Journalism Books

Browns Scrapbook: A Fond Look Back at Five Decades of Football, from a Legendary Cleveland Sportswriter

Chuck Heaton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Quick and easy... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Was shipped on time and arrived before xmas as needed. I would buy again.

We won't see times (or writing) like this again 5 out of 5 stars.
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Chuck Heaton is a legend in the world of sports writing. That's not an exaggeration. Chuck is one of the very few writers who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

He was even chosen to present Browns running back Leroy Kelly at his induction into the Hall of Fame.

This collection of short stories serves as evidence of the worthiness of Chuck Heaton's Hall of Fame induction.

It must have been difficult to choose stories from Chuck's 50 years of writing, but the included works are outstanding. They give a feel for the game, the players and the time that we just don't read about anymore.

The book is broken down into several sections. The Places section tells tales of the travels of the players, coaches and sportswriters. Young readers will not believe the conditions. Superstars flying coach on a commercial plane? Unheard of. As Chuck wrote, "...such incidents will never be experienced by the present media covering the Browns. It was different back then."

Yes it was. For example, Chuck tells how "Black players were not allowed in the hotel the Browns used in Dallas and so the squad split up. The black players went to practice and then went to live with black families in the area." That was 1954, not that long ago.

Another section is On and Off the Field which includes reportings of the death of Paul Brown, trading Bobby Mitchell and the waiting by Leroy Kelly and Gene Hickerson for the Hall of Fame. Heaton claims Otto Graham as the best QB and rightly predicted that Red Right 88 would be Brian Sipe's legacy.

Brown's fans should ignore the favorable comments about the traitorous Art Modell. Chuck's stories were written long before the dastardly deed of moving the team.

The Rivals section is lots of fun. We read about Chuck Noll, Bum Phillips, Jack Lambert and others from the hated Steelers, Bengals and Oilers. Older readers will remember the rivalry with the Detroit Lions and way back to the pre-NFL days for the 49ers rivalry.

There are also some great old photos in the book - Chuck with the players and coaches and lots of classic Browns photos.

The Big Moments section should be savored. It includes reporting on the Browns 1964 championship over the Colts, the 1950 victory over the Eagles that shocked the NFL, the firing of Paul brown and the (gulp) Drive.

The Game section covers the NFL Draft and Chuck tells why 1964 was the year "the sport lost its innocence." (Chuck blames Joe Namath.)

The next section is on Hall of Famers and covers Jim Brown, Lou Groza, Dante Lavelli, Bill Willis, Bobby Mitchell, Paul Warfield, Mike McCormack, Frank Gatski and Leroy Kelly.

The final section is a lot of fun as Chuck chose his all-time greatest Browns team. Some selections are no-brainers such as Jim Brown at running back. Others will be a source of debate for football fans. And younger fans will argue that Josh Cribbs, for example, should be the kick returner and not Leroy Kelly. That's part of the fun.

The photo on the cover of the book summarizes the contents. Chuck is being lifted into the air by 4 Browns linemen. This kind of camaraderie was prevalent then (at least for respected writers like Chuck) and unlikely to be seen again.

Just as the quality writing and stories of Chuck Heaton are unlikely to be seen again.

Note. Sadly, Chuck Heaton passed away February 14, 2008 at the age of 90.

Editorial Review:

Veteran sportswriter Chuck Heaton looks back at his 47 years covering the Cleveland Browns--the "Old Browns" teams that fans still miss. Heaton covered the Browns for the Cleveland Plain Dealer from 1946 to 1993. In these columns, written shortly before his retirement in 1993, Heaton reminisces about Hall of Fame players like Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly, and Bobby Mitchell; original head coach Paul Brown; characters like fabled trainer Murray Kono; even notorious Browns rivals like Oilers' coach Jerry Glanville and Steelers' linebacker Jack Lambert. Browns fans age 40 and older will fondly recall the old days. Younger Browns fans will find out why everyone still longs for them.

Everything They Had: Sports Writing from David Halberstam

David Halberstam

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Sometimes sports mirrors society, sometimes it allows us to understand the larger society a little better. But mostly, it is a world of entertainment of talented and driven young men and women who do certain things with both skill and passion."
--David Halberstam

David Halberstam was a distinguished journalist and historian of American politics. He was also a sports writer. Everything They Had brings together for the first time his articles from newspapers and magazines, a wide-ranging collection edited by Glenn Stout, selected over the full scope of Halberstam's five decades as one of America's most honored journalists. These are dazzling portraits of some of the most compelling sports figures of our era, the superstars of popular sports like basketball, football, and baseball, but also fishing, soccer, and rowing, and the amateur athletes who play for the love of the game.

In "My Dinner with Theodore," Halberstam recounts his long anticipated--and unforgettable--meeting with Red Sox legend Ted Williams. Against the backdrop of 1960s Nashville, he beautifully recounts a lifelong love of football in "How I Fell in Love with the NFL." And "Men Without Women," set on a fishing expedition in Patagonia, is more than a hunt for giant brown trout--it is a story of fishing, friendship, and fellowship. These and many more stories exemplify the breadth and depth of David Halberstam's devotion to diverse sports and his respect and fascination for the men and women who play them so well.

The result is an intimate and personal collection that reveals the issues and the ideals David Halberstam cared about--racial equality, friendship, loyalty, and character--and creates a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the author himself. Everything They Had takes its rightful place alongside Halberstam's bestselling sports titles, which include The Breaks of the Game, The Amateurs, Summer of '49, and The Education of a Coach.

The Life of Reilly: The Best of Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly

Rick Reilly

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Editorial Review:

Witty, irreverent, opinionated, honest, laugh-out-loud funny. These are just a few of the adjectives that have been used to describe the writing of Rick Reilly, the eleven-time National Sportswriter of the Year, who has entertained the readers of Sports Illustrated for 22 years with his unique perspective on the world of sports and life in general. Now, in The Life of Reilly, Rick has selected over 60 of his finest stories to create a collection that will amuse, inform, and provoke sports fans and non-fans alike.

The book is organized around Reilly's seven Rs: Rants, Raves, Reality, Roots, Rough, Wrecks, and Royalty. There are features on sports greats, rants against high-profile athletic programs, tales of golfing glory in and out of the spotlight, reflections on enduring values and the true meaning of sacrifice, and personal stories about the Reilly family trials and tribulations and much more!

Those of you who know Reilly's work will be pleased to revisit the master; those who don't will be thrilled to discover an extraordinary talent. This book was a New York Times bestseller in hardcover.

Sports Illustrated: Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly

Rick Reilly

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Good one 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

When my husband's Sports Illustrated comes, I open it up to the last page and read what Rick Reilly has to say. I really like his column and the fact that he went onto the Oprah Show to try to defend his gender...I know, I know, it is a losing battle if you saw the episode, you know what I mean. The column is usually is the only thing I read in the magazine. So when my husband mentioned Rick had this new book out I had to get it for him...if for nothing else to see him actually reading a book instead of Sporting News or Sports Illustrated.

A Must Read for Sports Fans! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have read Rick Reilly on and off in SI for years. I am not a regular subscriber, so my readings of his work have not been consistent. I was getting ready to take a trip and wanted something that would be fun to read. I saw the 5 star reviews (on Amazon) of Rick's book but I was somewhat skeptical about getting it. As a University of Tennessee alumni and fan I had been upset when he had written an article slamming Pat Summit (legendary UT women's basketball coach) about "running up the score" on one of the Lady Vols opponents. Despite all this I decided to take a chance. I needed a good read on my vacation, and I knew he was a good writer, and I needed have a laugh or two while flying, or more often than not,sitting in the airport during another delay.
This book is far more than I expected. This book is very funny, but many of his articles are very touching, and he exposes the best and the worst in the people involved in sports. Sports are the venue, but it is his insight into the people that make the stories so compelling.
As a big fan of the late Jim Murray's writing, I never believed there would ever be another sports writer that good, but I think Rick is getting to that level. A great read, a must read, for any sports fan, period! Every bit a 5 star rating and more.

God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back)

Will Leitch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

ESPN thinks its viewers are stupid. The Olympics claw at your inner sap. Barbaro, after all, was just a horse. So says Will Leitch, founding editor of Deadspin.com, whose God Save the Fan is your new manifesto.

Arch and unrepentant, Leitch is the mouthpiece for all the frustrated fans who just want their games back from big money, bloated egos, and blathering sportscasters. Always a fan first and a journalist second, Leitch considers the perfection of fantasy leagues, the meaninglessness of the steroids debate, and the aching permanence of loyalty to just one team. He'll tell you why, long before that dogfighting mess, Michael Vick's undercover STD clinic name was Ron Mexico; why athletes persist in publicly praising God; and what the beer companies really think about you. Share Leitch's dread as he spends twenty—four hours watching ESPN. Sit and have a beer with John Rocker and his surprising girlfriend. Be inspired by Rick Ankiel's phoenixlike rise, and fall.

With a voice strengthened by the success of Deadspin and its chorus of commenters, Leitch has written all—new material for God Save the Fan. If you or a fan you love is suffering from the sense of listless dissatisfaction brought on by the leagues and networks, this is your restorative tonic. Packed with lists, glossaries, confessions, and rages, Leitch's manifesto sings a rallying cry for fan empowerment. The games, after all, belong to us.

Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism (Associated Press Handbooks)

Brian Horton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

"A Good Primer on Photojournalism (PJ)" 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

"Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism", Brian Horton, McGraw-Hill NY, 2nd. ed. 2001, ISBN 0-07-136387-4, SC 223 pgs.

Sports photo editor at A-P since 1971, Horton has many credits including 2 books on news photography. This text explains PJ (picture story) - how a photographer "sees the story" is a skill requiring experience, insight, anticipation, inventiveness, & a passion. Often "breaking stories" are heavily covered & many photos require sensitivity, rapport, knowledge of equipment so to acquire a style using composition, cropping & those angles to communicate photo stories of news, emotions, life experiences, etc.

Horton quotes an A-P policy adopted in 1990 indicating "the content of a photograph will never be changed or manipulated in any way". Horton then goes on to recite of some widely published photos with recognized manipulations & public outcries leading to general distrust of media by the populace (& rightly so!). Indeed, even cropping can be viewed as manipulation, the latter generally a product of Madison Avenue influences that shouldn't reflect PJ integrity (need for well insulated photo editors).

Relying on "photo setups" can numb public's perceptions & lessen reality. Telephoto lenses as 80-200 zoom provides close-ups without intrusion despite an onerous sanctifying of 24 mm wide-angle to fill the frame by getting into the subject's face & personal space. Author interviews 8 pros on their perspectives & experiences in PJ & then concludes with a short summary of some changes in photography over the past half-century, namely the gradual switch from 4"x5" to 2 1/4" to 35 mm to color & now electronic (digital) imaging.

As a former newspaper photographer I'd been taught a good PJ shot did not require a title. I found Horton's book exacting, full of exciting photos, many good "how to" tips, and how PJ news photography has evolved into specialized art forms for optimum coverage of war, natural disaster, politics, crime, disease & subspecialities of certain sports as basketball, football, Olympics, Indy 500, etc. It is a pleasant, informative read, not overtly technical & fairly priced.

Editorial Review:

Written by noted AP photographer and photoeditor Brian Horton, this is an insider’s manual to one of the most glamorous and exciting media professions. Emphasizing the creative process behind the photojournalist’s art, Brian Horton draws upon his three decades of experience, as well as the experiences of other award-winning photojournalists, to instruct readers in the secrets of snapping memorable news photos every time. With the help of more than 100 photographs from the AP archives, he analyzes what constitutes successful news photos of every type, including portraits, tableaux, sports shots, battlefield scenes, and more, as well as offering tips on how to develop a style of your own.

Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad

Mike Greenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Meet Mike Greenberg, the popular host of ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning, the highest-rated drive-time sports talk show on the dial. To his three-million-plus listeners, Greeny is the guy who’s equally as comfortable dissecting zone defenses as he is discussing cashmere sweaters. He’s been to Super Bowls and World Series, All-Star Games and Final Fours. He’s interviewed Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, and Wayne Gretzky. He gets paid to enthuse about sports, which means he’s the envy of most men in America.
This is the hilarious, sometimes touching, and endlessly entertaining debut of one of America’s fastest-rising sportscasters, a wry and revealing look at one man’s good-hearted but mistake-prone attempt to grow up before his children do. Marriage, fatherhood, manhood, fame, athletes, crazed aunts with gambling problems, the true significance of sports, the worst possible thing to say in a room full of pregnant women–no topic is beyond his reach. But don’t take our word on it, read what Greeny has to say about:
• Dating: “People who reminisce fondly about dating are blocking out all the disasters and focusing only on the few great nights. If that is all you choose to remember, fine. But be aware that no experience is without good moments. I’m sure during the sacking of Rome there were a few decent nights; maybe they put on a play.”
• Life on the road:
“Wife + television = no sleep.”
“No wife + no television = no sleep.”
“Wife + no television = sleep.”
“No wife + television = porn.”
• Keeping things in perspective: “Never assume you know more than the guy in the camouflage tux.”
• And, of course, marriage: “All of us are married to women who think we’re idiots.”
Whether he’s talking trash on the radio or talking dirty diapers over a fancy dinner, Greeny’s determined to reconcile two halves of a whole. So if your enthusiasm has ever been curbed, or you’re feeling remote without the remote, or you’re just wondering what exactly goes on in a guy’s brain, Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot will be a source of comfort and unadulterated laughter.


From the Hardcover edition.

Sports Illustrated: Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated)

Rick Reilly

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Editorial Review:

Soon after best-selling author Rick Reilly started writing a weekly back-page column for Sports Illustrated, he tackled the subject of cheerleading. Reilly wrote: "I don't hate cheerleading just because it's as safe as porcupine juggling. I hate it because it's dumb. Cheerleaders have no more impact on the game than the night janitorial staff. Exactly what does a girl get out of cheerleading, anyway, besides a circle skirt and a tight sweater?" These sentiments didn't exactly endear him to the pom-pom set, who went after the 11-time National Sportswriter of the Year with a vicious letter-writing campaign. That's the story behind the title of Reilly's latest collection of columns, Hate Mail from Cheerleaders, now releasing as a paperback. Having handpicked 100 of his favorite pieces from the last seven years, Reilly revisits his subjects by adding postscripts to his work. It's obvious why the book's first release as a hardcover in the spring of 2007 reached the New York Times bestseller list for eight consecutive weeks: this collection brings together the best work by the best columnist in the business.

Side Glances: The Best from America's Most Popular Automotive Writer

Peter Egan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Side Glances 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is one cool book by a very witty writer who digs mostly vintage English cars. If you're in to British cars, or any cars for that matter, you should read it. Peter Egan is wonderful.

Just another great book from Egan 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Somehow, Egan talks about things I have also done or thought about, and uses just the right words to describe them...Amazing. Like the others in the series, these are repeats from Road and Track. Even though I have read most of them before, that does not diminish the joy I feel in reading them again (and again!).

Editorial Review:

For the millions of loyal readers of Road & Track who look forward to Peter Egan's column every month, Side Glances gives you more than 300 pages of Peter at his best. His conversational, self-effacing style and adroit use of the language make his writing appealing to every automotive enthusiast. This is a collection of 48 of Peter Egan's latest Side Glances columns from Road & Track - they cover the period June 2002 to June 2006. This time he comments on TVR, Driver's Ed., Driving the Jaguar, Mercury Blues, The Ferrari Sharknose plus many more. Also included are 6 features from the same period including Zamboni 500 & A Jaguar in Moose Country.

Sports Illustrated 50 Years: The Anniversary Book

Editors of Sports Illustrated

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This colorful book celebrating fifty years of America's most prominent sports magazine is certainly more practical than hoarding 2,500 issues. The six-part book plays to the strength of the magazine: "The Stories" and "The Photographs" sections are the largest. The 35 articles are truncated, often just whetting your appetite for more. The companion book Fifty Years of Great Writing offers many of these in their full glory. On the other hand, the pictures are often bigger than they were in the magazine (or could ever have been with the smaller size). Lose minutes staring at Michael Jordan or Walter Payton frozen in midair. Examine the juxtaposition of a close play at the plate with the bizarre styles of a 60s women's track team. Try not to be swept away at a shot of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain defining basketball. If you have picked up the special issues released during SI's anniversary year, you already seen a decent portion of this book. The notable new writing is Richard Hoffer's essay about the world (both sports and at large) when the magazine began in 1954 and senior editor Frank Deford's pitch-perfect introduction about why the magazine is special and how it grew up in the age of television. The section most folks will spend their coffee table moments is "The Covers," a listing of the entire magazine's cover images, both in chronological order and grouped in similar topics (Scandals, Presidents, Deja Vu). Punctuated by the best sport quotes, SI's "Signs of the Apocalypse," fascinating lists of athletes and teams that were on the cover the most times, and other sport tidbits through the ages, this area is sure to launch a thousand sport memories. Yes, all the swimsuit covers are in one place, too. One quibble: why is their "Sports Person of the Year" in the book not the same as their well-known "Sportsman of the Year?" --Doug Thomas