Teams Books

Read this when it came out and re-read it recently, excellent book, hopefully the put it back into circulation. No other book goes in depth as this one does for those famous Cubs of 69.

Talley recently passed away but he was a writer for the paper and was by this team everyday of the season. Great Book but very hard to find these days!

Read this when it came out and re-read it recently, excellent book, hopefully the put it back into circulation. No other book goes in depth as this one does for those famous Cubs of 69.

Talley recently passed away but he was a writer for the paper and was by this team everyday of the season. Great Book but very hard to find these days!

I read this book a while ago. I didn't realize it was out of print. It's a shame really.

This book focuses on the 1969 baseball season of the Chicago Cubs. What's common knowledge to many baseball fans is that in 1969 the NY Mets came from last place in the NL East division to win the World Series. What's less well known (to non-Cubs fans) is that the Cubs led the NL East division from the start of the season until mid-September when the Mets beat them out. A lot of books have been written about the Miracle Mets of '69 but this book is about the team that lost out - the Cubs. It's also a look back at yet another painful chapter in Cubs' history.

The book goes chapter by chapter covering the members of the team individually. Examples of chapters are: Leo Durocher, Ken Holzmann, Ernie Banks, Don Young, Kenn Hundley, Ron Santo and others.

The book covers the entire careers of the team members including where they came from before playing for the Cubs in the 1969 season and what happened to them after the season ended so disastrously.

Most Cubs fans will probably enjoy this book as the author was able to interview quite a few members of the team and gather their reflections on that season. Non-Cubs fans will enjoy this book because it will remind them that no matter how bad their team is, it probably isn't as bad as the Cubs.

Although I am a die-hard White Sox fan (not to mention, a one-time Cub fan growing up), I was aware of the Bruins' misfortunes. But amazingly, I didn't know anything about the Cubs infamous 1969 season until high school when I made a visit to the library in Phoenix, AZ and in the sports section I discovered "The Cubs of '69" by Chicago writer Rick Talley (sadly, he's already dead). I couldn't believe that they were in first place on Opening Day and then they buckled to the up-and-coming Mets. Does baseball fans realize that hadn't they held on to their lead in the NL East the '69 Cubs would had been the first team to spend first place in the entire regular season since the 1927 Yankess? (That's right; argued to be one of the greatest teams in baseball history) I liked the part when Talley writes,"They had a pennant won and they blew it" and it then I said to myself,'Even worse: They also blew a World Series' since the Mets ran the table and beat the Orioles. But let's get to the players, shall we? This team was lined up with players like Ernie Banks (why was "Mr. Cub" batting fifth for most of the year?), Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger, Randy Huntley, Jim Hickman, and the pitching staff of Ferguson Jenkins, Bill Hands, Dick Selma, and Ken Holtzman. My Dad told me several years ago that he went to two games that year and as if the sun, moon, and stars were allined, they were the two games that defined the year: Opening Day at Wrigley against the Philles when pitch-hitter Willie Smith hit a game-winning homer over the right-field wall with the Cubs trailing by one in extra innings and the other was Holtzman pitching a no-hitter (with no strikeouts!) against the Braves in August (Hank Aaron was the last batter). Talley aruges two reasons why they collapsed in the last month: One was that they played in the July and August heat at home every day; another reason why no lights at Wrigley really hurted them and the other reason was the most important: They had a hothead manager with Leo Durocher; who may have been sports' original bad boy long before Bobby Knight and John MacEnroe showed up. He makes the point that Durocher refused to sit his players down the stretch and it got to the point that he created a monster of himself when it was revealed that he may of betted against his own team (long before Pete Rose was accused of it) during the critical September series with the Mets. As you may know, the Cubs blew a 3-1 lead to the up-and-coming Marlins (does this sound familar?) in the NLCS last month. When that happened, I cryed because I felt so bad for Banks, Williams, Santo, Huntley, and all the other Cubs because I wanted the burden to be off their shoulders and it didn't. Dad then told me simply, "Don't worry Eric. I've been waiting for the Cubs to get into the World Series ever since that 1969 season." For all those baseball fans who think the sport is fragile like life, must pick up "The Cubs of '69." They'll realize that everything must come into place and as what Ernie Banks once said, "Don't fear. This is the year."

Who would have thought that aviation and medicine were so much alike. This book reviews the safety culture in both professions (albeit from an aviation point of view) anb shows that both can learn from eachother.

I have used this book in aviation safety training and it does provide a solid basis for creating a safety culture.

Recommended!

Too many books on this subject are either just too academic or too trivial to be worth the price. This book avoids these pitfalls and provides helpful analysis to the 'real world'.

Robert Helmreich is regarded in the aviation industry as the father of Crew Resource Management (CRM), and in this book he and Ashleigh Merritt (with material contributed by many others) discuss the effects of cultural issues on safety in aviation and in the operating room.

While the bulk of the book is devoted to CRM in aviation (the researchers have vastly more data and experience in that field), the book serves well as an introduction to cultural influences in the operating room (and in medicine in general, to a degree.) This book is not light reading, and is most suitable for professionals in aviation, medicine, or behavioral and social sciences familiar with inter- and intra-cultural dynamics and the statistical methodologies typical in such studies.

The book is excellent at breaking down cultural influences by national, organizational, and professional affiliation, and it adds a significant amount to the body of knowledge in this area. As a long time airline pilot (and part-time safety and training consultant), I found the book fascinating and generally in agreement with my experiences working with pilots from airlines around the world. There are a couple of minor areas where I disagree with the book, for instance on page 105, the authors state "we believe that every national culture values the safety of its members and that every airline is dedicated to improving the safety of its operations." I agree that this is the case in the vast majority of cases, but I have been given reason to doubt the complete accuracy of the second half of that statement based on my personal interactions with many pilots from airlines around the globe. I think that management at all airlines would prefer safe operations as a matter of profitability, but that some are content with doing the minimum mandated training with safety as a second thought to legality and profitability. This is a minor semantic point separating my opinions from those of the authors, and is based on my personal observations and interactions with several thousand crew members from scores of airlines from all over the world. I will unequivocally say that the cultural profiles that the authors have established for the pilots are nearly identical to my own perceptions.

A very interesting part of the book concerns itself with pilots distrusting management. The authors were stunned to discover what low regard pilots felt for management. (As a pilot I think, in general, justifiably so.) This ties in with my comments above about genuine managerial interest in safety. They all "talk the talk," but many don't "walk the walk." The matter is fully distilled for the non-industry insider on pages 127-128 which emphasizes the group mentality (with resultant long-term corporate health) of Southwest Airlines in a press release written by their founder Herb Kelleher, contrasted with a press release from one of the embattled legacy carriers, released by the CEO of that corporation. The latter gave no credit to the employees, while the Southwest release did. The esteem with which management regards employees couldn't be carved in greater relief: the problem for management is that this is a treacherous two way street, and the employees that are desperately needed by legacy carriers are now largely demoralized in some cases to the point of apathy. Fortunately, the Helmreich team was not able to tie safety records conclusively to morale, though that may be simply because accidents are so statistically rare. On page 179 the authors deal again with the trustworthiness of management. The assertion is that for a safety system to function employees must feel free to report safety problems, instead of hushing them up (this is a major issue on the medical side of the house with the ever-present malpractice litigation waiting to ensnare doctors.) The authors are right on the money: if a hint of vindictiveness or lack of anonymity exists in a safety program, it will fail. The authors cite the excellent program at Continental Airlines as a model for how to deal effectively with an accident (in this case a non-fatal gear up landing of a DC-9) to learn from it and make further safety gains with employees.

On page 204 the authors examine cultural issues in the context of language differences. They cite the problems of Chinese pilots speaking in English. They mention the issues of sending a (non-pilot) translator with the pilots to aid communication. I have worked with several Chinese airlines and they are all bright, polite, and perceptive in my experience, but the dynamics in the simulator with the translator are unnerving as instructions are translated and queried, checklists are run and maneuvers are flown. In general under abnormal conditions I found that when a translator is used, emergency procedures took much longer (perhaps twice as long) to accomplish due to the language problems involved. I fully support the Helmreich proposition that international pilots be given more training in English (the international language of air transport.)

In sum, this book is superior and fascinating. I have commented more on the aviation side of the book because that is where the majority of my expertise is, but the medical side is equally fascinating, and heralds the beginning of a true safety system approach to medicine. I highly recommend this book.

This is an outstanding book that goes deeply inside the airline pilots and medical culture (it is much more related about aviation). Full of data and cases that supports and illustrates the author theory. It is a book not only to people that desing training but also manages those professional groups.

William Hartel's affectionate tribute to the "Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field is a must for any baseball fan, and especially if you've ever been fortunate to watch a game there. Though there are numerous historical photos outlining the history of the old park built in 1914, the bulk of the pictures were taken from dawn to dusk on the same day - June 18, 1993. Loaded with quotes and stories from everyone from Bill Veeck to Ernie Banks and long-time National League Umpire Doug Harvey, this book makes its case that Wrigley is not only the best place on earth to play and watch baseball, but one of the most memorable places to visit for fans of all ages. I read this book on a cold January evening yet when I closed my eyes, I could feel the sun on my face, smell the hot dogs, and hear Ernie Banks saying, "Let's play two!"

.

Holy Cow!

Maybe THIS year!

As I write this review, da Cabs have just won their first post-season series since 1908. There is euphoria in Wrigleyville! What a gorgeous anthology book to celebrate - in essays of words and pictures - da Cubs and dere Friendly Confines! Dere's a foreword by George F. Will and mouth-watering pictures of peanuts, popcorn, and hotdogs. (Hey! Where's some Cracker Jacks? ;-) The frontispiece and back (is that called a backispeice?) are appropriately covered in ivy.

Here's the Dust Jacket Lead Off by Ernie Banks: Ballplayers come and go, but Wrigley Field endures. As long as Cub fans take their kids out to the Friendly Confines and show them where baseball should be played, the chain will be unbroken.

Believe!

Reviewed by TundraVision, Once a Cub fan, always a Cub Fan

A GREAT GIFT FOR ANY BASEBALL FAN. A GREAT TOUR OF ONE OF THE BEST STADIUMS EVER. I LOVE THIS BOOK. EXCELLENT READING. WRIGLEY BROUGHT TO LIFE IN A BOOK. GREAT BUY.

i am a sox's fan but this book makes me love the chicago cubs magnificent building. It brings you behind the sceens and shows little secrets about the park. Great book.

To write a book with the kind of action, conflict, dialogue and flow found in Death Wind is obviously a rare ability. You barely know that the clock is ticking as you keep reading, keep reading and keep reading until you end up with the kind of finish that makes you wish the next Force Recon book was on the shelves right now. Smith clearly knows a lot about the military, but he knows even more about how to tell a story. Great reading, great writing, great book.

DEATH WIND was a great find thanks to Amazon.com once again!
After this novel, I will be gathering up all of Mr. Smith's other works in FORCE RECON series as well as his other horror-type genre novels.
Being a former marine, I was intrigued and very pleased to see this series. It was more than I bargained for and was a very pleasant surprise.

This book was an exceptionaly good book. I rated it five but would go higher. As with other books I have read this one was hard for me to put down. I lost many an hour of sleep with this book. James put you right there with the patrol,from beginning to end.

Roadrunner 6 Out

I really like this book. This book was better then his first book. Tons of action. I like the plot and the location. Hope his next one is great too. Can't wait to his next one comes out.

The husband-and wife team of Kimball and Mareen Duncan Fisher have collaborated to produce a well-documented, stimulating and useful book on what they call the "distributed mind", or knowledge workers who are geographically and/or organizationally dispersed. The Fishers have been involved in business process redesign for many years, and they have poured their comprehensive lessons learned into this 277-page volume.

One of their most important contributions that they deliver early in the book is to demystify the term "knowledge worker" by explaining that very few knowledge workers do only knowledge work and very few physical laborers do only physical work. This is a liberating insight, because it expands the potential applicability of their later discussions on how knowledge work is important in factories as well as R & D labs.

The Fishers use the term "the learning lattice" to describe an approach to redesigning knowledge work that explains how teams can be organized to take advantage of both units composed of functional experts (skill development teams) and cross-functional teams (business teams), optimizing the knowledge, perspectives and contributions of all concerned. Some organizations call these newly emerging learning lattices "centers of excellence".

Both of the Fishers started their careers in the art world, it is not surprising to see that they have some intriguing comments about harnessing creativity in organizations. They argue that creativity is a social activity, not a guru-centered process that requires isolation. Citing a 1993 survey done ! by the Center for the Study of Work Teams at the University of North Texas, research showed that knowledge workers prefer collaborative team environments, where there is an opportunity to share ideas and solutions.

How about leadership of knowledge workers? The Fishers suggest that this is not an easy task and that the leader's role is handled best through a boundary manager role. They identify seven key attributes for the "distributed leader", including articulating a vision for the organization, managing by principles rather than policies, and effectively coaching and communicating. They provide specific recommendations for ways to "infuse energy and wellness" into organizations through better understanding of roles and responsibilities, effectively managing--rather than suppressing--conflict, and orienting and developing knowledge worker teams.

The Distributed Mind is a great new tool for those who are interested in building community in organizations.

"This is the age of knowledge work. It is the age of the smart worker. The operations that learn the secret of tapping into this knowledge will always outperform those that do not. Those that master the 'collective intelligence' of knowledge work teams will be the architects of the future...As individuals, knowledge workers are smart people. But their individual effectiveness is amplified when they are also part of a smart organization. As an effective knowledge team, they can often create a sort of synergy where the outcome of the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. These smart teams appear as though all team members are of a common mind that shares information and ideas seamlessly across the membership-a distributed mind...This book is about knowledge work teams. Knowledge work requires a special set of skills related to an area of expertise, such as those of an engineer, a salesperson, a consultant, a manager, or a health-care professional. But it requires much more than technical competence to be successful as a knowledge worker" (from the Introduction).

In this context, Kimball Fisher and Mareen Duncan Fisher:

* define knowledge work by comparing five characteristics that differ for physical and knowledge work as follows:

- Job Characteristics: (1). Core task, (2). Critical skills, (3). Work process, (4). Work outcome, (5). Knowledge used.

- Job Characteristics of Physical Work: (1). Doing, (2). Physical, (3). Usually linear, (4). Product, (5). Applied.

- Job Characteristics of Knowledge Work: (1). Thinking, (2). Mental, (3). Usually nonlinear, (4). Information, (5). Created.

* argue that "the nature of work is changing from mostly linear to mostly nonlinear and from requiring mainly physical skills to requiring mainly mental acuity. Jobs now usually produce more information than product and require more improvisation than rote, automatic application of process. While this trend is dramatic in a few cases, for most of us the change has been a slow, steady evolution of our jobs", and illustrate this trend.

* show how teams and team-based operations differ from groups and non-team-based operations, and illustrate how these teams differ from the traditional organizations by comparing hierarchical organizations with team-based organizations as follows:

- Hierarchical Organization: hierarchical order, local optimum, maximum specification, functional defect control, specialized skill, vertical information flow, work ethic value, and conservative improvement.

- Team-Based Organization: information order, global optimum, minimum critical specification, source defect control, multiskilled, source information flow, work life value, and continuous improvement.

* illustrate the differences between physical and knowledge work teams by comparing typical physical work teams with knowledge work teams.

- Typical Physical Work Teams: physical labor, multiple generalists, inside single organization, fairly stable membership, and repetitive responsibilities.

- Typical Knowledge Work Teams: mental labor, multiple specialists, across multiple organizations, shifting membership, and single-purpose responsibilities.

* explore the process of knowledge work design, and illustrate the characteristics of evolving organizational form-learning lattice organization.

* discuss the metaphors and practices needed to create successful knowledge teams.

* argue that "environmental shifts and changes in organizational capabilities have created opportunities and need for virtual knowledge teams in contemporary organizations. To effectively create, utilize, and support VKT's, we must focus more attention on the VKT challenges", and then discuss the challenges of making VKTs effective.

* discuss fostering innovation and creativity as a critical challenge for knowledge work.

* discuss what is becoming a critical attribute of effective knowledge work teams: the ability to transfer knowledge effectively without causing information overload.

* discuss the role of leaders in knowledge teams, and argue that "in knowledge work teams, team leadership is critical. Although this formal leadership is often shared or rotated, we believe it must be done properly for the team to be effective".

* discuss a number of practical tips to prevent illness in teams, including providing team training, integrating new team members, setting goals and measuring results, understanding group decision-making processes, managing team conflict, building team communication skills, giving and receiving feedback, defining team members' roles and responsibilities, developing operating guidelines, and creating a team charter.

* explore how technology aids knowledge work, and argue that "technologies must be appropriately integrated into the organization if they are to benefit knowledge teams. Three particular problems to avoid are technology misuse, expecting more from technology than it can reasonably deliver, and serving technology instead of having technology serve the team".

* discuss future trends in knowledge work by illustrating six key work trends for the new millennium: (1). automation of physical work, (2). elimination of traditional jobs and work structures, (3). empowered knowledge workers, (4). knowledge work teams predominant, (5). workplace flexibility, (6). more virtual knowledge teams.

Strongly recommended.

The T-word, team, has been badly devaluated during the last few years. People talk about teams without really understanding, what they actually are about. No wonder some people react with cynicism when their CEO returns from a training seminary with the word Team on his lips.

There is a solid case for this book that addresses teams, especially knowledge work teams from a practical no-nonsense perspective. This book makes good reading not only for knowledge work team builders but also for the people that actually make up the teams. The language and structure is exceptionally readable and the issues are easy to grasp. Someone might even say that Fishers use too many cases to justify their points. Fishers start with discussing knowledge work, then teams and finally knowledge work teams and finally building a working organisation made of knowledge work teams.

Fishers do not limit their perspective to teams and organisations but discuss also their influences to societies and individuals. Teams do not work in a vacuum but change the way people work and think and live their lives.

The one thing that I disagree with is they way Fishers create an artificial (in my opinion) distinction between physical work and knowledge work, and the consequent physical work teams and knowledge work teams. Fishers stress the point that even knowledge workers do physical work and physical workers do knowledge work, but within their definition of knowledge work!

This is a book on Knowledge Workers, and on business management, actually. It does discuss industrial age and post-industrial age workers, but it's not so much about industry, industrial workers, and modern factory automation.

The sense I came away with is that the aim of the authors was on making work teams more effective. However, for me, the book gets back to a more fundamental issue, the possibility of effectively eliminating levels of management in any organization. This is done not just by eliminating some staff, and giving the remaining staff communications. On a superficial level, automation of information access and communications for today's knowledge workers is required. However, on a more fundamental level, this is done by the assumption of a greater degree of the responsibilities by Knowledge Workers.

The book does get to the nub of flat (empowerment) versus hierarchical (delegation) management styles, which has come about with downsizing and the advent of empowered workers. It discusses how to manage processes and people with fewer managers, by enabling them to gather and use information and make decisions. Most importantly, it prioritizes: responsibility, empowerment, the management of processes, the management of people, management styles, downsizing, and information sharing. They all go together, but some of these are ends, and others are only means to an end. Further, some of these means to an end are prerequisites and others are only facilitators.

Whether tasks are delegated one-at-a-time to individuals (hierarchical), or projects and processes are turned over to a work-team (flat), in both cases communications is required. However, the differences today, are that Knowledge Workers in empowered organizations: are on multiple teams, not having just one job to do; must communicate with all team members, not just with supervisor and immediate coworkers; are responsible for the entire job, not just for one aspect of it.

Without proper orientation by management, Knowledge Workers in empowered work teams can remain focused on technical skill development or on information sharing, as ends unto themselves, or on doing their narrow tasks. What could be missing is a focus on the success of the process or project, and on the achievement on the goals of the organization. In the absence of middle managers, whose job it was to not only manage workers, departments, and processes, but also to focus on the goals of the larger organization, empowered Knowledge Workers must assume a large share of these responsibilities.

Team members must understand firstly, that responsibilities have been thrust upon them, and secondly, how to carry out these responsibilities as a self-directed work team. Today, we're not just providing communications systems to workers. We are holding people responsible, and therefore we're providing them with communications systems.

As a consultant that works with distributors on inventory management I can highly recommend this book.
bob@smarterdistribution.com

Our company sells a software product in Minneapolis, that is on Gordon's list of recommended softwares. I have been implementing his principals in distribution companies since the mid 1980's. His pricipals work! Customer service increases as inventory levels become more accurate and therefore sales increase. Inventory levels may drop as you get rid of excess inventory.

His book explains these principals in a clear and easy to understand manner. If you are in distribution, you need to look at this!

Gordon Graham brings his quick wit, and common sense approach to distribution inventory. His book gives the reader a wide variety of approach methods, formulas, procedures, and thought process for use in distribution inventory. Even the most experienced inventory manager would be irresponsible by ignoring this work. With Graham's casual matter of fact manner, and obvious self confidence in inventory practices that have proven themselves time and again the reader is quickly exposed to at least one method of approach to serving the customer, and the bottom line with equal respect and care.

Our company sells a software product in Minneapolis, that is on Gordon's list of recommended softwares. I have been implementing his principals in distribution companies since the mid 1980's. His pricipals work! Customer service increases as inventory levels become more accurate and therefore sales increase. Inventory levels may drop as you get rid of excess inventory.

His book explains these principals in a clear and easy to understand manner. If you are in distribution, you need to look at this!

What an informative and fun book to read! The author presents great quotes, mental skills, and winning strategies by the best minds in baseball for achieving excellence in sports, business, and the game of life.

This book is a must have for coaches and players alike. I own and run Centerfield Baseball Academy and this book is like having the best coaches in the country in my place 24-7!. If you are a coach it is amazing to have such an organized blue print for success at your fingertips. As a player who got to the professional leval I could have been twice the player and teammate had I read Dugout Wisdom. A young player who reads this book will get tips to exponentially improve his game and, what's more important, he will relate to his coach and team in a way he never has before. This is worth every penny. ...

I bought Jim Murphy's DUGOUT WISDOM because I wanted to learn about managing a winning business team. I don't confess to know a lot about baseball but after reading a few pages of DUGOUT WISDOM, I realized that this is not just a book for baseball coaches and fans. It's a book for anyone wanting to be a champion, wanting to be the best that they can be in all that they do whether it be in sports, business, personal life, anything. DUGOUT WISDOM is very practical.

I recommend DUGOUT WISDOM for anyone who wants to gain wisdom and be motivated, challenged, and inspired!

The amount of quality managers and coaches he interviewed is outstanding, and putting it all together with the ten principles really clarified for me what the top managers do. As a business professional I feel I can transfer much of these principles into my life, because we're all dealing with people, whether it's sports or business. I really liked the chapter on Forming a Covenant, and having a spiritual base, which is really inner strength. I was especially intrigued to find out what Dusty Baker had to say, as I feel he's one of the best at dealing with people and forming a winning team from different personalities. Highly recommended.

Jose Canseco. Barry Bonds. Jason Giambi. Human growth hormone. The cream and the clear. Steroids. The saddest part about baseball today is that these are the words we think of. However, the past is not free from scandal, and I'm not just talking about the introduction and proliferation of "greenies."

When the 1919 World Series was fixed by eight (arguably seven) members of the Chicago White Sox, the face of baseball changed forever. While it remained America's pastime, an inherent skepticism took hold. This was epitomized by the famous "say it ain't so, Joe" confrontation between "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (the arguably innocent of the eight) and not just any fan, but a child.

Eliot Asinof has done a wonderful job of reminding us that baseball is not a sport newly tainted by strikes and drugs. All the major players are documented. The owner, Charles Comiskey, whose tight pocket book can be partially blamed for the scandal and who tried to cover it up. Baseball's first commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis prosecuted the guilty the best way he knew how and set a precedent that baseball followed into the late '80s with the lifetime ban of Pete Rose (eight years after Eight Men Out was published in 1981). "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, to his deathbed, recanted his confession, calling it something contrived, and professed his innocence. And then there were the gamblers: Joe Sullivan, the contact man; Abe Attell, the man who manipulated the whole thing as a middleman without the money; and Arnold Rothstein, the money behind the debacle. Asinof, despite a lack of modern "forensic" evidence, such as phone taps, followed the information back to the guilty parties. As Asinof relays, this is one of the shames, one of the great failures of the American judicial system following the Black Sox scandal.

What Asinof has accomplished with this story, this true epic, is to remind us that todays era is not that only tainted one in baseball's illustrious history. It reminds us that as long as men have been paid to play a childrens' game they have wanted more and owners have wanted to give them less. In the end, Asinof reminds us that we make it possible for players to make $25 million a year. And we also make it possible for someone like Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds or Jason Giambi to become a "hero." While Asinof does not make me feel guilty, he makes me take pause and wonder how much of baseball's dramatic fall has been a product of the absolute corruption of American culture as opposed to the absolute corruption of a select few individuals.

The year 1919. The city is Chicago. Eight men enter the room of "Sleepy" Bill Burns and conspire to fix the World Series. The money was coming from Arnold Rothstein or "AR" to his friends. Eight men were about to rock the foundations of baseball for greed and the hatred of Charles Comiskey - or was there another story?

Asinoff recounts the months leading to, the days during and the years after the 1919 World Series with amazing detail and clarity. His story is told and as you listen you'll think you are actually there. This audio book is by far much better than the movie.

What you get is 8; count them 8, how ironic, tapes that weave a story of deceit, corruption, and conspiracy on both sides of the law. From Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte to Lefty Williams, Chick Ghandl, Buck Weaver, Happy Felsch and Swede Risberg the tragedy is unraveled.

The recording was a true pleasure and the actual use of transcripts, reports and other material adds major credibility to the exposing of baseball worst nightmare. Asinoff is to be commended on this first rate work and baseball needs more men like him. A real standout performance!

This review refers to the audio book version.

A great book that shows what led to this infamous scandel with the 8 White Sox ballplayers. Not only will baseball fans want to read this book but anyone who likes to read. It also makes you wonder if throwing games is still going on today.

The scandal of the 1919 Black Sox is probably the most disilluisioning chapter in the history of baseball. Asinof captured the feeling of America and its reaction to the scandal on and off field. The story is told accurately and with great insight. "Shoeless" Joe was a wonderful player who made bad decisions. He can be both admired and loathed by fans who now know that he wasn't completely innocent as the Sox threw the Worl d Series. It shows how baseball perserviered throught the gambling. Baseball tradition has kept the game alive through many adverse situtations and when gathered together make the history of baseball very rich. A must read for ALL baseball historians and fans.

Conquest,traveler,the thundering herd,student body left,student body right,the rose bowl,"Fight On!" depicts the history and tradition of USC football from the early Howard Jones years to the Pete Carrol era through the guys who covered it and the players who lived it.It shows you USC football's golden era of the 1930s to its low point of the late 90s,and to its resurgences as college footballs dominant dynasties of today's era.Not just as a USC fan,but as college fan period,"Fight On!" is a great book and shows you what college football is truly about on and off the field.

This is a great book by an even greater author Steve Bisheff. I have purchased and enjoyed all his sports books. I'm not a USC fan, but it made a great gift for all my friends that are.

Good book that captures the Trojan football history. The author has covered Trojan football for newspapers for years. I have always enjoyed his newspaper articles. The book captures a lot of those stories and USC history.
USC is a very interesting football program for many years. They have had many ups and downs over the years and the author does a good job telling the stories. It is always understood that once a Trojan you are a Trojan for life. It is a great University that shines in many thing besides football. Book is a good read.

"Fight On" is the rare sports book about a particular university that any football fan can enjoy, rather or not you have a relationship with that school. USC football came alive for me as a result of reading this book. Talk about history! It doesn't get any better than USC vs. Notre Dame. The entire history of the football program is here and the authors are to be commended for giving the casual fan, as well as USC alums and supporters, the ultimate read on USC football.

I chose this book for my two-year old greatnephew, Ansel, last Christmas - he looked and tossed it aside. But now his mother tells me it is THE bed time pick! I had thought it was a great balance of pictures with just enough text, and a quick moving story, and she agrees. Apparently it is the every night choice! Now my other niece says they have had to buy a copy for the other greatnephew, Paul....in fact, she tells me my younger niece said if the house were on fire, this is the book they'd save. Of course, not to worry, as the Fire Bears would save them all first!

Our four year old grandson loves this book and wants it read to him over and over and over again. A real winner.

Fire Bears is another good book by Greene for children of all ages. The bears are dedicated firemen and they rescue animals and people. The rhythm of the story keeps the little ones interested until the end. Then they want to read it again. The colors and the illustrations are fun.

Firebears are firemen bears that protect and serve in their area. The book shows what life in like at the station when the bears are waiting for a fire call. The first call they go on is to rescue a kitten from a tree. The next time they are called to fire at a business. After that fire is out they are called to another fire. This one is at someone home. The firefighters get the bears out safely and put out the fire. Then it's back to the station to await the next call!



I like that the bear fire fighters in the book were shown doing more than just putting out fires. Lots of kids think that is all they do.

Yes we would. Fire safety is very important. This simple picture book is a gentle way to introduce kids to fire fighters and the jobs that they do.