Athletics Books

I'm new to golf and this book has really helped me to feel more at ease with the game. I wish all how-to sports books were this informative and usful.

Thomas Fahey has done a remarkable job in his delivery of basic golf information. This book is extremely easy to read. Enough so, that I found it a delightfully enjoyable read from cover to cover. The photos, diagrams, and drawings aided greatly in helping to convey each topic clearly. At only 130 pages, this book is very concise and to the point. "Basic Golf" is at the top of my favorite list and should be considered a must read for any beginning golfer

This is one of the better sports books that I have encountered.

Shapiro was well positioned to write it, having covered the team extensively for many years as a newspaper reporter and editor and having known the coach personally, early in his career.

What stands out is the extensive detail. The author did his homework and provides a lot of information about Thompson's high school and college days, brief pro career, high school coaching career and finally, about his first two decades at Georgetown as the head basketball coach where he took a non descript team and raised it from obscurity. Shapiro interviewed players, opposing coaches and others to really flesh this book out, and it reads very smoothly.

He presents both sides of the issues and provides a lot of interesting information about the former coach and about the many different ways others reacted to, interacted with and perceived him.

Even though I am a huge John Thompson and Georgetown fan, this book looks at both the positive and negative sides of John Thompson. It goes into his childhood, his days at Providence, on to the Boston Celtics, with St. Anthony's High School, and ending with Georgetown. It covers the recruiting process, racial hurdles, and academic regulations John Thompson is know for. It talks about his days as the Olympic assistant and also the controversial head coach in 1988. Takes you on the ride through the early and mid-eighties with Patrick Ewing and ends with the signing of Alonzo Mourning and his first two seasons. This book provides you with information to let you decide if you like John Thompson or not.

This biography is a work of art: it's tough to blend this much biographical data, anecdotes, photos, and clippings into a coherent and interesting story. Yet, teacher-librarian-author Dublin has done just that; the book is engaging enough to pull in even reluctant young researchers. Kids who are sports fans will find it particularly interesting and inspirational, as Rosenfeld was an amazing athlete who had a wonderful sense of humor, team work, and fair play. The text is rich in ethnic (Rosenfeld was a Russian Jew) and feminist themes, as well. Book has T of C, timeline, suggestions for further reading, bibliography, and index.

An excellent biography of Jewish Canadian athlete Bobbie Rosenfeld. The writing is clear, simple, and interesting. Dublin deftly creates context so that readers understand the historical significance of Bobbie's achievements, including her impact on the women's movement. The book is chock-a-block with interesting quotes and amusing anecdotes that keep the reader engaged. Sidebars contain intriguing tidbits that are relevant to nearby text, usually providing background information or expanding on a topic mentioned in the body of the text.

The book comes from a strongly Canadian point of view, and will be particularly popular there, where the places and people named will be commonly familiar. However, the text is quite accessible to non-Canadian readers as well.

The list of resources at the back of the book is very thorough, and includes a timeline, lists for further information in print, video, and online formats, a bibliography of the author's sources, photo credits, and an index.

The large black and white photos are clearly reproduced and intelligently captioned.

This title was named a 2004 Sydney Taylor Honor Book. You can listen to an interview with the author on the podcast The Book of Life at www.jewishbooks.blogspot.com. Listen to the February 2006 episode to hear the interview with Anne Dublin.

Grades 3-7

As a life-long Rhode Islander and Brown grad, Gordon is able to really capture the true essence of Brown sports. Great pictures, great facts.. even Brown alums will learn something new about sports at their alma mater.

You definitely want this book for your collection!

This lively book covers many of Brown's memorable sports moments. Rhode Islander Gordon Morton III is a graduate of the college, he pays special attention to the many Rhode Island-raised Brown student athletes who have gone on to shape Rhode Island life through public service. Replete with lots of pictures, this fun, little book is a great addition to the library of any student, alum, or other fan.

I thought this was a great read! Here is an article I found about the book from the August Gannetteer:

"Indy staffer bares basketball player's 'sole'"

Probably the only thing you know about Chuck Taylor is that his name appears on a shoe. Abe Aamidor wants you to know why.

The Indianapolis Star reporter has penned "Chuck Taylor, All Star"(Indiana University Press), a biography of the man whose name became synonymous with the Converse basketball shoe that bears his signature.

"I learned that Chuck Taylor was the most famous name in sports no one knew anything about," Aamidor says. "There had been no biographies written about him, and some people thought the name was fake, like Betty Crocker or Juan Valdez. I felt there had to be a story to tell."

Aamidor was granted access to Converse's corporate archives and Taylor's stepson gave him permission to visit the Port Charlotte, Fla., home and estate of Taylor's second wife to collect materials. He discovered correspondence between Taylor and legendary University of North Carolina coach Dean Smith, as well as UCLA's John Wooden. Smith wrote the foreword for Aamidor's book and Wooden "was by far my best living source."

The three-year project also took Aamidor to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio - Taylor was coach of the Wright Field Army Air Force "Air-Tecs" basketball team during World War II - and the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

The book, Aamidor's third, has brought him national attention, with interviews on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" and syndicated radio shows "Sports Byline USA" and "The Bob and Tom Show." Aamidor has also penned two college-level journalism texts, "Real Feature Writing" and "Real Sports Reporting."

by Ryan Corazza
Indiana Daily Student
Published Wednesday, March 22, 2006


His signature resides on the ankle patch of perhaps the most popular shoe in American history. He's a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and mingled with such basketball legends as John Wooden, Red Auerbach and Dean Smith. But up until now, nobody knew the true story of Chuck Taylor.

Enter Abe Aamidor.

The former IU adjunct professor and current feature writer at The Indianapolis Star spent three years digging up the facts and filtering out the myth of Chuck Taylor's life to write the first-ever biography on the Columbus, Ind., native.

"I was excited to learn there was never a book written about him," Aamidor said. "It was kind of like finding a gold coin in the street and nobody's around -- you just pick it up."

Because Taylor played in the pre-modern era of basketball that newspapers did not cover much and Converse misled the public about which pro teams Taylor played for, there was a lot for Aamidor to discover.

"Part of the mission was to debunk the mythology," Aamidor said. "There was a lot of junk in the standard brief stuff on Chuck's life, but there was also a lot that wasn't talked about."

Taylor was born in 1901 and spent most of his early years in Azalia, Ind., and Columbus, Ind.

He never played college basketball, which before World War II was the most watched and publicized level of the game. Instead, Taylor became involved with industrial league hoops, more prominent during the 1920s than professional basketball.

Taylor was also a great basketball coach -- a part of his life that is often overlooked, Aamidor said. He coached the Wright Field (Ohio) Army Air Force "Air-Tecs" of the U.S. Army's Special Service Division. The team toured the country playing college and other military teams and is regarded by some as the best service basketball team in history, winning more than 90 percent of its contests during the 1944-45 season.

"All the good players from colleges that were already playing pro ball were drafted (for military service)," Aamidor said. "In those days, you didn't get a deferment from the draft because you were a great ball player."

Instead of being well-known for his coaching abilities, Taylor became most famous for his relationship with Converse and its "All-Star" shoe. Although stories range on just how Chuck became involved with the company, he most likely became a salesman for Converse in 1921 and after proving to be a valuable asset to the company, his name was added to the All-Star patch in 1932.

One way Taylor marketed the shoe was through the "Fundamentals of Basketball" clinics he put on throughout the country. These clinics were put on at high schools and small colleges and on average drew about 300 to 400 guests.

"Before World War II, football and baseball were the big sports," Aamidor said. "So, in the clinics, he explained the game to a lot of people who weren't familiar with it."

Taylor promoted the shoe in a variety of other ways, ranging from traveling with the Converse All-Stars basketball squad to personally contacting and visiting owners of small-town sporting goods stores.

"In a way, his dealings were a bit shady, but he was ultimately honest and likeable," Aamidor said. "Nowadays, every photograph is airbrushed and any statement made is through a spokesman and interviews have to be granted. While Chuck's ways weren't perfect, they were much more honest."

Ryan Corazza
Published Wednesday, March 22, 2006

This book is one of the best coaches books I have ever read. IT's an easy read, with great insight into the female athlete. Everything I have either said, done, tried, observed or whatever in coaching female athletes is addressed in this book. What I thought, its down on paper here in an easy to read style that is very functional for coaches.

"A coach's guide to creating team chemistry: Tips on coaching female athletes" by Cindy Bristow is a great addition to any coaches collection. I found the book to be both useful and informative. I highly recommend.

The Coach's Strength Training Playbook is a must read for Strength and Conditioning professionals, sport coaches, or any individual who is looking to expand their knowledge on the development of athletes. This book is truly a valuable and comprehensive tool as it covers all aspects of strength training program design such as annual plan development, training cycles, as well as daily and weekly plans.

In addition, this book exposes the reader to the Tier System in which Coach Kenn has done a tremendous job meticulously breaking down every aspect of this athletic based training approach. I have personally gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from this book and have and will continue to use the principles of the Tier System.

The Coach's Strength Training Playbook is an excellent resource for anyone responsible for the training of athletes. Rare are the texts that so thoroughly outline all of the components of a successful athletic based training program. Coach Kenn holds back no secrets as he breaks down the entire Tier System from the development of the annual plan all the way to specific training cycles.

This is an excellent book for the beginner coach or the coach who has many years of experience. It introduces the reader to different types of motivation and how to motivate teams and players of superior levels of performance and teams and players that are perennial losers. Warren also talks about other coaching issues such as assistant coaches, coaching women, the superstar athlete, and dealing with administrators and parents.

This is a very good book. I am on my second time reading it. Good book to read inbetween seasons or at the begining of your season. A lot of common sence ideas, but they remind you or open your eyes again. Also a lot of new approaches or ideas to try out. Each part of the book deals with differend aspects of coaching and motivating players. I highley recommend this book to any coach who needs help motivating players, or just as a refresher. You will learn something new by reading it and it is sure to help your team.

I have appreciated the Dummies series as the publisher has some fun with topics that we might not have a clue. Having coached both Little League and softball (ASA), I saw this book on the shelf and decided to buy it to see if there are any hints that I might have been missing. Overall, this book is excellent for those who are just starting out in the coaching world. Handling kids and knowing the sport can be quite tricky, especially when parents are part of the equation. I think looking this over before stepping onto the field (and looking like a "dummy") is a very wise investment of money and time. I pretty much experienced most of what he explained, but Wolff was very straightforward and to the point. I appreciated his insights and will consider using several of the tips that I had not thought of before. Parents, get out of your lawn chairs, quit complaining behind our backs, and help us other parents coach!

I bought this book when I heard the author was going to be on Oprah. I wasn't sure I was ready to let my child participate in organized sports at a young age, but this has helped me figure out what my child should expect from her coach and how I can be a supportive parents too, without putting pressure on anyone.

Cobi Jones is the soccer player kids watch in the United States. He is their hero. This book will help the beginner through advanced increase their skills. The format of the book is very user friendly. First, the reader learns some valuable information about Cobi Jones, then he takes you step by step through all of soccer's skills. Mr. Jones goes over the rules of the game, then stresses the need for warming up and details some exercises to do just that. He also emphasizes fair play. Each chapter then discusses and demonstrates a soccer skill. Mr. Jones offers excellent graphics appropriate for kids, and gives tips to enhance the skill. To complete each chapter skill, the champion provides games for perfect practice. This book is a very personalized approach to soccer instruction derived from a book. A great gift and "personal coach" for soccer enthusiasts! An autographed practice ball is included!

I loved all the detailed soccer tips I could share with my kids when I coach their AYSO teams. Cobi is their favorite professional athelete and his instruction really influences my kids in a positive light both on and off the field.