book-excerpts-that-dont-suck Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Did Bum Phillips Ruin Earl Campbell?
Like most Oilers—or “Earlers,” as they were known as their star galloped his way to Rookie of the Year and two MVP trophies his first couple of years in the league—Earl Campbell loved playing for the cowboy-hatted, easy-going Bum Phillips, who was always easy with a wisecrack. Bum once said of the t...
What Gymnastics Did To Jessica Howard
When Jessica Howard entered the world of gymnastics in 1987, she was three years old and wore a pink leotard adorned with poodles. She would go on to become a three-time national champion and later serve on the board of USA Gymnastics. The experience would nearly kill her....
The NFL Holdout That Caused A Homicide (Justifiable, The Jury Said)
In the 1981 offseason, feeling underpaid and unhappy about Oilers owner Bud Adams’s treatment of former coach Bum Phillips, Earl Campbell asked for a raise. Only a year earlier, at the close of Campbell’s second season, the normally tightfisted Oilers had agreed to restructure Campbell’s rookie cont...
The Night The Dodgers And Pirates Decided To Hold Their Brawl Off The Field
Sagging through the dog days, the Dodgers needed a jolt. Luckily, they had an ideal jolter in their clubhouse. Reggie Smith wasn’t the same player he’d been even recently, his damaged shoulder leaving him unable to throw and limiting him to pinch-hitting duty in every one of his 20 appearances throu...
Jerry Remy On His Son's “Unforgivable” Crime
On August 15, 2013, Jared Remy, a former Red Sox security staffer and son of longtime broadcaster Jerry Remy, fatally stabbed Jennifer Martel, his fiancée and the mother of his daughter. Jared had a history of violence toward women, assault, and steroid use. He is currently serving life in prison wi...
When The Allies Wanted A German Nuclear Scientist Dead, They Sent A Ballplayer To Kill Him
The following is an excerpt from The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb, by Sam Kean. The book is out today and can be purchased here....
Tom Brady’s Shady Guru Alex Guerrero Isn’t Ready To Give Up His Pseudoscience Or His Control
The following is excerpted from No One Man Should Have All That Power: How Rasputins Manipulate the World, by Amos Barshad, out today. Published by Abrams Books....
Joe Gibbs's Skins Had A Beer Shed
The players themselves came up with another way of fostering team chemistry: They called it the 5 o’clock club....
It's No Fun To Get Stuck Between Superstars<em></em>
This excerpt from Sam Anderson’s new book Boom Town, a book on the rapid rise of Oklahoma City and its NBA franchise, joins the team at home for Game 46 of the 2012-13 season, and considers the least-heralded member of what looked at the time like a rising dynasty....
Why An NHL Legend Grew Up In A Group Home For The Mentally Ill
Now, let me tell you what it was like growing up in a home for the mentally ill. ...
Why An Ex-Jets Great Wants Nothing To Do With The Jets
Excerpted from Beyond Broadway Joe: The Super Bowl TEAM That Changed Football, now available from Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers....
Drugs, Dick Injuries, And Liberace's Bodyguard: Just A Normal Season In The Ludicrous And Doomed USFL
Excerpted from Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL. Copyright © 2018 by Jeff Pearlman. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved....
Roger Goodell Is Every Bit The Overcompensating Dipshit He Seems To Be
Excerpted from Big Game: The NFL In Dangerous Times, out today from Penguin Press....
How The Oakland A's' Two Jewish Players (And Reggie Jackson) Responded To The Munich Massacre
The following is excerpted from Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s, by Jason Turbow. Follow along with a day-by-day account of the early ‘70s Athletics on Twitter @DynasticBook....
Jerry Jones Is A Great Guy Until He Fires You
Jerry is really personable. I mean, you’ve got to like Jerry Jones. If you’re around him, you’ve got to like him, unless you hate the Dallas Cowboys, which some people do. But as a person, he’s likeable. He’s fun to be around. His whole family is working with the team. They are a great family. I’m p...
The Greatest Players In NHL History: Nos. 50-40
Hockey writers and podcasters Dave Lozo of Vice Sports, Sean “Down Goes Brown” McIndoe, and Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy have a new book called The 100 Greatest Players In NHL History (And Other Stuff): An Arbitrary Collection of Arbitrary Lists. They give their own ranking of the “NHL 100,” as well...
Brett Favre's Vikings Had A "Bounty" Program Too
This excerpt from Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre by Jeff Pearlman is reprinted with the permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Buy it here. ...
The Time Norm Macdonald Bombed So Hard On <i>Star Search </i>That Even Ed McMahon Didn't Laugh
The following is excerpted from Norm Macdonald’s new book Based On A True Story: A Memoir. It is out now from Spiegel & Grau, and it is very, very funny....
After The NFL Comes Weed, Hollywood, And Fantasy Football
Against the Colts Peyton Manning ended up three yards short of Brett Favre’s record. They had the champagne ready. The cannons loaded. The midgets were hiding in the cakes. The hookers were naked in the limos. Everything was ready. All we need is a few more numbers! C’mon, Peyton! Keep coming! Certa...
The First Woman In The NFL's Old Boys' Club
I attended my first league meeting not long after joining the organization on a full-time basis. This meeting was what the league refers to as a “two-per-club meeting” and as the name suggests, clubs were allowed to be represented by no more than two attendees. In most cases, the controlling owner t...