Review of "Hell With the Lid Off"

I am always grateful for the publishers who regularly allow me to review their books. One of them, University of Nebraska Press, has been very supportive of this blog and the reviews for several years now and they always let me know their upcoming books.  When I saw this one, not only the title was attention-grabbing but so was the subject.  One of the best rivalries in pro football is the subject during the era when I believe the sport was at its best.  Here is my review of "Hell with the Lid Off"

Title/Author:

“Hell With the Lid Off: Inside the Fierce Rivalry Between the 1970’s Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers” by Ed Gruver and Jim Campbell

Tags:

Football (American), professional, rivalry, Steelers, Raiders

Publish date:

October 1, 2019

Length:

400 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Sometimes the best rivalries in sports are not necessarily the longest lasting ones, but shorter ones between two excellent teams in their times when they play several meaningful games. Such was the case in the 1970’s with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders. They met each other in the playoffs every year between 1972 and 1976, with the winner between them ending up as the Super Bowl champion three of those five years.  Both teams played hard-nosed, hard hitting football, drafted many future Hall of Famers and provided fans with very memorable playoff games. Those five years of the Steeler-Raider rivalry are captured in this excellent book by sportswriters Ed Gruver and Jim Campbell.

Because Campbell is not only a writer but also was an employee of the Steelers during this time frame, the book does slant a little toward more coverage of the Steelers than the Raiders. But that doesn’t mean Oakland get shortchanged in the excellent writing, detailed accounts of their seasons, or interesting stories on their best players. Both teams are praised for their play on the field, their smart drafting, and their coaching staffs from the head coaches (Chuck Noll and John Madden) on down, both teams are given their proper due for their success in the 1970’s.

The book’s tone is set early on.  The first chapter is an excellent account of one of the most famous plays in NFL history, the “Immaculate Reception” when Steelers rookie Franco Harris caught a deflected pass just before it would fall incomplete and ran it all the way for a touchdown to give the Steelers a 13-7 victory over the Raiders in the 1972 AFC divisional playoffs and begin what would be the fiercest NFL rivalry over the next five seasons.  Every aspect of that play was dissected and each of the main players involved not only shared his recollection of the play but was also portrayed in that chapter.  Then the book provides insight into the two owners and their very different philosophies on how to win, Art Rooney of the Steelers and Al Davis of the Raiders.  After them, each season of Raider and Steeler football is recapped along with their playoff matchup and the Super Bowl results on the three times one of them won that game during this time frame covered.

This book does a wonderful job of portraying both franchises and its players and coaches throughout the entire five year stretch and concentrates strictly on the football. There is very little commentary on the social or political situations of the cities or the nation at the time. That is what makes this book one that hard-core football fans of that era will want to read, even if they are not fans of either one of these teams.  That includes this reviewer – I did not care for either of them but respected their success and reading about them brought back some great memories of their classic battles.

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

                                                                       

Book Format Read:

Hardcover                                                                                                                                         

Buying Links:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9781496214676/

https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Lid-Off-Pittsburgh-Steelers-ebook/dp/B07Q5L7KC8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Net Work"

There are a slew of basketball books coming out for the upcoming season that look very promising.  This one written by the trainer of some of the best players in the game today is one of them and should be on the wish list of every basketball fan.  Here is my review of "Net Work" 

Title/Author:

“Net Work: Training the NBA’s Best and Finding the Keys to Greatness” by Rob McClangahan

Tags:

Basketball, professional, memoir, training

Publish date:

October 1, 2019

Length:

224 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Rob McClangahan is not a name that basketball fans may recognize, but some of the toplayers who have hired him as a trainer certainly are – players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, and Stephan Curry have all hired him to help them work on their games through short (one hour) but very intense work outs. In this book, McClangahan provides a fascinating look at not only these players, but life inside the NBA and why these players took their games to higher levels than most other NBA players.

It isn’t inaccurate to call this book a memoir, as McClangahan does talk about his early love for basketball and his story of being a walk-on player at Syracuse for three years while never getting a scholarship is inspiring. Especially because of his work ethic – he always put in the extra work required to not only make the team, but also to ensure he could get some playing time. 

Knowing that he wouldn’t be an NBA player, McClangahan decided to take his basketball passion to help others. He didn’t start out by training NBA players right away – he would be found at the workouts that draft prospects would show their skills for the league’s teams. From there, he would work out players who believed they needed extra help to ensure they would be selected or who wanted to improve their draft position.  His first star client from the NBA was Derrick Rose, who took his “net work” (McClangahan’s term for the extra work players put in to improve themselves – it is used frequently throughout the book) to the MVP award. 

Rose’s story is probably the most gut-wrenching of all the players featured in the book because of his injury history.  It was very heartbreaking to read about his hard work to come back after missing the entire 2011-12 season, only to suffer another season-ending injury in the first month back in November 2012.  Don’t feel sorry for Derrick, however – he still worked his way back to be a serviceable player. The chapter on Rose starts off with a great story – when he scored 50 points while playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2018. It was a moment in which the entire league was congratulating him because of his dedication to make sure he kept his skills sharp. 

While not as inspiring, the chapters on some of McClangahan’s other clients like Kevin Love and Kevin Durant are just as well-written and they provide the reader with an excellent insight into the life of an NBA player – at least as well as one can state without actually BEING a player.  McClangahan has been invited to join many of his clients on trips, charity events and of course, their workouts, including those he hasn’t led. The reader will also see that he enjoys this lifestyle and is grateful that he can have such a successful career in the professional game without having ever played in the NBA.

Basketball fans, no matter what level of interest they have in the professional game, will want to read this book as it provides a very unique look into the game written by a man who has much inside knowledge of the best players in the game. 

I wish to thank Scribner 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/Net-Work-Training-Finding-Greatness-ebook/dp/B07P5HRWNH/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "No Excuses"

Since we are now into the new football season, time to break out the new football books of the season. One of the more anticipated memoirs in any area this fall was this one by former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops.  Not quite as good as I hoped, but one that was still enjoyable to read.  Here is my review of "No Excuses" 

Title/Author:

“No Excuses: The Making of a Head Coach” by Bob Stoops and Gene Wojciechowski

Tags:

Football (American), college, coaching, memoir, Oklahoma

Publish date:

September 10, 2019

Length:

320 pages

Rating:

3 ½ of 5 stars (good)

Review:

When Bob Stoops took over the football program at the University of Oklahoma in 1999, the program was only a shell of what it was during its glory days in earlier decades. In two short years, the Sooners were the national champions. While this memoir certainly talks about that extraordinary accomplishment, it is far from the only event of his life that Stoops writes about with pride in the book.

While Stoops does write with fondness about his siblings, parents and childhood, the book doesn’t feel like it has a personality of its own until Stoops enrolls at the University of Iowa and plays on the defensive side of the football.  It was there that Stoops realized that he stands little chance to play professional football and if he wants to have a career in the game, he has to turn to coaching.

Starting as a graduate assistant under Hayden Fry in Iowa, the reader is taken on the journey Stoops undertakes on his way to Norman, Oklahoma. Stoops makes sure to praise all the mentors he had along the way for working as an assistant coach at Florida and Kansas State, where he was especially proud of being part of the staff that made the Wildcats a prominent program.  Stoops does a good job writing about his coaching career in great detail.

However, the detail doesn’t delve greatly into either the life of coaches who work extremely long hours and there isn’t a lot of X’s and O’s during the football talk – instead he writes more about his family life, his players and his personal reflections.  Some of them are touching, such as when he talks about fellow coaches, whether on his staff or elsewhere. Others can leave the reader as either angry or at least confused, as I was when he was trying to explain why he suspended running back Joe Mixon in 2016 after being charged with assaulting a woman instead of permanently removing Mixon from the team. He wrote about this in the same manner as everything else he writes about – with total honesty.

While it is clear from the book that Stoops is an honest man, he is a family man and has a coaching record that speaks for itself, this book only came across as a decent one for me.  Hardcore fans of college football, especially those who follow the Sooners, will love reading Stoops’ stories, but if not, it will be one that will is okay and interesting but not one that will stand out as one of the best – fortunately for Stoops, no one will ever say that about his coaching abilities.

I wish to thank Little Brown and Company 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/No-Excuses-Making-Head-Coach-ebook/dp/B07S3VJT9J/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Jacobs Beach"

Those who have followed this blog regularly know that boxing is one sport that I will always choose for a book. This book is one that was earlier published and now being released again with a new foreword and even more details about the influence of organized crime in the sport.  Here is my review of "Jacobs Beach"

Title/Author:

“Jacobs Beach: The Mob, The Garden and the Golden Age of Boxing” by Kevin Mitchell, foreword by Mike Stanton

Tags:

Boxing, professional, crime, history

Publish date:

October 20, 2019

Length:

288 pages

Rating: to

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

It is no secret that at the height of the popularity of boxing, there was a criminal element characters, first Madison Square promoter Mike Jacobs and then the notorious Mob boss Frankie Carbo, also known as “Mr. Gray”, is told in this well-researched book by Kevin Mitchell.

This updated version of the classic mob boxing book contains not only some new material but also some of the most detailed writing that can be found on the sport.  Mitchell relies on stories from the men who were either at the fights or in the spaces such as Toots Shore where deals were made. Some of the most famous boxers were on the take from the Mob as well, from Joe Louis to Jersey Joe Walcott.  They are just two of the fighters whose troubles out of the ring, be them personal or professional, are described in rich detail.

The dealings and actions of the Mob men and their lackeys are just as important to this book – in some cases, even more so and if the reader wants to learn more about the organized crime scene of that time. While the book starts with the dismantling of the ring from the second Madison Square Garden (my favorite story in the entire book) and tells of the power the arena and Jacobs’ influence in the game. This slowly eroded as Carbo became more entrenched and Mitchell takes the reader along into every seedy detail as they controlled more and more fighters.

The book itself is not a breezy read. Instead, it is one that has to be digested slowly and carefully so that the reader does not miss a thing.  Whether one wants to read this for the boxing or the true crime, it is one that is a treasure to include in one’s library.

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

                                                                       

Book Format Read:

Paperback                                                                                                                                        

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Jacobs-Beach-Garden-Golden-Boxing-ebook/dp/B07PYKT676/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://hannibalboxing.com/boxing-books-by-hamilcar-publications/jacobs-beach-the-mob-the-garden-the-golden-age-of-boxing/

Review of "Curveball"

Memoirs are probably the most common format of sports books that I review and while this one isn't all that different in format and content than others, it came across as the most honest story told by an athlete about himself.  Here is my review of baseball pitcher Barry Zito's memoir, "Curveball"

Title/Author:

“Curveball: My Story of Overcoming Ego, Finding My Purpose and Achieving True Success:” by Barry Zito

Tags:

Baseball, professional memoir, Athletics, Giants, faith

Publish date:

September 17, 2019

Length:

272 pages

Rating: to

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Barry Zito was a star pitcher in the early 2000’s for the Oakland Athletics, winning a Cy Young award and was part of the excellent staff for the Athletics that allowed them to compete with teams from bigger markets at the start of the Moneyball era.  His success in Oakland turned into a big payday for him when he signed a contract before the 2007 season with the San Francisco Giants, which at the time was the biggest contract awarded to a pitcher. He did not come close to the same success with the Giants that he did with the Athletics.

It is at his lowest point during that time with San Francisco, when he was left off the postseason roster during the Giants’ 2010 championship run, that this book starts and from there, Zito takes the reader inside not only his career, but his entire transformation – both when he was a high school and college pitcher when he was always following the advice of his father on the best course to take and also near the end of his career, when he, with the help from his wife and Giants team chaplain, to follow the advice of God and turn to his Christian faith to guide him on the best decisions to make.

The book really was not much different in structure or in types of reflection than other sports memoirs.  Zito’s reflections on family, the role of his father in his career, his transgressions in excessive living life in the fast lane, and even his decision to reaffirm his faith and let that aspect of his life become more important and prominent. All of these aspects, as well as his discussions about his performance on the mound, are all present in other sports memoirs.

So what makes this one different?  Readers will immediately realize how refreshingly honest Zito writes without embellishment or exaggeration.  There wasn’t a single passage in which I felt that Zito was not being completely honest with his audience and hearing him describe some of his inner struggles with trying to please his father, just for starters. It went as far as him transferring from a four-year college (UC Santa Barbara) to a junior college because, according to Zito’s father, Barry had a better chance to be a first round draft choice playing at a junior college. When he still wasn’t a first round draft choice, he transferred to another four-year school and then was a first round pick for the Athletics.  The role of his father is told completely and with nothing held back by Zito.

This information about his father and the completely unfiltered version is also present in every aspect of his baseball career and his devotion to his faith. There is a good balance in all of these aspects of his life up to the best story of the book which is near the end.  Zito won two World Series rings with the Giants – 2010, when he was left off the postseason roster as mentioned earlier and in 2012, when he was pitching better and won a World Series game as the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers. He shares that of the two rings, the 2010 one is more meaningful to him.  If this doesn’t make sense, once one reads this honest assessment of himself, it is easier to understand why he believes this.

Any fan of baseball, of honest memoirs, or just of a good read will want to read this one.  Don’t expect anything amazing or provocative – just a truly honest reflection of a baseball career that reached both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. 

I wish to thank Thomas Nelson – W Publishing 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/Curveball-Failure-Mound-Taught-Success-ebook/dp/B07F3GRVV1/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Three Seconds In Munich"

Remembering this game vividly when I watched it as a 10-year-old, I have read other books on the 1972 Olympic gold medal basketball game and it is a topic in which I want to read as much as I can about it.  This book did not disappoint.  Here is my review of "Three Seconds in Munich."

Title/Author:

“Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final:” by David A.F. Sweet

Tags:

Basketball, Summer Olympics, history

Publish date:

September 1, 2019

Length:

264 pages

Rating: to

4 ½  of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

One of the most controversial events in sports history was the ending of the gold medal game in the 1972 Summer Olympics between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that point, the U.S. had never lost a basketball game since it became an Olympic sport in 1936. In that game, Doug Collins sank two free throws to give the United States its first lead of the game at 50-49 with three seconds remaining. What followed next is the basis for this book on the crazy, controversial ending of the game, written by David A.F. Sweet.

Even though the book is primarily about the last three seconds about that game, the book starts with an even more chilling reason why the 1972 Munich Games are still seared in people’s memories nearly fifty years later. On September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists stormed the Olympic Village (with short chain link fencing and minimal security per Sweet) and held 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. When an attempt to rescue the hostages at the Munich airport went bad, all 11 of them were killed.  Sweet’s writing about this tragic day, and the reactions of the United States basketball players who were there to witness this makes up some of the best reading in the book, even better than some of the basketball passages.

However, those are very good in their own right. Sweet leads the reader up to that moment by recapping the first 39 minutes and 57 seconds of the game very well, up to the point Collins approaches the free throw line to take his shots.  After that, he dives into all of the craziness on the floor.  After Collins makes the two shots, the Soviets fail to score, giving the U.S. an apparent victory.  Then, Sweet goes into excellent detail about the Soviet coaches attempting to call a time out, and the head of FIBA, the international basketball governing body, allowing the Soviets to have three seconds put back on. On this second chance, they again miss, but confusion reigns as the horn sounds and the scoreboard clock doesn’t have an accurate time since in those days, the only way to reset the clock to a time less than a minute is to set one minute, then run it down to that specified time.  While this was being done for, that is when the second attempt was made.

But thanks to Dr. Jones, that head of FIBA, there is yet another chance given to the Soviet Union, which they converted after some questionable actions by the referee, such as not allowing Tom Burleson of the US to defend at the baseline to challenge the inbound pass and the apparent pushing foul before the winning shot was taken.  After all of this chaos, the final score read USSR 51, USA 50. But that was far from the final word on this game.  Sweet takes the reader on more twists and turns – the failed appeal by the US, the mindset of Dr. Jones and his desire to see more nations than just the United States succeed in basketball and the medal ceremony in which the US failed to appear and refused to accept the silver medal. It has been nearly 50 years since that game, and the players, to a man, still have not accepted their medals.  This aftermath is also captured nicely by Sweet, especially when he wrote about the team reuniting in 2012 and confirming yet again that they will not accept that silver medal.

Whether one remembers that game vividly, as this reviewer does as a 10 year old youth basketball player, or has just heard the various stories, he or she needs to read this book to not only learn all of the head-scratching and infuriating decisions made by others affecting the outcome of this game, but also to learn a little about each member of that team, including all of the players and coach Hank Iba (who at times is unfairly blamed for the loss).  A must-read for all Olympic basketball fans.

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

                                                                       

Book Format Read:

Hardcover                                                                                                                                         

Buying Links:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9780803299962/

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Seconds-Munich-Controversial-Basketball-ebook/dp/B07Q6ND27Z/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Canyon Dreams"

One sure sign of changing seasons is the change in my reading.  With autumn nearly here, my reading is changing to winter games.  This book on one of those sports, basketball, is an excellent account of not only a high school team, but also a fascinating look at native American culture.  Here is my review of "Canyon Dreams"

Title/Author:

“Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation” by Michael Powell

Tags:

Basketball, high school, culture, race

Publish date:

November 19, 2019

Length:

272 pages

Rating: to

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

On a native American reservation in northern Arizona, there is a small patch of land where Chinle High School sits. However, nearly everyone on the 17.5 million acre reservation knows about the school because of its basketball team. At the school and the surrounding community, the game and the team are a passion.  The love of the game has been passed down for generations. Journalist Michael Powell follows the team for one season and his observations are the basis for this excellent book.

Basketball is only a part of the story. Powell intertwines stories from many different Navajo people – young and old, male and female, players and spectators, even the coach himself – in order to illustrate much about life on the reservation for everyone as well as the excellent basketball played at the school and on the playgrounds where it is known as “rez ball.”

The reader will learn about the hardships endured, the traditions and respect for nature embedded in Navajo culture and oh, yes, how important the basketball games are for everyone, not just the players.  The perspectives of the players are also interesting lessons in the conflicts they face – do they work on their games in the hope of gaining a college scholarship?  By doing so, they will have to live life outside of the reservation, something many of them have never experienced, but on the other hand, many see no hope for improvement in their lives if they stay.

Powell writes with equal excellence about basketball and native American culture, both the beautiful and the ugly. I found this mixture an excellent narrative about the entire culture fascinating and when the Wildcats kept winning and kept advancing, I couldn’t help but cheer them on as hard as I would for my favorite college or professional teams. Any reader interested in native American culture as well as basketball should add this one to their library.

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/Canyon-Dreams-Basketball-Season-Navajo/dp/0525534660/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=