Sports Books

This is the complete Vince Lombardi book. The author has left no stone unturned it seems and goes into great depth in looking at what made Lombardi tick.

It is not a shrine to the greatness of Lombardi book, the author does write about the Coach's flaws (lack of attention to family) but it is so engrossing that I was upset when the final chapters on Lombardi's death were being read.

Maybe the book is a smidgen too long, there were times that it seemed to drag a little but all in all, a great book.

Presidential biographer David Maraniss ("First in His Class") turned his attentions away from Washington, D.C., and towards Lambeau Field in this remarkable book. His subject was Coach Vince Lombardi, who took over a losing program and turned Green Bay, Wisconsin, the smallest market in professional sports, into "Title Town, U.S.A."

Immediately prior to Lombardi's acceptance of the head coaching position, the Packers managed to win only a single game in an entire season. In short order, Lombardi made Green Bay synonymous with victory. The trophy given to the team that wins the Super Bowl is now named for Lombardi. The Packers won the inaugural Super Bowl and repeated the following year under their celebrated head coach.

Lombardi was a star player for Fordham when that university still had a football program. He developed and refined his coaching abilities at the high school level and he was promoted to assistant coaching positions at the United States Military Academy (West Point) and with the New York Giants of the NFL.

As Maraniss demonstrates, Lombardi enjoyed influence throughout the country during the Sixties: he became a much sought after business conference speaker and Richard M. Nixon even contemplated offering him a place on the political ticket of the Republican Party for a brief time.

This is a superior biography and a document of a time that now has gone.

This is the best sports biography that I've ever read, and is the gold standard by which I rate every other sports bio. I originally read the book when it was published in 1999 and decided to read it again. I didn't realize that I had forgotten so many details. Many of the games discussed I remember like it was yesterday. If you were a Packer's or NFL fan from the 60s this is a must read book.

I'm very skeptical of Amazon's public reviews as I find 80% +++ of the reviewers are too easily impressed (especially business/investment books). Most grossly overrate books. With such skepticism, I did scan through a page or two of the now 138 reviews to see why anybody would give this book < 5. Two compliants said it had too much minutia and wrote too much about Vince's early life. I find that most if not all biographies talk too much about the person's early life and the person's lineage. I usually scan the early chapters of a biography until I get into the person's adult years. On my second reading of this book I picked it up around Vince's time at West Point.

One last point about the author. I've also read First in His Class & his book about Roberto Clemente. Both were excellent books. However, Maraniss did co-author a book with a younger woman, who's title I forget. It was obvious from the reading that the woman had written most of the book and Maraniss wrote little of the book. His name may have been listed as a co-author to sell books.

I couldn't help feeling that I was right there in frozen Green Bay, in the 1960s, at one of the Lombardis' Sunday post-game cocktail parties, and everywhere else Vince Lombardi went in his life, while reading this great book.
It's a great read, very vivid, about a great coach and (as Maraniss illustrates) not the greatest father in the world. In other words, a portrait of a human being who did great things with his work, but who had foibles like everybody else.

I picked up this book after hearing a strong recommendation. I knew next to nothing about Vince Lombardi, other than that he was an excellent football coach. Very glad I bought the book as this was a particularly engrossing biography.

The author was very thorough in his research and traces Lombardi's life in detail for his full nearly 60 years. He provides a lot of detail on Lombardi's strengths and weaknesses. At times I wanted to slug him and tell him to quit being so intense about football and pay more attention to his family. Other times, I found myself admiring the daylights out of him. It is astonishing to think he could take the most losing team in football and turn them into major winners in just one season.

There's a lot of food for thought in this biography. Is winning really so important that you should sacrifice your family and your health? Is success really success if you never enjoy it? As a recovering perfectionist, I saw many powerful examples from Lombardi's life about why I DON'T want to be a perfectionist! Nothing is ever good enough, and you never, ever get to be happy. That is one lesson in Lombardi's life that really comes blasting out of every story.

If you like biographies, you will really enjoy this one. Glad I decided to pick it up.

Jan Dahlin Geiger, author of "Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies" Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies

This book pretty much rules. If you have an interest in professional cycling, you've probably already read it. If you don't have an interest in pro cycling... well, you should. No sport mixes cutting edge science, the limits of human endurance, complex tactics and horrific physical pain into a more engaging final product. I mean come on, I know all about hemocrit levels thanks to my interest in little dudes in tights.

This book is first about a report following Lance's attempt to gain a sixth Tour de France victory. You get a real sense of what a driven man he is. Lance is apparently not a very nice guy to work for. He holds grudges; he hates his enemies with an unhealthy passion. But he wins bike races, and he is a really compelling athlete to follow.

This book is, however, more than a book about Lance. It is a great primer to pro cycling, giving you sense of who these mostly working class kids with nothing to lose are and how they and their teams go about trying to win the Tour. I found it totally fascinating.

Of real interest to any serious observer or participant in the sport of bicycling. One learns about the big tour from the inside and gains some insight into the complex person that is Lance Armstrong. Almost reads like a novel.

Mr. Coyle has given us and his subjects (including the elusive Mr. Armstrong) a great gift. His funny, beautiful prose was in perfect juxaposition with the essence of the sport he covered with much affection. Do sane people ride nearly naked (Lycra!) at 60 mph down twisting, narrow mountain roads (in the rain!)? We can only look on in wonder at their courageous, graceful, crazy, difficult, "cut of coffee short" careers. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading.

I was expecting this to be another story TOLD by Lance, but it was not. I found this to be a more refreshing view on Lance and the Doping Scandles that encircled his Tour De France days.

No matter what my opinion is on Lance and the doping, I found this to be a great read. I learned about some of the "players" in the Cycling media community that are attacking lance's position and character (justified or not), and how the Team operates around the Cycling legend.

I had just finished "It's Not About The Bike" when my wife -- a keen cyclist -- turned to me and said, "That's only half the story." She handed me "Lance Armstrong's War." "Here's the other half of the story."

You know a good book when you should be doing other things and... you can't put the book down. Bills don't get paid. E-mails don't get answered. You spend too long in the bathroom. "WAR" is one of those books.

Naturally you need to have some passing fascination with the world of professional cycling. For me it was watching the Tour de France and wanting to know more about how it all worked. Daniel Coyle will lead any interested reader into a fascinating world...

An opera needs to be written about the Tour. The melodrama. The characters. The morality plays. The blood. The guts. The insanity. The money. The doping. The journey. The jeering crowds. The test. The human spirit. Victory and loss. It's all there, a nice thick juicy slice of Life! And a huge bite or two of that slice is in WAR.

On the cover of my copy Sports Illustrated has described WAS as a "literary tour de force." A bit of a snob when it comes to writing I noted to myself, (a) What would Sports Illustrated know about literature? and (b) Daniel Coyle's a SPORTS writer for God's sake!

And... the writing is wonderful. Great character sketches. You'll get all the ins and outs of race strategy, sponsorships, training. You'll see France. You'll get a great glimpse of what Bob (Bobke) Rolls calls Eurotrash. You'll love the wry humor and jaundiced eye. Just wait until you meet the Lance hangers-on, "The Dudes" and "The Bros." Be prepared to LOL.

So if you're at all curious about this fascinating world -- but, like me, are either too old or too wise not to join it (!) -- WAR is Highly Recommended. You're in for a good read.

Dr. Kirtland C Peterson

The author is a bit of an exaggerator but the fundamental concepts are very good. This is an especially good book for those (stick-figures) who have a very hard time putting on weight.

Super Squats is timeless. It gives down to earth information on the only three things that will make you bigger and stronger. They are;
1.Progressive overload
2.Getting enough food
3.Rest for growth and addaptation.

These are the cornerstones of getting big and strong and they are as true today as they have always been.

I think one of the problems with today's training magazines is that they seem to put more emphasis on food supplements and training sessions that are done by bodybuilding champions that are not only genetically gifted but also take drugs. These same bodybuilders also promote the food supplements but fail to mention the drug use.

I train people of all ages and all genetic abilities and I can tell you that using the principles laid out in super squats works!

For all begginers out there, cut through the hype and get squatting.

David Morgan

I have been training for years and for the past year I have been training with my 15 year old son. I was looking for a program that we could follow that would increase out strength. Since I am in my mid forties and my son is 15 I wanted something that would be a challenge for him without causing me to burnout.

This book offered solid advice. After years of trying all kinds of programs it was good to read a book that goes back to the basics and presents them in a clear cut entertaining way.

I read the book three times, and followed a variant of the abbreviated program. I gained 25 lbs in six weeks, and 10 more lbs in the four weeks following (having followed Strossen's advice and switched to 5 x 5 at about the six week mark).

I will be going for another six week cycle in about a month, and will write another review, perhaps more extensive, to report my gains.

This book is an absolute MUST HAVE for one who wants to get big. Anyone who actually reads Super Squats, as opposed to most of the reviewers here, will see that this is no invention of fancy by Strossen, but in fact a systhesis of the history and experience of what has truly worked.

I liked this book better than I thought I would. The training concept is simple and is completely summarized in other reviews. The real value here lies in the history of the use of this exercise and other simple core lifts to build amazing strength and the inspirational tone.

Where the book falls down is in the technique area. I wouldn't even consider getting this book without also buying Starting Strength. I was extremely impressed with the detailed instructions, tips, diagrams, organization and other factors for the core exercises of squat, bench press, deadlift, shoulder press and power clean. It also has good simple routines based on these lifts and it loaded with fine points for each lift and all the whys you need to know.

I was a physiology teaching fellow in graduate school and I was extremely impressed with the quality of the information, references, etc. I think the approach is very aggressive here and for many people who are older, less fit or don't have perfect technique taking extra time to build up to the heaviest weight makes more sense.

For two great books with more information on exactly the right techniques, I recommend in this order: Starting Strength, Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body and From Scrawny to Brawny. This last title is NOT the best on technique, but has a lot of good suggestions to prevent injury and modify movements for hardgainers.

Taking Sides Taking it to Another Level

The book I read was Taking Sides, by Gary Soto. This book is one of my favorite books. I definitely recommend people from the age of 12 and up. This book is very descriptive and well written. This book contains a little Spanish, so when you read it might be hard for you to understand. When you read this book it makes you feel as you're there.
One of my favorite part from the book is when he gets to play his old school against his school that he is now in a basketball game. So if you want to find out who wins you must read this book and find out for your own! The main characters in this story are Lincoln, James, Tony, Monica, and Lincoln's Mom. This story takes place in Sycamore, California.
If you really enjoy basketball books I really recommend you to read this book. This book is one of the best books I've read, and if you also love Gary Soto's book's you'll love this one. Taking Sides is a book full of excitement and mysteries.

"I'd rather be playing for Franklin then Columbus" Lincoln says. Lincoln is the main character in the book "Taking Sides" by Gary Soto. If you want to know what this quote means keep on reading.
Lincoln is an athletic boy who just moved to a small rich town from living in a poor town where things are always stolen. He had to leave all his friends behind and his girl-friend. His passion is playing basketball. Now he has to play an important game against his old team. The worst part is that he is losing his best friend for playing on the other team. Will he play hard with his new team or will he throw away the important game to keep his best friend?
This is for both boys and girls that are interested in athletics. Also for people who like competition. Would you try to win the game or would you throw the game away? If you want to find out what happens in the end read this interesting book.

This excellent and appealing story deals with cultural differences,moving,and basketball. An eight grader,Lincoln mendoza and his mother have just moved from barriot to sycamore,due to a robberie.Lincoln misses his old neighborhood and old dirty freinds.He also misses the fights that would occur in barriot.The reason i gave this book four stars was becuase it had good parts.My favorite part in this book was the part when he played against the other team because it was all his freinds. The arthur desribed this book so great.At his new school he is playing on there basketball team which happens to play against his old school franklin he is very nervous and why does his coach dislike him?????

I liked the book, but it never addressed who was the burglar. Was the same person or persons that broke in their old neighborhood home the same guy who broke into their new home? Could he have been the boy's father or the mom's ex-boyfriend and that's why the dog didn't bark? How did the stolen TV end up at the thrift store?

Switching Teams

Do you know what it's like to switch teams? Well Lincoln Mendoza does. I am talking about the book, "Taking Sides," by Gary Soto. This is a great book. I think that anyone who likes books about sports should read this. It is all about basketball and how Lincoln switches school and joins a different basketball team. You should read, "Taking Sides."

Plus this book talks about real issues in life because these things really happen, people really have to switch schools and change basketball teams. My favorite part was when Lincoln went back to Franklin (his old school) to see his best friend Tony; it was great, two friends reuniting. An example of good suspense in this book is when someone breaks into Lincolns house when he is sitting home alone. You don't know what's going to happen and I won't tell you. There is no bad part in this book to me and I don't think you will find one. I say you should read this book.

In conclusion, this book is about sports, switching schools and adjusting to there. This is a fabulous book you should read this. Now don't just sit there, run to your nearest book store and get the book called, "Taking Sides."

By:M.W

If you are new to the game of golf, Ann Kelly has written the perfect book for women. This is a "must-have" book and I recommend it to all women who are either new to the game of golf, or who are considering taking up the game. Everyone knows or remembers what it felt like to be a novice golfer and have that "naked" feeling when you stood up to hit your ball off the first tee. This book is filled with excellent tips to help alleviate that awful feeling. Ann addresses topics like equipment, anatomy of the golf course, rules and scoring to get you up to speed so you can confidently hit the ground running when you are on that first tee. I think every golf course ladies' league should equip their new members with this excellent book.

Cute, fluff, not even really that cute; semi-dismal stocking stuffer to go along with some used ladies' clubs!...What the heck; tee yer lady off big time! JZ

Living in the desert southwest, I am constantly running into avid golfers. I am a busy mom of three young children and embarrassingly, I have never had time to learn the game of golf. Feeling Naked on the 1st Tee has totally given me everything I need to know and quick! Now I can get out there and look like a pro. How exciting! Thank you for this awesome tool!!

a handy little book with just the right approach for me, a woman without a lot of sports experience who has decided to take up what is probably one of the most challenging sports - really gave me the 'quick and dirty' on what to look for in equipment, the basic rules, the layout of a hole - and did it all with a sense of humor - highly recommend

I purchased this book at the same time as Golfing for Dummies, and found it to be a waste of my money. Golfing for Dummies covers the same topics, but more in depth. To me, this book didn't provide much real info, it glossed over most topics to quickly, which make sense as it's a very small book. I'd save your money, and just go for a more complete guide, it's worth it.

This book was a gift and I could not put it down. Through a narrative the author draws into question our modern frentic lifestyle and finds folks who are able to find fulfillment doing what they love. The boat would seem to be the focus of the book, but the value is in the relationships with the other characters. I loved the soul searching when faced with the decision to restore the boat to museum quality versus making it functional again. An easy read, this is the first book I've read to completion in a long time.

The book was in pretty good condition and at a great price.

A.F. Project Engineer: D.E. Hoak ⢠McDonnell Douglas Corporation ⢠Douglas Aircraft Division

Principal Investigator: R.D. Finck

October 1960 ⢠Contract AF33(616)-6460

Revised April 1978 ⢠Contract F33615-76-C-3061

Project No. 8219 ⢠Task No. 821901

Flight Control Division ⢠Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory ⢠Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

The purpose of the Datcom (Data Compendium) is to provide a systematic summary of methods for estimating basic stability and control derivatives. The Datcom is organized in such a way that it is self-sufficient. For any given flight condition and configuration the complete set of derivatives can be determined without resort to outside information. The book is intended to be used for preliminary design purposes before the acquisition of test data. The use of reliable test data in lieu of the Datcom is always recommended. However, there are many cases where the Datcom can be used to advantage in conjunction with test data. For instance, if the lift-curve slope of a wing-body combination is desired, the Datcom recommends that the lift-curve slopes of the isolated wing and body, respectively, be estimated by methods presented and that appropriate wing-body interference factors (also presented) be applied. If wing-alone test data are available, it is obvious that these test data should be substituted in place of the estimated wing-alone characteristics in determining the lift-curve slope of the combination. Also, if test data are available on a configuration similar to a given configuration, the characteristics of the similar configuration can be corrected to those for the given configuration by judiciously using the Datcom material.

The major classification of sections in the Datcom is according to type of stability and control parameter. This classification is summarized below:

Section 1: Guide to Datcom and Methods Summary (present discussion including the Methods Summary)
Section 2: General information
Section 3: Reserved for future use
Section 4: Characteristics at angle of attack
Section 5: Characteristics in sideslip
Section 6: Characteristics of high-lift and control devices
Section 7: Dynamic derivatives
Section 8: Mass and inertia
Section 9: Characteristics of VTOL-STOL aircraft

This collection is hard to beat--it represents a broad cross-section of authors and provides enough sailing yarns to relate around the barbie for months to come!

As a one-time sailor, I was taken back to the "old days" by many of these stories. Some are humourous, some awe inspiring, but I think most would be enjoyed by mariner and landlubber alike.

Seems like the selection proccess of stopries was more what the publisher could get (probably cheap) than a good selection of really good stories. Sure there are some good ones (Like en excerpt from Pete Goss's book) but the continuity in the book totally lacks - and I haven't even finished the book yet after 4 months - and I love sailing books - normally cannot put them down if they are well written.

A broad selection of sea stories -- you have probably already read some of them -- combined as a collection of short stories. An enjoyable addition to an onboard library.

a nice intro to many different authors. Very enjoyable. The greatest?

A well-written, organized triathlon program designed for beginner or advanced athletes of any age, which highlights health benefits, safe training methods and assessments. The flexibility and strength assessments are detailed and illustrated to perform the exercises correctly! TriPower pieces together all the integral components to train for a triathlon. This will help me tremendously as I prepare for my next triathlon, and as I train clients for their 1st triathlon!!

most of the current triathlon books don't seem to put much emphasis on strength and flexibility training. this book fills that gap.

TRI POWER: THE ULTIMATE PROGRAM FOR TRIATHLON SUCCESS is a key component of any weight training or conditioning exercise program, offering up four phases of conditioning and showing athletes how to get the most from a triathlon experience. The authors are certified teachers and experts: their instruction will appeal to any triathlon trainer and to any collection strong in sports representation.

This book is RICH with information and covers quite a spectrum. I don't usually leave comments but this book is worth the time.. I was able to meet the authors too and they are no joke.
(no wonder this is on a best-seller list. wow)

I am new this year to the Triathlon world and this book has helped me in my training more than anything besides hiring a personal coach. The programs are easy to follow and take approx 30 minutes to complete each day. You can choose whatever exercise you want to tailor it to your needs. I was never into stretching until I started this "guide". Now I understand why stretching and core strength are important in a Triathlete as well as in life. I give it 4 stars only due to the fact that it took me a while to figure out which exercise was what. Other than that if your looking to prepare for a Triathlon or even just want to get fit in approx 30 min a day, then this book will help you.

A perfect book to both inspire less than enthusiastic readers. Well written and very interesting subject matter. My grandson, age 9 loved it.

I read the book Baseball's Biggest Bloopers The Games That Got Away by Dan Gutman. This book was about players that blew it big time! Many of thwe games lost the World Series for the team. But somtimes it just lost the game and the team came back and won the Series. In this book there are 12 humiliating stories that will make even you, fell bad for the players. My favorite story was Herb Washington Designated Pick-Off Victim. It was about an olympic runner that was taken to the Oakland A's. When he got to the Statdium he didn't even know how to play baseball, and teh A's tought him how to paly and then n one game he got picked-off. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes baseball or any sports.

Baseball is a tough sport to play sometimes. Many times players make mistakes called bloopers. These bloopers you see in almost every game. Sometimes they cost a regular game, a pennant, or to make it worse the world series! This book has tons of it. It talks about players who mess up the game so bad they have the rest of their life to think what they did wrong! You will enjoy this book so much that once you done reading, you can't stop! So buy this book. It's called Baseballs biggest bloopers the games that got away. This will be one of the greatest baseball books you will ever get!

We all make mistakes and if you love baseball and if you enjoy hearing about how other people made bigger mistakes than you ever will - mistakes that cost World Series titles - then Dan Gutman has written a book for you.

"Baseball's Biggest Bloopers" is a pleasure to read, because "Biggest Bloopers" reviews the charming history of twelve (12) major league mistakes in baseball's past, provides follow-up information so that we know the mistake-makers recovered and lived a happy and productive life, and prepares us to expect mistakes in the future that could cost us and our friends a lot of money - and to not get excessively upset about it. Gutman refreshingly writes in the introduction, "Even the best in the world screw up now and then. Nobody's perfect. Mistakes are a part of life. We're only human. The greatest players in the game make mistakes" (p. x).

A person might object and say that there are only 12 mistakes reviewed in the book and the history of baseball clearly has a bunch more. My response is to say that while it is pleasurable to read about another person's major blunders and to learn how he humbly admitted his mistake and laughed it off, the chapters deal with tragic experiences that can bum a person out. So thankfully Gutman includes only twelve.

Gutman's "Biggest Bloopers" makes a perfect birthday or Christmas gift, since his book is easy to read, gives touching and personal information about the "goats" who blew major games, has a handy review of stats and baseball history at the end of each chapter and contains vintage photographs of early baseball players.