Review of "The W"

Tamryn Spruill’s The W: A History of the WNBA offers a rich, narrative-driven account of how the league survived early challenges, evolved through franchise upheaval, and emerged as a powerful cultural force. Her reporting balances celebration, critique, and social context, making the book both informative and engaging. For anyone interested in the WNBA’s history and impact, this is essential reading.

Title/Author:

“The W: A History of the WNBA: How the WNBA Survived, Evolved and Changed Professional Sports: by Tamryn Spruill

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: 

Women’s basketball has never been more popular, and the WNBA is currently enjoying some of the strongest attendance and viewership numbers in its history. In The W: A History of the WNBA, Tamryn Spruill guides readers through a comprehensive and engaging chronicle of the league’s evolution.

Spruill begins with the league’s launch in 1997, noting that the WNBA entered the landscape alongside the rival American Basketball League (ABL), and that the NBA’s financial support was crucial in the W’s early years. Each chapter follows a consistent and effective pattern: off‑season developments, franchise movement, draft selections, season highlights, playoff results, and award winners. Presented in a narrative rather than statistical format, this structure makes the history accessible and enjoyable.

A standout element of the book is Spruill’s reporting on franchises that folded, relocated, or emerged. She praises owners and league leadership when warranted and does not shy away from criticism when she believes poor decisions or injustices occurred. Her discussion of the Houston Comets—winners of the league’s first four championships—ceasing operations due to ownership issues is particularly compelling, as is her later coverage of the league’s handling of the Connecticut Sun sale and the planned return of the Comets in 2027.

Spruill also addresses the WNBA’s role in social justice movements, from Black Lives Matter to women’s rights, while examining moments when league leadership appeared out of step with its players. Although most of her arguments are grounded in factual reporting, there are a few instances where her conclusions feel less certain. One example is her framing of the Sacramento Monarchs’ demise as evidence of sexism in sports; given the long history of owners leveraging taxpayer-funded arenas across all professional leagues, that situation felt more like a familiar sports-business standoff than a gendered injustice.

These moments are rare, and Spruill’s overall approach to difficult subjects is thoughtful, well-supported, and illuminating. For anyone interested in the WNBA—its past, present, and future—this book is highly recommended.

I wish to thank Abrams Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: Amazon.com: The W: A History of the WNBA: How the WNBA Survived, Evolved, and Changed Professional Sports: 9781419758812: Spruill, Tamryn: Books

Review of "Football"

Every so often, a book shows up on the new‑release shelf that feels like it was placed there specifically for me. That was the case with Chuck Klosterman’s Football. I’d read his music writing before and always appreciated the way he blends cultural insight with humor, so seeing his name attached to America’s most popular sport was an easy invitation. What I found was a book that approaches football from angles I didn’t expect — and that’s exactly why it works.

Title/Author:

“Football” by Chuck Klosterman

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: 

Not knowing Chuck Klosterman had written a book on football, I was genuinely surprised to find Football sitting in the new‑release section of my local library. Having enjoyed his books on music — especially his ability to blend cultural insight with humor — I picked this one up immediately. I wasn’t disappointed. Klosterman writes about the most popular sport in the United States with the same mix of knowledge, wit, and offbeat perspective that makes his rock‑music criticism so memorable.

The topics he covers are wide‑ranging, touching on the NFL, college football, and even a full chapter on the Canadian Football League. That CFL chapter, “The Cottage Life,” is a perfect example of how Klosterman approaches the sport. He walks readers through the quirks that differentiate the Canadian game from the American one — the 110‑yard field, the one‑point “rouge,” twelve men on the field, and the three‑down rule instead of four.

It’s that last rule that sparks one of the book’s most entertaining digressions. Klosterman uses the three‑down system to compare football to the Deep Purple song “Smoke on the Water,” to argue that four is the “perfect number” (with Walter Camp conveniently supporting his case), and even to riff on colonialism. This leads to my favorite line in the entire book: “It’s not as if Bud Grant attacked the CFL with a cavalry and the Canadian players lost their minds when they saw horses for the first time.” It’s a perfect example of what Klosterman does so well — blending humor, cultural commentary, and football’s place in modern society.

This is just one of many topics Klosterman tackles with the same mix of curiosity and sharp observation. He writes about the racial makeup of various positions — not just the number of Black quarterbacks, but also how few white running backs have led the league in rushing, with Christian McCaffrey as a notable exception. He discusses Colin Kaepernick, debates who should be considered the greatest player of all time, and explores Friday Night Lights across its book, movie, and television versions. These are only a handful of the subjects he pulls into the larger conversation about what football means and why it matters.

A reader doesn’t need to be a football fan or possess deep knowledge of the game to enjoy this book. Klosterman’s ability to make the sport feel culturally expansive — and often very funny — is what makes Football such an engaging read.

Link:  Amazon.com: Football: 9780593490648: Klosterman, Chuck: Books

Review of "Moses and the Doctor"

Luke Epplin’s Moses and the Doctor is a smart, lively, and deeply researched look at Julius Erving and Moses Malone—two Hall of Fame greats who helped shape the NBA’s rise but rarely get their due. Epplin blends history, personality, and humor as he traces their ABA roots, their contrasting paths to stardom, and their unforgettable partnership on the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers. Basketball fans of any era will find new insights and plenty of joy in these pages.

Title/Author:

“Moses and the Doctor: Two Men, One Championship and the Birth of Modern Basketball” by Luke Epplin

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: 

Luke Epplin’s Moses and the Doctor is a rich, deeply researched, and thoroughly entertaining reconsideration of two Hall of Fame giants who helped shape professional basketball’s rise in the 1980s: Julius Erving and Moses Malone. While Bird, Magic, and Jordan usually dominate the conversation about the NBA’s boom years, Epplin makes a compelling case that Erving and Malone deserve far more credit—both for their brilliance and for the ways their careers bridged the ABA’s renegade creativity with the NBA’s emerging mainstream appeal.

Epplin traces their early paths through the ABA, where Erving became a cultural phenomenon with his soaring, improvisational style, even if few fans actually saw him play on television. Malone, meanwhile, broke barriers as the first player to sign professionally straight out of high school, grinding through unstable franchises while quietly developing into one of the most intelligent and relentless centers the sport has ever seen. Epplin’s portrayal of Malone is especially strong, dismantling long‑standing misconceptions about his personality and intellect.

Once the ABA folded into the NBA, their trajectories diverged—Erving becoming the polished superstar of the Philadelphia 76ers, Malone bouncing from Portland to Buffalo before blossoming into a two‑time MVP in Houston. All of this background sets the stage for the book’s most compelling section: the unlikely pairing of these two contrasting stars when Malone signed with Philadelphia in 1982 for a then‑record contract.

Epplin shines here, capturing the humor, tension, and surprising evolution of their relationship. The book is filled with laugh‑out‑loud quotes, sharp reporting, and memorable anecdotes, including Malone’s famous “Fo’, Fo’, Fo’” prediction (accurately rendered as “Four, Four, Four”) that nearly came true during the 76ers’ dominant 1983 championship run. Epplin also illustrates how both men subtly swapped public personas—Erving becoming quieter and more introspective, Malone stepping into a more vocal leadership role.

For fans of that era, this is a wonderfully nostalgic trip, but even die‑hard basketball junkies will learn something new. I certainly did—I had no idea Malone nearly backed out of the deal to join Philadelphia because Caldwell Jones was no longer on the roster. Details like that make this book a standout.

I wish to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link:  Moses and the Doctor: Two Men, One Championship, and the Birth of Modern Basketball: Epplin, Luke: 9780306833496: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "Smart Baseball"

For my American readers, happy Independence Day, celebrating 250 years.  On a special day like this, what better review to post than one on the great American pastime, baseball?  Baseball fans have spent the last decade learning a whole new language of numbers, and Keith Law’s Smart Baseball was one of the first books to explain why that shift mattered. His look at the limits of traditional stats and the rise of better ones still feels sharp years later. It’s a clear, balanced guide to how modern evaluation really works.

Title/Author:

“Smart Baseball: The Story behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think about Baseball” by Keith Law

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: 

Fans who have followed baseball statistics over the last 10 to 15 years have watched both the volume of numbers and the types of metrics evolve. Keith Law’s Smart Baseball, published in 2017, offers a clear, timely accounting of why traditional statistics often fail to tell the full story of a player’s hitting, pitching, or fielding ability, which newer metrics were gaining traction, and what the future might hold.

Much of what Law predicted has come to pass, most notably the rise of Statcast and its now‑familiar measurements like launch angle and exit velocity. Drawing on his experience in scouting, analytics, and front‑office work, Law presents a balanced view of how modern evaluation works. Unlike Moneyball—which he still considers the gold standard for introducing analytics—Law doesn’t demean scouting. Instead, he shows scouting and analytics as complementary departments working toward the same goal: finding the best players. He acknowledges the old scouting tropes of “gut feelings” and a player’s “look,” but focuses on how scouting has advanced rather than criticizing its past.

Law’s sharpest critiques come early, where he explains why certain traditional statistics—batting average, RBIs, pitcher wins, and saves—are poor indicators of actual skill. He ranges from “still useful, but less important” (batting average) to “essentially useless” (wins and saves). Reading this years after publication, I found myself nodding along; I’ve grown accustomed to the “better” stats he champions. Had I read it in 2017, I probably would have been yelling at the pages defending some of those old standbys. Except wins—I agreed with Law on that one long ago.

When he turns to advanced metrics, Law is equally fair. From straightforward ones like OPS (on‑base percentage plus slugging) to more complex measures like FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, similar to ERA but based only on events a pitcher can control), he explains why each offers a more accurate picture of performance while also noting where they fall short.

Despite the title, Smart Baseball isn’t a lecture demanding agreement. It’s an accessible, often humorous guide to how modern baseball analysis works. I laughed every time Law used “Joey Bagodonuts” to illustrate a point. Details like that—and the clarity of Law’s explanations—make this a worthwhile read for any baseball fan, no matter how long ago it was published.

Link:  Amazon.com: Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball eBook : Law, Keith: Kindle Store

 

Review of “Out of the Rough”

 It’s always exciting to read a book on a topic or person that you did not know about before reading that book. That was the case for me with this book about Ted Rhodes, a Black golfer considered to be one of the barrier breakers for Blacks into professional golf. Here is my review of this excellent biography on him. 

Title/Author: “Out of the Rough: Ted Rhodes and His Fight Against Golf’s Color Barrier” by Dan Taylor 

Rating: 5 of 5 stars (Excellent)

Review: When Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters, in his press conference he paid tribute to three men considered to be pioneers for Black golfers - Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder and Ted Rhodes. The work and struggles Rhodes had in opening the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) up to Black golfers is largely unknown and this book by Dan Taylor is an excellent biography of this golfer whose accomplishments should be better known. 

Rhodes grew up in Nashville where Jim Crow laws made it hard for him to pursue golf, but he did get a caddying job on a public course and it was there where the golf bug hit him. He was mentored, took the game seriously and was invited to play in a tournament sponsored by heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, an avid golfer himself. That was where Rhodes became more well known as a golfer who had great potential.

Taylor’s writing illustrated Rhodes’ struggles to get into a PGA tournament as the organization had a strict “Caucasians Only” policy. Rhodes still was able to rack up great scores in the United Golf Association (UGA) that was for Black golfers, but the prize money was a pittance compared to PGA purses. While the coverage of Rhodes’ success was very good, Taylor’s account of the deals made and broken by the PGA, their blatant discrimination against Black golfers and their heavy handedness when addressing this matter with sponsors such as Bing Crosby and his annual tournament was very revealing. It showed just how bad Black golfers were viewed by the organization.

Once Rhodes was able to break the color barrier, he and Charlie Sifford did have some success. But where Rhodes was really making his mark was in coaching other Black players. One very famous pupil of his was Althea Gibson. Once she was tired of tennis because she had defeated nearly every other player, she wanted to try her hand at golf. Struggling at first, she eventually became proficient enough in the game under Rhodes’ tutelage that she became the first Black woman to compete in the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

When Rhodes died at age 55, the golf world grieved as the sport lost a true pioneer. This book is one that should be read by those who enjoy golf but may not be aware of the contributions Rhodes made to the sport. I was one of those golf fans who did not know about Ted Rhodes - I am very glad that I do now.

I wish to thank Bloomsbury Academic for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own. 

Link:   https://www.amazon.com/Out-Rough-Rhodes-Against-Barrier/dp/B0FBQY2554/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 

Review of "Tony Zale: The Man of Steel"

He fought in one of boxing’s greatest eras, yet Tony Zale rarely gets his due. This biography hits hard enough to change that. Here is my review.

Title/Author:

“Tony Zale: The Man of Steel” by Thad Zale and Clay Moyle

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very good)

Review: 

During one of boxing’s most popular decades, the 1940s, one fighter twice won the middleweight championship: Tony Zale. The man who defeated Zale to win the belt—and then lost it back to him in their third match—was Rocky Graziano. Because Graziano had a far more outgoing personality and published an autobiography, he is better known to boxing historians and fans. However, Zale led an interesting life of his own, and this book by Thad Zale (Tony’s nephew) and Clay Moyle provides a rich account of Tony’s full life and boxing career.

As one might expect from a biography written by a family member, there are passages in which Thad’s admiration for Tony comes through clearly, sometimes in ways that feel biased. Even so, this is a very good biography of Tony Zale’s entire life. This review won’t go step-by-step through that life; instead, it highlights the most interesting sections.

The best parts, especially for a sports fan, are the descriptions of Zale’s major fights. There are separate chapters on each of the Zale–Graziano bouts and on his fights with Al Hostak, whom he defeated in 1940 when he first won the middleweight crown. Each chapter covering a significant fight is rich with detail—not only round‑by‑round accounts of nearly every punch, but also the actions taken in both corners and even the referee’s interactions with the fighters. These details make readers feel as if they are ringside, despite the fact that these fights took place more than 80 years ago.

As for Tony’s personal life, this is where having a family member as author is both helpful and, at times, somewhat biased. This is especially true in the discussion of Tony’s first marriage, which ended in divorce, and his subsequent inability to see his two daughters as often as he wished. While Thad appears to strive for objectivity, the narrative is more sympathetic to Tony than to Adelaide, even if all allegations against both parties are accurate.

Tony also faced financial difficulties after retiring from boxing. Here again, the reader sees the family’s sympathy, but the book also describes how Tony refused to ask for assistance because of his faith, pride, morals, and work ethic. When he married his second wife, Philomena (affectionately called “Mighty Mouth” by Tony), his life changed dramatically. Philomena took charge and ensured that Tony received the recognition due to a former world champion. That improved Tony’s life immensely, and Thad writes about this period with the same strength and clarity he brings to the boxing chapters.

Since this book set out to tell the story of Tony Zale’s life, it succeeds. I had known of Tony Zale only from lists of past champions and occasional mentions of great fights, such as his trilogy with Graziano. This book showed me that Tony Zale was not only a great fighter but a good man as well

Link:   Amazon.com: Tony Zale The Man of Steel eBook : Zale, Thad, Moyle, Clay, Zale, Deborah: Kindle Store

Review of "The First All-Star Game"

With baseball season now at around the quarter turn with each team playing about 40 or so games thus far, it's time to start thinking about the All-Star game voting.  So, it's appropriate to post a review of a book about that first All-Star game in Chicago back in 1933. 

Title/Author:

“The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads” by Randall Sullivan

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: 

Many baseball fans and historians know that the first baseball All-Star game was played in 1933 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, that the American League won that first game on a home run by Babe Ruth and that it was the brainchild of Chicago newspaper mogul Arch Ward.  This book by Randall Sullivan gives a very in-depth look at how the game came about and some other historical background of the politics and economic depression of the United States at that time.

What strikes me most about this book and the excellent details that Sullivan includes is that he gives a well-rounded description of every player and manager on both teams.  Even non-starters, players who did not appear in the game and others such as the umpires also are given their due.  These are all in the chapters leading up to the game itself which is also covered in very good detail.

There is other baseball covered in the book, most notably excerpts about the All-Star games of the Negro Leagues as at this time, Major League Baseball still had its unwritten but very noticeable color line and no Black players were on any of the 16 teams. 

While the other topics discussed by Sullivan do provide some good background, they are explained in the same level of detail as the All-Star game itself. That may make a reader distracted or question why there is so much detail about items like Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Depression or the history of the World’s Fair in Chicago, which was also taking place in Chicago at the time of the game.  While there is relevance to the All-Star game for some of these, especially with the World’s Fair, there were times I was wondering if I was reading a history book or a baseball book.  Fortunately, there was enough of the latter that I knew it was a very good baseball book that is one for any reader who wants to learn more about the origins of the All-Star game.

I wish to thank Atlantic Monthly Press for providing a copy of the book via Netgalley.  The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link:   The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads: Sullivan, Randall: 9780802167361: Amazon.com: Books

 

Review of "The Texas Rangers and Me"

Keeping up with my personal policy of reading a book relevant to the sporting event I am attending, I read this book while on a bus trip to Yankee Stadium. I gave myself brownie points for not only reading a baseball book, but the subject was one of the teams I was seeing that night, the Texas Rangers.  I won't say the Rangers won that game because I enjoyed the book - but if one wants to believe so, go ahead!  Here is my review. 

Title/Author:

“The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer’s Thirty-Two Years in Arlington” by T. R. Sullivan

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: 

If a reader wants to get the inside scoop for their favorite baseball team, the best source of information would be one of the beat writers who cover the team regularly.  T.R. Sullivan was one of those writers for the Texas Rangers and his career covering the team is a good collection of his time performing that task.

Sullivan’s career covered a lot of ground for the history of the team, through the good times and the bad ones.  Players he highlights in the book could make up a Who’s Who of Texas Rangers history.  There is great information on stars who had great seasons with the Rangers.  These include Nolan Ryan, Michael Young, Adrian Beltre, Josh Hamilton and Alex Rodriguez.  Not only are their exploits on the field covered, but Sullivan also shares personal stories about interactions he had with them and for some, such as Rodriguez, how they ended up becoming Rangers.

The stories are not limited to the players. Sullivan also shares anecdotes on managers and front office leaders as well. The best of the managers during Sullivan’s time covering the team, Ron Washington, gets a great write up.  For front office staff, that honor would go to Jon Daniels.  It probably is no coincidence that these two individuals got this amount of text in the book as they were the field manager and general manager respectively when the Rangers won back-to-back American League pennants in 2010 and 2011.  Sullivan retired after the 2020 World Series (played in Arlington even though the teams were the Dodgers and the Rays) so he did not cover the first championship for Texas in 2023, but he did include his observations on that team as well.

Through these personal stories, Sullivan also takes the reader through the Rangers’ seasons, both good and bad.  He starts with an event where the Rangers were not playing – the 1989 World Series between the Athletics and Giants and the earthquake in San Francisco that interrupted it for ten days.  From there, he works for a Dallas-Fort Worth newspaper covering the Rangers and occasionally will give the reader a peak of life as a beat reporter.

Because of all these interconnected stories about the people and the team, there is repetition of many events in Rangers history.  From that, it appears that Sullivan wrote each chapter without looking back to see if an event had already been addressed.  That is the only true flaw I found in this book and if that’s the worst thing one can find, it’s truly a book worth a reader’s time.  Even if that reader is not a Rangers fan, it’s still fun to read about this team’s personalities and history.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer's Thirty-Two Years in Arlington: Sullivan, T.R.: 9781496246806: Amazon.com: Books

Review of “Royal Treatment”

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the integration of Major League Baseball by the Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. So, just like when he played in Montreal the year before integration, I received a book about his time with the Royals a year before that anniversary. Here is my review of that book.

Title/Author: “Royal Treatment: Jackie Robinson, Montreal, and the Breaking of Baseball’s Color Barrier” by Sean J. McLaughlin

Rating:  4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: When Jackie Robinson spent the 1946 baseball season with the Montreal Royals, it was part of the plan by Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey to integrate Major League Baseball. This was done not because Robinson needed the year at the Dodgers’ top farm club to work on his baseball skills. It was done to prepare him for what he might face as the game’s first Black player. How Robinson and his wife Rachel fared in Montreal and how the city treated him is the main focus of this book by Sean J. McLaughlin.

The book isn’t all baseball, all the Robinsons or all Montreal. McLaughlin does a very good job of weaving the topics together in a way that it doesn’t get too bogged down in one topic. While that’s a strength of the book, there are also good chunks of the book, several pages long, about subjects that are really only peripherally relevant to the main subject of Robinson. Two examples of this are the lengthy sections on Canadian racial history and a later description of the same thing for the city of Louisville, who was Montreal’s opponent in the 1946 Junior World Series. 

While these subjects may not have been directly related to the Jackie Robinson story, when McLaughlin concentrated on Robinson, the city and citizens of Montreal, or the action on the field during Royals games, the writing is great. It’s clear, full of important details, and makes the reader feel like they are in a time warp and takes them back to post-World War II Canada. I especially enjoyed reading about the warm reception that the Robinson received in Montreal, whether it was in their neighborhood or enthusiastic baseball fans cheering the soon-to-be Dodger on. 

This step of the Jackie Robinson story is one that is often passed or glossed over and this book finally gives it the recognition it deserves. No matter what the checkered history of racial relations may be in both the United States or Canada may be, this book shows that even that may be pushed aside when a talented player can make an entire city cheer. 

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book. The views expressed in this review are strictly my own. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Treatment-Robinson-Montreal-Baseballs/dp/1496244311/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 

Review of “Certified Beauties”

Having spent a good chunk of the last three days on the road, it gave me time to listen to a audiobook. Having been on a hockey kick lately between attending an ECHL playoff game and watching a lot of the NHL playoffs, it’s only logical that I listened to a collection of hockey stories.

Title/Author: “Certified Beauties: More of Hockey’s Greatest Untold Stories” written and narrated by James Duthie

Rating:  5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: Every sport has stories that are amusing, shocking, inspiring and heart-tugging. Hockey is no exception and James Duthie has compiled an excellent collection of them for this book. He also narrates the audio version, which was a great listen.

There is no one theme for these stories and that makes this collection even better. If there is a common thread between any of them, it would be that a few of them involve players either missing a bus from the hotel for a morning skate. There are also some that involve a player who has just been called up to the NHL and has to catch a plane or arrange ground transportation to get to the arena. Many of these stories are during the time when hockey teams flew commercial and there were no cell phones . They all were fun to listen to. 

There’s also stories about former hockey personalities battling disease, some stories only made possible by the world situation during the COVID pandemic and even a couple of comebacks. That was the final act in my favorite story in the book, the one about Terry Ryan. A former first round draft choice, Ryan suffered several setbacks both in hockey and in his personal life. To flash forward to the best part, he made a comeback to the game in a minor league game at the age of 47. Hearing Duthie read this helped me imagine Ryan telling it, which made listening to this as an audiobook a good choice. This book is one that every hockey fan will enjoy whether reading or listening. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Beauties-Hockeys-Greatest-Stories/dp/B0DV69DM76/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0 

Review of "The Messi Effect"

Major League Soccer (MLS) has been in existence since 1996, but the bug didn't hit me until 2017, when Minnesota United started play as an expansion team.  Since then I have followed the league and Minnesota casually, but of course I took notice when Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami in 2023.  This is a great book on how his arrival has impacted the league. 

Title/Author:

“The Messi Effect: How the Global Legend Changed the Future of American Soccer” by Paul Tenorio

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: 

When a global superstar in soccer decides to play for a team in the United States, it makes for a seismic reaction from soccer fans across the world and provides American soccer a lot of publicity.  Three examples of this are when Pele arrived to play for the New York Cosmos in 1975, David Beckham arriving from England to play for the LA Galaxy in 2007 and Lionel Messi’s signing with Inter Miami in 2023.  The latter of these events is covered in this book by Paul Tenorio.

It should be noted that this book’s primary focus is not Messi himself but the business of Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of professional soccer in the United States.  The “Messi Effect” is how his presence in MLS would affect the growth, quality of play, popularity and progression of MLS. The league has taken slow but mostly steady growth since its near bankruptcy in 2001.  There was a noted increase in many of these items when Beckham joined, a fact Tenorio notes often.

However, the connection between the two superstars of different eras is much tighter than that.  After his playing days were over, Beckham became one of the owners of the Inter Miami expansion team, thereby becoming Messi’s employer.  Why Messi decided to join Inter Miami is told in excellent detail early in the book by Tenorio and he does just as fine a job with his explanations of the inner workings of MLS ownership.

Tenorio notes how the principal owner of Inter Miami, Jorge Mas, is a visionary and forward thinker as Mas wants the league to use the power of Messi’s popularity to grow the league’s international status.  As a whole, ownership of MLS has always had a conservative view of growth and favored competitive balance, a formula what was working for the NFL.  Tenorio paints a terrific picture of these owners and how their actions were holding back the size of growth for the league.  There are changes coming that he points out, but they may be too late to complement the exposure the league is getting from Messi and the 2026 World Cup coming to North America.

I bring all these up because this is a fantastic look at not only Messi’s arrival and on-field performance but MLS as a whole – from its beginnings to its upcoming changes on the schedule and rosters.  Any fan of MLS or soccer in general will want to add this one to their library.

I wish to thank St. Martin’s Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: The Messi Effect: How the Global Legend Changed the Future of American Soccer: Tenorio, Paul: 9781250364173: Amazon.com: Books

 

Review of "Season of Shattered Dreams"

Eric Vickrey’s Season of Shattered Dreams brings new life to one of baseball’s most devastating and least‑remembered moments. It's a book I've been looking into for a long time and finally got the chance to read it.  Here is my review.

Title/Author:

“Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, The Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything” by Eric Vickrey

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: 

One of the most tragic dates in baseball history is June 24, 1946. On that day, a bus carrying 16 members of the Spokane Indians of the Western International League crashed on a mountain road in the Cascades. Nine team members were killed. A city, a team, and an entire league were left in shock. In Season of Shattered Dreams, Eric Vickrey tells the stories of the players who survived, the ones who didn’t, and the many people whose lives were permanently altered by the deadliest day to that point in professional baseball history. It was a finalist for the prestigious Casey Award in 2024, and after reading it, the recognition makes perfect sense.

While Vickrey devotes a chapter to the crash itself and the immediate aftermath, the strongest parts of the book are his portraits of the players and manager who made up the 1946 Indians. The pre‑crash chapters are especially compelling, particularly those on Jack Lohrke, Ben Geraghty, and Vic Picetti. After the crash, Vickrey follows Geraghty’s long, determined, and ultimately unsuccessful quest to become a major‑league manager, a journey that ended at the AAA Louisville Colonels despite his widely respected baseball mind.

The book captures everything a reader might want from baseball history of that era: the impact of World War II on rosters, the unique structure of baseball west of the Mississippi before MLB expanded, the near‑major‑league quality of the Pacific Coast League, and vivid profiles of the players themselves.

Vickrey also excels in widening the lens. He includes the stories of players who were not on the bus — Lohrke being the most famous example — and shows that their experiences were just as dramatic and meaningful as those who survived the crash. He brings in voices beyond the roster as well: wives and girlfriends, the bus driver, and even the search for the mysterious car that nearly collided head‑on with the team bus before swerving away and sending the vehicle down the ravine. These shorter narratives add depth and texture without ever feeling like digressions.

As Vickrey does in the book, it feels right to name the nine players who died, ensuring their memory endures nearly eighty years later: Freddie Martinez, Chris Hartje, George Risk, Bob James, Mel Cole, Bob Kinnaman, George Lyden, Bob Patterson, and Vic Picetti.

I wish to thank Mr. Vickrey for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Link: Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything: Vickrey, Eric: 9781538190722: Amazon.com: Books

Review of "Tales from the Montreal Canadiens Locker Room"

I started listening to this audio book on my recent trip to a Canadiens-Rangers hockey game, keeping in line with my policy to read or listen to books appropriate for my trip. However, I didn't finish it that night, had to put it aside to get another review done, and came back to it, finishing today.  Here is my review.

Title/Author:

“Tales from the Montreal Canadiens Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Canadiens Stories Ever Told” by Robert S. Lefebvre, narrated by J.P. Linton

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (good)

Review:

As the hockey team who has won the most Stanley Cups, this book on the Montreal Canadiens from the collection of similar titles for other teams in the four major sports sounded like one that would be full of excellent stories.  While this book by Robert S. Lefebvre has a few of them, especially during the greatest eras for the team in the 1950’s and the 1970’s, overall, this book fell short of those expectations.

One aspect that did not fall short of expectations was the narration of the book by J.P. Linton.  Even more than the good stories, I felt that Linton did a fantastic job on the narration, especially in the earlier chapter when the connection between the Canadiens and the Francophone population in the province of Quebec.  His pronunciation of the French names was very good, and he provided excellent narration of the hockey stories as well.

Here is where the book was not what I expected – the actual stories.  When I see one of these books in the “Tales from the Locker Room” series, I expect a lot of stories about the players’ camaraderie, their antics away from the games and of course game action as well.  This book lacked much of these.  There were more historical stories of how great Canadiens teams were either built or had their dynasties come to an end.  This was especially true for the Montreal teams that won four consecutive Cups from 1976 to 1979.  The stories were more about the players after they left the Canadiens that led to the end of their dynasty in the spring of 1980.  Or, if not that topic, there were plenty on how some of those players were acquired, such as how the trade for Guy Lafleur was conducted. 

Those types of stories, which were many of them no matter what era was being discussed, were good and well-researched. They did hold my interest long enough for me to finish the book, although Linton’s narration helped with that as well.  This just was not the collection of stories I expected.  Readers or listeners who are more interested in the workings of the Montreal front office through the decades would be the target audience for this book.

Link: Amazon.com: Tales from the Montreal Canadiens Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Canadiens Stories Ever Told (Audible Audio Edition): J. P. Linton, Robert S. Lefebvre, Audible Studios: Books

Review of “Beyond Ken Dryden”

Regular readers here know that I have a policy of reading a book relevant to the game I am attending when riding a bus or train there. Last night I took the train to see a Rangers-Canadiens game and had this book loaded on my Kindle. It was a quick but excellent read - was finished before I arrive in New York City. Here is my review of “Beyond Ken Dryden.” 

Title/Author: “Beyond Ken Dryden” by Oren Safdie

Rating:  5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:  For some people, athletes and their teams can be more than just entertainers. Some of these people can take comfort in turning to sports to help deal with whatever is troubling. For a young Oren Safedie, that came during the 1970’s when his favorite hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens, won six Stanley Cups led by Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden. 

This short memoir, covers a portion of Safedie’s childhood, tells how the Canadiens and Dryden were his escape from two traumatic events at that time. His family lost everything in a house fire and his parents divorced, which would be terrible for any child, but even more so for Safedie, given the tone of his description of the events. 

But what ties these events together with hockey is how Safedie weaves actual play by play into the book, especially when there’s a fight between his parents when his father is on the phone with his mistress and Safdie’s mother overhears it. When the parents get in a fight over this, the book alternates lines between the parents’ argument and play-by-play of game 4 of the 1976 Stanley Cup Finals when the Canadiens swept the Philadelphia Flyers to win the first of four consecutive championships. 

That is just one of the examples to link hockey to Safedie’s youth and events that took place. There’s humor as well. I laughed out loud when Safedie refused to go to the wedding when his father remarried and calling the new stepmother “Mike Milbury” because of the Boston star’s dirty play. Or linking the retirement of Dryden to when his father left the house. I felt that this was a very creative way to write a memoir.

Because it covers just a short period of his life, the book is a short but excellent read. If a reader wants a different type of memoir linking the author’s life to real time sports, this is a good choice.

I wish to thank the Literary Press Group of Canada for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The views expressed in this review are strictly my own. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1773901923/ref=x_gr_bb_amazon?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_bb_amazon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1773901923&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2