80 The Story of American Golf
BY HERBERT WARREN WIND (1948)
The longtime New Yorker writer chronicles the game (this "frapp� of pleasure and pain") from its first appearance in the U.S. in 1888 through the outbreak of World War II, colorfully recounting each of the significant championships of that era.
81 Inside Edge
BY CHRISTINE BRENNAN (1996)
This insider's tour of Olympic-level figure skating serves up the intrigue behind the Lutzes and Salchows, the pushy parents and the skating officials who ham-handedly dealt with the effects of AIDS on the sport's athletes, coaches and choreographers.
82 Farewell to Sport
BY PAUL GALLICO (1938)
Gallico left the New York Daily News after 13 years spent covering a golden age of sports; this is his valedictory. His tales of Ruth and Dempsey ring with you-are-there immediacy, and his participatory journalism (golf with Bobby Jones) inspired George Plimpton.[Out of print]
83 Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times
BY THOMAS HAUSER (1991)
An oral history with more than 150 voices, some requisite ( Angelo Dundee, Ferdie Pacheco) and some not ( Jimmy Carter, Cheryl Tiegs). The interviews with Ali's father and with Joe Martin, the cop who introduced Ali to boxing, are particularly illuminating.[ New York Times best-seller]
84 Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
BY JIMMY BRESLIN (1963)
The hard-bitten newspaper man found himself charmed by the lovable bumblers known as the '62 Mets—"three 20-game losers, an Opening Day outfield that held the all-time major league record for fathering children (19), a defensive catcher who couldn't catch."
85 The Complete Book of Running
BY JAMES FIXX (1977)
When Fixx took up running, he weighed 214 pounds and smoked two packs a day. When he wrote this cry to "change your life" (which spent II weeks at No. 1 on the best-seller list) in strong, clear prose, he was 60 pounds lighter, smoke-free and an inspiration to millions.[Out of print][ New York Times best-seller]
86 The Science of Hitting
BY TED WILLIAMS AND JOHN UNDERWOOD (1970)
The splendid splinter may not extol batters ("The ball isn't dead, the hitters are, from the neck up") or hurlers (who "as a breed are dumb and hardheaded"), but no one has more eloquently explicated the act of squarely hitting a round ball with a round bat.
87 Only a Game
BY ROBERT DALEY (1967)
Running back Duke Craig has turned 31, his body is aching, and his love life's a mess. This dark novel by the author of Prince of the City rings with authenticity, and no wonder: Daley spent six seasons as publicity director for the glory-days New York Giants.[Out of print]
88 The Joy of Sports
BY MICHAEL NOVAK (1976)
The catholic theologian, author of Belief and Unbelief and a Notre Dame football fan, muses on the religious underpinnings of sports, praising the "holy trinity" of baseball, football and basketball over "the illusory, misleading, false world" of work, politics and history.[Out of print]
89 The Lords of the Rings
BY VYV SIMSON AND ANDREW JENNINGS (1992)
An expos� of rampant corruption in the Olympics that takes on former IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch's Fascist past, the temptations dangled by aspiring host cities, the extravagant demands for "perks" by IOC members and the widespread cover-up of athletes' drug use.[Out of print]
PRINT
EMAIL
MOST POPULAR
SHARE
