Review of “Clouds Over the Goalpost”

Three books finished in three days - not bad considering that the bulk of this audiobook was heard on one trip to and from a baseball game.  Here is my latest review.

Title/Author: “Clouds Over the Goalpost: Gambling, Asassanation and the NFL in 1963” by Lew Freedman, narrated by Noah Michael Levine

Rating: 3 of 5 stars (okay)

Review: In 1963, professional football was just starting to enjoy its ascent into the minds and television sets of American sports fans. There were two professional leagues and two of the more stories franchises, the Chicago Bears and New York Giants, faced each other in the NFL championship game. But two other events really shaped that season and they covered as well as the action on the field in this book by Lew Freedman.

While I listened to the audiobook and liked the story of the 1963 season, my one issue with the audio version is the mispronunciation by the narrator of well-known players, including Paul Hornung.  This is crucial because he and Alex Karras are the central figures of one the aforementioned events - they were suspended in 1963 for gambling. This was the most repeated mispronunciation but not the only one.

Putting that aside, the rest of the book was fine - it was the typical book about a particular sports season in which the championship team (here, the Bears) and a few other teams make up the bulk of the discussion. Along with the Bears and their coach-owner George Halas, the Green Bay Packers ger a good amount of text in the book as well, even more than the runner-up Giants.

The upstart American Football League also gets some love in the book, including a full chapter on their championship game. That wasn’t too exciting as the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Boston Patriots 51-10. Other stories about the AFL, thanks to Freedman’s writing, were more exciting than this game.  Overall, the book is fine if you like books on season recaps - just pick up the physical or e-book version. 

Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Clouds-over-Goalpost-Gambling-Assassination-ebook/dp/B00E257XJA/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kH6GKvsz2myq0BOpCEJwEw.D3pvaHA5VEIJ-7XO37FOx3QWk1Gnp77fkolD59a202Y&qid=1747876689&sr=8-1 

Review of "A View from Two Benches"

To finish off a very busy April for this site, this is my review of the biography of Bob Thomas, a successful kicker for the Chicago Bears in the 1970's and early 80's and his later rise in prominence in the legal profession by becoming a justice on a state Supreme Court.  Here is my review of "A View from Two Benches."

Title/Author:

“A View from Two Benches: Bob Thomas in Football and the Law" by Doug Feldman

Tags:

Football (American), biography, legal, Bears, Lions, Chargers, Giants

Publish date:

May 15, 2020

Length:

264 pages

Rating: to

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

While it isn't common, there are examples of professional athletes who have studied law while they were still playing sports and some have gone on to prominent legal careers.  One such athlete is Bob Thomas, an associate justice for the Illinois Supreme Court. His football and legal careers are the subject of this biography by Doug Feldman.

Thomas kicked 11 years in the National Football League, primarily with the Chicago Bears, but also kicked for the Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers and New York Giants during his football career.  Feldman does an excellent job of portraying the life of a NFL kicker being a nomadic one, as most kickers will often be signed by teams for brief periods to either replace an injured kicker (as Thomas was in San Diego and New York) or to find yet another kicker who will consistently perform under pressure. Thomas proved that during his time with the Bears, setting team records for scoring and remaining highly ranked in those categories for the team.

Despite the many changes, Thomas had settled in Chicago and that is where his family life was settled and where he not only studied law but became a practicing attorney, including late in his career when he kicked for other teams.  His family's adventures were handled by his wife Maggie, whom Feldman does mention prominently, especially when they are moving around.

Once Thomas's career track changes from football to the law, the book also takes a different track as Thomas's faith is discussed more frequently. There are Biblical scripture readings that Bob and Maggie used to help them get through troubled times.  Bob's legal career was very successful, moving up quickly through the process to become first a judge, then a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court.  There is even a trial in which Bob sues a small newspaper for defamation that reads like a quick, exciting legal thriller. 

While the book is approximately 70 percent about Thomas's football career and 30 percent about his legal career, both parts are equally engrossing and make for good reading.  Anyone interested in football, especially kickers, will enjoy that portion of the book while those interested in his time on the Illinois Supreme Court will like the book as well.

I wish to thank University of Northern Illinois 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/View-Two-Benches-Thomas-Football-ebook/dp/B07Z9NKFFY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=  

Review of "Junior Seau"

As anyone who follows football or the current news knows, the topic of concussions and football is a hot-button issue right now.  One of the symbols of this issue is the suicide of Junior Seau in 2012.  When I saw that a book on his life and death was to be published, I was very interested to see if the book would reveal some new information on this topic.  It was a good biography of the Chargers' great but it fell a bit short on this matter.  Here is my review of "Junior Seau". 

Title/Author:

“Junior Seau: The Life and Death of a Football Icon” by Jim Trotter

Tags:

Football (American), biography, death, Chargers

Publish date:

October 27, 2015

Length:

240 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Tiaina Baul “Junior” Seau is a name that even casual football fans recognize.  He is considered to be one of the best linebackers to ever play professional football. Growing up in southern California, he dreamed of playing for his hometown team, the San Diego Chargers. After a great high school and college football career, his dream came true when the Chargers made him a first round draft choice.  He was charismatic, generous and a fan favorite. Teammates and opponents alike respected him.  He seemed to have the charmed life.

However, as this biography by Jim Trotter reveals, it wasn’t always easy for Seau.  Many did not realize this until his suicide in May 2012. It was revealed that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from repeated blows to the head.  That disease has also been diagnosed in other former professional football players and is a hot topic in the current discussion on concussions in the sport. Therefore, when I picked up this book, I was hoping that some insight would be shed into this disease and how players are affected.

That was not the case. The book is a good but typical sports biography. There is excellent writing about Seau’s football career, especially his time with the Chargers (he also played for the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots) and how he was not only the best player on the field but also a leader in the locker room and in the community. His charitable work and his successful restaurant are mentioned prominently throughout the book. There are also passages about the pitfalls many athletes encounter – excessive drinking, marital infidelity, poor investments – that make Seau’s story typical of most celebrities who get caught up in the high life.

Where the book and Seau’s story takes a different turn is when he drove off an embankment in 2010.  While it was dismissed as one of his many episodes of poor judgement while driving, not everyone believed this to be the case.  The author, through interviews with many who were close to Seau, takes the reader through a journey that reveals there was more to this incident than just drinking or bad driving.  It is the first exposure that makes one believe there was something terribly wrong with Seau.  Again, in both this book and in real life, that doesn’t seem to be understood until he was found dead by his ex-wife on May 2, 2012 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Here, the book scratches the surface about Junior’s suffering from CTE and the effects, but does not dig into that topic. Instead, the author focuses on how the surviving members of Seau’s family are coping with their loss.  Again, typical material for a biography of this type but nothing that is earth-shattering.

This book is one that football fans, especially Charger fans, will especially enjoy as they will read about many of Seau’s exploits on the field and his happier times. Readers who enjoy celebrity biographies will also enjoy it as the book sticks with the tried and true format.  They should just not expect anything new or intriguing about the situation or disease behind Seau’s disease or death.  

I wish to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (EPUB)

Buying links:

http://www.amazon.com/Junior-Seau-Life-Death-Football-ebook/dp/B00QPHS9PA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446989075&sr=1-1&keywords=junior+seau+the+life+and+death+of+a+football+icon  

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/junior-seau-jim-trotter/1120874816?ean=9780544236172&quickview=true