sports journalism

Review: Circus Maximus by Andrew Zimbalist
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Review: Circus Maximus by Andrew Zimbalist

Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup Andrew Zimbalist Brookings Institution Press, 2015 175 pages Buy: book | ebook In a way, everything about Andrew Zimbalist’s Circus Maximus is great. The book is thoroughly researched, thoroughly argued—hard to find a hole in its logic. And yet: how devastating. Zimbalist draws from…

Review: Out of My League by George Plimpton
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Review: Out of My League by George Plimpton

Out of My League: The Classic Hilarious Account of an Amateur’s Ordeal in Professional Baseball George Plimpton Lyons Press, 1961 150 pages Buy: book There is, surrounding George Plimpton, the same world-traveled air that surrounds the fictional beer-selling sliver of a character The Most Interesting Man in the World (TMIMITW). TMIMITW gains his fictional interesting-ness via…

Review: THE QB by Bruce Feldman
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Review: THE QB by Bruce Feldman

The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks Bruce Feldman Crown Archetype, October 2014 304 pages $27.00 Buy: book | ebook Like the casting of James Bond or the election of presidents, the styles, moods, and values of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks in any given generation provide a meaningful reflection of where American masculinity is oriented….

Why a Football Coach Reads a Tennis Instructor: On The Inner Game of Tennis

Why a Football Coach Reads a Tennis Instructor: On The Inner Game of Tennis

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance Timothy Gallwey Random House, 1997 122 pages $8.75 Buy: book | ebook Perhaps this moment feels like the second half of a joke that starts, “You know you’re in Seattle when . . . ” but it really happened: I…

America’s Saturday Church: On My Conference Can Beat Your Conference by Paul Finebaum

America’s Saturday Church: On My Conference Can Beat Your Conference by Paul Finebaum

My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football Paul Finebaum with Gene Wojciechowski Harper Collins, 2014 273 pages $19.99 Buy: book | ebook I could travel the world for years and never get halfway through my bucket list of all the sporting events I’d love to attend in person. But certainly…

How to Read Derek Jeter: On The Devil’s Snake Curve by Josh Ostergaard

How to Read Derek Jeter: On The Devil’s Snake Curve by Josh Ostergaard

The Devil’s Snake Curve: A Fan’s Notes From Left Field Josh Ostergaard Coffee House Press, 2014 253 pages $15.95 Buy: book | ebook Of course every history is subjective, but Josh Ostergaard starts his from an intriguing place by broadcasting his subjectivity. Devil’s Snake Curve is Ostergaard’s American history of the twentieth- and twenty-first—centuries, as interpreted…

Private Tutor to the Stars: On THE HOOPS WHISPERER by Idan Ravin

Private Tutor to the Stars: On THE HOOPS WHISPERER by Idan Ravin

The Hoops Whisperer: On the Court and Inside the Heads of Basketball’s Best Players Idan Ravin Gotham Books, 2014 246 pages Buy: book | ebook As a national champion during his only year of college, as the third overall pick in the NBA draft, and as a recipient, this summer, of a five-year, $124 million…

First Down Te Ching: On The Tao of Chip Kelly

First Down Te Ching: On The Tao of Chip Kelly

The Tao of Chip Kelly: Lessons From America’s Most Innovative Coach Mark Saltveit Diversion Books, 2014 128 pages $12.99 Buy: book | ebook Today marks the beginning of the 2014 NFL season, America’s favorite consumption-based present-time activity. Odds are that a family, friend, or loved one in your life has already burrowed themselves away for…