Teams Books

A very good book on a forgotten baseball warrior whose career was cut short due to his human frailities. One of many baseball players who have suffered from alcohol abuse. Mr. Fleitz has woven a very interesting biography of one of baseball's sad pasts. If you have ever heard of the legend of this Cleveland Indian, here is an opportunity to discover the real story. A must read for those interested in 19th Century baseball.

One of baseball's most tragic figures is the nineteenth-century outfielder, Louis Sockalexis, who rose to national fame in a few short months and fell just as quickly due to what David Fleitz calls "the pernicious effects of alcohol."

The handsome, likable Sockalexis was the best college athlete in the nation for two years, quickly attracting attention for his dazzling speed and powerful throwing arm. He was recruited by Cleveland in 1897. The first recognized Native American to play in the major leagues, Sockalexis had to endure taunting war whoops from the crowds and endless gibes from the press, even as he won over the fans who saw him play.

David Fleitz' compassionate, concise account is very readable and well-illustrated, covering Sockalexis' brilliant rise and tragic fall from the majors. With his talents, he could have been one of the greatest players of all time but caved in to pressure and high living.

If the Cleveland Indians really want to honor their first Indian, they could dump Chief Wahoo and award scholarships to promising Indian students. Or better yet, rename their park Sockalexis Stadium!

I can't recommend this book enough for Indiana fans, especially those like me with no memory of the 1953 championship. It was incredibly well-researched, with great information about the state of the game at the time (coming off the point-shaving scandals at CCNY, LIU, and Kentucky), the opposing teams and coaches, the individual players on the team, and the play-by-play action of each of the games. The play-by-play was especially exciting for me, because I went into the book without knowing which games we'd won and lost, so I didn't know the outcomes until the final whistle sounded. It is full of quotes by the players, coaches, and the press articles of the time. Buy it and read it - you won't be disappointed.

Here's a few anecdotes to whet your appetite:

- Indiana lost 3 games that season, and each of them were lost on the last-second shots.

- Branch McCracken told his players at the beginning of each season to avoid "drinking, smoking, and gambling." This worried the players, because they knew these were three of Bobby Leonard's favorite things.

- The Minnesota coach was Ozzie Cowles, who went to Minnesota from Michigan, where he led Michigan to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. After returning from the NCAA tournament, here's what Cowles had to say: "We'd been gone for a week, but no one seemed to notice. A couple of days after we got back, Fritz Crisler [UM AD and head football coach] stuck his head in my office and asked me where I'd been. That was when I decided that Michigan was no place to coach basketball."

- Because of the draft for the Korean War, there was an exemption that allowed freshmen to play in 1951-52, which allowed Don Schlundt to play as a freshman. He was a sophomore in 52-53, and (answering my trivia question below) he broke the all-time B10 scoring record a bit more than halfway through his sophomore season. Remarkable.

- Though IU beat Kansas in the championship game, it was that Kansas team that really changed college basketball in the years that followed. Kansas had lost Clyde Lovelette the year before and weren't considered contenders. But they changed the way they played defense and adopted Iba's Oklahoma A&M pressure defense that Iba played in the final few minutes of the game when down by less than 6 points. This was a pressure defense that played passing lanes and guarded players without the ball (and new concept). That year's Kansas team decided to play that way for the entire game and almost road their defense to the title.

- Kentucky was banned from playing the entire 52-53 season because of recruiting violations and point-shaving. Kentucky chose not to penalize Rupp, though. At all.

The book starts by laying an excellent historical foundation prior to the '53 seaon. The GI Bill, growth in big state universities, increased emphasis on college sports and the invention of the point spread all led to corruption that threatened the legitimacy of college athletics in the early post WWII years. Hiner goes into fascinating details involving Godfather-like characters with names like Sollazzo to illustrate how the great New York City basketball colleges were brought down by gambling scandals.

Game fixing struck not only the east coast but migrated out to the heartland. Hiner discusses the corruption that forced Kentucky to give up its 1953 SEC season.

The next chapters involve the individual players and how they ended up coming to IU.

There was Leonard, the deadend runt from the railroad tracks of Terre Haute who grew from 5'4" as a sophomore to 6'3 in high school. Rangey Charlie Kraak, whom Branch McCracken snagged from Illinois' Harry Combes' backyard. Dick Farley , the poor kid from a huge family in southern Indiana (Winslow). Burke Scott, the gym rat from Tell City who never really quite believed that McCracken wanted him, and had to decommit from Western Kentucky to attend Indiana. And Don Schlundt, the "rich kid" from South Bend. Schlundt was rich because his family could afford to give him a basketball, which was a rare possession in those days. As a young kid Schlundt was so fat, dumpy and lacking in skills that he needed that basketball so that other kids would play with him.

The following chapters deal with Branch McCracken. Starting with him as a boyhood neighbor of John Wooden to Branch's excellent playing career as a high schooler, collegian and pro. Terrific background on the things that shaped McCracken's philosophies on coaching. Through every phase of his playing career, McCracken loved the running game and couldn't wait to implement as a coach.

To use the running game effectively, McCracken was a stickler for conditioning and Hiner does a good job of describing all the things he did to keep his players in shape, including having them spied on if necessary.

The rest of the book effectively weaves the games of the great '53 IU seaon with wonderful personal stories involving players, coaches, family and friends. The details on the games themselves are very thorough and greatly appreciated by an IU basketball historical nut like me. But since I knew a lot of those details, I liked the personal stories even more. I loved reading about what a scoundrel Bobby Leonard was, and it was all McCraken could do to keep him in line. There are a lot of other nice gems, but one that sticks out is how a few college kids, with no money or a plan to speak of, get themselves to the champioship game in Kansas City and end up storming the court in victory.

If you have much interest at all in the tradition of Indiana University basketball, then you'll enjoy this book.

Palmes' book is wonderfully readable. It delivers on the promise of the title and does not disappoint. A simple, eloquent narrative of an organization's journey to transformational improvement, it's almost impossible to walk away from this book without experiencing learning.

First, I must admit a bias: I wrote the introduction for this book and I know Paul Palmes and am familiar with the work done at Northern Pipe Products, Inc under the leadership of President Wayne Voorhees.

I recommend this book because it is based on real discovery and transformation--it withstands the test of examination and assessment.

If you are curious about self-managed (or self-directed) work teams, then read this book. It will serve as a resource as your proceed on your journey.

Paul Palmes is a smart, talented, and experienced practicioner. I recommend him as a speaker and consultant without hesitation.

It's hard to believe that a guy who has 18 kids would have time to write a book like this, let alone, something interesting and motivating. It is quite practical and you don't have to run a team or be a professional athlete to enjoy this. I saw Pat on CNBC and that's what led me to this reading. It's enjoyable while teaching you something.

Pat Williams lays the foundation for developing a great team in any area of life. The chapters are well organized and you will find him easy to read.

As someone who works closely with college aged youth this book offered me tangible lessons to building a productive and successful team. Using his own experiences as a model, (Pat and his wife have over 20 children adopted and otherwise) you know his principles are tried and true on his family, let alone with the Orlando Magic.

Have a pen ready when you read this work as you will find yourself taking notes from almost every page and you will rewarded for your efforts as a team attitude oozes into your personality. This ranks up there on my list of must reads with books on leadership by John Maxwell and business by Harvey Mackay.

Tony White's "Make it Happen" is a terrific resource for anyone in a leadership position. His common sense approach to building the foundation for effective teams is time-tested and proven. The chapter on maintaining high performance teams is loaded with great practical tips, tools and techniques. And, since things sometimes go wrong despite our best efforts, there is a powerful chapter devoted to repairing your team. I am a big fan.

A factor that truly makes this book more of a practical handbook verses a heavy handed text of facts-is the ease and simplicity in finding, following, and acting upon the various methods of managing and organizing any team or staff. What this book lacks in size it more than makes up for in content, making it even more ideal to keep it close by in your desk, briefcase, or work station, as opposed to being lost in your book shelf or library.Illustrations are simple and easy to follow, though not in color or glossed over which results in less of a destraction anyway.What makes it so worthwhile, as it's cost is quite minimal to begin with (under $20 US), is the fact I have already perused through it only minutes prior to a meeting of my peers, only days after reading the whole book! The point forms are easy to follow & stand out as a check list of what to do, and how to do it, and can help as a mini-refresher course, when the pressure is on and you only have minutes to get it done. Though I feel its cover is a little too glossy (I have an aversion for glossy books & mags), and yes I know we should not judge a book by its cover, but I hate giving 100% reviews. Yes, Tony White could have added more and extrapulated here and there, but then it would have lost the basic quality and ease, that he probably set out to do in the first place! If you follow this book religously like the 'office bible'it just might become, I see no reason why you can't "Make it Happen".

This book is well written, follows the same theme as all Amy Hest's Baby Duck books. My kindergarten students loved it and asked me to read it again and again. What is not to love about Baby Duck?

Favorite characters: Baby Duck and Grandpa

Baby Duck is girl who is on a swimming team. She loves swimming but is afraid that she won't perform good. She thinks she will be slow and swallow water. Her parents encourage her to jump in the pool and swim, but she doesn't want to. Then Baby Duck's team comes by and jumps into the pool, still Baby Duck doesn't jump in to swim. So Grandpa comes along and talks to Baby Duck trying to encourage her to swim with her team. You will have to read the rest of the story to find out if Baby Duck will swim with her team or not.
This book is great for children or adults who are scared to do something, although they are really good at it and think they'll perform poor. Children will learn that you shouldn't be afraid of how well you will perform, just try to do your best and have fun, and greatness will come.

This is a combination of two of Maxwell's books under one cover: Be All You Can Be and Be a People Person.

from "Be a People Person":
"You can bring out the best in people."
Being a leader means working with people, and that's not always easy! Interpersonal relationships can make or break a leader 'whether in the office, the church, or elsewhere. That's why it's so important to be a "people person" and develop your own skills in tapping that most precious of all resources' people.

This book can help you develop the qualities of an effective leader, understand and help people with difficult personalities, inspire others to excellence and success, and more!

from "Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential":
In an easygoing, conversational style, Dr. John Maxwell points out the possibilities within us all and then provides simple game plans for transforming those possibilities into realities. His practical methods of successful living, honed in his own life and ministry, can help you be all you can be.

Dr. John Maxwell is the founder of INJOY, a leadership development institute dedicated to helping leaders reach their potential in both the Christian and secular worlds. A popular speaker, John offers ongoing leadership instruction through the INJOY Life Club, a monthly tape service. He also speaks nationally and internationally on subjects such as leadership, church growth, and attitude. John is the author of numerous books, including Be a People Person (Victor); The Winning Attitude.

This is a combination of two of Maxwell's books under one cover: Be All You Can Be and Be a People Person.

from "Be a People Person":
"You can bring out the best in people."
Being a leader means working with people, and that's not always easy! Interpersonal relationships can make or break a leader 'whether in the office, the church, or elsewhere. That's why it's so important to be a "people person" and develop your own skills in tapping that most precious of all resources' people.

This book can help you develop the qualities of an effective leader, understand and help people with difficult personalities, inspire others to excellence and success, and more!

from "Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential":
In an easygoing, conversational style, Dr. John Maxwell points out the possibilities within us all and then provides simple game plans for transforming those possibilities into realities. His practical methods of successful living, honed in his own life and ministry, can help you be all you can be.

Dr. John Maxwell is the founder of INJOY, a leadership development institute dedicated to helping leaders reach their potential in both the Christian and secular worlds. A popular speaker, John offers ongoing leadership instruction through the INJOY Life Club, a monthly tape service. He also speaks nationally and internationally on subjects such as leadership, church growth, and attitude. John is the author of numerous books, including Be a People Person (Victor); The Winning Attitude.

I come at this with a totally different viewpoint. I have been coaching football for 11 seasons now and this book has been the best tool in putting a team together and how to coach my players. By using this book as a guide we have been able to use a lot of the patriots techniques to help us create better teams. I am proud to be able to recommend this book to any football coach. James has done a great job.

This is just as great, if not better, than the first volume. If you loved the first like the rest of us, you will need this one as well. These should both be required reading for both business professionals and Patriots fans.

How can I put a plan for geting sponser for our workshop?

How can I put a plan for geting sponser for our workshop?

This book held my hand, walked me through what I needed...I KNEW I had to somehow "get" my team to work together, but HOW? Weaver and Farrell gave me a model as well as I loved the "quick fix" section, which I went to right away. There they knew just what are the common areas that keep people from being effective on a team and most importantly what in the world to do about them

Read this book. It is the best on facilitation that I have seen.

This book is an excellent practical guide for assisting managers in accomplishing work through their people. As the manager's role becomes more of a facilitative one, this book can help individuals learn useful skills they can pull off the pages and put immediately into practice. The abundant tables and figures clearly illustrate the principles. The Quick Fix guide at the end of the book offers pragmatic solutions to common problems at work. I recommend this book to all my clients!! Dennis S. Reina, Ph.D. Principal, Chagnon & Reina Associates, Inc. Organizational Development Consultants dsreina@pwshift.com