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Your five favorite sports books

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by WaylonJennings, Mar 5, 2009.

Page 4 of 10
  1. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    Dick Schaap as told to Dick Schaap
     
    PopeDirkBenedict, Mar 5, 2009
    #37
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I like threads like these. I am going 15 deep, because I can't decide. And I am sure I am missing some that would knock one or two off this list. :(

    1) It Never Rains In Tiger Stadium, John Ed Bradley (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way this man writes.)
    2) Heaven Is A Playground, Rick Telander
    3) The Boys of Summer, Roger Kahn
    4) The Catcher Was a Spy, Nicholas Davidoff
    5) Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand
    6) The Perfect Mile, Neil Bascomb
    7) Koufax, Jane Leavy
    8 ) Friday Night Lights, Buzz "Don't talk to me about blogs" Bissinger
    9) Any number of Halberstam books. Since I am limiting it to one of his, I will go with October 1964
    10) The Bronx Zoo, Sparky Lyle
    11) Luckiest Man, Jonathan Eig (Opening Day by Eig is a pretty good book too)
    12) Jackie Robinson, Arnold Rampersad
    13) Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning, Jonathan Mahler
    14) The Annotated Baseball Stories of Ring Lardner, 1914-1919 (Even a crappy writer like me learned a lot about writing from reading this)
    15) Run To Daylight, W.C. Heinz
     
    The Big Ragu, Mar 5, 2009
    #38
  3. micke77

    micke77 Member

    Agateguy....hey, a vote here for Grizzard...damn, I miss that guy. and you're right. he was big on sports. what was his great line concerning the best thing coming out of Chicago? I-35 South?
    anyway, Koufax is another great book. see, this kind of stuff is tough to do, but a whole lotta fun. invariably, there's another one that crops up that you wish you had put in there. and Koufax definitely belongs, too.
    and anything by Halberstam...i am reading his "Everything They Had" right now.
    when we had our FWAA meeting at the BCS in New Orleans in 2008, they were handing out copies of "It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium." Yep, a good read. and a hellluva writer. interviewed bradley on some lsu football stories a couple years back. extremely helpful guy.
     
    micke77, Mar 5, 2009
    #39
  4. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
     
    PopeDirkBenedict, Mar 5, 2009
    #40
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Never Rains would be on my list if heading called for "Top Ten" .

    Has a haunting feel to it. Can't put my finger on it but it reminds me a bit of The Last Picture Show.
     
    Boom_70, Mar 5, 2009
    #41
  6. clutchcargo

    clutchcargo Active Member

    A Season on the Brink, Feinstein

    Ball Four, Bouton

    The Breaks of the Game, Halberstam

    Instant Replay, Kramer

    Tony C, Cataneo
     
    clutchcargo, Mar 5, 2009
    #42
  7. Trey Beamon

    Trey Beamon Active Member

    Friday Night Lights
    Clemente : The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
    Namath
    Season On The Brink
    Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero
     
    Trey Beamon, Mar 5, 2009
    #43
  8. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    A little too whiney for me. His father beat him, his coach didn't like him - enough already Pat. You are bummin me out.

    If you did like the book Wright Thompson has a good Outside the Lines piece on Conroy on ESPN.com
     
    Boom_70, Mar 5, 2009
    #44
  9. micke77

    micke77 Member

    among the classics, Instant Replay ranks right up there.
    nobody has mentioned Pond Scum and Vultures by Gene W. ;D
     
    micke77, Mar 5, 2009
    #45
  10. Sam Craig

    Sam Craig Member

    Robert Creamer's biography of Babe Ruth is one of the best sports biographies.
     
    Sam Craig, Mar 5, 2009
    #46
  11. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Speaking of the Bambino, a must-read is "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs" by Bill Jenkinson. It makes the case once and for all that Babe was simply the greatest hitter, if not the greatest player, who ever lived.
     
    Double J, Mar 5, 2009
    #47
  12. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Love that book.
     
    buckweaver, Mar 5, 2009
    #48
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