5 comments about Namath: A Biography.

1. Time has a way of marching on. In every sport there are a certain amount of sport stars that made their mark not only in the history of their particular sport but upon society in general. Joe Willie Nemet (his real name)made that and more.
   
   A larger than life character is brought to life in this wonderful read. From his roots in growinup up in a rough and tumble mill town of Beaver Falls to the bright lights of Broadway. Namath had the ability to overcome many demons with a unreal atheltic arm and mind. Today's professional athlete - football, baseball, basketball - should lay down and thank the Namath's of professional sport as the ones who made it possible for them to earn these out of sight salary figures kicked around today. Joe brought not only guts and grit to his game but a dertermination and intellegence to run an offense without all the help of modern coaching input seen in today's game. They just don't make em' like the Namaths', Title's, Unitas's, and Baugh's much anymore.
   
   Rank this one up there with it's realistic approach to how it was. A fun ride.



2. Everybody knows Joe Namath (okay, most people have heard of him). Of our knowledge and recollections of Namath, most go back to about 40 years ago, when he was a young quarterback on fragile knees, had a shotgun arm, a team jelling around him that lead to The Guarantee, a Super Bowl win . . . and he was Joe Namath, The Swankiest Dude in NYC, ladies at his beck and call, llama rug, fur coat, bachelor lifestyle, etc. After that, it all kind of fades to memory: years of frustration, a year with the Rams and retirement. Once in a while you'd hear about him, starring in the theater of all places, but the memory goes back to when he was 26 and an American idol.
   
   Kriegel wrote a heck of a book, cutting through the cobwebs of our collective memories to give us a much different portrait of a man than the hype had provided to us: one who cared about family, one who respected the father figures of his life, one who cared deeply and was loyal to his friends - but one who reinvented himself at various times of his life and left his old friends behind. His reinvention of his life led to marriage and a family, where he wanted a stable, loving family around him - but didn't quite achieve that. Now, the reinvention goes on - new relationships, new family relations as his children got older, but the old life he lived has never quite been shaken off.
   
   This book was written without the direct help of Namath or through his lawyer, Jim Walsh. It appears that Namath's policy is that his personal life is nobody's business but his, and I respect that: he's had years in the spotlight and what he chooses to reveal to the world should be just that which he chooses. Walsh, a lawyer who has as his sole business that of Joe Namath, requested a huge sum of money for access to Namath and his story. That I have little respect for. I think that Kriegel's version without the help of Namath and Walsh give us a much better, more honest view of the man than if Namath had cooperated in the writing and editing. The result is a book that sheds a good deal of light on a much more complex man than we thought we knew.



3. Great book. I feel sad for a man who peaked at 25.
   
   J!E!T!S! Jets Jets Jets



4. Namath, through his legal mouthpiece, refused to cooperate with the author of "Namath: A Biography." A terrific researcher and writer, Mark Kriegel didn't need him. Joe left enough bitter friends, teammates, and business partners who were willing to share the lowdown on Broadway Joe. Ain't a pretty picture, but neither is pro football.
   
   This was one of the most talented and courageous players ever to step onto a football field. The author pays due homage to Joe Namath, QB. Plenty of fascinating stuff on Beaver Falls, Alabama, and Jets heroics. His athleticism was a great gift; his grit in making the most of it was unyielding. If you utterly idolized him as #12, leave that as your only memory.
   
   What this book presents is Namath as man in full; which is to say, a user without peer, a smalltown pool hustler who brought that ethos to all that touched his life. There's me, and there are the suckers. When he was finished with you, you learned it this way: your phone calls were not returned. Out. Finis. A buddy for twenty years now dying? A teammate for a dozen years? Sorry. Your services in the lifelong promotion that remains Joe Willie "White Shoes" are no longer required. Perhaps the best example cited by the author of the crassness of Namath the man was when he wanted 60G to attend a charity golf tournament organized by his Jets teammates. Unfortunately that sum would drain the total funds earned by the event. So no Joe. Not that he wanted to go; that was the point of the exhorbitant fee--he didn't need them.
   
   When the primetime hustle that was Broadway Joe finally petered out, Namath decided it was family that mattered. He had always tried to take care of his natural family, which was a broken one. But he had no practice at real life. He waited too long. He soon married a user half his age who hustled him: she left him because she wanted to be a "serious actress" and "find herself," as Kriegel painfully quotes her. This she did by ditching Broadway Joe for her own personal Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. She took the two Namath daughters with her, leaving her husband shellshocked as to how such a thing could happen to The Man Himself. He quickly returned to that which best sustained him through his desultory off-field existence: booze.
   
   Kriegel throughout makes the point that the Namath con is all part of the Big Con: The Enteraintment and Sports Sell. The original power behind Namath as Broadway Joe was Sonny Werblin, New York TV superagent and hustler extraordinnaire when he became a minority Jets owner. At the time, pro football was bringing up the rear in the American sports pantheon. Its owners still labored under the delusion they were in the football business. Namath-Werblin changed that. It was the perfect marriage in Joe's life. Joe and Sonny, Football and Show Biz.
   
   Namath's latest promotion has been his autobiography, surprisingly titled, "Namath." This was the reason Joe risked an interview late last year with Sixty Minutes, notorious for slapping the self-satisfied smiles off its subjects. No problem: his attorney likely made sure he got what he wanted, a puff-piece where he charmingly skates Oprahesque across the wreckage of his life while walking a Florida beach. Trying to stay booze-free once again, moving on metal knees and arthritic hips, the man's hustle hasn't lost a step. And he may be alone, still devoted to his daughters, but he's certainly not lonely (wink, wink). Broadway Joe lives.
   
   If you want a well-written take on Namath that is as gritty as the man and his world, read the Kriegel book. It's all about Joe William Namath, who remains one of the most extraordinary football players I ever watched. And wish I could pay good U.S. money to go back and watch again in the autumn dust of Shea Stadium, New York.



5. Kriegel does a masterful job at covering Namath for the reader. That said, I found the book way too long for the subject matter. Definitely mainline skimming after Namath retires from the Jets. The author really covers Namath's flaws. He appears to have always been an industrial strength drinker with little regard for most of his teammates and others. Not an easy person to like. Consequently, I found myself asking why am I reading all of these words about such a person. The football parts are really good, especially I would think for old line Jets fans. However, other parts are less intriguing. I've noticed that authors who are also journalists tend to think we care as much about all the details as do they. I found Kriegel's book, Pistol, about Pete Maravich is a better read.

1 comments about Favre: The Man, the Legend with CD.

1. I really enjoyed adding this to my Favre Collection. It is a must have for any Favre fan.

No comments about It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium.

5 comments about A Fire to Win: The Life and Times of Woody Hayes.

1. The definative Hayes bio. No "idol worship" and no ax job. This the real Woody. Love him or hate him, he went 238-72 and won 5 National Titles his way. His kids got college degrees, Woody ABSOLUTELY made sure of that. Woody's discipline is what America needs today, now more than ever. I pulled an ALL NIGHTER the day I got this book, I just had to finish it.



2. This was a book I looked forward to reading from the moment I heard about it. I received it for Christmas and read it immediately. The book is very hard to put down and could easily be read in one or two very long sittings. What took away from the very pleasant story line and delivery was the extremely poor editing. Many times in the book I had to suffer through either double or missing articles or dates that contradicted each other. Often times words were mixed up such as "the of" instead of "of the". These were minor annoyances but still distracted from my reading pleasure.
   
   I was confused about the writers real intent. If everything the writer said is true, than the "Ohio State Football Program" was even greater than history will recognize it for. It seems that many if not most of the games and titles lost were directly related to the coach which would lead us to believe that the team should have many more titles to it's credit.
   
   Overall I want to believe that the writer was fair and balanced in his praise and critique of Woody Hayes. Growing up in Ohio, many of the things I knew to be true and had heard rumors of most of the rest of it.



3. Mr. Lombardo seems intent on being overly objective in his book by always finding a way to knock Woody even when paying him compliments. Some examples:
   1. Woody was no racist and had black players on the team...but no black QB came aboard until well after other Big 10 teams. (So what? Does that dismiss the civil rights work he supported? Why does that need to be mentioned multiple times?)
   2. Woody was well read and very knowledgable about topics but was not a scholar because he didn't deeply explore areas that did not fit his political/cultural beliefs. (So he wanted Woody to read Marx and Mao? Give me a break with this.)
   
   I scatched my head at these and related passages. The book ends strong with Lombardo quoting from various players and coaches about the legacy of this great man and coach.
   
   However if you are a true Buckeye fan I caution you against expecting too much here. The author has consolidated information from various sources but has not effectively added enough of his own input to truly paint a vivid picture of the coach (for my taste).
   
   Perhaps I'm too spoiled by McCullough and Kearns-Goodwin biographies. While Woody doesn't merit their attention, Mr. Lombardo's effort does not reach their standards of taking the primary sources and writing a text that leaves you thinking you've met the man in the flesh. I wish I had.



4. I am an Ohio State Buckeye Football fan and found the book to be interesting, but not in the top 20% of books that I've read. There are a few other books about Woody, but I have not read them. The author could have interviewed more former players and colleagues of Woody. Most interesting is how Woody originally got the Buckeye head coaching job and the discussion of his life immediately after his firing.



5. I received the book for Christmas and read it in the span of about 4 hours. It sheds little new light on an enigmatic man who arguably was one of the best coaches in college football. I was very disappointed with the editing; too many grammatical and typographical errors. In some cases nouns and pronouns were in contrast and sentences did not have subjects or predicates. Also, the author designated Miami University (Oxford, OH) teams as the Indians. Prior to changing the name to the RedHawks, Miami's teams were called the Redskins for decades. I have not found one reference to their being called the Indians. A volume on such a noteworthy figure should strive for accuracy.

5 comments about T.O..

1. The best way to destroy sales is for the "author" to blast portions of the book.
   
   In the follow-up to the commercially successful Catch This!, Terrell Owens has said there are erroneous passages in T.O. Because of that comment, it brings into question the validity of the entire book.
   
   Love him or hate him, Owens is a pop culture phenomenon and that may be why Simon & Schuster rushed to print a second autobiography. I can only guess that Owens was not happy with the project and decided to tank sales by ripping the finished product.
   
   Within the proper context I am sure Owens has a ton of interesting things to say. The line of children's books slated for release may be the venue for Owens to make a positive and lasting impression with fans.



2. PG.75 I don't like the way that people say that T.O. is bad. But when he gets on a team has very successful. He makes awesome play and game braking decisions he is an all-round great player
   
   PG.87 T.O. helps carry the Philadelphia eagles to the super bowl. He made 5 catches and one T.D. catch he had a great game knowing that he had a tweaked ankle. I bet he was in really bad pained
   
   PG.100 T.O. played the whole super bowl with metal plated in his ankle. Like to days after the super bowl it was time to get them out and right before he went in to surgery he told the doctor that he want the metal plate for a silvaner and the doctor said ok. So I five day later he went home and look at the plates and they were not his plates looked brand new.
   
   PG110 He says that most young player should say home with there familys and relaex. I think that,that is good to do so thay can do stuff like that to not make the player so tight
   
   PG.120 T.O says that he doesn't have to do any work out that just natural and that is no a good mesiage to send to people that are trying to get to the NFL. Because if you are trying to do a walk on then you have to work really hard to work out and get a lot better



3. Terrell Owens does a remarkable job in his second book. This clears up the controversy that surrounded his season long suspension from the Philedelphia Eagles and lets read the side story that the media would not tell.



4. This book was very informative. In his book TO explains how the media edits anything he says. In some parts he tends to say the same thing multiple times, but overall it's an easy read.
   
   Read this book with an open mind. Otherwise, don't bother in reading.



5. I honestly think this was a decent book.His first book is much better though. I like this book because it gives us the inside look at what happened in the guys life that we would never know. And the only way we know is from this book. I actually believe the guy.I can tell most people who gave this book bad reveiws hated the T.o. before they ever opened the book. So buy this if you are you t.o. fan.

2 comments about The Senior: My Amazing Year as a 59-Year-Old College Football Linebacker.

1. A thoroughly enjoyable read! Being over 50 and an ex-jock, the cover got my attention right away - a 59 year old guy going back to college to play football, give me a break. The first few pages pulled me in and I was hooked. I appreciate Mike's authenticity in sharing his early years, warts and all before growing into a fine man and inspiriation. Way to go Mike - glad you were able to redeem yourself and share your story with the rest of us!



2. I couldn't put this book down. Read it at one sitting. Althought many people won't understand Flynt's mindset about fist fighting it is one shared by many of us that were raised in West Texas. The book was excellent and I invite everyone to read this. Quite inspirational.

5 comments about When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi.

1. I picked up this book after hearing a strong recommendation. I knew next to nothing about Vince Lombardi, other than that he was an excellent football coach. Very glad I bought the book as this was a particularly engrossing biography.
   
   The author was very thorough in his research and traces Lombardi's life in detail for his full nearly 60 years. He provides a lot of detail on Lombardi's strengths and weaknesses. At times I wanted to slug him and tell him to quit being so intense about football and pay more attention to his family. Other times, I found myself admiring the daylights out of him. It is astonishing to think he could take the most losing team in football and turn them into major winners in just one season.
   
   There's a lot of food for thought in this biography. Is winning really so important that you should sacrifice your family and your health? Is success really success if you never enjoy it? As a recovering perfectionist, I saw many powerful examples from Lombardi's life about why I DON'T want to be a perfectionist! Nothing is ever good enough, and you never, ever get to be happy. That is one lesson in Lombardi's life that really comes blasting out of every story.
   
   If you like biographies, you will really enjoy this one. Glad I decided to pick it up.
   
   Jan Dahlin Geiger, author of "Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies" Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies



2. I couldn't help feeling that I was right there in frozen Green Bay, in the 1960s, at one of the Lombardis' Sunday post-game cocktail parties, and everywhere else Vince Lombardi went in his life, while reading this great book.
   It's a great read, very vivid, about a great coach and (as Maraniss illustrates) not the greatest father in the world. In other words, a portrait of a human being who did great things with his work, but who had foibles like everybody else.



3. This is the best sports biography that I've ever read, and is the gold standard by which I rate every other sports bio. I originally read the book when it was published in 1999 and decided to read it again. I didn't realize that I had forgotten so many details. Many of the games discussed I remember like it was yesterday. If you were a Packer's or NFL fan from the 60s this is a must read book.
   
   I'm very skeptical of Amazon's public reviews as I find 80% +++ of the reviewers are too easily impressed (especially business/investment books). Most grossly overrate books. With such skepticism, I did scan through a page or two of the now 138 reviews to see why anybody would give this book < 5. Two compliants said it had too much minutia and wrote too much about Vince's early life. I find that most if not all biographies talk too much about the person's early life and the person's lineage. I usually scan the early chapters of a biography until I get into the person's adult years. On my second reading of this book I picked it up around Vince's time at West Point.
   
   One last point about the author. I've also read First in His Class & his book about Roberto Clemente. Both were excellent books. However, Maraniss did co-author a book with a younger woman, who's title I forget. It was obvious from the reading that the woman had written most of the book and Maraniss wrote little of the book. His name may have been listed as a co-author to sell books.



4. Presidential biographer David Maraniss ("First in His Class") turned his attentions away from Washington, D.C., and towards Lambeau Field in this remarkable book. His subject was Coach Vince Lombardi, who took over a losing program and turned Green Bay, Wisconsin, the smallest market in professional sports, into "Title Town, U.S.A."
   
   Immediately prior to Lombardi's acceptance of the head coaching position, the Packers managed to win only a single game in an entire season. In short order, Lombardi made Green Bay synonymous with victory. The trophy given to the team that wins the Super Bowl is now named for Lombardi. The Packers won the inaugural Super Bowl and repeated the following year under their celebrated head coach.
   
   Lombardi was a star player for Fordham when that university still had a football program. He developed and refined his coaching abilities at the high school level and he was promoted to assistant coaching positions at the United States Military Academy (West Point) and with the New York Giants of the NFL.
   
   As Maraniss demonstrates, Lombardi enjoyed influence throughout the country during the Sixties: he became a much sought after business conference speaker and Richard M. Nixon even contemplated offering him a place on the political ticket of the Republican Party for a brief time.
   
   This is a superior biography and a document of a time that now has gone.



5. This is the complete Vince Lombardi book. The author has left no stone unturned it seems and goes into great depth in looking at what made Lombardi tick.
   
   It is not a shrine to the greatness of Lombardi book, the author does write about the Coach's flaws (lack of attention to family) but it is so engrossing that I was upset when the final chapters on Lombardi's death were being read.
   
   Maybe the book is a smidgen too long, there were times that it seemed to drag a little but all in all, a great book.

5 comments about I Am Third (TV tie-in): The Inspiration for Brian's Song.

1. I really never liked sports, but this book really moved me because it was a story of two men very different yet very alike. They were both very talented, over the past few months i've been doing so much research and Gale and Brian. I also am planning to do a important report on them, the frienship that they had was great. BUY THIS BOOK!! and the movie Brians song!I loved both. I love Ya Gale and Brian GOD BLESS!



2. This review is on the book called "I Am Third". In this book it tells mostly about Gale Sayers' football career and some of Brian Piccolo's or Pic. The reason this book is called "I Am Third" is because he says that "God is 1st,my friends are 2nd,and I am 3rd". To understand this book you might have to know a little about football. If you like football stories I would reccomend you read "I Am Third".



3. I am third
   By Gale Sayers

   Devon Hurley

   My book is called I am third and it�s written by Gale Sayers. The price of the book is $...and u can find this book in any book store.
   I am third is about the football player gale Sayers .He plays football with his friends every day. He grew up in a poor house with barely any food. That didn�t stop him from playing football though. He played no matter what. One time he tried to tackle some one and he got kicked in the mouth and he was spiting out blood his brother played football too. He was older then Gale. Gale was a starter on the high school football team with his brother he only got to play with his brother one season because he was a senior when Gale was a freshman. Gale was a good player. He was like1st or 2nd best in the country. He wanted to go to a four year college to play football. Mississippi State was in other sports besides football like track and basketball. He broke the long jump record for track. His mom and dad were always working on something. Gale�s dad was tall and had long legs. His dad worked hard every day and only got 40 dollars a day. His mom was at home watching all the kids. All the kids in the neighbor hood were on the football team. After gale went to college he was going to go to the pros either the chiefs or the bears. on draft day the Chicago bears picked Gale Sayers the first day of summer training he met Brian piccolo. Brian was a white person and Gale was a black person they didn�t really get along at first of race but after they started playing together. The coach put them in the same room partner. When gale was voted rookie of the year Brian starts to get sick and has to go to the hospital and he finds out he has cancer and has to stay in the hospital for the rest of the season. Later he goes home and is recovering but he gets cancer again a in his chest and dies from cancer. later gale plays the best game of his career he scores 6 touchdowns.




4. Bought this as gift for my husband. His reveiw: It was okay, interesting about Gayle Sayer's life but not extremely well written. It had little to say about his relationship with Brian Piccolo.



5. The title of the book, which became Mr. Sayers' credo throughout life, comes from a quote he saw on the desk of one of his coaches: "My God is first, my friends and family are second, I am third." Mr. Sayers tells the story of a man who lifted himself out of the ghetto with such a love for football, his friendship with Brian Piccolo (one of the very first pairings of a black player and a white player in the NFL) and his near-career ending injury. It is an inspirational story that does not get preachy. He tells of his friendship with Brian Piccolo without getting maudlin (Mr. Sayers and Mr. Piccolo were loyal friends and deeply respectful of each other.) He relates his triumphant return to the Chicago Bears after a knee injury that had almost everyone writing him off (except Mr. Piccolo, who urged him on during rehabilitation.) It almost seems as if Al Silverman turned on a tape recorder and let Mr. Sayers talk. Rather than being pretentious, the way a lot of sports biographies are one gets the feeling that Mr. Sayers is sitting down in an easy chair and is talking directly to each reader. The book, however, was written more than thirty-five years ago and ends before Mr. Sayers' final two (albeit disappointing) seasons. My hope is that Mr. Sayers will either update this book or write a sequel to tell us of his successes after football.

No comments about Paul Brown: The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Football's Most Innovative Coach.

No comments about Paul Brown: The Man Who Invented Modern Football.