Athletics Books

This is really a fine histury of the 1936 Olympics in addition to a review of Jesse Owens career leading to the Olympics. This should be required reading for all of the current sports writers and editors. it should be read especially by those that thought that Clay was even close to being the outstanding athlete of the century. It would be a five star book if the author hadn't inserted some of his personal biasis.

We ordered this work for our grandson who was doing a school project on Owens. The text captured his interest and proved a helpful source for his sixth grade research project.

Take a trip back to the days of World War II in this historical account of Jesse Owens and his trip to the Berlin Olympics.

Here we have a mostly victorious investigation into Jesse Owens' historic performance at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany. The story is hugely inspiring and all readers will become fans of Owens for both his athletic prowess and his personal qualities. Jeremy Schaap untangles the pervasive racial politics surrounding this historical episode, as both the Americans and Germans badly over-interpreted and exploited (in many different ways) the presence of Owens and his black teammates at the Olympic games that Hitler tried to turn into a showcase for his regime's hateful ideas of Aryan superiority. Schaap also untangles the legends of Hitler's apparent refusal to personally meet with Owens, which may have been a more complex situation than the simplistic racial snub that historians have assumed in the decades since.

But despite the inspiration offered by Owens and the exciting coverage of his many victories, this book suffers from some serious underlying problems. Most important is Schaap's use of invented dialogue and fanciful constructions of inner thoughts. The Notes section proves Schaap's diligent and frequent use of authentic sources for real historical events and occasional direct quotes, but citations are suspiciously rare for conversations between the persons covered and their supposed inner decision making. One especially worrisome example is the episode in which Owens decided not to show his coach a telegram he had received from the NAACP, in which Schaap gives no sources for Jesse's internal thoughts as presented in the book. Meanwhile, Schaap apparently couldn't decide if the book should be a biography of Owens or a historical account of the 1936 Olympics, leading to an inconsistent timeline, tiresome tangents into related events (like the petty parliamentary struggles surrounding an American movement to boycott the Games), and gaps in the thematic explorations of Owens' true influence on the issues of his day and on the future of sports. Regardless, Jesse Owens shines through for the reader, but Schaap's inability to avoid some of the weaknesses of standard sports reporting leaves the reader wanting more of the man who made history. [~doomsdayer520~]

Very good history lesson. The book flows well and gives a good account of what America and the world was like during Mr. Owen's life. Would encourage the reading of Triumph

This book, if you really read and reflect on it in depth, will deepen and enhance the way you look at the world fundamentally, not only in sports but in all areas of life. There are hundreds of insights here into all types, strengths and weaknesses, preferences, tendencies. *Note: Readers should realize many insights and tips are spread over the various sports' sections, so one should read the commentaries on *all* the different sports, i.e. read the golf and diving sections even if you don't play golf or dive, because there are likely major tips that apply to every aspect of life. I've read this book up and down and continue to refer to it again and again. I find myself watching sports on TV and identifying all the players' types pretty easily.

This is a fascinating book. Jonathan attempts to tie physiology to principles that have been discussed for years as being psychological. It can be liberating to know that people are not being difficult, but they are the way they are because of their "hard wiring" which causes them to see the world differently. One problem is the self testing for brain typing. It can be tricky to pick the correct type even when you've been as honest as you can with the questions. It can also influence your expectations for children's development. This is a seminal work that needs to be developed further by the scientific community.

Jon's book and research, have proven, time and time again, that determining and understanding a person's brain type gives you a great advantage in understanding your own behavior, and the behavior of others. Instead of always wondering why people are the way they are, or, as many do, trying to change the basic behavior of another person, you gain insight on how that person's mind and view of life work. And as you coach, manage and work with others, you can encourage them in area's of strength, or preference, base on their unique braintype.

There is a great deal of misunderstanding and misinformation in the understanding, and utilization, of the Myers-Briggs model. Jon's braintype model helps to clarify, scientifically, what is really going on, inside that mind.

I am a student of this book; and have used it extensively in my coaching and business career. It is one of the best investments a person can make in helping them understand themselves; and others....

Daniel Dyk, ISTJ

Although Mr. Niednagel wants us to believe that the product he is pitching, Brain Typing, is scientifically based, it is really nothing more than just another weary entry from the productive and fertile field of pseudoscience. He uses anecdotes and testimonials to pitch his product with absolutely zero controlled studies that even hint at its effectiveness. The irony of using athletes to promote his product is the common knowledge of athletic superstition.

He has every right to sell a product that relies on the expectations, dreams, and wishes of the buyer. This is what American commerce is all about. But, pleeeese!! Don't try to tell us it has any relationship to real science.

The author is, in my opinion, a lot better at self-promoting than he is at Typing celebrities. The guy made a splash by (in all likelihood) Typing two football players correctly, Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, when there was tons of dollars on the line. Unfortunately, this single success is being parlayed into a non-scientific snake-oil salesmanship. Better yet: his line of reckless conjecturism is taking the once scientific field of MBTI into the realm of phrenology. Great. Nothing could discredit Isabel Myers-Briggs and David Keirsey's studies more quickly. (though, truth be told, the Keirseys have been getting a lot heavier into pure conjecture lately, and offer less and less empirical backing)
What is even more disturbing, if you check the author's website, is his alarming tendency towards an elitist (and often radically errant. IMO) Typing of US presidents. Apparently, this author maintains, on pure conjecture of course, that only ENTs can ascend to the presidency. Thus does he mis-Type (and now for my own conjectures, which i can back up at least as credibly as this author) ISFJ GW Bush as an ENTJ; thus does he mis-Type ESFP Bill Clinton as an ENTJ; thus does he mis-Type ENFP Ronald Reagan also as an ENTJ. You see a lot of "ENTJs" in his findings, right? (I am betting the author is an ENT himself. Naturally.) Anyway, such purely conjectural favoritism, in addition to resurrecting a kind of phrenology, is, I'm afraid, because the author is also putting forth a form of "Master Racism/Typism" agenda. Very worrisome, should some psychological Hitler ever come along. Think about it.
Of course, a lot of ENTs do indeed circulate in the halls of US leadership--they just should not be confused with the theatrical muppets we call presidents: indeed, those darned NT mystery men are often found hovering around our presidents, in the form of what may be called "The Establishment." You know, the Cheneys and the Rumsfelds and the Brzyzinskis--these guys may indeed be the braintrusts of NT power that the author thinks he is seeing when he looks at the bogus media image that the Establishment and the controlled major media gives to clear-cut Sensors like Bush and Clinton (clear cut when you study their previous actions and speeches, not just the scripted answers these Sensor presidents read to scripted questions by the major media). Anyway, if this guy who sells himself so well can be so duped by the media image of a man, I wouldn't trust much of any of his conjectures.

Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook: 1998-1999 by Chris Dortch braks down all the NCAA top level basketball teams, and looks at the year before. It gives information on positions for players, likely minutes, depth, possible performance and a lot of other information you wouldn't find anywhere else in one source. A top notch work.

I have been buying Blue Ribbon since it was first published. I have every issue and refer to them quite often. Blue Ribbon is by far the "best" college basketball reference guide available. I am a Kentuckian, by birth, an avid UK and college basketball fan!! This "reference" book is a "must have" item for all college basketball fanatics!!!! Go "Blue Ribbon" and go "Cats"!!

I have also bought this book for the last several years and was extremely disappointed that the TOP 44 high school profiles was deleted. That section was the major reason I enjoyed the book - to be able to know the stars of the future. I didn't buy the 2001-02 edition and probably will not in the future.

Blue Ribbon remains the best preview of college basketball in existence. It has comprehensive, well written reviews of every team in Division I, with detailed analysis on every player. However, it has gone downhill this year because it omits the section on high school players, which was always fascinating. In my case, it was often the first way I heard about the future stars of the game. In addition, Blue Ribbon appears to have eliminated its early season update and the NCAA tournament preview (written after Selection Sunday and delivered by Wednesday), both of which were excellent. Nonetheless, if I bought only one basketball publication per year, this would still be the one.

I have gotten this book every year for a while now, but this years edition was terrible because it did NOT have the recruiting profiles of the Top 44 as they have and years past and that they CLAIM they do now.

As an individual that currently works in athletics I would like to expand the discussion to include a much older paradigm than modern college athletics. I do see student athletes as employees but not in the sense being reported here, I would have to say it is much more medieval in it's purest form and refer to it as indentured servitude.
Do not fool yourself into believing that this servitude is solely for those on scholarship because as a past DIII student athlete I can tell you that I was told more than once that I better do what I was told or I would not be on the team.
The only reason I rated the book is so I might be able to post my thoughts. I will be ordering this book to better educate myself and then I can leave a real review but after reading the post I felt compelled to add my input.

Stark and Staurowsky have created a book about college athletes that explores the issue of professionalism in college sports like no other. The purpose of this book is to prove that college athletes who receive scholarships based on athletic ability are in fact paid professionals who are compensated in the form of room, board, tuition, and fees. In spite of this fact, the NCAA still labels these athletes amateurs. As a result, the NCAA is protected under rules that allow them to get away with behavior that they otherwise could not if these athletes were considered professionals in the true sense of the word. The authors contend that by labeling athletes amateurs the NCAA is able to avoid taxes, workers compensation claims of injured athletes, and antitrust scrutiny. The author's focus is on athletes involved in revenue producing sports, mainly men's Division IA football and basketball. The authors do a good job of proving that the role these sports are playing in universities more closely resembles an unrelated business of the university rather than an academic supplement.

Other books talk about the evils of college sports in terms of commercialism and illegal payments. These books focus mainly on the outrageous amounts of money that some college sports generate and how it is corrupting the athletes who participate. This is one of the few books that address the issues of professionalism in college sports. The primary focus of this book is on professionalism and the problems it has caused in college athletics.

According to the authors amateurism began in Great Britain in the early 19th century and centered around the British aristocracy. The traditional definition of amateurism included the belief that it involved an activity that was done in one's spare time, separate from activities that involved making money or a living. The amateur ideal spread to academic universities. It was not long until universities found that they could make money off of these athletic events. In the early 1900's, as universities were defying amateur ideals by finding ways to subsidize athletes as incentives to play for their university, the NCAA came along to play the role of regulator. The authors not only contend, but prove through rulings and behavior of the NCAA that the NCAA never once tried to prevent professionalism from forming in college sports. As a matter of fact, according to the authors the NCAA has not only been unsuccessful in stopping professionalism, but has actually accommodated it.

The authors have quite a few chapters of their book devoted the history of women's sports. These chapters are very important to their argument. They illustrate that women's sports in college began quite differently than men's sports. The women's sports model, as the authors refer to it, strove to separate itself from the money and exploitations associated with men's college sports. This model balanced education and athletics and strove to provide all female students with the opportunity to be involved in athletics. This is what the authors believe that the role of sports should be in universities. Up until very recently, focus in women's sports has remained on the athletes, not the spectators or the revenue being produced by their sport.

The authors spend a whole chapter proving that athletic scholarships have changed from gifts given to students into contracts of employment. This transformation of the athletic scholarship is the very root of the problem that has turned college athletes into professionals. It is in this chapter that the authors do a great job of combining their views and the history of the previous chapters with actual court cases. Although most of these cases deal with the issue of workers compensation for college athletes, they illustrate the transformation of the college athlete from amateur to professional with the introduction of athletic scholarship in the 50's. Awarding financial compensation in the form of scholarships to talented athletes constitutes payment and violates amateur rules. But it was not until 1967 that the NCAA turned these scholarships into employment contracts by allowing athletic scholarships to be canceled by the university, in affect giving the university the power to "fire" an athlete.

What makes this book interesting is that the authors not only talk about the issues and problems with college athletics, but they also offer solutions to the problems they discussed. There are two solutions presented. The first solution presented is for colleges to do away with athletic scholarships and concentrate on educating students. This solution involves bringing college athletics back to the amateur level. This model is successful in Ivy League schools. The second solution offered is to acknowledge that athletes receiving scholarships for their ability are in fact paid professionals and to support these athletes to their fullest potential. In some cases this would involve running the revenue producing sports of a university as an unrelated business, one that has employees and pays taxes.

This book was thorough and very well researched. The authors discussed cases and archival material from the NCAA that I have never seen discussed before. By doing this the authors were able to illustrate their opinions with facts. Although I liked that their opinions were backed up by facts I found this book to be difficult to read at some points. Parts of the book read like a history book, and although the history was very interesting and in some regards necessary to their mission, I would have enjoyed more opinion and less history. Since the authors were involved in college athletics themselves I would have enjoyed reading about some of their experiences. On the other hand, because there was so much history and facts throughout this book I was really able to understand the issues. Overall I enjoyed this book because it explored a side of college athletics that has never been looked at in this kind of detail. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in college athletics.

"... a nationwide money-laundering scheme." How Walter Byers, executive director of the NCAA from 1951-1987, described the awarding of athletic scholarships in 1957, which essentially lead to the professionalism of college athletes according to Allen Sack and Ellen Staurowski.

"College Athletes for Hire" is a book that should be read by anyone interested in the NCAA and its place in American sport. The authors of this book, Allen Sack and Ellen Staurowski, have compiled an historical look of college sport from its beginnings as an amateur sport to the highly commercialized spectacle it has become today. Built upon British ideologies of amateurism, college sport quickly grew as universities discovered college sport, moreover college football, to become a revenue producing avenue as well as an avenue for bringing prestige to the universities. As college sport grew, the price of winning brought illegal inducements to athletes and essentially the end of amateurism established in the early days of competition. With the advent of athletic scholarships, the athletes essentially became employees of a university as the scholarship acted as an employment contract where the athletes received free room, board, tuition, and fees for his/her service.

With the rise of professionalism in college sport, especially at the Division I level, the NCAA continued to argue that college sport was still a leisure activity and that college sport still adhered to its original amateur principles. An argument the NCAA continues to use today. This amateur myth has been used not to benefit the athletes in anyway, but to keep the NCAA and its member institutions free from antitrust violations, workers compensation claims, and from paying federal taxes. Sack and Staurowski have put together a well written and well research analysis that can finally help to dispel the notion of the amateur myth and put to light the issues affecting the NCAA, its member institutions, and most importantly, the athletes who help to generate millions in revenue, but fail to reap the benefits of a true higher education.

The book takes the reader on a journey of the NCAA from its inception in 1906, when it was established to restore amateurism, through the rise of women's athletics, the rise in commercialism of college sport as a revenue producing entity, and finally to the issues affecting the athletes themselves. Sack and Staurowski show how athletes have been receiving some sort of payment for their athletic ability and performance on the playing field since the beginning of the NCAA. The so called amateurism of the NCAA created and underground network of illegal payments, which were provided by, boosters, alumni, local residents, and college officials. It was not uncommon for athletes to be given a job and receive payment for which they performed no work at all.

Sack and Staurowski show that the NCAA itself has violated its own long established principles of amateurism with the passage of several amendments. The first of these was the "Sanity Code," which entitled universities to award financial aid based on athletic ability. The second was the granting of full athletic scholarships in 1956, which gave the athletes he aforementioned free room, board, tuition, and fees. Sack and Staurowski argue that these two amendments alone come to violate amateurism and that they constitute payment to athletes for athletic ability and not for education which the NCAA has argued is the basis of the amateur model. Sack and Staurowski further argue that the athletic scholarship is in essence an employment contract. In 1967 the NCAA passed an amendment that reduced the scholarship to a one-year renewable scholarship establishing an employer-employee relationship between the coach and athlete. This one year renewable scholarship now gave the coaches the right to terminate the scholarship if the athlete chose to leave the team to concentrate on academics, if an athlete was injured, if an athlete's athletic ability was not at college level, or for athlete insubordination. Sack and Staurowski argue that this is similar to any employer-employee relationship. This gives the coach total control of the athlete both on and off the field and that an athlete can lose his/her right to an education if the coach deems them unnecessary for athletic competitions. If an athlete loses their right to an education because of sports, how can the NCAA continue to claim college sports are amateur and leisure activities?

Important legal cases are used to show how college sports are similar to professional sports and that the athletes are paid employees. The most important legal case is the Coleman v. Western Michigan University which outlines the difficulties courts have had in deciding these issues arising in college sports. Although the NCAA has won a majority of these cases, Sack and Staurowski provide credible arguments to support the athletes. It is up to the reader to decide whether or not college athletes are in fact paid professional athletes.

Sack and Staurowski argue that the only true amateurism in college sports is at the Division III and the Ivy League where no athletic scholarships are given. Financial aid is given at these institutions based on need rather than the ability to score touchdowns or make baskets. At this level the athletes themselves decide whether or not athletics is more important than his/her education, whereas in Division I and II the athletes are paid entertainers where athletics is their primary goal as dictated by the one-year renewable athletic scholarship.

Although I strongly recommend this book, I must say that it is a somewhat difficult book to read that delves deeply into the issues affecting the NCAA and its athletes. The authors have compiled a scholarly analysis of this subject using diverse sources of information that make this book one of the best in the field of college athletics.

In "College Athletes for Hire" Authors Sack andStaurowsky need to be commended for having the courage to create sucha document that takes a very depth and candid look at what collegiate sports have become today in terms of professionalism and commercialism. As a former Division II athlete having participated on both "revenue generating" (football) and "non-revenue generating" (wrestling) athletic teams. I can definitely relate to many of the things the authors have discussed in their book. In addition, being a student of the sports industry, I found the contents to be very helpful as the book took the reader on an educational journey of twist and turns while exposing how people's greed for money has corrupted the essence of amateur sports. This text is one that should be read by all who have any involvement in the grooming of student athletes. This book brings to the surface some very important questions about how, when, where, and for what reasons the authors feel that many of our student athletes have become unpaid professionals. While providing us with an abundance of both primary and archival research material to support their viewpoints and conclusions. By doing this I feel they have eliminated the criticism that this is just a book of hot air stemming from two individual's bad experiences and personal feeling, causing anyone in disagreement to have to produce and organize just as much supporting material as well as to present it in just as an effective manner. The authors hit the reader with an eye-opening jolt of reality by presenting the actual fate of one former collegiate athlete and his quiest for justice. This former football player received a game related injury that left him a quadriplegic. He stresses that if his university's athletic director, coach, or any of the groundskeepers had gotten hurt that day, they would have received workers' compensation for their injury but he as an "amateur scholarship athlete" (by NCAA believes) is not entitled to such coverage even though because of his talents they have jobs. The book showcases the authors' experiences in the sports from the big time Division I revenue generating world of football to the minute world of women's Division III sports. Providing the reader with a revealing look at the amount of time the authors dedicated to investigating and substantiating the material they found. The Introduction sets the foundation for the educational journey on which the reader is about to embark by showing some of the disparities between the various football divisions in the NCAA. It declares what sport is, a taste of the legislative effect on sport, a naming of what they feel is the problem in NCAA sports, a statement as to what the purpose of the book is, and chapter by chapter break down of what the authors are trying to convey in each chapter. Unlike other critiques of collegiate sport they address the historical path that "the evolution of "NCAA-sponsored" professionalism in the form of athletically related financial aid" has taken. In the body of the book the authors express that in Great Britain "the amateur ideal of sport was in many ways supportive of the best academic traditions of the liberal arts when viewed in the context of the British University". But here in America because of spectators' alarming interest in competition (1906) which reached beyond their regional lines, revenue driven individuals leaped at the opportunity to exploit what they saw as an emerging national market giving, the NCAA the boosts it so desperately needed to become what it is today. Helping to propel the NCAA into its present state (a cartel as describe by the authors) was a number of legislative changes which the authors cite as major contributors. These legislative moves were in direct contradiction to the original code of ethics/by laws of the (Articles VI & VII) NCAA that were in place in 1906 forbidding the violations of the amateur principle. Transforming individuals who accepted athletic scholarships into paid professionals based on their very own (NCAA's) historical standards and definitions. The NCAA has always tried to present itself as the "do gooders", but this book reveals the flip side of the coin by containing information on actual court rulings concerning the relationship between athletes, scholarships, employment contracts, compensation, and the strategy used by the NCAA to mask their incorporations of professionalism. The discussion of the emergence of women's sports was a great idea because it shows how women have fought for so many years to preserve the true essence of amateurism by being opposed to the act of having collegiate sports serve the public as an entertainment venue. Which took away from the educational purposes of sports along with exposing the wide spread sexist discriminations that was prevalent against women in the world of sports for so many years. Discrimination lasted until the point where it could be seen that revenue could be generated from the fruits of women's labor right along with that of their male counter parts and through their quest for equality (e.g.Title IX) which sent women leaping into the world of professional sports by now being able to receive athletic scholarships. END

The purpose of this book is to show how college athletes started playing sports as amateurs, but quickly through athletic scholorships have turned towards professionalism. An amateur is one who engages in sports in their free time. This is leisure time, and athletes joining in this time will compete solely on thier will to play and not participate in return for room. board, tuition and fees. An athlete becomes a professional when one accepts an athletic scholorship which may include any of these incentives. This book is primarily about professionlism. The start of the Sanity Code showed signs that the NCAA was turning professional. The Sanity Code stated that financial aid could be awarded to students on the basis of their athletic ability. They called these gifts for play, not pay for play. Recieving any payment at all according to Sack and Staurowsky, makes that athlete a professional. This book touches on the relationships between coaches and players. Under scholorship, athletes must perform under the rules of the coach. I just recently finished my senior year of Division II football. I was under scholorship and my coach did have total control over my actions. My coach acted as the employer, and I was the employee. Schools that don't offer scholorships such as the Ivy League, and Division III schools, players aren't under such strict control. Athletes don't have to practice or play if they don't want to. These players are under no obligation to their coaches. The authors give a good argument that under scholorships, athletes are held under contract, similar to an employee contract. Chapter 5 was a very interesting chapter. The authors explained how sholorships turned into employee contracts through the issue of worker's compensation. In the Van Horn Case the courts awarded Van Horn's family death benefits because Van Horn was under scholorship for his athletic ability, thus making it an employee contract. I thought that adding in the Askew factors made this chapter powerful. The Askew factors were used by the State of Michigan in determining the existence of an employment relationship. One factors is the employer has the right to control the employee. The second factor is the employer can discipline or fire the employee. The third factor is the employee accepts wages to pay for everyday living expenses. The fouth factor is the task provided is a part of the employers business. As a scholorship player I think that athletes under scholorship do meet these criteria. Athletes are under control of the coach and are disciplined. Athletes accept room and board that are used as their everyday living expenses. I also think that since sport revenues go into a universities general fund, then that sport is part of the universities business. This book supports my arguements. Sack and Staurowsky end their book with possible reforms of collegiate sport. I agree with these thoughts. College sport should go to either one extreme or the other. One way is to eliminate scholorships all together. Students will then come first at all universities, and higher learning can be achieved. The other extreme would be to admit that college athletes are paid professionals. This would cause college sports to become stepping stones to professional sports. The revenues generated from that sport would go right back into that program. University funds should not be put into sports, as sports would become an unrelated business to the university. Turning professional will force only the fittest big time colleges to survive in this game. The only unversities that will survive in a professional atmosphere are the schools producing the most revenues. This limits the competition to only a handful, and the rest can only be forced to return to amateur athletics.

The book is ok, but it seems like it would be a good book for
introduction, or high school students. I couldn't see anyone
learning to do the lifts from this book, its definately not
a how to or substitute for real coaching. the title sounds
like its trying to hook in people but the book is a basic
primer on the o-lifts.

This book was nothing special. It was slow in the beginning - and then got better. All in all good but, could never replace learning first hand from someone who can critique your form.

Mohammed, At all the elite levels of competition in an amazing array of sports you will find athletes performing olympic lifts almost exclusively. Even if you believe the author's beliefs are out of an enthusiasm for weightlifting you can not deny the success that this type of lifting has given to so many lifters throughout the entire world.

The reviews so far are quickly turning into a debate over suitablility of training types, crossover of athletic capacity and etc. This section is for reviews.

This book will teach you how to lift in the Olympic Style, pure and simple. This would be a supreme training tool in conjunction with an olympic lifting coach, but is very good on its own. Without a trainer, and using this book, I went from no confidence to snatching and clean and jerking.

The author does not at any point say that olympic lifting is the be-all and end-all of athletic training, but states that olympic lifting can play a major role in preparation for sport. Thus, the book achieves exactly what it says it will: teach the reader olympic lifting, and how to apply it to sports.

I agree that the person that says that explosive lifting is not helping doesnt know what he is talking about. The essence of basketball is not aerobic, it is anaerobic and very explosive. I dare you to take two identical players, and have one player only do endurance stuff and have another do explosive work and other anaerobic work. The later should end of being the better player. Basketball is full of athletic players who are fast, quick, jump high and are strong. Aerobic work takes away from explosiveness. I am a trainer, I have my CSCS, I graduated with a degree in exercise and sport science and I promise that this kind of lifting is key and helpful.

The book "The Lion in Autumn:A Season with Joe Paterno and Penn State Football" is a good book to be read by a Penn State football fan. The book takes you through the Nittany Lions 2004 season where they finished the disapointing season at 4-7. The book travels through the rough season with an inside look at Penn State football. Week by week the book takes you in depth into what happened during the 2004 season. The book goes in chronological order game after game with recollections of Nittany Lion football pasts along the way. At the end of the book there is an afterword about the Lions next season whre they went 11-1 and finished 3rd in the country. I recommend "The Lion In Autumn" to any Penn State football fan who is looking for something to read.

I thought the book was very good. Would recommend it to Penn State fans as well as any other football fans.

One of the great joys of Penn State football fandom is reading books about Coach Paterno and his program. As both a fan and a reader, any disappointment I had with this one was chiefly due to the limited access given to the author. After a nine-loss season in 2003 that marked the nadir of precipitous competitive slide, and an increasing number of off-field incidents, Coach Paterno was understandably guarded -- even abandoning a longstanding tradition of meeting with reporters over cocktails the night before game day. (Stiffing reporters in this fashion was probably an unwise political move that helped to contribute to the "JoePa Must Go" sentiment.)

What then is a writer to do? One approach could have been to chronicle the growing division within the Penn State community -- former players, alumni, students, and the media -- over the tough times in Happy Valley, using a few colorful and outspoken characters as a catalyst for that division.

Instead, Mr. Fitzpatrick delivers a fairly straightforward chronicle of the 2005 season's aspirations and disappointments. He does an adept job for those readers who may not be familiar with the programs history, but for those readers who are the chapters on glories past provide no new insight and interrupts the narrative of the current season.

Penn State's decline was primarily attributable to lackluster recruiting that produced players unable to compete effectively in the Big Ten, and Mr. Fitzpatrick is spot on when he writes that Paterno was mindful of this: "Other teams had more talent than Penn State. But to admit that too often in public was to demean his players.... [He] understood that the quickest solution to the Nittany Lions' troubles would be to search harder and more selectively for talent." (p. 287)

Once again, Coach Paterno's refusal to publicly contemplate life after football is highlighted, where is prospective retirement activity has changed over the years from collecting stamps to cutting grass. With the almost immediate death of Alabama's Bear Bryant after his retirement, Mr. Paterno is quite candid about his deep seated fears: "I'm alive. I don't want to die. Football keeps me alive." (p. 276) This outlook is quite tragic and perplexing, given his successes off the field as an educator, philanthropist, community leader and family patriarch.

In short, this volume does not quite rise to the level of incisiveness of Ken Denlinger's "For the Glory" or Coach Paterno's decades-old autobiography, which is in desperate need of an update. But it reads quickly and provides and admirable journalistic account of Happy Valley's darkest days in the Paterno era.

I just finished the book a couple of days ago and as it settled it my mind, two impressions came over me.

One is that there is a big part of Joe Paterno who still feels deep inside that he is not as good as his rich college classmates at Brown and how he has to prove to them that he belongs.

The second is that while Saint Joepa Paterno can talk all he wants about the excesses in college athletics, he is not willing to forgo any of the excesses that reward him. You don't see him turning away any of the huge salaries or the other luxuries, do you.

Paterno comes across as a control freak, if he is trying to prepare his players and assistant coaches for the outside world, why does he restrict acccess to them so tightly.

I am a big sports fan of college and pro sports but I have major issues with people glorifying coaches the way they do. They are just athletic coaches. They are not helping solve the problems of the world, just entertainers.

Joepa also comes across as humorless, a man who takes himself way too seriously.

It is a shame that Fitzpatrick was denied access to so many sources. It would have been interesting to find out why Joepa's son is unwilling or able to get a job on his own instead of depending on Daddy.

As noted above, Joepa was influenced greatly by his days at Brown. I would have loved to learn how in the world an Italian kid from Brooklynin the 40s made it to the Ivy League.

This is not a puff piece on the man, that is a great accomplishment by the author.

I hesitated picking up this book because even though it was published only one year ago, it is arguably outdated since Penn State football finally bounced back and had a very good year. That said, I am glad I read it because the book goes beyond the marketed "A Season with Penn State" storyline and provides a very good historical synopsis of Joe Paterno and his role in the history of college football.

Since Paterno has been around so long, people tend to forget his importance in the development of college football. Once he retires, he will undoubtedly be remembered in the same breath as Bear Bryant, Knute Rockne, Daryl Royal, Bud Wilkinson and the other Legends (with a capital "L") of college football.

This book provides interesting insights into his personal history and the development of Penn State University, which Paterno literally transformed from a backwater agricultural school into a well-known and successful state school. I doubt any coach in college sports history has been more important to his school's development than Paterno has been to Penn State.

The parts about the actual season are fairly boring, since PSU was horrible the year Fitzpatrick followed them but it is worth picking up if you are a fan of college football history.

Great guide to Iyengar style and prevention plus therapeutical in its use. Before and after the practice it suggests , you'll find yourself running better and better... and then you know you can always get back to your mat! TITE, Brescia, Italy , an Iyengar Yoga Instructor and...runner!www.tite.it

Do not get fool by the title. There is absolutely nothing new on this book except the title which is aiming to take advantage of runners who may think this book can give us that extra edge in improving our skill.
If indeed any one of our fellow runners who are interested in yoga, check out the book of "Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class" instead. It outlines very clear pose by pose, classroom teaching, lecture type of instruction.

an excellent introduction to yoga asanas... i always find myself going back to this book when i am trying a new pose and want to learn the basics of the pose... a must for anyone who has a yoga library...

When I ordered this book, I thought I would be getting a concise and practical guide to yoga for general fitness. The opposite turned out to be the case. Hatha yoga is not rocket science. It's timeless appeal lies in it's simplicity, beauty, and effectiveness. Runners Yoga slices, dices, and analyzes hatha yoga down to the smallest bit, but completely misses the bigger picture. Think of cutting the Mona Lisa up on a perfect grid of 1" squares and spending a page analyzing each as a separate unit. Yoga is about unifying the body and should be presented in a unified way. I'm not some idealist, but from a purely pragmatic perspective, this book takes forever to get you to square one, if you don't quit first. One of the more basic yoga poses is the Sun Salutation- if you can run 100 yards you can do this. This book takes 160 out of 200 excessively detailed pages to get there. If you know nothing about yoga and want to approach it in a straight forward and effective manner, get Integral Hatha Yoga by Satchidananda, the 1970 classic that is unsurpassed in clarity, completeness, and simplicity. ISBN13# 978-0932040428

This book gave me the pragmatic and necessary anatomical reasoning behind yoga and its uses in training for; not only running, but other sports as well. As a yoga instructor, this is a great resource.

This book is key in begining a triathlon lifestyle. The calculations that are required for the year-round training program seem labourous but once you get started, it is well worth your time. The section on bike maintenance is simple and includes most everything to make you feel like you've been doing the sport for years. Great!

I am a previous distance runner (high school and college) who also enjoys mountain biking and recreational swimming. I have never competed in a triathalon before. For a beginner, this book focused too much on the technical aspects of training for professional triathletes.

Much of the book focused on complex training cycles and tracking methods. I had hoped to see recommended programs for beginners, such as base level resistance training to increase muscle tone and endurance, and base level cardiovascular workouts, followed by guidance for moving to the next level.

I also would have liked a listing of organizations in my area that organize triathalons.

For the most part, this book assumes the reader is already familiar with triathalons and training. I would recommend beginners look elsewhere.

This was the first book I owned on the subject and could not believe the amount of training that the authors recommended one need do to finishi a triathlon. Given that the book is a bit old, I believe that these recommendations are a sign of those times. Nowadays, people know that one can do very well at the sport of triathlon on significantly less training, and I point the interested reader in the direction of books such as "Time-saving ..." and Sleamaker's "SERIOUS Training...". These books are equally scientific, but do not put as much emphasis on having to cover so many miles, but rather inform you on how to spend whatever time you actually have to train.

I would not recommend this book to a newcomer, nor to a seasoned triathlete anymore, but a few years ago I might have...

This is a good book for everyone thinking about triathlons. It offers good advice on choosing equipment, techniques and training programs.
Instead of relying on distance, its programs focus on time and percentage. Since biking encompasses usually 50% of the race, training should focus 50% on biking (unless you're very weak in one of the other legs).

It offers sample worksheets to set up your own program, based on the type of triathlon-sprint to Ironman.

I'm a new transition to triathlons. This book works well for me because I'm prepared to accept the information the book has to offer. The information is objective and the training methods presented appear well organized with technical reasoning backing up the new concepts I learned here. I feel the author is genuinely concerned about the readers success and therefore disagree with other reviewers comments' that the there is too much (unnecessary) training. My thoughts on this matter are that Triathletes need a sufficient amount of training to efficiently compete and I think once again the author backs up the reasons why the training is important . My interpretation of the general training outline presented is that this will prepare one well for the stresses of half ironman competition, but one can adjust up or down from there to suit their racing needs. For a 1994 copyright, this book is well worth the money because the facts, figures, and methods being used appear to be genuine by even today's standards. If you wish to find something exactly for you please visit your local full service health club and pay several hundred dollars for a genuine taylored plan, this is a serious statement for those being extremely serious about this sport. But for the novice like me, this book tells me everything I need to know at this point. See you on the course friends...

This is perhaps my all-time favorite book. The concepts and exercises will help you with every area in your life where you want to accomplish a goal. As a musician I found it to be wonderful and refreshing. It goes right along with "The Inner Game of Music'" and "A Soprano on her Head." Replacing the sports performance scenes with musical performing situations is a no-brainer. It's incredibly helpful to us performers who tend to be very down on ourselves and notoriously dim about mindset, self-talk, etc..

This IS a book for novices. True Taoists would just have a copy of the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching and draw their own answers through introspection of these two primary documents. While I had hoped that this book would provide something of substance, the whole of the book can literally be summed up with, "Visualize how you want things to be and it will be so. Center. Take five easy breathes. Act as if and it will be so." The authors say this in EVERY chapter and with every chapter being template formatted to this mantra it gets VERY repetitive and exhausting. I cannot believe they got 300 pages out of the same text...

I also have trouble believing that the worldclass athletes alluded to within this book are so undisciplined that they need the simple affirmations provided to open their eyes to their true potential, especially martial artists. The affirmations provided get so much to the point of comedy that it is best to ignore them as you push through the book. (They reminded me of the Saturday Night Live skit, "I'm okay and I like me.")

This is a New Age book, not an enlightening text. (Though I acknowledge that once you decide to become enlightened, you are.) If you are an advanced athlete who understands even the basics of Taoism and how it can be applied to ALL ASPECTS of your life, this IS NOT a book for you.

Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life

ANNOTATION
Written by a sports psychologist and a renowned T'ai Chi master, here is a guide to enriching all of life's pursuits through the practice of its simple mental tools and wisdom. Using stories of success from athletes and businesspeople, the authors present techniques and exercises to promote relaxation and enhance performance.

FROM THE PUBLISHER
Why fight your way to the top when you can rise to it? Let go of the obsession to win - and you will be victorious. Acknowledge your vulnerabilities - and turn them into strengths. Find the courage to risk failure - and begin your journey to success.
That is the secret of the TaoAthlete, and in this remarkable book t'ai chi expert Chugliange Al Huang and renowned professional and Olympic sports psychologist Jerry Lynch teach you the time honored principles of successful performance - whether on the playing field, in the office, or in your relationships. By mastering the unique strategies and mental exercises of the TaoAthlete, you'll unlock the extraordinary powers of body, mind, and spirit that will lead you to victory in any field of endeavor.

I am in graduate school for Sports Psychology and this book hits at the heart of what works for athletes. This is an Eastern-thinking text, so if you do not agree with that philosophy, you will not like this book.
Not only can this book be a reference for the athlete, it is also a reference book for living. I love this book.

This book addresses most of the stumbling blocks many athletes encounter in their quest for excellence. It then suggests specific guidelines for achieving not only performance excellence but also an internal sense of calm and satisfaction with the effort and accomplishment.
The format is succinct and easily used as a reference when specific concepts need to be reviewed. It is not a deeply theoretical book. Rather, it is a very practical and, in my experience, highly effective friend. It has totally changed my approach to my sport (and to my life) with wonderful results.

This book essentially eliminates wasted training in favor of higher intensity, shorter and less frequent workouts. A shorter high intensity work out is the best way to improve actual performance and doing the "junk miles" or LSD just wastes time and energy. This allows more time for recovery and focuses your training time on the developing the speed and intensity you will use in racing. Makes a lot of sense and I'm integrating it in my training plans with good success. I liked his statement that a "recovery run" is an oxymoron - go for a bike ride or swim instead. A very worthwhile book for anyone serious about improving with increased efficiency.

After reading reviews that stated this book was simple to use and had specific examples, I couldn't wait to receive it. I really need time saving training methods and hoped this book would offer solutions. What I found was the usual confusing information on VO2 max, heart rate and other measurements that needed to be taken before you could move on to what you could do to train efficiently in less time. I tried to skip all that and move ahead to the meat of the book and found that pretty confusing too. If I had enough time to read and comprehend this book, I wouldn't need it...I would spend the time training. I am going to give Mark Allen's new book about the same topic a try.

After reading reviews that stated this book was simple to use and had specific examples, I couldn't wait to receive it. I really need time saving training methods and hoped this book would offer solutions. What I found was the usual confusing information on VO2 max, heart rate and other measurements that needed to be taken before you could move on to what you could do to train efficiently in less time. I tried to skip all that and move ahead to the meat of the book and found that pretty confusing too. If I had enough time to read and comprehend this book, I wouldn't need it...I would spend the time training. I am going to give Mark Allen's new book about the same topic a try.

While this material might not be ideal for most beginners, once you've been training for a while, it will be an invaluable addition to your training regimine.

The principles can be utilized and easily expanded to cover 1/2 and Full Ironman programs -- weekdays stay the same, just extend the long weekend workouts and you're all set!

There are better books for beginners (I used Triathlon 101 by John Mora, which I found perfect for my first race), but when you're ready to focus on improving performance instead of simply finishing, this book can help you get to that next level. He explains the technical details, but then generally summarizes in layman's terms. He encourages technical training aids like heart rate monitoring, but also proposes lower-tech ways of estimating. At the end of the day, however, if you want to improve and have a limited time budget, you've got to be organized and be willing to structure your training for greater intensity. It's not easy and it's not going to hold your hand; it is focused on performance