A few weeks back the manager who originally suggested the newsletter, my editor- if you will, told me to start ramping things up for the second edition. In an effort to mix things up I've written two reviews for books with a sports connection. The first of which was written by ESPN Radio's own Mike Greenberg. The second was written by legendary coach, and former NBA player, Phil Jackson.
all you could ask for by Mike Greenberg
The fact that a sports talk radio host penned this novel is
almost unfathomable. That is, of course, if you don’t know who Mike Greenberg
is.
If you listen to just one segment of Mike and Mike you learn
two things. 1.) The Twitter handle of Greeny’s wife and 2.) That each host’s
characteristics are exaggerated to fit a certain role. Greeny is the skinny,
smoothie drinking, metrosexual geek and Golic is the overweight, dumb
ex-jock. This difference between the two
Mikes is even spelled out in the show’s new logo (one “Mike” is in skinny type
while the other is in a larger, more round font).
Greenberg clearly has some feminine qualities (going all lower case in the title among them), but none that
would suggest that he’d be able to write a novel that features three distinct
female protagonists. Writing from the point of view of the opposite sex is a
daunting task. In fact, there may not be a bigger challenge for an author. Jack
Nicholson’s character in As Good As it Gets (1999) made it sound easy when he,
a famous author, was asked how he writes women so well and said, “I think of a
man…and take away reason and accountability,”, but it’s incredibly difficult.
Somehow, someway Greenberg, with the help of his wife and
their yoga teacher, pulled it off. That is the real victory of this novel. Only once did I find myself saying, “A woman
would not act/say that,” but then again, I’m not a woman, so what do I know?all you could ask for is a story about three woman from different paths of life (even though they all have ties to the ritzy town of Greenwich, CT) that connect through their battles with breast cancer. As you might expect, there are a plethora of references to running, hiking, protein shakes, smoothies, fresh fruit, and wine. There are also a handful of scenes that feature nudity and a number of usages of the word “ass” (including in the first sentence), which I certainly did not expect.
The words fly off the page as quickly as Greenberg’s
opinions do every weekday morning. His urgent cadence drives the plot from page
to page and chapter to chapter. Greeny’s skills as a talk show host very
clearly carry over into his writing. His unique ability to hook listeners into
sticking through a commercial break shows at the end of each chapter. At times
it’s hard to put the book down because you feel the need to find out what
happens next.
That said, the second half of the novel falls flat. As the woman deal with their breast cancer treatments they "bond" quickly and forge unrealistically deep friendships, despite a series of ridiculous exchanges between two of them. The ending is confusing, far-fetched, and unsatisfactory. I would definitely not recommend this book to another male and would have some reservations about telling a female to give it a shot.
Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson
Not many of us want our careers to define our life. We
believe that our families, thoughts and ideals, and true passions are more
important. The same holds true for the most decorated head coach in the history
of the NBA.
Phil Jackson’s latest book Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
is part spiritual journey and part how Jackson implemented his constantly changing
philosophy on life and leadership throughout his career in the NBA as both a
player and a head coach. That’s something that most people too often forget.
Phil Jackson was a solid player in the NBA. He won two NBA titles in the 70s
with the New York Knicks (it should be noted that he was injured for the first
title).Jackson grew up in Montana, a place he’s never really left mentally, as the son of two ministers. Growing up he was bombarded with religion. He went to mass twice on Sundays. Once to hear his father’s sermon. Then again to hear his mother’s. Obviously this led to his natural inclination in divinity, but as he grew up he needed to find a respite from his religious obligations. That, in part, is why he turned to basketball (the other part being his God gifted height and ability).
In the book Jackson provides a season by season synopsis of
his career as a coach in the NBA. Interestingly he gets to the playoffs very
quickly in his descriptions and references the boredom many of his teams dealt
with in the regular season. Within the text we learn a great deal about his
thought process. He was averse to calling early timeouts because he wanted his
players to learn how to play through adversity. It also seems as if he was
petrified of Game 7s because of their uncertainty.
In many ways this book is exactly what you would think that
it would be. Jackson provides a detailed breakdown of the famous triangle
offense, that he learned from assistant coach Tex Winter. He tells stories
about how he handled the eccentricities of Dennis Rodman. He explains the
disdain he felt toward Kobe Bryant during the ’03-’04 season and how they
mended their relationship. There are plenty of passages about his dealings with
Michael Jordan (including their conversation before MJ decided to play
baseball) and their great respect for one another.Throughout it all there are quotes from Zen leaders and Buddhist monks, references to Lakota Warriors, mentions of motorcycle rides through the Rockies to clear his mind, stories about how he used meditation to relax his players, and examples of how he implemented the fundamentals found in psychological theories like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
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