NCAA Books

If you're like me, for three weeks in March and April you make sure to sit down and see as many tournament games as possible. That element of surprise and the do-or-die nature of the NCAA tourney is what makes it--to me--the finest sporting event in the world. The Final Four records book is the most invaluable book I own, and even if it only gets heavy use for a few weeks, it has serves as such a nice resource while watching the games. When was the last time Duke lost in the first round? And if you don't know (to Eastern Michigan, 96) you can look it up instantly. As a tourney lover there's nothing better: complete brackets, stats, records. Everything's here, and this should be purchased every year because it has earned it. With the tourney we fans are given such great moments that paying a few bucks to keep informed each year is well worth it.

All true Carolina fans should buy this book and read over the games that players such as Sean May, Raymond Felton, and Rashad McCants won to get us to the top of the college basketball world! This book discusses every single game of the 05-06 season in very good detail! It also has player profiles of the players that played at Carolina during that season including Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and Jawad Williams!

Any Carolina fan should buy this book to read and for great memories of our 5th Championship season at UNC! I hope my review was helpful to you!

For the student of Bracetology, the Official Men's Basketball Record Book contains all the information about every game ever played and charts that tell you not only how each round was played, but everthing from scoring records by team and individual to attendance records. Before you do your brackets next year, check this out, but order before Selection Sunday

This book has it all, if you are a college football fan, you gonna love this book, for all who don't, the book is not so bad for you guys either. It doesn't matter if you root for UCLA, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Notre Dame or Alabama (or any other school). The book kicks off with records for every division in NCAA football (IA, IAA, II, III). And it just keep on for 500+ pages. The annual Heisman Trophy breakdown (from 1st to 4th place). Coach-by-Coach register of all the Bowl Coaches in the history of the beautiful sport, a list of all the All-Americans dating back to 1800-and something, year-by-year champs for all the leagues and bowls (from Rose to Insight.com) week by week leaders in the AP Poll from 1936 untill the '99 season. I could keep on writing about all the unique features. The book ends smoothly with all the scores from last year, plus a team-by-team and a week-by-week schedule for the Y2K season. If I could point on one thing it would be that the book does not have complete stats for the last year, but the most players are there anyway. The book is the second most importent tool when you watches school football, beaten only by the television! It's just like that The Man Upstairs reaches down his arm and gave birth to this book. Thank You NCAA!!

This is a great commerative issue with some awesome photos from the best basketball team in 2007. a true keepsake for any true basketball fan-well except the ny guy who should be thrown off the boards for his retarted comments.

Any University of Florida sports fan must have this wonderful review of our three National Championships in 366 days. A great summary of the history that the Gators made.

The riveting story of the 1939 NCAA Champions, the University of Oregon Ducks--a basketball team that "comes along once in a lifetime."

"A must-read for any college basketball fan. It's the story of the most famous group of 'Tall Firs' to ever come out of the Pacific Northwest. The boys finally get their due in this great book by Joe Blakely." --Gary Henley, Daily Astorian

This is a great book.
Here's a story about the creation and promotion of this book -- which launched Chris as a bestselling sports author. This is an excerpt from my book, Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing...

Chris Lear, a competitive cross country runner and freelance sportswriter,
knew all about focusing on one's personal goals. Chris saw publishing
through an on-demand service [Trafford Publishing] as a cost-effective
and fast way to refine and market-test his new
book in order to get `scouted' up to the major leagues
of publishing. Chris threw himself full-time into publicity
and promotion: speaking at athletic meets and
camps, ensuring that elite running stores were displaying
the book, securing reviews from Sports Illustrated,
USA Today and other media, contacting everyone he knew. Meanwhile
early readers were providing comments that fed into 30(!) rounds of revisions and corrections to perfect his story. The book was Running With
The Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher and
the University of Colorado's Men's Cross Country Team.

The result of Chris's 6-month marketing sprint? Chris's book was
high on Amazon.com's sports bestseller list, and The Lyons Press offered
him a contract - with an impressive advance on royalties - for
a new hardcover edition [isbn 9781585743285] with a national advertising
and publicity budget. Chris had won his first race as an author
and was soon commissioned to write another running classic called Sub
4:00: Alan Webb and the Quest for the Fastest Mile [Rodale Books, isbn
9781579547462].

Chris's purpose (getting his book picked up by a major sports publishing
house) pointed to the optimal marketing mix solution: refining
his product while promoting through publicity and personal sales, and
ensuring it was available in influential places.

I highly recommend both of Chris's book -- very readable AND informative.

Incredibly engaging, very hard to put down. This book is a well written documentary of a season with the University of Colorado cross country team. It mixes team dynamics, coaching, training, and racing in an informative and engrossing way. It is difficult to imagine a current/former cross country or distance runner not relating to parts of, and thoroughly enjoying, this book.

Running with the Buffaloes was a great depiction of the CU X-cntry team. As a former Division 1 college cross country runner I have heard of Wetmore's heavy mileage programs, but really was able to gain a better understanding of it in his pseudo diary. I was also able to gain an appreciation of the team's woes through one of it's hardest seasons losing a member of the team and the numerous injuries they had. A must read for all runners and a great read for any athlete who wants to compete at a higher level.

I bought three copies of this book (and 2 other non-fiction, cross country based running stories "Harriers" and "God on the Starting Line"). I had the intent of donating two copies of each of these three to our local school libraries (middle and high schools) in the desire of trying to bring more attention to youth running in our semi-rural, football-is-everything Southern town. Big mistake with this story, for one main reason: just the titles of several of the chapters themselves contain unacceptable language for a school library. In fact, if I listed the chapter title names here I would bet that this review would be removed due to profanity.

The content of the book is undeniably a very entertaining read, but the book as a whole is best left OUT of school libraries.

Great detail. As a coach I actually used some of the work outs that he goes into great detail about.

I loved the coach and his teams. Book is just a slow read, but interesting for those of us who witnessed his talented teams.

Coach Wooden is the Monet of coaching. His philosophy and work ethic, both as a player and a coach, are unparalled. This book will instruct anyone on how to deal with adversity both on the court and in the game of life.

You can't miss with Wooden's thoughts, words and advice. If you're coaching yong people, he hits home lessons that every player and coach should know and understand. Even if you're just a parent or someone's business supervisor, read this book to learn how to better deal with and motivate those who rely on you for leadership. Don't let the coach down and pass these wonerful skills on to the next generation. Wooden's vision will live long past his coaching days. Find out all about it right here.

Excellent book examining the life , philosophy and thoughts behind a great coach. Not just about basketball but good for anyone coaching any sport or anyone wanting insight to a great life.

John Wooden is perhaps America's greatest coach. His UCLA basketball team won ten national championships, including seven in a row. Concomitant with winning was his insistence on character and virtue rather than getting caught up with results.

This autobiography is a fascinating glimpse into Wooden's extraordinary life. It chronicles his life as a player (many forget that Wooden was elected to the basketball hall-of-fame as a player and coach), his coaching days (mostly at UCLA), and a little bit about his activities after his retirement. Interspersed in all of this are Wooden's coaching philosophy, pictures, box scores of the national championship games, and Wooden's opinion on how to improve the quality of NCAA basketball.

They Call Me Coach is tremendous for any sports fan, especially basketball. It can also be enjoyed by those who enjoy reading about what it takes to achieve success. Wooden was not a dictator, but imparted his insistence on doing one's best to his players with meticulous detail.

TCMC is not a complete autobiography, and it omits many aspects of Wooden's life. It is certainly not a "tell-all" account, nor is it perhaps the best book on articulating Wooden's coaching philosophy. For that I would recommend another of Wooden's books, appropriately titled Wooden. There are also others out there.

They Call Me Coach is a wonderful account of a man who as achieved true life success, and you will enjoy this read regardless of your previous knowledge on Wooden or college basketball.

Do you dare to dream? The Uconn Huskies basketball team goes on a big dream ride during the 1999 season. Jim Calhoun is the coach of the Huskies. He has worked them hard for their chance into the Final FOur. Most people didn't think Uconn was a big factor in the tournament. So Uconn was out to prove to the world that they could play with the big dogs. They might have never been to the Final Four before, but this year feels like they've been there before.
I like this book because I love sports and it gives you an idea of good teamwork. I think this book is good because if you work hard it might pay off. I watched the team come together right before my eyes. I felt like I was helping them along to win or I was in the story.
I would recommend this book to people who like sports or who enjoy a good book. I also think that anyone who likes to get lost in a book would love this! The book is exciting and suspenseful. I think people who don't mind getting trapped in the best sports book in the world should read this book!!!!

The other readers must have read this right after the Huskies won the championship--the fact that it was such an intoxicating moment for UCONN lovers must have hurt their judgement. I for one *LOVE* UCONN, yet this book reads like a rough draft. Calhoun also reveals little about the season that a devote UCONN fan wouldn't already know. I reccomend "Huskie-Mania" by Jim Shea for Huskie fans out there.

...for the Connecticut Huskies you must read this book. I am a 1995 Graduate of UConn. I was at the school for a chunk of this miraculous decade. And I have never felt more proud of that school or that amazing basketball team than I do after reading this book. Jim Calhoun is funny, strong, tender and candid in this book. A man whom we don't often get an insight to (other than reading a few four letter words on his lips from the sidelines) opens his heart and soul to us in this book. He shares the moments that tore him down, and the moments that made him realize he has the best job in the world. He is an inspiration. A leader. A great coach. And, a champion.

As a UCONN grad (class of 88) this book was a wonderful retrospective of Jim Calhoun's work ethic, love, tragedies, perseverence and humor that led to a storybook finish at the NCAA Final Four. I couldn't put this book down as it took me down memory lane. I really enjoyed Jim's wit and honesty and understand why he has built such a great program. It shows how success is created; with a lttle luck but alot of hard work, perseverence, discipline and making the best of what you have. I think this is a great read for any sports fan but is a must read if you have been caught up in the magic of Connecticut basketball.

Calhoun and Montville have crafted a masterpiece!

Calhoun writes like he talks, quick and witty (yes, it's funny!). It is an effective, fast-break style that has readers feeling like they are participating in one of Calhoun's practices. It is never boring, always moving. If you love UConn hoops, you will love this book -- guaranteed.

Calhoun is never chest-thumping. His tone is honest, warm, and humble. He is even a little self-effacing (hey, not even The Coach is above reproach).

Calhoun takes us from his days at Northeastern and prior, through the Dream Season, and into the X's and O's of the Championship Season. You will want read this slowly because you won't want it to end! There are a plethora of tid-bits and stories about the Calhoun era that even the most avid fans will respond with frequent shouts of "Wow!" and pumps of the fist.

Thanks Coach, and thanks, Leigh -- two guys who bleed Husky blue just like the rest of us in Husky Nation!