Having been away for a few days in Washington, DC, I haven't had the opportunity to post reviews, but did get some quality reading in. This book was one of those completed and while I was slightly disappointed (mainly because I had high expectations), it still is a decent book. Here is my review of Kenny Albert's memoir.
Title/Author:
“A Mic for All Seasons” by Kenny Albert
Rating:
3 of 5 stars (okay)
Review:
If you have watched network telecasts of any sport, chances are you have heard the voice of Kenny Albert. He is the only sports broadcaster in the 21st century who has broadcast games from all four of the major North American leagues (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA), not to mention several other sports he has covered as well. He shares stories about his career and his family (including his famous father Marv Albert) in this memoir.
Kenny had what he called a privileged childhood since he was able to accompany his father to many of the events Marv called, especially Knicks games in Madison Square Garden (MSG). Kenny also enjoyed attending the games of the other primary tenant of MSG, the Rangers, and from there he became engrossed in hockey. While he is lauded for all the sports he covers, it is clear from the book that he likes hockey best, including playing on the club team at New York University.
As one might expect, Kenny Albert has great stories to share about the thousands of games he has broadcast and the many different journalists and athletes-turned-broadcasters with whom he has worked. These stories are overwhelmingly positive and rarely does Albert criticize anyone. While that can be seen as a good thing to keep friendships and relationships good, it just feels a little unrealistic as a reader as there had to be at least some arguments or bad results.
The other aspect of the book that was less than good for me was the sheer number of names that Kenny Albert mentioned throughout the book. Something else that is reasonable to expect given how long he has been in the business, but again, as a reader, it was hard to keep up with everyone. Especially when there was no organization to these stories – they just popped up when Kenny decided to write about them. Not necessarily a bad thing as this will happen a lot in conversation – it was just hard to follow in a book.
None of this overshadows the excellent work that Kenny Albert has done in his broadcast career, nor is this is meant to discourage anyone to pick up this book because it still is a good read for any current sports fan who is familiar with his work. I may try this in the audio version because it may come across better as a conversation (even if just one way) than it did while reading.
I wish to thank Triumph Books for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
Link: Amazon.com:
A Mic for All Seasons eBook : Albert, Kenny: Books
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