book-excerpt Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
It's Good To Be The King
From “The Age of Movies,” here’s P. Kael on History of the World, Part I:...
True To The Game
Thanks to Kottke I came across this excerpt from Brett Martin's new book Difficult Men. This piece goes behind-the-scenes on HBO's classic, The Wire:...
I Just Get Out Of The Way And Let It Go
From Pete Dexter’s 2003 novel, Train:...
Red Ass Lou Screws The Pooch (Just Like Earl Knew He Would)
Following up on yesterday's Mark Kram article on the Red Sox and Orioles, here’s a bit of Earl Weaverness for you, from a chapter I wrote about the 1974 American League East for It Ain’t Over ‘Til it’s Over:...
The Yankee Bullshitters: What Joe D, Yogi, And Mickey Were Really Like
Last week gave a short post on the late, great Lenny Shecter. Now, for a real taste of his no-bullshit style, here's an excerpt from "The Flower of America" chapter of his 1969 book of essays, The Jocks....
The Art of Storytelling
There’s a fine post on John Huston over at Cinephilia and Beyond, which has quickly become one of my favorite all-time sites. They give us a 1965 interview with Huston inFilm Quarterly. Dig this:...
Stealing Signs In Baseball: A Hall Of Famer's Guide
There are many fair ways to steal the signs of the enemy, so many that the smart ball-player is always kept on the alert by them. Baseball geniuses, some almost magicians, are constantly looking for new schemes to find out what the catcher is telling the pitcher, what the batter is tipping the base...
Who You Calling a Red-Ass?
From his classic memoir, A False Spring, here's Pat Jordan on his minor league encounter with Joe Torre....
Bet a Million
I once had dinner with Vic Ziegel and asked him to name the most literate sports writer. And he laughed at me, laughed at the idea that someone working on deadline would stop to consider what they were doing literate. ...
What Boxing Writing Can Teach Us About Everything
Excerpted from his essay for A New Literary History of America, check out this piece by Carlo Rotella:...
Bitter and Beat by the Heat
Eliot Asinof is most famous for writing Eight Men Out. (He is less famous for once being married to Marlon Brando’s sister.) Asinof played minor league ball in the Phillies system for three years before World War II. His first book Man on Spikes was published in 1955 and to my mind is one of the bes...
Brawling And Boozing With The Rats Of Yankee Stadium
Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories, edited by yours truly, is out in paperback now. To celebrate, here's an essay from the late George Kimball. It's about Yankee Stadium II, Billy Martin, finks and phonies, brawling, and, of course, drinking with Bill "Spaceman" Lee....
A Sportswriter Goes To War: John Lardner In The Pacific Theater
From my introduction to Southwest Passage: The Yanks in the Pacific. ...
Never Give Your Kid A Cold Shower: Advice From The Worst Dad On Earth
Excerpted from Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First-Century Parenthood, which makes a great Father's Day gift for foul-mouthed dads everywhere....
You Can't Go Home Again
John Ed Bradley's memoir of playing football at LSU, It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium, is one of the finest sports books ever written. If you've never read it, do yourself a favor a pick up a copy. It's a beautiful book. ...
A Little Greedy, And Exactly Right: Red Smith On Secretariat
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
The Black Berets: Red Smith On The Olympic Black Power Salute
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Night For Joe Louis: Red Smith On Rocky Marciano's Knockout
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Miracle Of Coogan's Bluff: Red Smith On The Shot Heard ‘Round The World
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Bad Ass
My favorite bean ball story involves Dock Ellis when he was pitching for the Pirates in the 1970s. The following excerpt is from In the Country of Baseball, written by Ellis with Donald Hall....