Players Books

Thanks Brian Shawver for writing an excellent first novel. I would recommend to anyone interested in baseball, diverse personalities, moral dillemas, and communism.

What a great book. Everybody should read the Cuban Prospect to come to an understand of the depths people will go to to live vicariously through the success of others. If you can't be a great baseball player, at least you can be remembered for your association with one - or at least that's what the narrator of this fine first novel thinks. His final realization that there is more to life than fame is poignant, as is the ease with which Shawver brings this brief book to its superb conclusion.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up "The Cuban Prospect" but from page one I could not put it down. This is a gripping story about one man's struggle to escape communist Cuba, and another man's desire to find redemption in someone else's talents. I highly recommend this remarkable first novel by Brian Shawver.

You don't have to be a baseball lover to appreciate this brilliant novel. The game merely serves as a vehicle for the self-realization and adventure experienced by two men. The character development and descriptive style employed by the writer made the book a joy to read. Like most readers, I can't wait for Brian Shawver's next novel!

Wow! That is my first impression after reading the Cuban Prospect. I picked it up thinking it would probably be a humorous tale about baseball (kinda of a "Bull Durham" in Cuba), but it was so much more that!

It is the story of a washed up minor league ballplayer, turned scout who gets the assignment of sneaking a hot new prospect, Ramon Diego Sagasta, out of Communist Cuba. Along the way, the duo encounters everything from flying fruit to inept Cuban cops. However, while the story is entertaining, the true magic lies in the meaning of each man's journey (the end has a twist).

I found the main characters very real and very engaging. The prose the author uses is amazing and the smart recollection of baseball's past only adds to the enjoyment of the book.

For anyone who ever wanted so bad to be a part of something, but wasn't good enough to do it, read this book. As Ramon Sagasta will tell you, some people will do anything just for the chance to be a part of history.

Dan Marino was one of the great all-time quarterbacks. His quick decision making, and quick release revolutionized the game. But we never could have seen this athlete perform, had there not been NFL funding. Yes, without contributions from government subsidies, we never would have been able to see Elway play. I mean Marino. Do you guys realize that George Bush is thinking about cutting NFL funding. He has already voted to reduce quick release-throwing-funding. Without this funding Marino can't make the comeback he keeps talking about.
Doesn't anybody else care about Marino other than ME? F***

An extremely well-presented biog of the NFL's greatest quarterback. Different people gives their insights on the former Dolphin enabling us to see different sides of Dan the Man. I was intrigued to learn that he has written several commentaries on the work of Guy de Maupassant, has mastered the lute and mandolin and is an accomplished pastry chef.

I must admit that I am the biggest Dan Marino fan of all time, so I read this book with a little bias. However, Beckett Publications always produce good books.

This book is extremely well written, and there are tons of super pictures, many of which, I had never seen. Instead of having one storyline from start to finish, this book uses several authors, many of whom are well-recognizable to the sportsworld, to depict Marino's story throughout time.

Nobody in the game of football was a better pure passer, and nobody ever graced the game with more passion and competitiveness. This book sheds light on Dan Marino's overwhelming deisire to compete and win. In reading this book, you'll easily win too.

This book is the greatest book i ever read. Growing up in Pittsburg and eating those peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches turned a boy into a man and not just an ordinary man, Dan Marino THE GREATEST quarterback EVER and this book will prove to you that he is the best person on and off the field. Its a shame how video games are taking over kids life so we will probably never see anyone that comes close to Marino in every aspect of life. He donates his time to help children in need and on the field he throws the ball super-human like. I live in New York and i'm a Jet fan but theres no way i can deny him being the best ever and if you deny it its really because your jealous. This book shows the ups and downs dan had in his life and carrer. Dan is a loyal and caring man to his wife and kids. Theres never been a man with a greater will to win, and when you see him play and the fire in his eyes you will agree. After reading this book it will turn any man into a Dan fan. I recomend this book to football fans and Dan Marino fans all over the globe.


~1 luv~

i thought this book was amazing. it tells the story like no one else can. it brings you through the hard times and also the happiest moments in dans career. i would definatly suggest this book to any miami fan.

This book is a must have for Baseball historians like myself, chronicling the careers of players who played before the "long ball" was fashionable and at a time when the game was "becoming" the National Pastime! SABR writers have given us a valuable insight into the lives of these players of yesteryear. We cannot appreciate what it must've been like to play baseball back then, when salaries were extremely low and players had to take off-season jobs to augment them. One bad injury could cost you a career and if you strayed off the straight and narrow and put your lot in with the gambling element, banishment was always a possibility, as was the lure of alcohol. The stories of these gentleman are told with affection and with such clarity that we might just as well be reading about a long deceased family member than a ballplyer from the distant past. After reading this wonderful book you will find yourself re-evaluating your thoughts on today's star players, who want for nothing and are able to dictate in what direction their careers take. Such was not the case in the years between 1895-1920. It is sad to relate that we never got a chance to see these fine players in their heyday but thanks to magnificent books like this one, we can at least read about their exploits, some happy and mostly sad but always interesting and entertaining. A glorious book, I can't wait to recieve the American League edition.

I bought this along with the American League version. I like to pick it up and read about an older player or two each week. Interesting stuff. My friends who like baseball like to browse through it as well.

The Society for American Baseball Research rarely turns out a bad book, and "Deadball Stars of the National League" continues that trend. It is an excellent book, with short biographies of the major stars for each of the franchises active between 1901 and 1919, complete with photos rare and common. The book was an enormous undertaking, with a huge amount of people on the "Deadball" Committee of the organization taking part in the writing, editing and fact checking. It's a wonderful book for those wanting a feel of the game in the first decades of the 20th century, and of the players of that time, and I highly recommend it.

Fantastic book chronicling stars of the most misunderstood era of baseball. I really enjoyed learning of some of the lesser known stars like Orvie Overall and Mike Donlin. Great work by the SABR members. I can't wait to get the companion book for the American League.

I've been a member of SABR (The Society for American Baseball Research) for eight years, and I have always enjoyed the publications that they put out and send to their members. Many of the members of SABR work very hard on the projects that interest them, and the books that get put out reflect a lot of love, if not always a ton of quality.

This book is an exception. This is the best book I've ever received from SABR, and it's the sort of thing that makes me proud to be a member. Meticulously researched, beautifully laid out, and compulsively readable, this book offers profiles of over 100 players, managers, and executives from the Deadball Era of Major League Baseball (1900-1920). A few of these guys are still well-known today (Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, Rogers Hornsby) but the majority are players who, despite long, successful careers, have been forgotten by all but the most die-hard fan. I've been a baseball fan all my life, and I couldn't tell you the first thing about Armando Marsans, Howie Camnitz, or Homer Smoot until I read this book.

Thanks to the work of the members of the Deadball Committee, though, now I feel like I know these guys. I applaud the members of the committee for putting together such a well-written book, and I eagerly anticipate the AL edition!

I really like Derek Jeter, so I got the book to find out more information. I got all the info I wanted plus more!

I love this book. I am Derek's #1 fan. It is great. I have my room cover with pictures of him. I read the whole thing in like a day. Once you start reading it, you can't stop.

I am Derek's number 1 fan. My friend has the book too and we always read it. My room is filled with Derek pictures, and posters, and newspaper clippings. I love him to death and this book shows just how great he is! Go Derek! Take the Yanks to the series baby!

A compelling read, filled with rare insight and info on a great athlete and person. Don't pass this one up!

I'm a new Derek fan, and i was impressed about his look. I bought this book to know more about him. After reading it, i admire him. Really. I felt guilty by treated him like an object, when he is a great person.

The edition of Edward II I read was the New Mermaid Series one, which had a very good and informative introduction, and has the spelling modernized. The spelling modernization extends to place names as well as general terms. I am not sure how I feel about spelling modernization, as it is nice to see how the work was originally spelled, but it made the work very easy to read. The play itself is amazing, very engaging even though it is a history, and is mostly based on things that actually happened. The language is not as flowery as Shakespeare, but is lovely nonetheless. Some of the characters of the play are very fickle, and seem to suddenly change as you read the text of the play. (Queen Isabella goes from devoted and self-sacrificing wife to cunning adulteress.) It makes more sense on stage, and after seeing this play, it was easier to see how good it is.

Marlowe's final play is also his masterpiece. To be sure, the dramatic events in this play really did happen, but Marlowe shows himself at his best when he paints the picture. At first, Marlowe masterfully allows us to detest Edward for undoing all the fine work of his father Edward Longshanks. We also are able to feel sorry for Mortimer and Isabella. (the eventual villains). Isabella feels neglected and Mortimer can not stand to see the fine work of Edward Longshanks undone. Later, we come to have some respect for Edward II when he shows himself to have some of his father's fine qualities and he crushes the first rebellion against him with courage and intelligence. When the second uprising successful, we no longer are lead into any feelings of admiration for Mortimer and Isabella. Once they have power they are more vile and disgusting than Edward II ever was. By Act 5.1, Marlowe gives Edward II moving soliloquies and does not allow our new won pity to slack for a moment. The final scene of this play when Edward II's 17 year old son Edward III flips the tables, crushes his corrupt mother, has Mortimer put to death, and offers prayers to his murdered father is a scene that is almost unsurpassed in literature. To be sure, this did actually happen, but Marlowe not only tells us what happened, but colors it with his superb mastery of the language.

Edward the second, or to give it its full title, 'The troublesome reign and Lamentable death of Edward, the second king of England, with the tragical fall of proud Mortimer', is famous for being an Elizabethan 'Gay play', but this is only one of the subjects contained within the play. Politics, cruelty and the Feudal System are all important themes in this, one of the great masterstrokes of Elizabethan literature. The play itself is a history play, set in the 14th century featuring Edward and his previously basished lover, Gaveston, who returns after the death of Edward's father. This return enrages the barons, who were sworn to Edward's father that Gaveston would never return. This is the catalyst for a plot that races around like a cheetah on speed, culminating in one of the most excruciating deaths ever portrayed on stage. "Shakespeare? Who? Marlowe was far better!"

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564¯1593) has faded into the background over the centuries, little remembered by the common man, unlike his contemporary William Shakespeare. But, in his own time, Marlowe was known as one of the greatest of playwrights.

This play tells the story of King Edward II, who ruled England from 1307 to 1327. Edward shocked medieval England with his openly bi-sexual relationship with Piers Gaveston, and his barons rose up against him in a series of wars, finally culminating in Edward's death. (Rumor having it that he was horribly murdered by having a red-hot iron thrust up through his rectum!)

Now, this play is not entirely historically accurate. The theatre of the day did not specialize in accurate historical portrayal, but strove to entertain. However, that said, this play does do an excellent job of telling the story of Edward and his reign, in an entertaining and informative manner in a mere 25 scenes.

Overall, I found this to be a very interesting read, and I couldn't help but wonder why I have not heard of it being played today. It is still very entertaining, and you would think that modern play producers would want to put it on. This is an interesting play, one that I do not hesitate to recommend.

(By the way, just in case you didn't realize, this Edward was the effeminate son of Edward I, Longshanks, in Mel Gibson's movie Braveheart. That portrayal of Edward was well done by actor Peter Hanly, but was even less accurate than this play. I suspect that the character Phillip was based on Piers Gaveston. Longshanks did indeed hate Gaveston, but certainly never threw him out of a window!)

+++++

(Note that this review is for Dover Classics "Edward II" published by Theatre Communications Group in 1999.)

This play in five acts or twenty-five scenes, written by Christopher Marlowe (1564 to 1593, born the same year as Shakespeare) is a history play that chronicles the reign of Edward the Second. The actual name that Marlowe gave his play was "The troublesome reign and lamentable death of Edward, the second King of England, with the tragical fall of Mortimer." (Mortimer is Edward's nemesis in the play.)

The precise date of this play is not accurately known, but it is generally thought to have been written circa 1590.

Marlowe condenses, omits, elaborates, and rearranges actual historical events in order to gain dramatic effectiveness, and to bring out Edward's character and the results of his weakness. So the action in the play covers a historical period of just over twenty years (near the end of the fourteenth century) even though such a period of time is not suggested by the play itself.

Marlowe effectively succeeds in giving a true, as well as a powerful picture of the character and fate of Edward the Second. This play masterfully shows the delineation of character, the construction of plot, and the freedom and variety of the mostly blank verse.

Readers of Shakespeare's plays (especially "Henry the Eighth" and "Richard the Second") should find it quite easy to read this relatively succinct play. Even those not familiar with Shakespeare's plays or even Elizabethan drama should have little difficulty with this play. Footnotes are minimal.

Unfortunately, this play has been labeled a "Gay Play." This is not quite accurate. Edward was bisexual because he had a queen who he had a son with (the future Edward the Third) and, as well, had a male partner (named Piers Gaveston). Gaveston too was bisexual since he was not only attracted to Edward but also to Edward's niece! Edward's queen is heterosexual because she is later attracted to Mortimer after Edward starts ignoring her.

Sexual orientation is actually a small part of this play. The play is about a king who loses control of his kingdom. Edward's brother says this early on to Edward: "My Lord, I see your love to Gaveston / Will be the ruin of the realm and you."

Finally, the last scene of the play is truly magnificent as Edward's son, now King, gets revenge for his father's murder.

In conclusion, this is a great play that can be enjoyed by those who are heterosexual (like myself), bisexual, or homosexual. Also, in my opinion, this history play closely rivals Shakespeare's history plays.

(this book first published 1999; play written circa 1590; 95 pages)

+++++

I am a professional vocal coach and singer for the entertainment industry. This resource manual has proven to be the best of all the ones I've seen on the market. It cannot be compared to any others. First of all, the price is unbelievable for what you are getting. Most industry resource manuals only cover one or two areas of the industry. EPP3 covers FILM, SPORTS, MUSIC AND TELEVISION! Everyone else is charging three to four times more than the price of EPP and definitely not providing as much information. On a scale of 1 through 5, I give EPP-3 a "5". Don't sleep on this opportunity! Get your copy today! You will be extremely glad you did!

This is a much needed resource that opens the door of the seemingly insular entertainment and sports industry to anyone with the interest or inclination. The comprehensive nature of the information provided in this book is incredible. Contact information, internship opportunities, industry events and more. Absolutely phenomenal!

This guide doesn't just give you contact information. It also has interviews with the power players themselves that could stand on their own as an excellent tool. If you buy it, don't set it aside for when you need a phone number; read it cover-to-cover first.

This book is necessary for anybody who seriously wants to break into the entertainment industry. It well done and packed full of great info!!!

WOW! As a writer/producer, I wish I had this book when I first moved to LA six years ago. What a difference it could have made, but thank God I have it now! It is a wonderful resource guide and an absolute must have for anyone who is an aspiring actor, writer, producer, director, executie, music artist, pro athlete, etc!

Fire on Ice was a fascinating look behind the superstar. Great insight on his life and family.More people should read this book and find out what makes Lindros tick.It was great to hear his side of story.Have recommended this book before to friends, now would like recommend this book to everyone.Fascinating read,what a life.Check it out.You willn't be disappointed.

Great book, easy to read, could not put it down. Anyone who wants to know the OTHER side of the Eric Lindros saga.... READ this book. A must for any hockey fan.

This book is a great book, I recommend it to any fan of Eric's. It takes you through his whole childhood and shares some funny moments. Its a great book. And it is not just because I am a fan of the Flyers, it's just a really good book and anyone who likes hockey should read about the struggles to become a great hockey player like he is.

This book gave Eric Lindros a chance to explain his side of the story. Anyone who questions his past decisions regarding his career will gain a better understanding of the motivation behind them. It is also interesting to read about his life before he became a superstar and the determination and hard work it took to become one.

reading this book gave me amazing insight into his life; his successes; his failures; his life. If only everyone could read this book, they'd understand his views on his refusal to play for the Quebec Nordiques to why his younger brother Brett had to retire from HIS hockey career and the tender age of 21. Great book and has been highly recommended to all of my friends!

Y

Barry Sparks brings Frank "Home Run" Baker back into baseball's limelight in this biography of the Hall-of-Famer. Barry managed to unearth much about Baker's personal life despite the fact Frank has been deceased since 1963 at age 76, and few folks still were living who knew Baker during the author's years of research. This book is more about Baker's life and baseball career than about baseball in his era---the preferred mix of information in a biography. Too many biographies of players from baseball's deadball era emphasize the game as played then, its stars and the winning teams, but provide too little about the player himself. Not so, with Sparks' biography on Baker. Baker's work ethic helped him become a star player, but his personal life interrupted his playing career several times. Find out more about Baker's World Series heroics, the reason for his nickname, and the reasons he had to stop playing in the major leagues on more than one occasion. Read Barry's detailed and informative biography about baseball's first home run hitting hero in the World Series.

Barry Sparks's book about Frank "Home Run" Baker is an insightful story of the Major League Baseball home run leader from the early 20th century. Tracing Baker's life from his hometown of Trappe, MD, to the Major Leagues and into retirement, Mr. Sparks tells of Baker's career with the Philadelphia A's and New York Yankees, and of the two seasons during which he stepped away from the majors to play with a semi-pro team.

This book does a superb job of taking the reader back to the days of daytime-only baseball. Particular attention is paid to the World Series games in which Baker played, where he earned his sobriquet "Home Run" Baker for blasting two homers in a single World Series game in 1911.

Extensive chapter notes and bibliography supplement the story and reveal the amount of research done to create the book. Yet, the book is not written to read like a college term paper. Mr. Sparks's writing style is quite enjoyable and makes this book a pleasurable experience for baseball fans of all ages.

This book is more than an intimate biography of a baseball legend. It is also a look back at a nascent sport as it was just beginning to capture a nation's heart. This was an era when entire towns emptied out to watch the local boys play at the ballfield, and when people relied on newspapers to bring them glorious tales of big-league action. It was a time when the highest-paid player made $12,000, and performance-enhancing drugs did not yet exist. In short, it was a time when baseball was still a sport, and not yet an industry.

Author Barry Sparks does an excellent job of placing the reader inside the Deadball Era (1900-1920) as he tells the tale of Frank "Home Run" Baker. According to the preface, Sparks hails from Baker's home region of eastern Maryland, and as a boy he had an opportunity to meet the aging baseball legend. The book's lively prose suggests that the thrill of that encounter still remains with Sparks today. He reveals Baker as a polite, hard-working man who eschewed the limelight and, above all, loved playing baseball. The research is impeccable and well documented, with detailed notes, indexing, and bibliography.

"Frank 'Home Run' Baker: Hall of Famer and World Series Hero" is ideal for the avid baseball fan, and for anyone interested in the origins of America's pastime.

Mr. Sparks has fulfilled a life long ambition with this work. It is an easy read and for a sports enthusiast, opens a window into a closed chapter of our nation's pastime. In following the life, career and character of a player few know much about but who is very highly rated by Bill James (the father of sabremetrics), Mr. Sparks shows the career of the dead ball era's "Babe" in a good but honest light. The sparing with Connie Mack to be paid is an interesting sidelight, as is seeing Baker in his final years with the Yankees playing along side the real "Babe". This a very worthwhile book to own and read in depth. My copy is autographed and I do cherish it.

Barry Sparks book was interesting and informative. I couldn't put it down. My knowledge of the dead ball era was limited to tidbits about some of the players, ( Christy Mathewson ,Collins, Bender, etc). Barry's book, not only gave me a good appreciation of Frank Baker, but the whole era from 1909-1922. The effects of WW1 on baseball and the players refreshed similar memories of my childhood and WWII . It also refreshed many childhood memories of Shibe Park ,scene of seeing my first Major League Baseball Game in 1946 and numerous games when I attended Temple University in the early 1950's This Nostalgic trip expanded my knowledge and appreciation of the A's , the game of baseball, and Hall of Famers in the early 1900's. I remember my Dad and Uncle talking about these players but Barry's Book captured an intimate snapshot of early baseball and the deadball era, and has inspired me to make another trip to Cooperstown to spend more time focusing on the Hall of Famers, balls, bats, and memorabilia of this era.

The Game Breaker is and exciting read. The author uses simple descriptions for glamourous locales and events, making the reader feel like he is there with the characters whether they be in the Himalayas, London, or just the living room.

The plot has more twists and turns than a roller coaster, but the characters seem so real that the reader wants to hang on and find out what happens to them.

Kurt Bryan has dreamed up some great plots, situations that could really happen, and twists them together. I almost felt like I was reading a newspaper day to day to see what happens to these guys when seemingly unrelated worlds collide.

Overall, the book combines a great imagination with sports and politics with a dose reality, making for a great story.

I read this for my English, and it was pretty good.

It's hard to believe that this is the author's first publication!

The Game Breaker takes you on a roller coaster ride of suspense, anticipation, and climax. The real genius behind the novel is the way Mr. Bryan cunningly and methodically develops several different storylines, and then brilliantly intertwines them into a gripping and relentless ride that thrills you to the very end. He does a superb job developing the characters as they are introduced into the story design. Ferguson Marshall could not have been more perfectly portrayed as the corruptive politician, and Kenny, the most improbable victim, turned hero.

The plot is action packed and delivered without skipping a beat. The tempo is fast and the turns keep coming. The Game Breaker grabs hold of you with its page turning twists, and fiercely built suspense.

I experienced a full spectrum of emotions, and was continually surprised with all the new shrewd developments as the plot continued to thicken. The further I read, the more difficult it became to put this book down.

The Game Breaker is pure entertainment. What an impressive read from a first time author. This is a great book for anyone who would enjoy escaping to a world that combines political corruption, collegiate football, sex, murder, and a very unlikely hero. Quite simply, this book takes you to the edge and leaves you wanting more...

A phenomenal read! Can't wait for #2.

CJ

I belong to several book clubs, and by far The Game Breaker is one of the BEST new books of the past few years. It is such a great book that I read it TWO times - I loved it that much! The opening chapter hooks you and never lets you go...the story keeps getting better and better. Three particular things come to mind when describing this gripping book. 1) Author - Kurt Bryan has one of the most unique writing styles I have come across in years...vivid, intense, colorful, and so descriptive I felt like I was in the book with these fantastic characters. 2)The hero is so modern, tough and yet a caring kind of man that I couldn't get enough of him, and finally, 3)The evil villain is so perfectly written that I was screaming at the pages for him to get what was coming to him at the end. The Game Breaker has spoiled me and I am really excited to read Kurt Bryan's next book.

My girlfriend gave me a copy of The Game Breaker for my birthday and I really was not too excited because I had never heard of Kurt Bryan before. But I was totally stunned when I read the book. The Game Breaker is super fantastic, it's packed with wild suspense, murder, sex, politics and it is also laced with sports.

I loved The Game Breaker and can't wait for Bryan's next book!

Jake P.

I gave this book to my Father-in-law (a long time Red Wing fan) for a Father's Day gift. It was great timing since the Wings clinched the Stanley Cup just weeks before! He loved it, reading it in only two days! He mentioned how interesting it was for weeks!

Before I gave it to him, I'll admit I glaced through some of the pages. It was an interesting concept-having the different players talk about their teammates. All the comments about one player were put into a chapter. So you had three or four pages of stories and anecdotes about one player all grouped together.

You also heard stories about their private lives and some behind the scenes moments of one of the greatest eras in hockey!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a long time hockey fan!

THE GODS OF OLYMPIA STADIUM IS A MUST READ FOR ALL NOSTALGIA AND LOVERS OF OLD RED WING HOCKEY. THERE ARE MANY GREAT PHOTOS AND SOME GREAT INTERVIEWS WITH RED WING LEGENDS TED LINDSAY AND GORDIE HOWE (GREAT THOU ART). THE INTERVIEWS ARE DETAILED, HONEST AND ENLIGHTENING. I HAVE READ MANY BOOKS ABOUT THE RED WINGS AND THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST. THE FRONT AND BACK COVER HAVE EXCELLENT AND NOSTALGIC PHOTOS OF MANY OF THESE GREAT PLAYERS FROM YEARS AGO. I AM GOING TO USE THIS BOOK AS A DECORATION BECAUSE I LOVE THE COVER SOME MUCH. WELL WORTH YOUR TIME AND MONEY.

The Book is wonderful and a great read--finished it off in one night--left me awestruck and wondering when the next one will be available.

The cover is fantastic! Looking at it kind of makes you feel like you've been checked by Gordie Howe himself. That is if being checked by Gordie were a good thing! This is one book you can tell by its cover! Of course what's most impressive is on the inside.
Shakespeare wrote in one the sonnets "so long as eyes can see, so long lives this. And this gives life to thee." Richard Kincaide has done his part to keep the legacy of these great gentlemen of hockey alive to inspire and entertain for, well, forever now. The rest is up to the fans. This book should be on the shelf of anyone who loves sports.

Meet the greatest hockey players of all time. Rich Kincaide has caught the excitement, spirit, frenzy, and love for the game in these interviews of players on some of the best teams in the history of the Detroit Red Wings.

He may be interviewing men who played the game 50 years ago but you don't feel like you're reading history-- you are right there and enjoying the conversation with him.

Rich Kincaide's "The Gods of Olympia Stadium" is a great book for anyone with a passing interest in hockey and a must have for those who love it. Everyone: This book is a great holiday gift idea for the sports fan in your life!