Best sports books you've ever read.

CowboyWay

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I'm always looking out for a good sports book. Particularly sports biographies. I don't like fluff pieces either. I've read a bunch, but the two best that I would recommend to anyone are

"Cobb" By Al Stump

and

"Joe Dimmagio" by Richard Ben Cramer.

The Cobb book was unbelievable. Cobb did stuff that would blow your mind on and off the field. He was quite possibly certifiably crazy. He once went without electricity in his Lake Tahoe home for a year because of a dispute of about 3 bucks with the local electric company. He was going to "show them", by doing without heat or lights even though he was a multi millionaire. What I admired about him though was his undisputed will to win. You always hear about how bad present day athletes want to win. But with Cobb, it wasn't just talk. He would kill you dead for a base hit, let alone for a win. Other men feared him, and rightly so. If I only had one sports book to read the rest of my life, this would be it. It was that good.

The Dimaggio book was outstanding as well. While not in Cobbs league, it was still a fascinating book. We all know that Cobb was a total **** head, but what I didn't know was that Dimmagio wasn't too far behind him. He was the cheapest man on the planet. He refused to pay for anything, in fact, he had a secret account set up and if he showed up at your restaurant or nightclub, you had to deposit a large fee into that account the next day, or he'd never show up again. At the end of his career, he had over one million dollars in it. He HATED the Kennedy's too because of the affairs with Marilyn Monroe. He destested those two.
Great book. If you happen to see it, pick it up, you won't be dissapointed.

What about you guys? Which sports books do you highly recommend and why?
 

Hostile

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"Throwing Heat." It's about Nolan Ryan (one of my heroes) and it is a series of short stories about him as told by other players, coaches, umpires, etc.
 

ROMOSAPIEN9

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Haven't read one in a while but back in 1980 I read WILT. The autobiography of Wilt Chamberlain. Great read. Also, The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle was pretty good. Some real wild and funny stuff in that one.
 

daschoo

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CowboyWay;2839246 said:
I'm always looking out for a good sports book. Particularly sports biographies. I don't like fluff pieces either. I've read a bunch, but the two best that I would recommend to anyone are

"Cobb" By Al Stump

and

"Joe Dimmagio" by Richard Ben Cramer.

The Cobb book was unbelievable. Cobb did stuff that would blow your mind on and off the field. He was quite possibly certifiably crazy. He once went without electricity in his Lake Tahoe home for a year because of a dispute of about 3 bucks with the local electric company. He was going to "show them", by doing without heat or lights even though he was a multi millionaire. What I admired about him though was his undisputed will to win. You always hear about how bad present day athletes want to win. But with Cobb, it wasn't just talk. He would kill you dead for a base hit, let alone for a win. Other men feared him, and rightly so. If I only had one sports book to read the rest of my life, this would be it. It was that good.

The Dimaggio book was outstanding as well. While not in Cobbs league, it was still a fascinating book. We all know that Cobb was a total **** head, but what I didn't know was that Dimmagio wasn't too far behind him. He was the cheapest man on the planet. He refused to pay for anything, in fact, he had a secret account set up and if he showed up at your restaurant or nightclub, you had to deposit a large fee into that account the next day, or he'd never show up again. At the end of his career, he had over one million dollars in it. He HATED the Kennedy's too because of the affairs with Marilyn Monroe. He destested those two.
Great book. If you happen to see it, pick it up, you won't be dissapointed.

What about you guys? Which sports books do you highly recommend and why?

not a book but the stuff about how cheap dimaggio was reminded me about a story my irish friend told me about jack charlton. he was the manager of the republic of ireland soccer team from 1986 to 1995. when he took over they had never qualified for a major international tournament but during his time in charge the went to two world cups and a european championships so hes a bit of a hero over there. he also had a long and distinguished career as a player in his native england and won several championships with leeds and also the world cup with england so although players weren't payed what they are now he wasn't exactly short of a couple of quid. anyway jack loved his fishing and would always be touring about ireland looking for the best rivers to fish but he had a great trick when it came time for dinner. because he knew how popular he was he always tried to eat somewhere where he hadn't been before. at the end of the meal he would pay by cheque because he knew that nine times out of ten the owner of the restaurant rather than cashing the cheque would have it framed and displayed alongside a picture of him. hence jack didn't have to pay for his dinner and guinness :D
 

CowboyWay

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daschoo;2839477 said:
because he knew how popular he was he always tried to eat somewhere where he hadn't been before. at the end of the meal he would pay by cheque because he knew that nine times out of ten the owner of the restaurant rather than cashing the cheque would have it framed and displayed alongside a picture of him. hence jack didn't have to pay for his dinner and guinness :D

I've heard the same story but with Picasso. He would pay for EVERYTHING by check. No matter how small the amount, or how big.

Every time he would write a check, he would scribble a little drawing on the check somewhere, thereby making the check worth much more than whatever the check was actually written for. Anything under a couple hundred bucks, and nobody would ever cash it, they'd hold on to it because it was more valuable.

GENIUS !!!!
 

jem88

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daschoo;2839477 said:
not a book but the stuff about how cheap dimaggio was reminded me about a story my irish friend told me about jack charlton. he was the manager of the republic of ireland soccer team from 1986 to 1995. when he took over they had never qualified for a major international tournament but during his time in charge the went to two world cups and a european championships so hes a bit of a hero over there. he also had a long and distinguished career as a player in his native england and won several championships with leeds and also the world cup with england so although players weren't payed what they are now he wasn't exactly short of a couple of quid. anyway jack loved his fishing and would always be touring about ireland looking for the best rivers to fish but he had a great trick when it came time for dinner. because he knew how popular he was he always tried to eat somewhere where he hadn't been before. at the end of the meal he would pay by cheque because he knew that nine times out of ten the owner of the restaurant rather than cashing the cheque would have it framed and displayed alongside a picture of him. hence jack didn't have to pay for his dinner and guinness :D
Tight old sod! Keano had some choice putdowns of Charlton back in the day. A good read (even though I despise the man) is Tony Cascarino's book.
 

masomenos

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It's not about a conventional sport, but Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" is a great book about a failed Everest expedition.
 

Chief

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peplaw06;2839304 said:
Moneyball by Michael Lewis. Love the analytical side of sports.

I've heard that's good.

I liked:

Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger

Once a Cowboy, by Walt Garrison

Luckiest Man, by Jonathan Eig (about Lou Gehrig)

The Breaks of the Game, by David Halberstam

God's Coach, by Skip Bayless

Beyond the Game, the collected sports writing of Gary Smith

The Great Ones, collected columns by Jim Murray
 

Temo

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The Breaks of the Game and The Education of a Coach, both by David Halberstam. (First is the best Basketball book ever written, about late-70's Trailblazers, other is a fascinating bio of Bill Belichick-- including his relationship with Bill Parcells)

The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn (THE classic baseball book)

Moneyball and The Blind Side, both by Michael Lewis (book about Baseball business and the other about the evolution of the NFL game)

Ghosts of Manilla, by Mark Kram (Classic book, the best ever written about the Thrilla in Manilla)

5 Seconds of Panic, by Stefan Fatsis (Author tries out for the Denver Broncos as a kicker, good look inside NFL teams)

Anything in the "Best American Sportswriting" series... this is basically an annual publication of the best sportswriting of that year, most interesting stories and profiles you wouldn't ordinarily find.

There's also Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights book, which spawned a great movie a decent TV show.

A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein-- book about Bobby Knight

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella-- should be obvious what this is about

Mark Kriegel's bio of Joe Namath was pretty good, but that might be because I've always been a fan of Namath (despite him playing nearly 2 decades before I was born)


There's more, but yea... as you can see I read a lot :)
 

Chief

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Temo;2841830 said:
Anything in the "Best American Sportswriting" series... this is basically an annual publication of the best sportswriting of that year, most interesting stories and profiles you wouldn't ordinarily find.

Good one.

I have the 1992 book, which includes my all-time favorite -- a story about the basketball-playing Crow Indians in Montana, by Gary Smith.
 

Temo

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Chief;2841832 said:
Good one.

I have the 1992 book, which includes my all-time favorite -- a story about the basketball-playing Crow Indians in Montana, by Gary Smith.

Yea, that's how I first got introduced to Chris Jones, who wrote two fascinating articles on Ricky Williams-- one after he first retired and one after he came back.

I think Ricky Williams is the single most fascinating football player I've seen/heard/read about. This is a guy who Mike Ditka (who is the exact opposite of Ricky Williams in every way) gave up an ENTIRE DRAFT for. And he's about as unlike other football players as can be. It also demonstrates what a ****** Wayne Huzienga is.

Here's the second:
http://www.esquire.com/features/the-game/ESQ1005GAME_118
 

DallasCowpoke

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"They Call Me Mister 500" by Andy Granatelli is a great read, even if you're not a fan of racing.
 

Bob Sacamano

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DallasCowpoke;2841986 said:
"They Call Me Mister 500" by Andy Granatelli is a great read, even if you're not a fan of racing.

redneck

idk why they they write redneck racing books, half of you guys can't even read
 

Joe Realist

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I don't know if I have a best. Lot's of Cowboy's books in recent thread.

One that is memorable is called Raw Recruits. It is from late 1980's (i think) and talks about all the seedy things some colleges do when recruiting college basketball players. It talks alot about University of Kentucky and what led to Eddie Suttons; downfall. The $$. women, cars, and the influence of Sonny Vaccaro (who was with Nike) . A good read.
 

Chief

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Bob Sacamano;2841991 said:
redneck

idk why they they write redneck racing books, half of you guys can't even read

I believe you're thinking of NASCAR, stock cars, Winston Cup, Dale, Jeff, the Allisons, the Pettys ...

I think Granatelli is associated more with Indy Car racing and the Indianapolis 500. It's a whole different group of people, IMO.
 

Bob Sacamano

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Chief;2842009 said:
I believe you're thinking of NASCAR, stock cars, Winston Cup, Dale, Jeff, the Allisons, the Pettys ...

I think Granatelli is associated more with Indy Car racing and the Indianapolis 500. It's a whole different group of people, IMO.

oops, I assume too much
 

DallasCowpoke

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Bob Sacamano;2841991 said:
redneck

idk why they they write redneck racing books, half of you guys can't even read
:mad:
I hope you poop deck gets "swabbed" by a really large mizzenmast, repeatedly!
 
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