Review of "The Ageless Warrior"

Having heard many stories about Archie Moore from my grandfather, I was interested to learn more about this boxer who holds the record for most career knockouts.  This book was a very good source in order to do so.  So, for my last review before taking a break for a few days, here is the review of "The Ageless Warrior."

Title/Author:

“The Ageless Warrior: The Life of Boxing Legend Archie Moore” by Mike Fitzgerald, narrated by Gary Telles

 

Tags:

Boxing, biography, history, audio book

 

Publish date:

March 1, 2004

 

Length:

275 pages

 

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Archie Moore is a name that many boxing fans may recognize as he is considered to be one of the best boxers in the history of the sport.  He held the light heavyweight title, fought at a time when weekly bouts for a fighter were not uncommon and holds the record for the most knockouts in a career.  Between opponents and fighters he helped train, the time range that covers Moore’s career ran several decades.  His career is captured in this book by Mike Fitzgerald.

The writing about Archie’s career is very good as readers who know about the man but not many details (such as this reviewer) will learn a lot about just how good a boxer Moore was.  The book gets a little bogged down with the details, but this is balanced with many entertaining anecdotes about Moore and some of his quirks.  One of these that is mentioned several times is about his diet.  Dubbed the “Aborigine Diet” by Moore, he supposedly learned this diet when he was fighting in Australia.  He would chew meat, swallow the juices, but then spit out the meat.  This would allow the eater to gain all the benefits of the meat without forcing the body to digest the meat.  Whether or not this was effective, it was often used by Moore as making weight was a constant challenge for him.

 

The book also discusses other parts of Moore’s life, such as his five marriages, his frequent travels and his dedication to improving the lives of children, something that was his calling once his boxing career was over. This part of Moore is not described in as great of detail as his fighting was, but it is sufficient for the reader to get the full picture of what kind of man Archie was.

This is one example of the many stories that will keep the reader engaged with this book.  The narration of the audiobook was also noteworthy in that Telles never seemed to get too excited during action passages, nor too emotional during down times.  That was important to the overall enjoyment of this book as the book as a whole was very much pro-Moore and there were very few negative aspects about him mentioned, whether the discussion was his personal or professional life.  While that itself may not be bad, at times that can feel like simply a long promotional publication for the particular fighter.  Fortunately, this was not the case here and readers who wish to learn more about Archie Moore will find this book will contain a lot of good information. 

Book Format Read:

Audiobook

 

Review of "Running With Raven"

Have you ever picked up a book that ended up being so captivating that you didn't put it down until you finished?  That was the case for me with this book as the story of this man who has run eight miles on the sandy beach every single day for over 40 years was fascinating.  The title includes the word "amazing" - probably the best one-word description of this book.  Here is my review of "Running with Raven."

Title/Author:

“Running with Raven: The Amazing Story of One Man, His Passion and the Community He Inspired” by Laura Lee Huttenbach

Tags:

Running, biography, inspiration, streak

Publish date:

April 25, 2017

Length:

256 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

It can be difficult to make a resolution to do anything every day as unforeseen circumstances may force one to miss a day. Now imagine trying to do an eight-mile run on the beach every day – for 40 years!  Believe it or not, that has been accomplished by Robert “Raven” Kraft, a resident of Miami Beach. That accomplishment and his story is captured in this outstanding book by Laura Lee Huttenbach.

The streak, while a wonderful accomplishment, is only part of the story. Raven’s personality and perseverance has grown into a running community that is like no other. Thousands of people have made the run alongside Raven over the decades and they share a common bond of not only running, but also being honored with a nickname given by Raven. Raven not only remembers nicknames, but also personal details of nearly every single running in this community. It has grown to have its own set of awards and an annual dinner since 1996.  Raven’s steak also has been the subject of numerous news segments and an ESPN segment on the weekly show “Outside the Lines.

Huttenbach, who has many runs with Raven and the nickname “White Lightning” writes the book from an intimate view that most would not be able to see. Because of her membership in the community, she is able to share details about Raven’s life that many other authors could not obtain about their subjects.  Such as the self-described hoarding that Raven does, the pain he felt for many years over the estrangement of his father and his belief that a country music song he wrote was plagiarized.  By deciding to channel these emotions into an eight-mile run along the sandy beach, he not only changed his own life, but the lives of many others as well.

The reader will enjoy the many stories about Raven’s runs and some of the other members of this running family.  Whether it was running through Hurricane Gilbert with “Springman”, running when Hurricane Andrew was arriving, or going on runs with others who have been there many times like “Taxman”, “Copy Man” and “Sailor” or even some who have only done it once, there isn’t a word wasted as the reader will be enthralled and want to know even more about the legendary runner.  It may even inspire one to start his or her own running streak or just try to make a difference. It is a book that should be read by anyone who wants an uplifting and inspiring story.

I wish to thank Kensington Publishing Corporation for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

Paperback

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Running-Raven-Amazing-Community-Inspired/dp/0806538422/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485482956&sr=1-1&keywords=running+with+raven

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/running-with-raven-laura-lee-huttenbach/1124230254?ean=9780806538426

Review of "Before Jackie Robinson"

This is a book that was a treat to read because it contained so much information about athletes that were unknown to me. Any book about any sport or issue connected to sports in which I learn a lot more than what I knew before reading the book is certainly a winner to me.  Here is my review of "Before Jackie Robinson."

Title/Author:

“Before Jackie Robinson: The Transcendent Role of Black Sporting Pioneers” by Gerald R. Gems

 

Tags:

Horse Racing, Football (American), track and field, golf, baseball, race, history, tennis, basketball

Publish date:

February 1, 2017

 

Length:

324 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Jackie Robinson is the most celebrated athlete in American sports when one discusses the integration of African-American athletes into the mainstream of sports.  However, there were many individuals who helped change the course and thinking of the black athlete in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, decades before Robinson. 

Their stories and the hardships they endured are captured in this engrossing book by Gerald R. Gems. The stories are as varied as the sports that these people played as there were black pioneers in sports such as horse racing (Isaac Murphy), golf (John Shippen Jr.) and airplane flying (Bessie Coleman) as well as the more “traditional” sports such as baseball (Moses “Fleetwood” Walker) and football (Sam Ransom).  The people are not limited to the playing field as others such as Rube Foster and Bob Douglas.

What sets this book apart from the pack is the meticulous research that Gems does to not only obtain information but to give proper credit to an athlete who might otherwise be never recognized for his or her accomplishment.  The story of Isadore Channels and her success in tennis and basketball is one such example of this detail to attention.  Gems notes that at the beginning of the chapter about Channels that the information was difficult to obtain and that there may gaps in the information. While it was proper for him to note that tidbit, just the idea that this woman whose accomplishments have been long neglected finally gets some recognition is commendable.

 

That is what makes this book an outstanding account of these people – interesting stories, information that is not well-known and proper credit for what these athletes contributed to both sports and society.  This book should be read by any reader interested in the integration of sports, no matter which sport he or she follows.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing an advance review copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Link:

http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Before-Jackie-Robinson,677305.aspx

Review of "Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos"

When a member and author in the hockey books Facebook group I belong to posted a note about this book on the 30th anniversary of this bus crash on December 30, I knew that I wanted to find out more about this event.  Being an American who is not familiar with the Canadian Junior leagues, I only knew that this bus crash killed four players and the team had many future NHL stars.  Reading about it was an eye-opener - I am grateful for Todd Denault for bringing this book to my attention.

Title/Author:

“Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos” by Leesa Culp with Gregg Drinnan and Bob Wilkie

Tags:

Ice hockey, Juniors, tragedy

Publish date:

September 15, 2012

Length:

216 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

On December 30, 1986, a bus carrying the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos skidded off the Trans-Canadian Highway in a snowstorm, killing four of the team’s players. The Broncos are a Canadian junior team in which the young men are teenagers with dreams of playing in the NHL.  A witness to the crash who also helped injured players, Leesa Culp, wrote this powerful book to tell the story about that night and some of the players who were on that bus. 

There are many reasons that this tragedy is still remembered thirty years later. One is the sheer amount of talent on that team.  Five players were drafted by NHL teams, four of them (Joe Sakic, Peter Soberlak, Ryan McGill and Bob Wilkie) within the first 44 selections.  Another talented player on the team, Sheldon Kennedy, was also profiled in the book as well because the triumph of the team winning the 1989 Memorial Trophy as the best junior team only three years after the tragedy was overshadowed by his revelation that coach Graham James had been sexually abusing Kennedy. 

That sad story is discussed at the end of the book and just like the crash, the story needed to be told. But it did not take away anything from the stories of the crash survivors, one of whom was a co-author of the book, Bob Wilkie. To read about what those young men endured without counseling and how they came back to not only finish the season but to start a championship run two short years later is truly amazing.

The four players killed (Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff, younger brother of current Dallas Stars coach Lindsey Ruff) are always on the minds of the players throughout the book and each one has a brief write-up.  Because the book is about the surviving players and also Culp, who was invited to all reunions and events that involved the players on that bus, the stories were all the more moving in their authenticity and genuine emotion. 

One last aspect of the book that I appreciated is that as an American hockey fan who is not familiar with the Canadian junior leagues, the book also was a good introduction to the player’s life in the juniors.  It talked about the billeting families, the travel and the practices.  Because these are young men in their teenage years, seeing it through their eyes as told to Culp was an education and has made me wish to learn more about these leagues.

Anyone interested in the Canadian junior leagues, this team or even just hockey in general will enjoy this book – highly recommended.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Sudden-Death-Incredible-Current-Broncos-ebook/dp/B00ADOAFYO/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485102970&sr=8-1&keywords=sudden+death+swift+current+broncos

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sudden-death-leesa-culp/1110840125?ean=9781459705449

Review of "Pitching For Sanity"

An author whom I follow on Goodreads sent me a request to review this story, which is not normally the kind of topic on which he writes.  Having enjoyed every other book I have read of his, which are mostly baseball-related, I immediately said yes.  While this one also has baseball, it is not the central theme, but one that I did enjoy and wanted to share here.  This is my review of "Pitching For Sanity."

Title/Author:

“Pitching For Sanity: A Nervous Man’s Journey” by Mike Reuther

Tags:

Baseball, amateur, fiction, illness,

Publish date:

January 4, 2017

Length:

107 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

It isn’t often that a book will combine the themes of baseball and a mental health condition but this short novel by Mike Reuther does just that.  While there isn’t a lot of baseball in the story, it does play a key role as pitching baseballs is how the main character, Bill Barrister, deals with his anxiety. The condition has affected Bill enough that it ended his marriage and has affected his ability to work or do many other simple things that most people do.

A former pitching phenom whose tryout with a major-league team was a disaster, Bill was a career Air Force man where a colleague’s suicide left him shattered. That is one of the many events that led to his anxiety and each one is addressed in the story with a complete picture – a trait that illustrates the fine writing done by Reuther throughout the book.

Bill ends up leaving his Pennsylvania hometown to go on a road trip to California with his friend Godfrey. There are many twists in this journey which leads them to Texas where Bill learns a lot about his friend, a woman from their hometown whose son saw Bill throwing the baseballs, and also himself and how he can cope with his anxiety in other methods. The ending of the story was a bit surprising to me, but it is open enough so that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. That fits the rest of the book – detailed enough to illustrate the situation, but open enough for the reader to fill in the blanks. A good quick read for those who like stories of self-discovery.

I wish to thank Mr. Reuther for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Pitching-Sanity-Nervous-Mans-Journey-ebook/dp/B01N0XTFQ5/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1485018899&sr=1-1&keywords=pitching+for+sanity

Review of "The Extra 2%"

Only about a month to go until pitchers and catchers report - the four magic words that all baseball fans love to hear. Until then, baseball books are the next best thing and I picked up this one on the Tampa Bay Rays and how they went from laughing stock to serious contender.  Here is my review of "The Extra 2%"

Title/Author:

“The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team From Worst to First” by Jonah Keri

Tags:

Baseball, professional, business, Rays, audiobook

Publish date:

June 8, 2011

Length:

272 pages

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (okay)

Review:

One of the best accomplishments a sports team can achieve is to jump from last place one season to first place the next.  In 2008, the Tampa Bay major league baseball club not only changed its name from Devil Rays to Rays, they jumped from fifth place to first in one of the toughest divisions in baseball, and then went on to capture the American League pennant. This book by Jonah Keri attempts to describe the strategies that the front office team of Stuart Sternberg, Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman employed to take the team from worst to first.

The strategy of trying harder by that extra 2% in the title is not clear while reading or listening to this book. There is an exhaustive description of all the poor practices of the previous ownership team led by Vince Naimoli – everything from overpaying for aging sluggers to harassing fans who brought their own food into the ballpark. When the trio of former Wall Street businessmen take over, it is almost like the cavalry came in to rescue the Devil Rays.  While their record speaks for itself – improving by 31 wins from 2007 to 2008 – the way this was done did not seem to use Wall Street strategies.

Because of this, the book fell a little flat in that aspect as I expected it to have more groundbreaking strategies for building a winning baseball team.  Instead, Keri discusses the problems that Tampa has in generating revenue with a poorly located stadium, limited media revenue and poor luck in being in the same division as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, two teams with huge revenue streams.  There is some “Moneyball” aspects, some wise drafting and investments and recognition that spending a lot of money on a bad team to gain a few more wins won’t improve long-range success.  While all of those were key reasons why Tampa Bay became a better team, none of it seemed like a breakthrough discovery that was expected.

There is one other topic that Keri discusses in depth, not only about Tampa Bay but other locations as well, and that is how baseball teams will extort cities and states to finance new ballparks with the threat to move. While this was very interesting material, what seemed a little off to me was that other teams such as the Florida/Miami Marlins and Minnesota Twins were discussed when this topic was covered instead of the Rays and what they are doing to try to get a new stadium.

Overall, this book was okay because the material is interesting and it is always good to hear success stories.  However, what was expected from the title and book description and what was actually presented were two different things which left me feeling a little disappointed when I completed the book.  This book is recommended for fans of the Rays, but if one wants to learn more about building a winning team, this isn’t the best source.

Book Format Read:

Audiobook

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Extra-2-Street-Strategies-Baseball-ebook/dp/B004GTLVJK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1484700225&sr=1-1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/extra-2-jonah-keri/1100394936?ean=9780345517654

Review of "Horns Up"

While many college football fans are still buzzing about the fantastic finish to the national championship game for the FBS level of the game, there still is another big story worth reading about in college football and that is the dynasty of North Dakota State, the first school to win five consecutive championships at any level.  A book has been written about this dynasty and it is one that all fans of this team should read.  Here is my review of "Horns Up."

Title/Author:

“Horns Up: Inside the Greatest College Football Dynasty” by Jeff Kolpack

Tags:

Football (American), college, dynasty

Publish date:

March 8, 2016

Length:

236 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very Good)

Review:

When a college football fan talks about towns that are home to some of the best football programs, they just roll off the tongue.  Places like Columbus, Ohio…Happy Valley, Pennsylvania…Tuscaloosa, Alabama…Fargo, North Dakota.

Yes, that last city belongs in the conversation. Fargo is the home of the North Dakota State Bison, the only team to win five consecutive national titles in any level of college football.  Their march to these championships, as well as the decision by the school to join the Football Championship Series (FCS, or formerly Division 1-AA) is chronicled in this book by second-generation North Dakota sportswriter Jeff Kolpack.

The book stars off with the rise of Bison quarterback Carson Wentz, who was the second pick of the 2016 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. From there, the book will take the reader into the school administrative offices, the coaches work areas, the locker room and even on the campus when ESPN hosted its popular College Game Day show in Fargo in 2013 and 2014. Through it all, Kolpack writes with a style that shows he is not only knowledgeable about the program and the game of football, he displays that he also thoroughly enjoys covering the team as he intersperses some personal, but pertinent, stories as well.

The game coverage is very good, especially the chapter that has excellent summaries of each of the five championship games in which the Bison became the FCS champions. This was a chapter near the middle of the book, which seemed to be a strange placement for a summary chapter. That was the biggest drawback encountered while reading the book as it did not have a good flow by jumping around from topic to topic without a sense of order. 

However, the stories of key persons in the Bison program, everyone from Wentz to coach Craig Bohl and athletic director Gene Taylor, are what make the book fun to read. Kolpack’s knowledge about the school and the football team will educate the reader about the team, the enthusiastic fan base and the dedication of the players. The stories about the fans making trips to Minneapolis when the Bison would play the Gophers, a Big Ten team, were very interesting, outnumbering the fans from the much bigger school and even winning two of the three games played by the two teams.

For any football fan who wants to read either about a true football dynasty or about the rise of a smaller program, this is the book to pick up.  Of course, Bison fans will want to read this as well, even if they have probably soaked up all this information on their team from other sources. 

Book Format Read:

E-Book (Kindle)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Horns-Up-Greatest-College-Football/dp/1530455170/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484359922&sr=1-1&keywords=horns+up+jeff+kolpack

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/horns-up-jeff-kolpack/1124156850?ean=9781530455171

Review of "Long Before the Miracle"

On a snowy day in New York state, what better sport to read about than baseball?  When instead of thoughts of shoveling and scraping ice off the car, a better thought is about the green grass and crack of the bat that takes place in a beautiful ball park?  That is how I spent the day, and my book of choice was this one about the early days of the New York Mets.  Here is my review of "Long Before the Miracle."

Title/Author:

“Long Before the Miracle: The Making of the New York Mets” by Bill Sullivan

Tags:

Baseball, professional, history, Mets

Publish date:

July 29, 2016

Length:

436 pages

Rating: 

2 ½ of 5 stars (Fair) -  rounded up to 3 stars for Goodreads and Amazon ratings

Review:

While the New York Mets lost a lot of games in the early years of the franchise, they had a colorful history during that time and the city fell in love with the team despite the losing.  The people who were responsible for making the team lovable during that time have their stories told in this book written by a self-proclaimed Mets fan, Bill Sullivan.

This book has a “quantity over quality” feel as nearly every person who adorned a Mets uniform between 1962 and 1968 gets mentioned.  Whether through research, interviews with the players, family members or teams, bench players as well as the stars have their stories told.  It also doesn’t matter whether a player was with the team for six games or six seasons – if he wore the orange and blue of the Mets, he was mentioned in the book. 

Many of the stories are funny and poignant, but all are fairly short.  Also, while their anecdotes are organized alphabetically, the reading felt choppy and repetitive. Many of the same points are repeated in the discussions on different players.  This isn’t to say that it is hard to read, just that there will be times when the reader will think, “Wait, didn’t I see this before?”

There are also discussions on why the Dodgers and Giants left the city, paving the way for the Mets to replace them for National League baseball in New York.  That made for some good reading, as well as the stories on the building of the team through the expansion draft and the building of Shea Stadium. I felt the best writing in the book came at this time when the story of the Mets’ original owner, Joan Payson, was described in a very good manner.

For the most part, this book was okay and Mets fans will enjoy learning about the lean years of their team.  The electronic version of the book did need some minor editing, problems that may not appear in the printed version.  I would recommend this to Mets fans who want to learn a little more information on the players of the early days. 

Book Format Read:

E-Book (Kindle)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Before-Miracle-Making-York/dp/1534686789/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/long-before-the-miracle-bill-sullivan/1124229311?ean=9781534686786

Review of "The Murder of Sonny Liston"

This week marks the 46th anniversary of the death of former heavyweight champion Charles "Sonny" Liston.  The man's death still makes people talk today - one person was even moved by this event to write a book that raises questions about the circumstances of his demise.  Here is my review of "The Murder of Sonny Liston."

Title/Author:

“The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin and Heavyweights” by Shawn Assael

Tags:

Boxing, murder, crime

Publish date:

October 4, 2016

Length:

352 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very Good)

Review:

Charles “Sonny” Liston lived a mysterious life, whether it was when he was born but could not produce a birth certificate, his young adulthood when he was imprisoned, when he was rising through the ranks of boxing to become the heavyweight champion, when he lost to Muhammad Ali twice (with the second fight ending by some accounts due to a phantom punch) and later in his post-boxing life in Las Vegas. When he was found dead in his apartment by his wife Geraldine on January 5, 1971 the medical examiner declared Liston’s death to be due to “natural causes.”

This book by investigative journalist Shawn Assael casts doubts on this diagnosis and raises the question of whether the former champion was forced to overdose on heroin that led to his death.  In order to ask this question (Assael does not come to a definite conclusion that Liston was murdered), he writes a significant backstory about Las Vegas and the culture of the town at that time – mainly the drug, entertainment and criminal elements.  Even if the reader doesn’t care at all about Liston, boxing or sports, he or she will be fascinated with the detailed description of “Sin City” in that time period.

If one wants to read this to find out just who would want a former heavyweight champion dead, there is plenty of candidates for that as well.  The theories floated about in the book include thoughts that Liston knew too much about a) the drug dealers in Las Vegas, b) crooked police officers, or c) fixed fights, including his own in the second loss to Ali.  The list of suspects the author offers up is extensive as well, as he names these possibilities: An ex-girlfriend, a gaming player in Las Vegas named Ash Resnick, a rogue cop from the Las Vegas Police department, an informant and accomplice of said cop and even someone from the Nation of Islam.  There is even a “secret percent theory” told in which Liston would receive a portion of the receipts from all of Ali’s future bouts.  While the evidence that Assael has on each one makes for great reading, not one of these theories convince readers or even the author himself that they are definitive proof that Liston was murdered.

So while this may generate as many questions as it answers, this book is one of the more entertaining books about the time and the sport of boxing that I have read.  There is a decent amount of text about Liston’s fights as well.  The quality of that writing shows that Assael not only can write about 1960’s Las Vegas and the culture, but can also cover the action inside a boxing ring quite well. This book is recommended for readers who want to learn more about Liston or Las Vegas in that era. 

I wish to thank Blue Rider Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Sonny-Liston-Heroin-Heavyweights/dp/039916975X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483580892&sr=1-1&keywords=murder+of+sonny+liston

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-murder-of-sonny-liston-shaun-assael/1123112077?ean=9780399169755