OT: The Best Sports Books
(I tried to search the board for a topic like this, but couldn't find another. Sorry if there was)
I'm going on a trip to see some relatives during Christmas and by the looks of it it will be a very long plane ride there and back. I couldn't find a decent list of books to read- and if there was one it was written by some SI "expert". I thought I would ask the forums for some actual opinion on it.
I've already read the Blind Side, Bo's Lasting Lessons, and a book written by Bear Bryant, by the way.
Bonus points if it's about Michigan!
December 6th, 2010 at 12:23 AM ^
Paper Lion: In the early 1960s, George Plimpton, one of the greatest sports writers of all time (he created the famous Sidd Finch hoax in Sports Illustrated), tries out for the Detroit Lions as a third string quarterback. The coaches know that he's a writer but the players don't. Later it got turned into a movie with Alan Alda as Plimpton and Alex Karras as himself.
Whether he would start over Stanton on today's Lions is of course up for debate.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:56 AM ^
Can't believe Blue Ice hasn't gotten mentioned yet. A great earlier John U Bacon book on the history of Michigan's hockey program. A lot of great university history, history of hockey as a sport overall, & history of college athletics gets woven in. Really, really readable, and of course we win 9 national titles in it, so that part's pretty fun as well!
December 6th, 2010 at 1:45 AM ^
The Boys of Summer
December 6th, 2010 at 1:46 AM ^
The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever
Season on the Brink
A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour
Bo's lasting lessons
War as they knew it - Meh, dont give that f'kr any money. 2nd thought, buy it used.
Ball Four - Jim Bouton
December 6th, 2010 at 2:29 AM ^
'When the Game Stands Tall" by Neil Hayes; amazing look at Concord De La Salle High's football program and their 12 year, 151 game winning streak. The way this program is run is incredible and not what you expect from a team that's so successful and used to be unbeatable.
"Blood, Sweat,and Chalk" by Tim Layden; great history of evolving football strategies and systems, well-written and great for the fan that's in to X's and O's.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:53 AM ^
I'll Second Blue Ice, it's superb.
I really, really like both of Warren St. John's books. His first is Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer in which he purchases an old RV and follows the Alabama football team around for a season. In the process he chronicles the tailgate culture in the SEC. It is at times both fascinating and hilarious.
His second book is Outcasts United about a youth soccer team in suburban Atlanta made up entirely of recently resettled refugees (including kids from Iraq, Sudan, Liberia, DRC, Kosovo and others). It's not as tidy as many sports books, which tend to be about seasons or programs or careers and have definite beginnings and endings, but it is both touching and thought-provoking.
I'm reading George Dohrmann's Play Their Hearts Out right now. I'm ~150 pages in, but so far so good. Dohrmann followed an AAU team around for 8 years to examine that basketball subculture. It even has a cameo from future Michigan player Darius Morris as an 11-year old.
December 6th, 2010 at 9:19 AM ^
Basketball
FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History
The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam
Season on the Brink by John Feinstein
Black Planet by David Shields
Boxing
Good with Their Hands: Boxers, Bluesmen, and Other Characters from the Rust Belt by Carlo Rotella (not all about boxing but pretty great)
One Ring Circus by Katherine Dunn
Football
Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger
Soccer
The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt
General Sports
December 6th, 2010 at 9:27 AM ^
North Dallas Forty by Peter Gent a fictionalized story about the Dallas Cowboys of the 70s. A great read even if written by a former Sparty receiver.
Semi-Tough by Dan Jenkins. Pure fiction from the 70s about the Giants and Jets meeting in the Super Bowl.
December 6th, 2010 at 9:28 AM ^
Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris. An oldie but a goodie; it's a novel about baseball.
I thought Seabiscuit was an extraordinarily good book.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:04 AM ^
Because it can't be said enough-
Others
Some others I have and haven't read-
December 7th, 2010 at 10:41 AM ^
That MSU book looks pretty interesting, what do you think of it?
December 7th, 2010 at 2:26 PM ^
And how the steroids flowed like tic tacs, it's a fun read. Not the best written book ever, but a look into their "great period", and how they got there.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:03 AM ^
A second (or third) to Boys of Summer, already mentioned
George Will's Men at Work
The Yogi Book (and there's another good compilation, but I forget the title)
December 6th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Bo Schembechler, Man in Motion by Joe Falls (the original Bo book)
December 6th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^
If you are a NFL fan there is no better sports book than "Next Man Up" the writer spent an entire year with the Baltimore Ravens and then wrote about how an NFL team operates. However, if you are looking for a generally amusing book "Andy Roddeck Beat Me With a Frying Pan" is a great read.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^
If you like baseball, this is one of the best books you will ever read. I've read it at least 60 times, and never get tired of it.
December 7th, 2010 at 2:04 AM ^
If you think people are out to get you, they are. How can I be negged for saying "The Boys of Summer" is a great sports book.