team to a Super Bowl victory.

Putting that aside, otherwise the book is a fantastic look at the position and the Black men who either have succeeded at quarterback, were denied a chance, or were given the chance but would lose the job due to something like a bad game, a bad outcome on a play or an injured quarterback would be coming back.  There are some of the stories that are well known.  An example of this would be Warren Moon.  He was shunned in the 1978 NFL draft, mainly because it was felt that he lacked the “smarts” to play quarterback.  So, Moon went to the Canadian Football League (CFL) and led the Edmonton Eskimos to one of the greatest dynasties in that league as they won five Grey Cups (Canada’s version of the Super Bowl) before the NFL saw the errors of their ways and Moon signed with the Houston Oilers.  From there, he passed for over 50,000 yards in the NFL and became the first Black quarterback to be enshrined in the pro football Hall of Fame.

An example of a lesser-known story would be that of Marlin Briscoe.  Fans of the NFL in the 1960’s and 1970’s may remember Briscoe as a member of the Miami Dolphins when they won two Super Bowls – but as a defensive back.  He was originally a quarterback, but after some ineffective games, he was asked to switch positions.  This was a fate that was common to Black quarterbacks who may have succeeded in college, but after being drafted, their professional team felt they would help the team more in a position that required more “athleticism.”  There are so many examples of this that at times it’s almost depressing to read about them, but they are important to know so that a reader understands the history behind the exclusion of Black quarterbacks.

There is much more to this history than a review like this can explain, but hopefully readers will come away feeling educated about the history of the position and understand that while there has been great progress in the use and acceptance of Black players at quarterback, the NFL can still do better.

I wish to thank Basic Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football: Eisenberg, John: 9781541600409: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "Winning Fixes Everything"

Just when I thought I couldn't learn anything new about the 2017 Houston Astros and the cheating scandal, along comes this book on my suggested reads.  So I try it, and like Mikey in the Life commercials, I liked it!  Here's my review. 

Title/Author:

“Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess” by Evan Drellich

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Anyone with even a passing or casual knowledge of recent baseball history knows about the scandal involving the 2017 Houston Astros. Using television monitors and banging on trash cans, Houston batters were able to know what type of pitch was coming to them and used that advantage on their way to the championship.  However, there is much more about this scandal both before and after that World Series.  Evan Drellich, the reporter who first broke the story of the cheating by the Astros, has written an excellent book on the entire background of the club.

There isn’t a lot about the actual cheating by the Astros during the games in the book.  Instead, Drellich helps the reader understand why the Astros got to that point by examining the culture in both the locker room and the front office. It really started when owner Jim Crane hired Jeff Luhnow away from the St. Louis Cardinals as the general manager.  Luhnow also brought with him Sig Mejdal and together they built an extensive analytics department.  That was considered cutting edge at the time, despite the poor on-field record by the Astros.

Cutting also describes the economic principles of Luhnow as he brought in consultants from his former employer McKinsey.  The team operated on a shoestring budget but grew in analytics to the point of tanking 3 seasons to eventually win a championship.  It all worked, but as Drellich shows, it came at a huge cost.

What really struck me in this book was not so much the on-field records, play or even cheating by the Astros.  The entire culture around the team, while some of it was well-known, still was quite a shock to me while reading this. The most egregious of these was the treatment of women by Crane, Luhnow and assistant GM Brandon Taubman, who went so far to glorify the Astros signing a pitcher who had been charged with domestic violence.  Taubman did this in front of three female reporters, including one who wrote critical articles about the team signing that player. 

Drellich’s reporting and writing about this aspect of the team, as well as the fallout in future seasons for the Astros even as they continued to be a dominant force in the American League, is excellent.  He leaves nothing uncovered – even the controversy surrounding the penalties given to the Astros by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and the reasons why he acted as he did are well covered and explained.  This book is an excellent one on top of other good books on this team that have already been published.  What set this one above the others for me is the in-depth description of the entire culture inside the team, which was certainly NOT pretty.

Link: Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess: Drellich, Evan: 9780063049048: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "The American Game"

It took me longer than expected to finish this book on lacrosse, a sport in which I have become more interest the last few years and one in which it is hard to find books.  Therefore, my first review in October took longer, but I was glad I finished this book - here is my review of "The American Game." 

Title/Author:

“The American Game: History and Hope in the Country of Lacrosse” by S.L. Price

Rating: 

3 ½ of 5 stars (good)

Review:

The title of this book by S.L. Price, a long-time Sports Illustrated writer, is very appropriate for a book on the sport of lacrosse. While it is very well-known that Native Americans played the earliest known versions of the game, not much is known about their struggle to field their own team as a nation. That is just one of the topics Price covers about the sport in the book.

The Haudenosaunee (formerly Iroquois before taking back their original name) tried to enter Isreal for the 2018 world championships using their own passports instead of becoming part of the teams from the United States or Canada.  This caused several issues, but they eventually competed in the tournament.  The difficulties they faced is just one of several issues with the game that Price describes.

Other topics that are highlighted that trouble the sport is the lack of diversity, the lack of women in the sport, at least before Title IX was passed (it should be noted that Price does a really nice writeup of the recent state of women’s college lacrosse, including the fact that it is growing faster than the men’s game) and the “laxbro” attitude of the players who are mostly white, upper to upper middle class, and have a history of substance abuse. While it was very appropriate to include these topics, they were more of the focus of the book instead of the sport itself and for me, that was a disappointment. 

However, when Price did write about the game, whether the growth of the women’s game, the “medicine games” played by the indigenous players in its earliest days and is still done by them today or just recapping how some schools such as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore (men) or Northwestern University near Chicago (women) became powerhouses in the sport. While not at the level that a person who knows nothing about lacrosse would understand, Price’s text on actual game play and the positions are very good as well. 

My thoughts on this book, as one can probably tell, are very mixed. On the one hand, it has great information on the sport at various times in its history, albeit a little uneven as Price switches from one topic to another and back often.  Also as noted, the book did seem to concentrate on the hard issues of the sport instead of the beauty of the game.  Nonetheless, it is worth checking out if one wants to learn more about the sport of lacrosse.  

I wish to thank Atlantic Monthly Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: The American Game: History and Hope in the Country of Lacrosse - Kindle edition by Price, S. L.. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Review of “The Good Son”

To finish my reading and listening of books in September, I went back to one of my favorite authors, Mark Kriegel. He writes excellent sports biographies and this on on Ray Mancini did not disappoint. Here is a review of “The Good Son.”

Title/Author: “The Good Son: The Life of Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini by Mark Kriegel, narrated by Holt McAllany

Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: Boxing in the 1980’s saw a rise in the popularity of lighter weights and one of those popular boxers was Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. His life both in and out of the ring is told well in this book by Mark Kriegel, an accomplished sports biographer.

Mancini came from a boxing family. His father Lenny, also nicknamed “Boom Boom” was a promising fighter until he was injured serving in WWII and was not the same. Ray always wanted to please his father, and the ties between them as well as those Ray had with his mother and siblings are captured well by Kriegel.

Of course, there is plenty of text about Ray inside the ring and in training. While he did earn the lightweight title, sadly he is most remembered for a fight in which his opponent, DunKu Kim from South Korea, died in a hospital several hours after Mancini knocked him out in the 14th round. That affected him deeply in both his professional and personal life. That is told superbly both in Kriegel's writing and McAllany’s narration. What gives it an even better touch is that Kim’s family is included in the book - what they did in the wake of his death is both sad and inspiring.

This also affected the Mancini family hard as well. Like his father’s career after returning from the war, Ray’s career wasn’t the same as it was after the Kim fight. It was clear that he didn’t have the same desire in both training and the bouts. While he put up a great effort to regain his title, he knew it was time to retire. The book tells about this and his subsequent failed marriage. Through it all, the book has even-mannered, informative and engrossing stories that will keep the reader engaged, where using the print or audio version. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Son-Life-Boom-Mancini/dp/0743286359/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0