PR Move of the Day:New York Times with a lengthy feature on staffer Willie O’Ree, the first African American to play in the NHL, and his current role as good will ambassador. Although there are obvious obstacles in bringing a minority audience and participants to the game, the piece today was a nice coup to tell the story and hopefully build casual awareness during a crowded holiday season and beyond.
Here are also some good titles for 2007 that may not have made thst best seller list…even the sports best seller list in some cases…but they gave great insight, showed diverse opinions, and especially for those in the field, provided background or new information in non-traditiona.sports or areas of sports that are sometimes shrouded. Although there were no new titles by some of the best in the business in sports this year…Michael Lewis, David Maraniss and the late David Halberstam especially…there were some great, insightful works worth reading, including:
The Best American Sportswriting, 2007. Edited by Pulitzer Prize winner Maraniss, this series is a must for anyone in the industry.
Maravich by Mark Kriegel. The best bio of the year gave insight into one of the sports most misunderstood legends.
The GM by Tom Callahan. Great look inside one of the quietest organizations in sports, the Giants, and beautiful insightfull light shed o.one of the mos.thoughtful and respected General Managers of our time, Ernie Accorsi.
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. Like the GM, it gives us the first person mindset of a coach who has faced tremendous personal and professional ups and downs throughout his career.
American Shaolin by Michael Polly. As MMA grows, this book gives huge insight into the roots of a foreign culture, the Shaolin Monks, and their unique lives…a good read going into the Beijing Olympics as well.
1941. The Greatest Year in Sports, by Mike Vaccaro. Much has been written as a one-off about one of the most turbulent years in American history, but the talented New York Post columnis.puts it all in a macro perspective..
A Fighter's Heart by Sam Sheridan. This well read, well traveled went worldwid.behind the scene.of every fight sport imaginable. A great read not only about tactics but about cultures as sports becomes more global every day.
.Love and Blood by Jamie Trecker. The must read soccer book of the year. The oft-quoted, very opinionated Fox Sports columnist goes day-by-day at the World Cup with the personalities that make up the game and gives the novice great historical and anecdotal insight into the structure of the game.
Game of Kings by Michael Weinreb. The world of competitive chess is unveiled and dissected by a great freelance storyteller. Again, not the mainstream but great writing, tales and color.
.read about 35-40 titles this year (I love the library) and still have a few to go, but these give diverse insight and should be included on the reading list for both casual pleasure and professional insight and comparision.?
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