Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov were two of the most illustrious figure skaters of our time. A celebrated couple on and off the ice, they won two gold medals in the Olympics. In 1995 the sports world was devastated at the tragic and sudden death of Sergei Grinkov. In My Sergei: A Love Story, Ekaterina Gordeeva recalls a tender love story of how she and Sergei met, their skating career, their wedding, and the birth of their daughter, Daria. This book also gives us an in-depth look at the life of a professional figure skater and what life was like in the former Soviet Union.

Reviewed by Lori R., University City Regional

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I love this book, it is soooooooo sweet and sad!!! I hate when Sergei dies... I almost cried...
-Feerz, WI

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Dick Schaap, known widely for his coverage of the Olympics, takes us on a journey from his Brooklyn boyhood to ESPN host. He started at 15 working for Jimmy Breslin at the Nassau Daily Star Tribune and became editor of both Newsweek and Sport Magazines. Throughout the book, he tells entertaining stories about eclectic personalities ranging from Cassius Clay to Lenny Bruce to Bobby Fischer. He also relates covering Robert Kennedy, the 1960s L.A. race riots, and the Son of Sam case when he worked at Newsweek and the New York World Herald Tribune. His account provides a humorous, fast -paced insider's view of sports, politics, and popular culture from a veteran journalist.

Reviewed by Megan M., Main Library

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Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis, is a very good book. I am a lifelong baseball fan, and Moneyball relates how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's, built a winning team on one of the smallest budgets in Major League Baseball. I hope your readers enjoy this book, as I did.

Reviewed by Joseph I. L., U. S. Senator

This book review was submitted by a celebrity reviewer.

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The Teammates is the story of four aging members of the 1940’s Boston Red Sox who are reunited one last time by the failing health of the group’s center: Ted Williams. The story originates from a car trip made by Dom Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky, and a mutual friend to visit the dying Williams. Teammates is a short book full of entertaining stories from the friends’ playing days and their lives after baseball. Ted Williams dominates the book as he did the friendship, but each of the former players is given equal treatment. As the respect and love these men have for each is revealed, we see that their friendship is not important because they played big league ball together, it’s important because they were young together.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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For five years Sandy Koufax was the best pitcher in baseball. Because of his throwing style, he eventually developed traumatic arthritis in his pitching elbow. His competitiveness and ability to play through pain awed his teammates. Ironically he was a late bloomer as a pitcher, so he almost didn't get his chance to shine. Also, he eschewed the attention given a star of his caliber and was viewed as reclusive or, more darkly, as an aloof Jew. The picture of this athlete that Leavy paints for us is not a saintly man who charged through barriers but a private yet warm person who asserted his normalcy and not only didn't seek celebrity but refused to be seduced by it. Recommended for anyone that enjoys a serious sports biography.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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At the beginning of the 2003 NFL season no one could have predicted that the Carolina Panthers would make it to the Super Bowl. Most football fans remember the Panthers as the team that set an NFL record for most consecutive losses in a season (1-15 in 2001). This book offers a behind the scenes look at the team as it attempted to win it all in 2003 and a look at the 1996 team that made it to the NFC Championship game. From funny stories and interesting quotes to interviews with coaches and players, the seasons high and low points are well documented. While the journey to the top was not always easy, hence the nickname Cardiac Cats, it was memorable.

Reviewed by Angela A., Cornelius Branch

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It’s late August of 2003, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs are in a tie for the lead of the National League Central. The nights of the title are the three games that the teams are preparing to play in St. Louis. Bissinger was granted complete access by Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. He takes us behind the scenes for an intimate look at the minutiae of baseball. This fascinating story of an important series allows La Russa to explain the life of a modern baseball manager. Details like how he has to convince modern players that they should want to win, when it’s appropriate to hit opposing batters with pitches, the time spent in the video room studying opponents and the agony of deciding on his pitching rotation and starting lineups along with a great combination of anecdotes, statistics and short player biographies make this book a baseball lover’s dream.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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John McGraw was a scrappy player that thrived on the rambunctious Baltimore Orioles of the 1890’s. At 29 he was washed up as a player and this uneducated pugnacious man took over as manager for the New York Giants during the 1902 season. Christy Mathewson, a college educated wunderkind, was the team’s best pitcher and the apparent opposite of his new manager, but the two became fast friends. For over ten years they helped cement each other’s legacy. As the two men played out their careers, baseball grew up around them, moving from parks with replaceable wooden seats to permanent steel and concrete stadiums. Deford effortlessly weaves the lives of these two men, their friendship, their successes and defeats with the evolution of the game they helped perpetuate. Recommended for those interested in baseball and life in America during the early twentieth century.

Reviewed by Ed M., Morrison Regional

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The star laden 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers team should have been cruising to a NBA championship. It appears though that the “basketball gods” yanked the carpet underneath them. And Coach Phil Jackson might concur. He does record his experiences about that dramatic, exciting and anxious season in this book along with observations and anecdotes from his previous years of coaching. This team was built with championship expectations with veteran stars Karl Malone and Gary Patron joining current Laker leaders Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The nine-time NBA championship coach, however, had to cope with his “troops” sub par team performances, injuries and incidents of bickering. Worse was Jackson’s faltering relationship with Bryant who struggles off the court as he is accused of rape charges. The sports fan scores here with a good read about today’s professional sports.

Reviewed by Lawrence T., South County Regional

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The Dallas Cowboys--football fans either love ‘em or hate ‘em. The 1990’s brought the Cowboys franchise three Super Bowl championships, creating a new sports dynasty and making headlines on and off the field.  With raw honesty and substantial research, sports columnist Jeff Pearlman chronicles the ‘90s decade which centered more on drugs, sex and egos rather than football.  With interviews and recollections from former players and staff, journalists and neutral bystanders, Pearlman dishes the dirt on a colorful cast of characters that played hard and partied even harder.  An informative and entertaining look at America's team, this book will be impossible for sport fans to put down.

Reviewed by Kim W., University City Regional

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January 10, 1982, the NFC championship between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. With 58 seconds remaining, the 49ers trail by 6 as the last call of the game, Sprint Right Option, results in one of the most spectacular plays in NFL history--“The Catch.” A play that changed football, changed the future of two franchises, and made stars of quarterback Joe Montana and secondary receiver Dwight Clark. In his book, sports journalist Gary Myers replays this meaningful match up and offers intimate insights into the NFL of the 1980s. Fans of football history will be entertained and educated.

Reviewed by Kim W., University City Regional

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“Zero regrets. It’s a philosophy not just about sport but also about life” that fuels Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated American Winter Olympic athlete of all time. Both sport and life are intertwined in this autobiography as Ohno traces the path that led from a single parent childhood through difficult teen years to the Olympic podium in three consecutive Winter Olympic Games. He also discusses the rigors of his Dancing with the Stars season and victory. Even though deeply personal, this book offers an informative and entertaining insider view of short-track speed skating, competitive sports training, sports psychology, and instant Olympic fame. Ohno’s story is sure to motivate rising young athletes as well as inspire anyone to live a life of purpose with zero regrets.

Reviewed by Kim W., University City Regional

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Sports + numbers = Scorecasting, or a unique method of analyzing with statistics the hidden, and sometimes infuriating, forces that determine how basketball, baseball, football and hockey games are played, won and lost. Economist Moskowitz and Sports Illustrated journalist Wertheim argue some of the common held sports truisms by looking closely at the numbers, attempting to answer: Why does the home-field advantage influence the outcome of games? Does defense really win championships? Why are draft picks overvalued by many professional teams? Can teams really ride a wave of momentum? Avid sports fans will find insight, humor and a lesson on how to watch the next big game, seeing it a bit more clearly whether played on the field or in HD on a large screen TV.

Reviewed by Kim W., University City Regional

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Considered one of baseball’s greatest writers, Kahn chronicles the tumultuous 1978 baseball season from an insider’s viewpoint. Following a Yankee team fresh off a World Series championship, join team owner George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson, the self proclaimed "straw that stirs the drink" as they complete one of baseball’s most exciting comebacks. Culminating in a winner take all playoff game on October 2, 1978 with their hated rival, the Boston Red Sox, Kahn transports the reader to a simpler time when baseball was king. This book is for baseball purists and non baseball fans as it combines the characters of the team with the free spirited decade of the 1970s. Relive the action and enjoy the stories!

Reviewed by Colin H., Morrison Regional,

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The silver and blue logo, a billion dollar stadium, superhero-like players, a legendary coach, an egotistical owner--symbols of an American football dynasty. At over 800 pages, almost as big as that iconic star on mid-field, is the latest chronicle in the history and legacy of the Dallas Cowboy franchise. Unlike other narratives focusing on the team`s glory days, Patoski offers an expertly researched and extremely detailed account of the team`s half-century history. Beginning with the team`s oil baron roots, Patoski entertainingly moves from season to season, from the outrageous players to the record breakers, from the backroom deals and money makers to the genius marketing tactics and the everlasting impact on professional sports. This massive history will appeal to football historians as well as dedicated fans of Cowboy nation.

Reviewed by Kim W., University City Regional

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