Suggestions? I was listening to The Score 670 out of Chicago when Dan McNeil long time Chicago sportswriter mentioned that one of his favorite books was http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/youre-ok-its-just-a-bruise-rob-huizenga/1113991775?ean=9780312136277
by raider team doctor Rob Huizenga about what goes on inside of the locker room and what players do to actually play. I hadn’t heard of this up to then… so I’ve ordered. Thought we could share some that we enjoy and get suggestions from one another… The Open Man… a diary of a season by Dave Dubusschere… The Breaks of the Game… season with the Portland Trail Blazers by David Halberstam …excellent as well. The Bronx Zoo… by Sparky Lyle… introduced me as a 13 yr old to the art of Cake sitting… LOL. Care to add??
I would recommend:
Engage by Paul Kimmage. A young rugby union prop forward, on the verge of a professional career with potential international recognition is catastrophically injured in a training session. The story is of how he came to terms with his life changing in an instant and the support (or lack thereof) he received from the game’s authorities.
The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton. The inside story of how (and crucially why) Tour de France bike riders took a boatload of drugs, with inside access to Lance Armstrong’s US Postal team and very frank testimony on just how deep Lance was involved in running a high class doping operation. The fact that Hamilton himself was a cheat should not stop people reading this book.
Soccernomics by Simon Kuper (previously available as Why England Lose). A deconstruction of soccer from the point of view of business principles first and then sports analytics second. As the previous title implies, one chapter, at least, is devoted to exploring how one of the world’s biggest soccer nations perennially underachieves internationally (spoiler: it’s due to backing a reductive interpretation of the sport and thus developing players at odds with the way the game developed elsewhere - it also has things to do with knowledge circles and England not being involved in them).
Joe DiMaggio: A Life by Richard Ben Cramer. I loved this biography. Sympathetic but also bruising in some respects. Even if you’re not into baseball and are more of a soccer fan, this is the beginning of the road to David Beckham arguably.
Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger. Someone will recommend it. It might as well be me. It is pretty damn good in fairness.
The Trundlers by Harry Pearson. Finally, a humourous look at the forgotten men of cricket. Everyone writes books about bamboozling spinners and pacemen who breathe fire and want to kill people. This book is about the bowlers who amble in and just dot it down in the same place over and over, or get people out by deception or craft. Not as shattering or intriguing as some of the other books here, it is nevertheless a lightweight but engaging read.
Not read many but was really impressed by Feet in the Clouds. A book about fell-running with the underlying story of the author trying, failing, trying, failing and then finally doing the elite event in the UK - the Bob Graham round (a fell run off the charts in its toughness).
It’s one of those really niche sports that no one knows about, but is incredibly intense and demanding. So it’s great material for a book - sort of a secret society of completely normal people who pursue this exceptionally tough sport where no one is watching.
It’s an older book but, *Even Big Guys Cry *by Alex Karris is a good read. It can be seen as more of a coming of age story out of the steel mill life than a player autobiography.