Review of "The Ultimate Road Trip"

The third review in my hat trick of hockey book reviews during the Stanley Cup Finals is about one fan's expedition to see every game of his favorite team, the Maple Leafs, for an entire season.  It's a fun, entertaining read.  Here is my review of "The Ultimate Road Trip". 

Title/Author:

“The Ultimate Road Trip: All 89 Games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ultimate Leafs Fan" by Mike Wilson and Lance Horsnby

Tags:

Ice Hockey, professional, memoir, Maple Leafs

Publish date:

October 6, 2020

Length:

260 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Many sports fans have dream trips on their bucket lists. Whether it is to visit every stadium or arena for their favorite sport or follow their favorite team to places they never saw, it is safe to say passionate fans hope to take this type of excursion.  For Toronto Maple Leafs fan Mike Wilson, he was able to make that a reality during the 2018-19 NHL season and his adventure is captured in this book he co-authored with veteran hockey author Lance Hornsby.

Wilson had earlier been dubbed the "Ultimate Leafs Fan" by ESPN and if there ever were any doubts that this title was correct, those are wiped away after reading this book.  His trials and tribulations he encountered with transportation, lodging, security at both airports and arenas and some encounters with opposing fans might try the patience of any hardy fan.  The two most eye-opening incidents that I found in the book that made me congratulate him for his patience were an overzealous security guard in Las Vegas when he was not allowed to bring his camera into the game against the Golden Knights and his encounter with an angry New York Islanders fan who, like nearly every other fan that night, came to boo John Taveras in his first game back after leaving the Islanders to sign with his hometown Maple Leafs.

Those encounters, however, were very few compared to the wonderful stories Wilson shared with readers about Leafs fans hen saw at every city. The Maple Leafs are one of those sports franchises with a very large fan base that covers an entire nation, or in their case, two as there were large contingencies of Leafs fans in American cities Wilson visited as well as in Canadian cities. While reading the book one gets the sense of this being like a very large progressive hockey party.  Like a progressive dinner, where people have each course at different locations, Wilson seemed to have a party at each arena with his fellow Leafs fans.

Other interesting aspects of the book that will keep a reader's interest is how his partner Deb was the person who kept all of this organized.  She was the one who arranged most of the travel and lodging for Wilson and, on occasion, herself when she joined him on a stretch of his journey.  I also like reading about how some of the fans he met would stay loyal to the Leafs even though they may be thousands of miles away from Toronto.  Wilson's encounters with some players in Leafs history were also good reading as throughout the book, his passion for the team as well as his encyclopedic knowledge shows that ESPN picked the correct person to dub "The Ultimate Leafs Fan."  While certainly Maple Leaf fans will love this book, hockey fans of any team will enjoy reading about one fan who was able to complete an incredible hockey journey.

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

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

https://ecwpress.com/products/the-ultimate-road-trip?_pos=1&_sid=b602dbb79&_ss=r

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Road-Trip-games-Toronto-ebook/dp/B089TZJ1FT/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Off Mike"

Another hockey book review today as the Stanley Cup finals are being played, so the sport is foremost on my mind right now - even if it is the time teams are usually in training camp, not playing for the best trophy in sports.  American hockey fans know the voice of Mike "Doc" Emrick well and he has written a memoir due out in October.  Here is my review of his book.

Title/Author:

“Off Mike: How a Kid from Basketball-Crazy Indiana Became America's Hockey Voice" by Mike Emrick with Kevin Allen

Tags:

Ice Hockey, professional, broadcasting, memoir

Publish date:

October 20, 2020

Length:

256 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

During a four decade career that spanned from the Port Huron Flags of the International Hockey League to being the lead voice of American telecasts of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Mike "Doc" Emrick has lived a charmed life.  One aspect of his telecasts that has made him popular with American hockey fans is his storytelling skill and that characteristic is on full display in this memoir co-written with Kevin Allen.

Even though he grew up in Indiana, basketball wasn't really a big deal in Emrick's childhood.  He shares his love of baseball, both playing and listening to the Pittsburgh Pirates games as his radio picked up their station. But when his father took him to a minor league hockey game, that set the wheels in motion for a different sport which he could love.

While Emrick's story of his rise through the hockey broadcasting ranks doesn't sound very different than that of other broadcasters who have done work for NHL games, the manner in which he tells that story and what happened at every stop along the way makes for wonderful reading.  Fellow hockey fans who have heard Emrick broadcasts will hear his voice while reading this as the stories are just as entertaining on the page as they are on the air when he peppers his call of the hockey game being televised with similar stories.

It is clear from these stories that Emrick is a people person as he not only shares stories about the many people with whom he has worked or worked for, but also gives every single one of them credit for his success when he was employed with or for them. Whether the story was about his first salary negotiation that he didn't handle so well, his gratitude to people like Flyers owner Ed Snider (his first NHL job was due to Snider's backing) and current partner in the NBC broadcast booth Ed Olcyzk, readers will enjoy learning about the people who are important to him.

While there are stories about his personal life, they are not too long in comparison to his hockey stories.  The reader will learn how he met and courted his wife Joyce, their love for animals and his recovery from prostate cancer.  While not as numerous or long, these stories are just as heartfelt.  One particular touching story is the one in which Emrick declined broadcasting for NBC in the 2002 Winter Olympics in order to be with Joyce and Katie – Katie being their three year old dog who had kidney issues and had to be eventually put down.  It was touching to read not only his love for his dog, but the support he received from the hockey world when they learned of Katie's death.

There are just so many great tales in this book. From his interview with Wayne Gretzky where Gretzky uttered his famous "Mickey Mouse organization" quote about the New Jersey Devils, Emrick's employer at the time, to the day he spent with Detroit Tigers broadcasting legend Ernie Harwell when preparing his master's dissertation, any hockey fan will love to read about Emrick's wonderful career in the sport.

I wish to thank Triumph Books 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/Off-Mike-Basketball-Crazy-Indiana-Americas/dp/1629378038/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/off-mike-mike-emrick/1136815687;jsessionid=0782D8DBDE340ED60A140377D93A7A58.prodny_store01-atgap11?ean=9781629378039

Review of "One to Remember"

With the start of the Stanley Cup finals, I have been in the mood to read hockey books.  This one by Ken Reid about players who scored one goal in their NHL careers is a very good collection of stories told by these players.  Here is my review of "One to Remember."

 

Title/Author:

“One to Remember: Stories from 39 Members of the NHL’s One Goal Club” by Ken Reid

Tags:

Ice hockey, professional, short stories, history

Publish date:

September 22, 2020

Length:

240 pages

Rating:

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Anyone who has picked up a hockey stick and taken a shot at the net dreams of that shot going into the goal in an NHL game. This book by Ken Reid tells the story of 39 players who accomplished that feat once, then never did so again.  It is a follow-up to his previous book about the stories of players who appeared in one NHL game.

Like that book, the stories are entertaining, varied and reflect the personality of the man telling the story.  The time frame is wide spread – from the 1960’s to the present and every position is covered.  There is a section devoted to goalies who scored a goal (but only one, so Ron Hextall and Martin Brodeur are not included), including the first goalie credited with a goal, Billy Smith of the New York Islanders. Other chapter subjects include first round draft choices and players whose careers were cut short by injury.

One characteristic this book has that is very good is that while reading the stories, they come across as authentic and the reader will feel like he or she is there talking to the man reliving that one goal.  Sometimes the goal brings back great memories, sometimes it really doesn’t mean that much to the man. It was interested to learn that several of these players haven’t kept the puck from that first goal. In fact, one of them used the puck unknowingly while playing pond hockey with his son and ended up losing it when it sank to the bottom when an errant shot ended up in a section of the pond that wasn’t frozen.

Something else that one might expect is that none of these players, except possibly for the goalies, are household names.  As a result, many of the stories are ones in which they remember their time in juniors, the minor leagues or overseas just as fondly as their time in the NHL and the goal he scored.  Sometimes this can be a whirlwind experience, as was the case for Damian Surma, who in just a matter of hours was called up to the NHL, scored a goal, separated his shoulder and was demoted back to the minors.  That was one of the better stories in the book to me.

That story is just one example of the type of material one should expect when reading Reid’s collection of interviews of the “one goal club.”  As is the case with most collections of stories and interviews, some are much better than others, but they all are told with the memory of an event that these men have in common – that they all scored exactly one goal during their time in the National Hockey League.

I wish to thank ECW 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/One-Remember-Stories-Members-NHLs-ebook/dp/B089TT5DJG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://ecwpress.com/products/one-to-remember?_pos=1&_sid=ed27c5a4e&_ss=r

Review of "The (Inter)National Basketball Association"

 This book was of interest for me as I enjoy watching many foreign-born players in the NBA such as Joel Embiid and my favorite current NBA player, Luka Doncic.  It was amazing to read about how the view of international basketball has changed in the past three decades.  Here is my review of "The (Inter)National Basketball Association."

Title/Author:

“The (Inter)National Basketball Association: How the NBA Ushered In a New Era of Basketball and Went Global" by Joel Gunderson

Tags:

Basketball, professional, history

Publish date:

November 3, 2020

Length:

264 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Basketball players from countries aside from the United States are becoming more and more prevalent in the National Basketball Association (NBA).  From Arvydas Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac to today's international stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Joel Embiid, the league and the sport has become better with this international flavor. That is the central theme of this excellent book by Joel Gunderson.

While the focus on this fundamental shift has been on the star players, such as those mentioned in the previous paragraph and covers an approximate thirty-year time frame, there is more to this book and its central theme than just these players.  That is clear from the beginning when Gunderson starts off by writing about Kobe Bryant and how his death shocked the basketball world in January 2020.  Now, one might wonder what would Kobe, who was born in the United States, have to do with the growth of international basketball – it was because his love of the game has its roots when his family lived in Italy.  From there, Gunderson writes with in-depth knowledge of his subjects and provides several events that aided the growth of the international game.

One factor that should be mentioned is the progressive nature of both the league and its current commissioner Adam Silver. When Sabonis became the first non-American drafted by an NBA team, then-commissioner David Stern mumbled about basketball being "America's game".  That seems odd now considering how much Stern and Silver are responsible for its international growth, but that just shows how much the league has changed in its view of international players.

The key points of when significant changes in this philosophy are well-described by Gunderson.  While there is no one single "ah-ha!" moment that can be used, several events and people are written about at length that made the growth of the game and players from other nations significant.  One is the 1992 "Dream Team" of NBA stars at the Olympics.  That was a blend of old and new stars, a few of whom were already legendary (Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan) and the players from other countries took notice of how much these players were admired and how they wanted to achieve their same status.  Then Gunderson writes about San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and his forward thinking about overseas players when he brought in Manu Ginobili from Argentina and Tony Parker from France.  These players, along with Tim Duncan (native of the Virgin Islands, attended Wake Forest University) formed the nucleus of four championship teams for San Antonio. 

Other events Gunderson writes about that made more team officials and decision makers aware of the talent in nations other than the United States was the poor showing of the 2004 United States Olympic basketball team, the emergence of Yao Ming from China and the long-overdue realization that the game is played with the same basics everywhere, no matter the level of competition or how these basics translated into other aspects- these are the same across all platforms: dribble, pass, shoot.  One other aspect of international basketball that is addressed is how some former NBA players end up thriving overseas, such as Stephon Marbury in China.

The book concludes with nice write-ups on Doncic and Antetokounmpo (although no one refers to him by that name) and also a tribute to the 2019 champions, the Toronto Raptors as they not only became the first non-American team to win the title but also had a majority of their players born in other countries.  If one wants to read about the growth of the international influence in American professional basketball, this is an excellent book for doing so.

I wish to thank Sports Publishing 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/Inter-National-Basketball-Association-Ushered-ebook/dp/B084G9K6KX/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Strangers in the Bronx"

The New York Yankees have not only won the most World Series championships, they also seem to have had the most books written about them.  This one that covers the 1951 season when the torch was passed from Joe DiMaggio to Mickey Mantle is a good one.  

Title/Author:

“Strangers in the Bronx: DiMaggio, Mantle, and the Changing of the Yankee Guard" by Andrew O'Toole

Tags:

Baseball, professional, Yankees, history, championship

Publish date:

June 1, 2015

Length:

304 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Two of the most legendary players in New York Yankee history played together only one season, 1951. That season was the last one for Joe DiMaggio and the first one for Mickey Mantle.  The stories of their unique issues that season, along with a nice recap of that championship season for New York, is the subject of this book by Andrew O'Toole.

DiMaggio did not come to his decision to retire easily.  He struggled with both that and his play on the field all season and even agreed to join a team that was touring Japan as a favor to his friend Lefty O'Doul.  The inner struggles of DiMaggio were very interesting to read about, as were the adjustments a young Oklahoma kid named Mickey Mantle had to make when he was named to the Yankees out of spring training that season.  His speed, long home runs and overall talent wowed everyone who saw him, but time in New York with the most famous sports team took its toll on the youngster.  These two topics make up a good portion of the book and are the best passages.

There is also significant material on the Yankee team and manager Casey Stengel for that season and while decent reading, it comes across as drier than the material on the main two subjects of the book, especially Mantle.  Readers who are Yankee fans or enjoy reading about Yankee history will enjoy these, especially some of Stengel's more colorful quotes.  The reader does get a good feel for what it was like for the team and the press that wrote about the Yankees regularly.  It was a very enjoyable book and any Yankee fan will want to pick this one up.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle) 

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Strangers-Bronx-DiMaggio-Mantle-Changing-ebook/dp/B00YLQU9MI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "The Massillion Tigers"

If you like high school football, then make sure to read this book.  While not about Texas high school football, this book on the Massillion Tigers in Ohio is just as great a portrait of the game as anything that has been written or produced on television or the movies.  Here is my review of the book on their 2019 season. 

Title/Author:

“The Massillion Tigers: 15 for 15" by David Lee Morgan Jr.

Tags:

Football (American), high school

Publish date:

September 8, 2020

Length:

224 pages

Rating: to

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

When one thinks of towns that are passionate about high school football, one usually thinks of Texas.  However, there are other towns around the country that have that passion and one of them is Massillion, Ohio.  In 2019, they adopted a motto "15 for 15". The team would need to win 15 games to win the state championship and after each win, the team would do the corresponding number of push-ups.  Their drive for the championship is chronicled in this book by the running back coach of the team, David Lee Morgan Jr.

The best word to describe reading this book is fun.  Right from the start, when Morgan talks about when he first declined the coaching job so as not to disappoint his wife after promising her more time together to the final gathering of the team after the season (no spoilers – read the book to find out their record) the reader will learn a lot about the important players on the team, the coaches and others who make Massillion football a vital part of the town's personality.

While each chapter is about one game on the Massillion schedule, including playoffs, and the football writing digs well into the game action, that isn't the best aspect of this book.  There is plenty of material on other aspects of the high school football experience.  One chapter is dedicated to the band.  There is a nice write-up about the head coach and his wife – she plays just as important a role in the success of the team as much as he does, at least according to the author.  The stories about the fans traveling to away games or filling their side of college stadiums for playoff games are excellent.  Although the best story is one already mentioned – when Morgan got the coaching job after initially rejecting the offer.

One doesn't have to be a high school football fan or even have played or supported his or her school to enjoy this great story of a team's quest for glory and the town that supports their Tigers. At times, reading this book will place the reader right in the bleachers of the game and that is the strength of this book – the reader will feel the experience of Massillion Tigers football.

I wish to thank Fayetteville Mafia 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/Massillon-Tigers-15-ebook/dp/B083V4FT1P/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

Review of "42 Today"

Jackie Robinson is one of the very few sports figures about whom much has been written.  This latest book on his legacy mostly outside of baseball is the latest book on him and is another excellent account of what he means to not only the game, but to the civil rights movement.  Here is my review of "42 Today."

Title/Author:

“42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy” edited by Michael G. Long

Tags:

Baseball, professional, race, Dodgers, essays, politics

Publish date:

February 9, 2021

Length:

256 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

While much has been written and discussed about Jackie Robinson the baseball player and the historical importance of his breaking of the color barrier in Major League baseball, there isn’t as much written about his political activity and other important actions that he did in the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s.  This book, a collection of long essays edited by Michael G. Long, goes a long way in bringing those activities by Robinson into the public’s eye as well as his baseball.

That isn’t to say this book ignores his contribution to baseball or his baseball career.  There is plenty of material in the book, with information and quotes from notable Robinson biography writers such as Arnold Rampersand and Jonathan Eig, that highlight Robinson’s contribution to baseball’s integration and also will tell the truth about some of the baseball myths about Robinson, such as befriending Dixie Walker and Pee Wee Reese putting his arm around Robinson.  The latter was strongly refuted by Robinson’s widow Rachel in the book.  The baseball actions also illustrate that he played the game as an angry man, even when he “played by (Branch) Rickey’s rules and kept himself under control.”

Speaking of Rachel, she has always claimed that “Jack” wasn’t an angry man and the book states in the prologue that it will challenge that notion. On that, it certainly hit the mark as Robinson’s political and baseball life. He was a staunch Republican supporter in the 1960 election with his support of Richard Nixon, mainly because Nixon’s concept of creating a government agency with the specific goal of supporting Black-owned businesses was put into action by the party. That is just one of the many political writings and issues addressed in the book.  What is very striking about some of these are that some could very well have been stated in today’s political and social climate.

While the information is very good and even outside of topics one would associate with Robinson – his connection to other Black trailblazing athletes such as Wilma Rudolph and Althea Gibson is one example – there is significant material that if one has previously read about Robinson, chances are the information won’t be new to the reader as was the case for me.  This doesn’t diminish the powerful message behind the book and the connection to today’s world cannot be ignored.  Readers don’t have to be baseball fans or know much about Robinson to be moved by his actions.

I wish to thank New York University Press 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/gp/product/1479805629/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sin?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sin-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1479805629&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Review of "Fabulous to Futile in Flushing"

 Having read several books on the New York Mets, I was interested in seeing if there was anything new in this book.  There was some information I learned about the team that I hadn't read before but it really felt more like a long summary instead of a true book on the history of the team.  Still a decent read.  Here is my review of this book by David Russell. 

Title/Author:

“Fabulous to Futile in Flushing: The Complete Concise History of the Mets” by David Russell

Tags:

Baseball, professional, history, Mets

Publish date:

August 20, 2020

Length:

358 pages

Rating:

3 of 5 stars (good)

Review:

The best way to describe this book by David Russell, a complete history of the New York Mets, is that it is the Cliff Notes version of the 58 year history of the team.  From their famous first year of futility in 1962 to Pete Alonso’s outstanding rookie season in 2019, there is something interesting to discuss about every season that the Mets have played baseball and Russell is sure to include it.

One noticeable aspect of the book was that the better the season for the Mets on the field, the longer the chapter was.  So of course, the reader will learn the most about the 1969 and 1986 Mets, including recaps of the league championship series and the World Series.  The same is true for 1973, 2000, and 2015 in which the Mets won the National League pennant as well as 1988 and 2006 in which the team were champions of the National League East Division.  While these were the chapters in which the most was written, that doesn’t mean that every other season doesn’t have good material, there is just less written about them.

For me, that was a disappointment because the colorful history of the Mets would lead one to believe that this book would cover some of those clubs as well as the better ones. No matter the record of the Mets, each chapter has a “fabulous” and a “futile” player, a recap of the season, some other interesting tidbits such as notable transactions, and at the end of each decade, a quiz that is challenging for even the biggest Mets fans. 

While 358 pages sounds like a lot, the book reads very quickly as even the championship years don’t take up a lot of pages.  It can be consumed easily in one sitting or a reader can take as long as he or she wants to absorb it because each year is covered in a nice compact manner.  The only downfall to this will be that fans who have followed the team closely will probably not learn much new information.  Readers who have also read other Mets books, especially books on their two championships, will also not learn much about those seasons that they didn’t read elsewhere.

Therefore, this book is recommended for readers who don’t know much about the Mets but are interested in learning more about the team that usually has to play second fiddle to the Yankees in its home city but nonetheless has a very colorful history that is fun to read about in this work.

I wish to thank Summer Game Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (PDF)                                                                                                                                 

Buying Links:

https://www.summergamebooks.com/titles/non-fiction/fabulous-to-futile-in-flushing-the-complete-concise-history-of-the-mets-detail

https://www.amazon.com/Fabulous-Futile-Flushing-Year-Year-ebook/dp/B087JGH8KL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=