Players Books

Memories from my 2007 summer reading list:

I really enjoyed the biography of one of the greatest evangelists of our time. While much of the story is triumphant, I was struck by the somber notes of family discord. The eveangelist seemed to sacrifice the spititual upbringing of his sons in favor of the spiritual conditions of the world around him. His story serves as a good encouragement to strike a healthy balance between family and ministry.

Billy Sunday is another title in the "Heroes of the Faith" series on various Christian figures over the years.

Phillips summarizes Sunday's life, accomplishments, and death in a succinct manner and covers areas such as:

1. Early life in Iowa.
2. Being shipped off with his brother to a Soldier's Home when their mother could no longer take care of them.
3. Major League baseball career.
4. Eventual conversion and call to go into the gospel ministry.
5. Long and happy marriage to Nell, his beloved wife.
6. Results of various crusades throughout the country.
7. Pain experienced over the waywardness of his sons.

Again, the book is a good and smooth-flowing narrative and is easy to read. Recommended for anyone who wants to know more about the life of Billy Sunday.

Read and enjoy.
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This book was a biography of one of America's greatest evangelists. From his childhood growing up in Iowa to his becoming one of the best baseball players at the end of the 19th century & ultimately showing his love & passion for not only Christ but for every unsaved soul in America & beyond. He not only was a great preacher, he was a great American & showed it by helping & providing for troops & other gov't. establishments. This is definately a book that will keep your interest & attention from start to finish!!! Very inspirational; enjoy!!

Exactly What It's title advertises - an alphabetical listings of players and personalities associated with the Negro Leagues of Baseball. Ranks with "Only the Ball Was White" and The works of John B.Holway as essntial to a study of the subject. Definitely recommended.

Editor James A. Riley is a renowned expert on the rich history of Negro League Baseball. His crowning achievement is honoring more than 4,000 players and those involved in management between the years of 1872-1950 in this comprehensive biographical encyclopedia.

Included are biographies and statistics on each individual and team, a bibliography that lists the materials used in the research, along with a register of the interviews that Riley conducted.

The Negro Leagues had a major economic and social impact in the black community, featured some of the greatest players & teams that the sport has ever had and was an integrated business on the diamond, inside the front offices and in the stands.

I have always compared the play in the Negro Leagues v. the white MLB to that of the AFL v. NFL and ABA v. NBA; that it was on par or superior to the other major league. The encyclopedia is a celebration of the legacy left by those who not only challenged the institutionalized racial hatred of the times, but triumphed in ways that we can learn from and must never forget.

...I question that love if you do not have this book. This is the most concise collection of biographies, stats, and information about every human involved with the development, management, and participation in every Negro League that ever existed. Even players whose first name was not known is listed with at least a few words about when they played and for whom. And the players with extensive history is detailed along with stats and other great side stories about them. There is even information on the teams in the Negro Leagues, which I found most interesting. I don't know of any other book that has as much information on the lesser-known players and behind-the-scenes people in the Negro Leagues than this one. If you are a Negro League fan, you probably already have this book. But if you are a baseball fan in general, you MUST have this book.

This book was very inspiring. What Brett went through with his painkillers made me more of a fan of him. When he quit his battle with drinking, I thought only a warrior could do that. Hats off to Brett Favre. Bill Gutman told it as it was.

This is a great book if you are a true Brett Favre fan. This is a great book on how Favre became such a great quarterback. He started off a nothing in the NFL, but when you keep trying and work hard you can see what happens. It also shows how Favre overcame the problem he had with over taking pain killers. I thought it was great to see how well he recovered from the incident and the way he handled it with the media and his fans. This is just an overall great to read for all the fans out there.

This book is fantastic. If you are looking for a book to read about a hero in the NFL, this is the book to read. Brett lays everything out for the reader. He talks about his upbringing, college and the NFL, and how it lead him to his painful addiction to pain killers. He is a true "hero"... I would recomend this book to anyone, if all athletes were this honest, the fans would be more forgiving. You can't help but root for him at the end of the book... I have given 10 of these books away for presents, and I am not even a packer fan..I am now a Brett Favre fan...

This book is for advanced players that are willing to make it into the championship level. Describes not only probabilities, but also odd changing, vacant places, chance combination and more.

Highly recommended.

I've read several of Kelsey's books, and the problems he gives are often rather difficult. Those in this book are usually easy, however. And that is how it should be. Most decisions at the bridge table are pretty easy. You just need to make the right ones consistently.

After a brief introduction to basic probability theory, Kelsey tells us about the odds for distributions of missing cards. The next chapter is on how to play various card combinations in a suit.

After that, we practice combining chances as a declarer. We learn to play for a drop in one suit before taking a risky finesse in another, and so on.

Next is a chapter on care of options. Sometimes, the opponents will remove one of your options. Sometimes, you will remove one of theirs. We learn to make some straightforward plays that take all this into account.

Of course, one elementary aspect of bridge is that the odds change as the hand is played. If an opponent shows out of a suit, or gives you other information about the distribution of cards, the odds can change. And Kelsey expresses the change in odds by the number of "vacant places" that remain undetermined.

The final elementary concept in bridge odds is generally referred to as "restricted choice." Kelsey finds this term confusing, so he calls it "freedom of choice." A simple example is when you have nine trumps, missing the Queen, Jack, five, and four. With the Ace and King in your hand, you try the Ace. Your left-hand opponent drops an honor! Before that happened, you would have played for the suit to split 2-2. But you now realize that there are only two kinds of hands your opponent could have started with: a singleton honor or both honors. There are two hands where your opponent has a singleton (singleton Queen and singleton Jack). And only one hand where your opponent has both honors. So the odds are nearly 2 to 1 in favor of finessing on the next round of trumps. That's a basic concept one has to know in bridge, and Kelsey gives some more examples of it.

This book is easy to read but teaches some valuable lessons. There is only one statement I seriously disagree with in it, and naturally, it is not about bridge. Near the start of the book, Kelsey asks about the probability of a "tossed coin" to come down tails if it has come down heads nine times running.

Kelsey is trying to explain that the chance of tails is not greater than 50%. After all, the coin has no memory. It is not going to come down tails just to even the odds! Kelsey says that each toss of the coin is a separate 50% chance.

Well, that's not quite true. The chance of it coming down tails is not 50%. After all, there is only one chance in 512 of a fair coin coming down heads nine times running. The chance may be considerably greater if the coin (or the toss) is not fair. If the coin is two-headed, the chance of nine straight heads is 100%.

Clearly, the chance of tails on the tenth throw is less than 50%.

I recommend this book.

While the calculation of the odds is interesting this is a practical book as well as a methematical one. Theer are numerous problems where teh reader needs to improve their chances by combining plays. Such as playing AK of a long suit to see if the Q drops before taking a finesse.

Not only is the information useful, its well presented adn enjoyable to read.

The math is not especially dificult and if you want to become a good player you should be aware of this. I put it under "knowing your fundamentals"

I liked this a lot more than the Vivaldi book. The Terence Reese book "Master the Odds" was ok, this was better.

There is a lot of misinformation spread around about the history of the videodisc. If you are curious about the facts, check out this book. It is recommended for all new media designers. It shows the disastrous consequences of failure of vision. In RCA's case, they correctly judged that there was going to be a huge market in consumer video, but it never occurred to them that time shifting, home recording, and program rental would be the features to drive it. In parallel with the capacitance electronic disc (CED) they developed a MagTape system. If they had gone to market with MagTape, there might still be an RCA today.

The definitive historical reference on the design phase of the CED System. This book was largely researched from 1976 to 1978 as an exercise in applied history. The book deals primarily with this late 70's time frame, although it also contains chapters on early RCA history, VideoDisc on the market, and lessons to be learned from the CED project. This book also discusses other consumer video formats developed, but never marketed by RCA, which include Discpix, Photopix, Holopix, Holotape, and Magtape.

The definitive historical reference on the design phase of the CED System. This book was largely researched from 1976 to 1978 as an exercise in applied history. The book deals primarily with this late 70's time frame, although it also contains chapters on early RCA history, VideoDisc on the market, and lessons to be learned from the CED project. This book also discusses other consumer video formats developed, but never marketed by RCA, which include Discpix, Photopix, Holopix, Holotape, and Magtape. The more expensive hardcover edition of the book has the title clauses reversed, and also includes a slip cover showing a VideoDisc reflecting a rainbow pattern.

Chamique Holdsclaw: My Story is a powerfully inspirational book recommended for people to read in 5th grade or up. It tells the story of how Chamique went from the projects of Astoria, Queens to having a successful basketball career at the University of Tennessee where she won 3 National Championships to being picked #1 in the draft by the WNBA Washington Mystics. Throughout everything Chamique has put her family first, especially her grandmother. This is a well-paced book that you can read quickly, and it has a feel-good story to it as well.

This is a awesome book keeps the reader wanting to read. You see what it takes to get to the top Chamique's life was never easy but she made it through all the hard times with her brother and grandma by her side. This book is 2 thumbs up.

This story is about Chamique's life and everything she went through to play for the WNBA. Her life was never easy she had lots of promblems all through out her life. What of the worst things she faced was getting separated from her mother at a early age. She spent most of her life with her grandma who she will never forget, her mom had a drinking promblem and spent most of her time away from Chamique. Chamique also had a little brother that she took care of. She lived in a apartment with her grandma and brother, she played basketball in the park near her house, while girls were busy brushinhg their hair Chamique was busy beating the boys and practicing. This is a awesome book and if you enjoy watching the WNBA or any basketball you should read this book and learn what it takes to get to the top.

I found it a very informative and wonderful book to read. I really learned a lot about the history of Black tennis pros. I would definetely recommend for everyone to read this book.

congradulations to the Williams sisters winning at WImbledon together and for them battling against one another for the championship. this Book is a Must read for the tennis fan in general and also from a basic rights and understanding of the history of Blacks in tennis. this book is very in depth and is a note for note line for line read. very informative. a must have.

CHARGING THE NET: A HISTORY OF BLACKS IN TENNIS provides a fine survey of the major black figures in tennis who forced the sport to integrate. Personal interviews and in-depth research details the challenges blacks faced in entering professional status in the tennis world, with chapters surveying the achievements of individuals, teams, and organizations alike. This is a top pick not just for sports libraries, but for any general-interest collection strong in integration issues and sports. Its lively presentation blends civil rights issues with tennis sports world insights.

What more can I say than this is the best Tactics book i have ever had the plesure of reading. and I own 37 tactics books. Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh is a chess genius!!

Averbakh's theory is simple: that most chess tactics are based upon the double attack. He backs his opinion up with many pages of tactical themes. This book is an excellent read for the intermediate chess player. Also, I do not know why Amazon lists this book as currently unavailable. I purchased mine at Cardoza Publishing's website and it came brand, spankin' new!

This book was recomended to me by a friend and it is great. One of the best books of this type about combinations I own.

Unbelievable - Carol wants again drives deep to the core of the male AND female psyche to shed new light on a such a divisive topic heretofor shrouded in darkness - the true meaning of FOOTBALL!

If Women are from Venus, Men are from Canton - and only Carol is willing to tell all!!!!!! Go get'em girlie!

It is very well done and easy to read. I look forward to others in the series

I thought this was a great book. Before i didnt understand the first tthing about football. Now i sit and watch it with my husband

Who says that sequels never live up to the original? Part 2 of Aeschylus's masterpiece does just that! For those of you who don't know this "The Libation Bearers" (Part 2) picks up a few years after "Agamemnon" (Part 1) left off. Clytemnestra killed her husband Agamemnon, and she is now with her lover Aegisthus. All seems well for them, but it will not remain so. Orestes (Agamemnon's son) comes out of exile with plans to avenge his father's death (under the orders of Apollo). An interesting side note is that the great and glorious King Edward III had a similar experience. His father was killed by his mother so she could be with her lover, and at the age of 17, Edward III flipped the tables. He was to reign for 47 more years. But I am digressing. In this 2nd chapter, the chorus are some Trojan women who don't have a problem with Orestes plotting against his mother and her lover. Well, Orestes goes to his mother's house and Clytemnestra does NOT recognize him. The nurse gives up Orestes for dead and has abandoned all hope that Agamemnon will be avenged. In a comical moment, the chorus does not tell the nurse Orestes is alive, but they DO tell the nurse that she need not abandon hope. Aegisthus suspects that Orestes may still be alive, and it isn't long before Orestes accomplishes part 1 of his task and kills him. (The lover was the easy part.) Orestes does not find phase 2 of his revenge so easy. He does hesitate to kill his mother, and it is only with his friend Pylades's prompting that he can do so: "Better that men should hate you than the Gods." But of course this makes for better writing. Rather than portraying Orestes as a simple killer, the next phase of his revenge is more difficult. After killing his mother, all is not so well. He is tormented by the furies. Only he can see them. The chorus can not. The furies bear a striking resemblance to the ghost of Banquo in "Macbeth." Banquo's ghost puts Macbeth into psychological turmoil, and the fact that only he can see the ghost makes it worse. (The other characters present can't understand why Macbeth is in such a psychological frenzy.) It is even possible to wonder if this 2nd chapter of Aeschylus's masterpiece inspired that scene in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Why not? Shortly before Shakespeare, there was a reactivation of Greek and Roman classics. So, what of Orestes now? Well, that will be answered in Part 3. ("The Eumenides") And worry not. Part 3 will also maintain the quality of Parts 1 and 2!

Who says that sequels never live up to the original? Part 2 of this phenomenal trilogy does just that! All seems well for the detestable Clytemnestra and her lover. Agamemnon's son Orestes IMMEDIATELY grabs our attention when he makes his plans to avenge the death of his father Agamemnon. What makes this such a masterpiece is that Aeschylus grabs us in phases that get more and more intense. First Orestes kills Clytemnestra's lover. Then he grabs us with a dramatic confrontation between Orestes and his wicked mother. Orestes kills her, but Aeschylus DOES NOT stop here! Orestes is then tormented by the Furies! (Furies to Greek Mythology would be like Demons to the Church.) When I finished part 2, I NEEDED some cigarettes to calm down, before I DARED TO open part 3!

"The Choephoroe" ("The Libation Bearers") is the second play in the Orestia trilogy of Aeschylus. It takes place a few years after the events covered in "Agamemnon," which tells of how Agamemnon returned victoriously from the Trojan War only to be slain by his wife Clytemnestra, who never forgave her husband for having their daughter Iphigenia sacrificed so the Achean fleet could sail for Troy ten years earlier. "The Choephoroe" finds Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, living in exile in the nearby kingdom of Phocis. However, in obedience to a command given him by the god Apollo, Orestes returns to Argos to avenge his father. Seeking out his sister Electra, Orestes disguises himself to enter the palace where he kills Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Orestes attempts to justify his act of matricide but in the final scene of the play becomes consumed by madness and flees from the Furies, the punishing spirits of the gods who will hound him for his hideous crime. The Orestia concludes in "The Eumenides," where Orestes is expiated of his crime and Aeschylus completes his dramatic argument for the civilized notion of justice.

The story of the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes is a unique tale from ancient mythology because it is the one story which serves as the subject for plays by all three of the great Greek tragic poets; both Sophocles and Euripides called their versions of the tale "Electra." All three have their own perspectives on the tale and what makes the Aeschylus version stand out, besides being the middle part of the only extant trilogy from these ancient dramatic competition, is the confrontation between mother and son. After hearing that Aegisthus has been slain, Clytemnestra knows that Orestes has returned and sends her servants to get the ax with which she slew his father. But when they confront each other she reminds him that she gave him birth and nursed him through infancy. Then she argues that she was justified in killing Agamemnon. Finally she threatens him, saying Orestes will be tormented forever if he kills his mother. Orestes replied he would be tormented by his father's curse if he spares her.

This scene in the play's fourth episode is arguably the most powerful ever written by Aeschylus. Notice that neither Sophocles nor Euripides try to compete with this scene and pretty much avoid the fatal confrontation in their "Electra"s. But ironically "The Choephoroe" is the one play in the Orestia that gets the least attention (for example, it is reduced to a synopsis in Moses Hadas's "Greek Drama" collection while the other two plays are presented complete). There might be a tendency to seeing the play as the flip side of "Agamemnon," setting up the stage for the climax of "The Eumenides." Obviously I want to make an argument that this play stands on its own, even when separated from the Orestia. Note: Several years ago the Guthrie Theater did a fascinating version of the curse on the house of Atreus by doing Euripides's "Iphigenia at Aulis," Aeschylus's "Agamemnon," and Sophocles's "Electra."