Sports Books

My first copy was pretty worn, so I decided to buy this edition. Really interesting new stories, not only from the Pardeys expereinces in storms, but also from others. I liked the deductions made by folks from both ends of the experience spectrum, one a real novice, others all along the expereince wave, they all add to the information Lin and Larry share in a very understandable manner. I still think this book is really important. And this edition is definitely easier to navigate. I have the Storm tactics DVD and like it. The two work well together.

The authors give their opinion. It can be discussed but they support it by many examples. I was convinced by the interest of heaving to in bad weather or just to wait and rest at sea. Now, I am buying a parachute anchor...

In my humble opinion this is the Pardey's best book to date. The techniques they present are life savers have no doubt.
M. Bertsche

My wife and I spent four years living on our sailboat (55ft) voyaging from Calif. to the east coast and read every book I could find on heavy weather sailing. About half-way through I came across Pardey's book. I think it's far and away the best volume out there on the subject. Even if you pass on the parachute angle and just plan on heaving-to in a tough situation. Should be in every crusing boat's library, and read and implemented by the skipper.

After reading this book you will know a lot of theory about when and how to heave to. Diagrams and well-written explanations describe methods and techniques of survival during a storm at sea. Also consider "Heavy Weather Sailing" (revised edition) as an excellent source of information on storm tactics and heavy weather sailing. It describes the yacht's stability in more detail.

I thought this was the best girl of the year american girl books i have ever read!!! Its about a girl named Mia St.Clair who was born in a hockey playing family, but Mia's big dream is to become a skater. When shes asked to perform at the winter show, shes got a lot of practice and learning to do. This is a wonderful book and i recomand it.

Great story about a modern girl who loves hockey and figure-skating. A++ read for 3 generations in our family!

This is a great book for girls of all ages. I have read almost every american girl book ever made and this is definatley a winner! Mia really comes alive in her first book and unlike most books these days her character grows and learns. I would definately recomend this book!

I loved this book. I am personally a figure skater myself so I could relate to the book. This book is about a young girl named Mia who is trying to do her best at her sport. This is a good book for girls.

Admittedly, I'm a huge Yankee fan. But beyond that, I'm a baseball fan, and Halberstam does a great job of getting me to feel in my heart for this great group of guys and the relationships they had with each other. He takes you through the major milestones of their careers and relationships and makes you feel like you're one of the boys and share in their joys and hardships. If you're not a fan of baseball and brotherhood, then you won't enjoy this book. But if you are, you won't be able to put it down.

I read this book on the recommendation of a client and was impressed! Halberstam does an excellent job of weaving the tale of four teammates forever bound by baseball, Boston, and their friendship. Each has his own story and personality from the larger-than-life Ted Williams to the reserved Bobby Doerr all revealed with masterful writing. A must read for any Red Sox or baseball fan. Because of the masterful writing I will be reading more of David Halberstam.
October 1964
Summer of '49 (P.S.)
The Best and the Brightest

There's a good bit of information in this book. But I just did not perceive that the author effectively conveyed the "magic" that the story seemed to promise. I came away feeling like I had some more facts about these players but just none of the 'warm and fuzzy' that I expected.

This brief but excellent book covers a lot of ground. It is a fine baseball book that follows the lives of its four main characters from their humble roots through their shared baseball careers and into their post baseball lives. Along the way, the reader learns a lot about how baseball worked during simpler times both at the minor and major league levels.

But it is much more. Among other things, Halberstam examines immigrant culture in America, friendship, success, love and aging. He also tells a lot of really entertaining stories including the Williams lunch with Tip o'Neil, the infamous tarpon fishing trip and the Red Sox/Cardinals World Series. The parallels between Williams and Joe Dimaggio were also interesting.

Ted Williams' "cantankerous" personality is a featured element of this story. As the book progresses, Pesky, Dimaggio and Doerr are presented as truly wonderful human beings (and there is no reason to believe that they are not). It is difficult to imagine what attracted them to Williams, but they clearly were all great friends with Williams as the glue. Despite his well known personality flaws, Williams clearly had some excellent qualities. Halberstam chronicles both sides of the Williams personality and leaves the reader with an overall positive feeling toward him.

This is an entertaining and meaningful story that is more about life and friendship than baseball. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and hated to see it end.

Good books need no blurbs, they can speak for themselves. This one has at least ten blurbs on the covers.

If you're curious about just how much of a bastard Ted Williams really was, read the book and marvel at the stature of a person who would repeatedly curse out a friend for "not fishing right". Then find out about his son's exploitive tendencies, presumably learned from his father. (Nah, a cryofreezing company would never, ever, not in a billion years, pay anyone to freeze their famous father. Couldn't possibly happen.)

I feel sorry for the other three guys who got lumped in with this mess, because they seem like reasonably decent people. And some of the stories are entertaining, though I felt like I had to fight through a lot of unnecessary verbiage to get there.

If you're in the target audience (people who worship sports heroes) this probably will work well for you. I was quite disappointed, and I'm not likely to read any of the author's other works; the effort wasn't worth it.

The book contains nothing that will be of value to our organization. In fact, most aren't really games at all. I was looking for some fun activites to motivate the staff and I should have spent the money from this book on cookies instead!

I was expecting something a little different. I did enjoy browsing the games and saw where they may be a good fit at some of the things that I have to lead. I'm glad to know that there is a book like this around.

After skinmming thru this reference book, I am excited that it has several activities that I will use in my trainings.

I was disappointed with this one. The Big Book of... series tends to be hit-and-miss. This one's a miss. There seems to be a shortage of actual games, and a lot more ideas for how to get a good healthy discussion about Topic X. If that's all you need, this may be a good one. I was looking for actual games and activities...found a lot of them in Miller's Quick Teambuilding Activites for Busy Managers. But all the activities in that book are short, so if you need anything to last more than 15-20 minutes, try Ukens' All Together Now--some of them are longer (for retreats and other long meetings).

I utilize this book quite often to kick off sales meetings and have found the exercises to be fun and always with a point. My groups seem to enjoy them as well. This is a great book for people who needs ideas, but tend to run out of them.

This book gives a comprehensive history of Green Bay Packers from the beginning. It highlights great players and coaches. It is hard to put down.

Very good reading for a Green Bay Packer fan.

This is a great book. A very comprehensive history of the team with tons of great photos. I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of the team!

ive been a packer fan since the lombardi era, but only vaguely knew the pre-50s history of this franchise and players, this is a well researched and informative history of the earlier years . there are lots of pics and sidebars highlighting the packers own hall nof fame greats, as well as how the fans and citizens of green bay have stuck by this team through many trials and financial hardships . in the fight for survival,( that is the money generated to keep a pro franchise in town), this book exposes the great character and love of a city and its inhabitants to support above and beyond the call of duty, the glory as well as the lean times , my love for this, the last of the small town teams from the beginnings of the nfl has renewed my passion and makes me want to move to green bay to live the dream, unique among the nfl and at the top!!!!!!!!!

I purchased this book for my brother as a Christmas present. Upon receiving the book I shared it with several fans and they were so excited. I thought it was a great book and know that my brother is going to Love It!!!! We have been Packer fans since the 60's.

My 88-year-old father grew up in Wisconsin. He's a lifelong Packer fan. I haven't seen or read the book, but he's absolutely enthralled by it. We talk frequently, and he brings the book up often. Every page has a memory for him.

So, don't take my word for it: take the word of a man who watched Don Hutson catch passes on blustery Green Bay Sundays.

I bought this book prior to attending the Skip Barber Racing School, and it was the perfect preparation. The book goes into far more detail than the actual school has time for, so by internalizing it before attending the school, you are well prepared to put the theories into practice.

If the book has any flaw at all, it is that it treats race car driving like something that can be approached completely mathematically. When you're in a real car, instinct, courage, and judgment still count for a lot.

Going Faster is the recognized authority on the subject, and it might never be surpassed. It gets quite technical at times, and bears re-reading as one gains race experience. It is a bit too much for spectators, but for an ambitious racer, this book and seat time can take you to the winner's circle.

If I had one book about driving to recommend this would certainly be it. Skip Barber managed to cover pretty much every aspect of how to drive fast around a track in step-by-step, clear and easy to understand fashion. The book is well ilustrated and well structured.
I personaly haven't taken classes at his school, but I'm pretty shure that all the knowledge he tries to pass and his method are put down in words in this masterpiece. It's the closest from a racing driving class you can get without actually driving around a track with an instructor at your side.

From what I've read so far, it is a great book which covers the aspects of "Going Faster" (whad'ya know?) More theory, rather than dealing with the hands-on-at-the-track-i-need-to-make-sure-the-car-is-running-before-i-go-out, part. Great for people (like the book says) "who want to get into racing or want to appreciate more of what the pro's do when they're spectating from the stands. I haven't read Speed Secrets yet, but from what I read from the reviews, it should be similar.
Compared to Secrets of Solo Racing (which I have read), there's much more useful information for me, because it has more material covering driving rather than covering the entire autocrossing experience (volunteering, clean up, what to take to the track...you can get this from your close autocrossing friends. So focus on driving well with what you have).
All in all, main point is, great book if you want to learn how to drive fast.

My wife and I just completed our first high performance driver training event sponsored by our local Porsche Club of America chapter. The book was recommended by my driving instructor. It seems to be a very detailed version of the Skip Barber Racing School classroom material. Lots of photos and diagrams that make the concepts easy to understand. Reading the information is like listening to my driving instructor all over again. I've purchased two other books on the subject. One was so technical it was difficult to understand and the other was 98% the author telling how great he was during his racing career. This book is spot on. It is a must have for anyone who is about to attend a driving school or is a spirited driver.

I had read that Hogan would tell other golf pros that came to him seeking golf swing advice that they should "dig it out of the dirt" like he did. What sounded like a brush off may have been simply the truth. Hogan dug his swing out of the dirt by putting more work in on it that anyone else. Perhaps that was his real "secret". Hard work.

This book puts a positive spin on a personality that was respected but was not uniformily well liked. Along the way the author gives enough well reseached detail to put human flesh and bones on an iconic figure. A good read. I recommend it.

I would greatly recommend this book. It is a very comprehensive study into the life of a true legend and is also a very incisive insight into America during the thirties and forties. In the course of reading about such an outstanding career the name Tiger Woods inevitably enters one's thoughts. Just how would Hogan have compared to Woods during the prime of his career. Woods continues his gallop into history but Hogan's name will always be the one who was responsible for taking golf out of the country clubs and into the municipal courses.

Only reason I'm not giving one star is simply because Dodson had access that no other writer was previously granted. I can only imagine what Curt Sampson would have done with all this extra information. The only reason I made it through this book is because I'm a Hogan geek. Anyone remotely well versed in Hogan's history will notice a factual error in just about every chapter. And for those not well versed in Hogan's history, there are many basic golf facts that don't make sense. I write this without the book in front of me, but one instance still stands out: Dodson refers to a 10 birdie round of 64 - with no bogeys. I know times have changed, but I don't recall many par 74 courses back in the day. By itself, this can seem like an innocent mistake, maybe even a typo. But when you pair it with the 100 other similar mistakes you lose credibility in the author. You also get the idea that Dodson himself isn't very familiar with the game of golf itself - the type of guy who keeps score on his wrist watch and uses 'golf' as a verb. The last half of the book I was just reading to find a decent quote or two. There's a reason Sampson's book was so popular and this one wasn't.

An outstanding insight to the life and times of Mr. Hogan. So much was presented that never came to the public eye. And even though a discredit was given by one reviewer in his May 9, 2005 review, based on the fact that 10 birdies in an US Open on a par 74 course was not possible, this individual did not do his homework. The US Open was played on a par 74 course in Savannah, Georgia in the early 1930s. A great book, a wonderful revelation, a must read for those interested in golf history.

As both an avid golfer, and Ben Hogan admirer, I was more than satisfied with this book. Once i turned the first page I couldn't put it down. The information shared on the life of who I consider to be the greates golfer ever is unparalleled. Although this will instantly become a cherished part of any Ben Hogan fan's book collection, anyone who enjoys American history, sports history, sports in general, and golf in particular, as well as those who like true stories of sucess against all odds, will enjoy this book. It's a well-written portrait capturing all the good and bad of Ben Hogan and his life, and there was plenty of both. Anyone who thinks they know anything about Ben Hogan the man owes it to themselves to read this book. As Arnold Palmer himself said of the book: "I thought I knew Ben Hogan pretty well, until this book came along...". If you were interested enough in this book to read the reviews, you should buy it. You will not regret doing so.

My son loves the Froggy books. They are just long enough without being too long or too short for a 3 year old. The lessons are simple enough for him to understand as well.

I and my children found this book helpful when discussing fears and swimming lessons. Not only is the book fun to read (neat sounds, etc.), it has the added bonus of providing two useful teaching tools for beginning swimmers. I have to say that the part where Froggy loses his bathing suit is over done, and really is not necessary to the storey. It conveys embarrasment about nudity when it really isn't necessary. A little skillful editing while reading can minimize this. The bottom line is that I and my son found the book helpful, it is well written, and has enjoyable illustrations.

Froggy Learns to Swim is a children's book with about 36 illustrated and colorful pages. It is a learning book of sorts, with an important message for youngsters: That getting over fear takes some effort, but it is worth it in the long run, and that everyone shares many of the same anxieties.

Froggy is resistant to learning how to swim. This is something many children who read this book can relate to. There are those children who take to the water right away, but most children experience at least a small amount of uneasiness before they are willing to jump into deep water on their own. Froggy is then assisted by his mother who patiently, but with determination, teaches him how to swim. Her persistence, along with Froggy's security "blankets" (his scuba gear and bathing suit), finally convince Froggy to try swimming on his own. He then discovers- like many children do- that he loves swimming and after all that resistance, he now has no interest in leaving the pond.

I like the way this book includes some of the actual techniques used/learned in teaching children to swim because it helps kids relate. For example, Froggy's mother explains to him that he needs to start by floating on his belly. Then, he needs to practice going under water, releasing air, and then coming up for air. These, and other techniques, are similar to the actual lessons kids receive when they learn how to swim. This makes the story relevant, and those kids who are having issues with swimming will listen attentively.

Another good point about this story is the interaction with the mother. She wants Froggy to overcome his fear, and she sticks with him to the end, demonstrating the different swimming maneuvers and patiently waiting until Froggy is ready to take the plunge. Then, once he has realized how much he loves to swim, she and Froggy's father wait patiently while Froggy enjoys his newfound activity, well into the night. I also like the sound effects in the book. "Splash!", "Bubble, Bubble", "Zap", "Zook", "Toot, Toot, Toot", etc., are some of the many sound effects that add to children's enjoyment.

Overall, Froggy Learns to Swim is a very good children's book full of professional drawings, helpful sound effects, and an important lesson about overcoming anxiety. Froggy shows kids that they are not alone in facing their fears. Even he is afraid of the water. But with a little help from his mother and his favorite accessories, he is able to get over his fear and ends up enjoying himself immensely in the end.

I agree with the other reviews that this book is especially splendid in it's illustrations, text and message. Like many young children, Froggy is fearful of the water (and, presumably, other new experiences). However, by taking it at his own pace, and with the encouragement of his mother, he soon masters his skills at swimming (anyone who has or works with young children will empathize with a tired mom & dad frog who are still waiting patiently on into the night as Froggy practices his new learning). While very cute, age appropriate and fun, I have only one criticism: at one point, no doubt for humorous effect, Froggy looses his bathing suit and "turns more red than green." Demanding his parents NOT to look, he skedaddles into the bushes and re-suits. Perhaps I'm reading into this too much, but I would hope that children don't come to devolop negative body issues re: being nude, especially around their own parents (no one else is at the beach with Froggy, Mom & Dad). My only concern is that this might reinforce the unnecessary shameful aspect of nudity that people in this country embrace and that, IMHO, is often one of the issues that lead to negative body image in children in America (why do you think we have so many anorexic/bulimic children here??)

What can I say......the Froggy book series are fantastic! Jonathon London writes so well that children can help but enjoy the book. And Frank Remkiewicz is a wonderful illustrator - he makes the books come alive with his drawings of Froggy and the rest of the gang!

I started my daughter on these books when she was about 4 or 5 and she is almost 10 and she still enjoys breaking out her old Froggy books and reading them!

This is the type of book you want you children to read again and again! If you start them on the Froggy series books early they will learn to enjoy the books and other books. The books are tons of fun!

This is a wonderful resource for understanding all that goes into throwing and pitching effectively and I have only started with the book. Look forward to the rest of it.

It is a good book for anyone wanting to learn about mechanics( and I mean broke down to a science)of pitching.Great tips in there from top guys too.

Tom House is the premier pitching coach in the United States and has a large cross section of successful pitchers that attribute many of their pitching achievements to House's training and expertise. His relentless studies on the biomechanics of pitching combined with the use of inventive technology have resulted in an encyclopedia of pitching expertise backed by science, experience, and results. In The Art & Science of Pitching, House (along with fellow authors Gary Heil and Steve Johnson) provides readers access to the full scope of his research.

The Art & Science of Pitching is laid out in four sections; mechanics, training techniques, strategies, and fitness, all complete with diagrams when applicable. This book is as comprehensive as it is valuable, meaning it is absolutely full of qualified information. One of the weaknesses of the book is in the authors' ability to convey the physics behind the mechanics of pitching. While it is evident they have conducted considerable studies on the subject, it can be difficult to replicate their explanations on the mound even when reviewing the diagrams provided. Another surprising omission is the lack of attention to discussing grips; which play a prominent role in pitching.

The information provided should be essential for anyone seeking to improve his or her performance; whether beginning as a pitcher of refining one's abilities after years of play. The book will prove somewhat complicated to use for those without any pitching experience; however, this should not detract from the wisdom provided, as it should be implemented from the start of any career if possible. I recommend this book to all baseball players interested in pitching but advise supplementing it with more basic material in order to be able to fully absorb the information.

Book gives technical background, instruction, and drills for pitchers. This is a must book for any pitcher.

I wouldn't go as far as saying you can find most of the information in this book on the website. That's not the case at all. You can find a little bit of the information from this book ont the website but not very much. This book presents the pitching information in a very simple format making it very easy to find whatever you are looking for. It includes drills to correct many of the problems pitchers now-a-days are having. It is a very good book, and it's probably the best pitching book to date. Tom House is a very reputable source and is called by some the "pitching guru." If you are a coach, a player, a curious parent, or a student of the game/pitching, you'll want this book.

Other than Andrew Beyer's handicapping books and Joe Takach's videos on appearance, there are almost no works on the subject of winning at the races that really made an impression on me - until I read Exotic Betting. Author Crist makes a cogent and powerful argument on the long-ignored art of correctly ranking and betting your contenders. Crist simply is better than anyone else at turning his opinions into profits - and after reading this book, I improved dramatically in my rating and betting skills. Just the section on his A,B,C ranking of contenders was a revelation for me. If you ever want to seriously play multihorse and multirace wagers, read this book or just stick to the lottery.

Steve explains the math behind exotic betting and perfect rationale for using multi-race bets. A must read for the fan who wants to get more from the track.

I found this book to be highly informative, but not because I agree with all of the author's conclusions. The main conclusion I disagree with is the author's repeated assertions throughout that exotics are not about trying to figure out who the two, three or four most likely finishers are and betting them in the order of most likely finish. Christ somehow thinks that there is more to it than that. But there isn't.

If you find the winning horses in the order of finish, you will cash. Because that's precisely what the Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, Daily Double, Superfecta, Pick 6, etc are all about: finding the requisite number of top finishes and the order of finish. He might have meant to say that figuring out the order of finish is a complex process which it indeed is, but the way he choose to express this in the text was really mind boggling. To argue that there is something else to it is - well - nutty.

Despite this one flaw, Christ does get you thinking the right way in alot of areas. He does cover takeout and how that effects your betting decisions, the Win-Place-Show (WPS) pools vs. exotics pools and how they work, why box bets are losing bets, when not to bet and other information that is vital info for the newbie pony player. If you are a newbie to the game of playing the ponies, then this is a must-read. Veterans should also take a look so they have the benefit of a perspective possibly different than their own.

I thought this was a pretty solid book on the proper ways to construct exotic betting tickets. I found Crist's discussions of exacta and trifecta plays to be particularly interesting. Specifically, Crist tells the player to get away from the boxes (and other "chance plays") and go for big payouts by trusting your handicapping skills. Anyone can throw five longshots into a $1 exacta box and get lucky once and a while. Crist's philososphy, and that of many professional players, is to play less combinations at a greater price. Key your top horse over your second choice for $10. Then the top horse over a longshot play for $5. Crist encourages the player to structure bets in a manner that will reward them the most when their handicapping is spot on.....not just when they get lucky by throwing every longshot on the borad underneath and exoctic play. Why play four horses equally in a leg of the Pick 4 when you like two of them much more than the other two?

This book, along with Steve Davidowitz's classic, is an excellent read for the intermediate player who wants to learn to take his bet structuring to the next level. My only complaint is that the book wasn't longer....I would love to be able to sit down with Steve Crist and talk betting strategies all day. The only caution that I would give is that this book is not at all about how to pick winners. In fact, this book is not going to be valuable at all to a player who does not possess solid handicapping skills. If you have trouble picking winners to begin with then its probably not a good idea to try and get creative with exotic betting.

Steven Crist has been a horse-racing columnist, CEO of the Daily Racing Form and is the author of three other books on horse racing. His latest book, EXOTIC BETTING, attempts to fulfill a need, he explains, to glean more profits from racing through "exotic betting" at a time when shorter horse fields and more information available to savier handicappers has made it harder to make money with "straight bets": win, place and show. In EXOTIC BETTING, Mr. Crist patiently and lucidly lays out the mathematics behind daily doubles, exactas, trifectas, pick threes, etc., the so-called exotic plays. At one time, these bets were exotic when win, place and show predominated. But now, exotic betting is a feature at every racetrack. EXOTIC BETTING focuses on intrarace exotic bets like the exacta and trifecta and interrace exotic bets like the daily double and the pick three. Mr. Christ offers betting strategies for each of the exotic bet types. While I have seen most of these ideas in different places elsewhere, Mr. Christ brings them all together in one reference and explains them in very readable prose. Using the principals presented in the first part of EXOTIC BETTING, he finishes by taking the reader through his actual betting at the 2005 Breeder's Cup. A few more examples of the strategies discussed could have been interesting if not necessary but, all-in-all, this is an excellent book and I highly recommended EXOTIC BETTING for the casual or more serious horse player who wants to be a better exotics player.