Book Review: Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero

Ok, let's get something straight right off the bat. I am and always will be a New York Yankees fan. However, I can certainly appreciate greatness… even if that means acknowledging a Red Sox great. Let face it, there weren't too many greater than Ted Williams. Leigh Montville does an excellent job of depicting that greatness and so much more in Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero.

There's no questioning Williams' prowess in the batters box and on the field. Montville expertly describes some of Williams' greatest accomplishments in thrilling fashion. This is because of Montvilles' extensive baseball knowledge and experience as a sports writer. However, it's not the detailed description of  Williams' 1941 .406 season that sets this biography apart from previous ones. It's the detail into the man off the field that makes the book a must read for any Red Sox or baseball fan. From Williams' time as a pilot in WWII and the Korean War, his notoriously foul mouth, exploits as an outdoors man to his final resting place in a cryogenics lab,  this biography lets the reader understand the ballplayer and the man.

I certainly recommend the book, but I must warn you, it's a bit lengthy. There were sections that certainly could have been taken out to shorten the book. Otherwise, Montville does a great job of intertwining the man's flaws, greatness, personality and exploits on the field.

Review: BuildASign.com

Bumper Magnet

I was recently contacted by BuildASign.com and asked to review their design software, service and products. I'm always willing to review any product related to sports memorabilia, so I accepted the offer. Also, I know some readers work in industries in which marketing is a crucial aspect to profitability. So hopefully this review could help spur on some creative ideas or provide you with a new resource for your marketing purposes.

THE PROS:
The most impressive aspect of my BuildASign experience was the ability to effortlessly design exactly what I wanted. The site has an innovative program that allows customers to upload images, select text fonts and utilize clip art to create any type of sign. When I say, "any type of sign", I mean it. There are too many types to mention, but here are a few: banners, street signs, bumper stickers, metal signs, car wraps, vinyl decals, license plates, neon signs and much, much more. Beside being able to create any sign imaginable, the quality of the items I received was also great.

THE CONS:
In addition to the Hoopography bumper magnet and street sign I created (visible in this post), I also created a Yankees bumper magnet. Unfortunately, I was not able to have signs made from the Yankees design I created. This really wasn't any fault of BuildASign.com. Actually, it would have been a copy right infraction. So I really didn't have any complaints. The service was great. The shipping was quick and the products are top notch.

RECOMMENDATION:

Sorry for the pic. It was a long day and,
 I came from the gym, but the Street Sign is cool.

I absolutely recommend BuildASign.com for any marketing or signage needs you might have. I have to thank BuildASign for asking me to review their products, service and site. It was a lot of fun designing the signs. If anyone has any questions regarding my experience with BuildASign, feel free to email me at Hoopography@yahoo.com or leave me a wall post at Facebook.com/Hoopography. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Book Review: The Boys of Summer by Rodger Kahn

Just as classics like To Kill a Mocking Bird and The Great Gatsby are to American literature, so is The Boys of Summer to sports literature. However, one of the many beauties about this Roger Kahn classic is how it transcends sports. This is a novel that takes the reader through the excitement of fanhood, the success of finally beating those hated cross city rivals (New York Yankees) and the struggle of former middle-aged ball players. I've had the pleasure of reading many books on sports in America, but none have pulled me closer to baseball, old time Americana and myself than The Boys of Summer.

Kahn begins by explaining his interest in the Dodgers as a young boy who lived near Ebbet's Field in Brooklyn. This is basic narrative on childhood support for a favorite sports team that any fan can easily relate to today. He also chronicles the Dodgers struggles against the vaunted Mantle and Berra led Yankees during the late 40's and 50's. This is all of course buildup to the Dodgers' only World Series Championship ('55) as the Brooklyn Dodgers before they moved to L.A. As a New Yorker myself, I had always wanted to know what it was like back in the 50's when baseball was truly New York Cities' game. There was a New York baseball team in 12 out of 13 World Series from '47 to '59. That feeling is certainly captured in the book. However, sports in the 1950's is not the only emotion or feeling Kahn was able to capture in The Boys of Summer.

As an energetic 28 year old, I by no means am even near middle-age. In fact, I'm not one who believes in the number that defines us, but rather the actions that we do at said number. Inevitably however, we do slow down and Kahn is able to explain to us what that was like for many of the Dodgers greats like Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson and more. This is great insight into the professional athlete off the field of play and particularly, the transitional period from athlete to non-athlete. As the reader, you can't help but feel for these once physically great heroes who no-longer posses those same attributes.

As a former beat writer for the Dodgers, Kahn had built relationships with the players from those iconic Brooklyn teams. Those friendships are obvious throughout the book and certainly give the book a slight bias. Ok, whom I kidding. The bias is extremely apparent and strong, but that love for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and really Kahn's Dodgers, is just one of the many emotions/feelings that make The Boys of Summer a must read for sports fans and non sports fans alike.

- You can certainly find copies of The Boys of Summer at your local public library, mega-multimedia store or eBay. For more Hoopography "Book Reviews", simply click here.

Book Review: "Tip Off" By Filip Bondy

The 1984 NBA Draft is considered by many basketball fans to be the best draft in NBA history. It was littered with high-profile players coming out of college like Phi Slamma Jamma's Akeem Olajuwon, Kentucky's Sam Bowie and North Carolina's Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. The draft also featured future Hall of Famers John Stockton and "Sir" Charles Barkley. There were also some great roll players that came out of the '84 draft too like Kevin Willis, Otis Thorpe, Michael Cage, Alvin Robertson and Jerome Kersey. Any NBA GM would drool over the opportunity to put a roster together just from the prospects that were in the '84 draft class.

Filip Bondy captures the headlines as well as the back stories that helped shape this iconic draft through his book, Tip Off. The book is a basketball fan's guide to the collegiate events and player personnel moves that led up to the draft and eventually shaped the landscape of the late 80's and 90's NBA. Bondy does a great job of making the reader feel as if he/she is in the "war rooms" with the NBA GM's as they forever changed the paths of their franchises.


The author goes into great detail with the decision making process of players, scouts, GM's and Owners. Although the outcomes from that draft are already history, I still found myself on the edge of my seat wondering which teams were going to draft which players. One can't help but scream out, "No Portland, don't do it!". Obviously referring to the Trailblazers selecting Sam Bowie with the second over-all pick just ahead of Michael Jordan, but why did Portland pick Bowie over Jordan? That might be one of the biggest draft blunders ever looking back at their careers, but there were a number of logical circumstances that led to that fateful decision. Bondy gets into the heart of that decision and so much more.

The Blazer's predicament with the second overall pick is just the tip of the iceberg in Tip Off. Whether you're a fan of collegiate or professional basketball, you'll get something out of this informative and entertaining book. I encourage anyone looking for a little NBA history lesson to pick this book up (click here). It's a fun, fast and easy read. Anyone who has read the book or has any thoughts on the 1984 NBA Draft, I would love to hear your thoughts.

- Filip Bondy is currently a sports columnist for the NY Daily News and has a blog called, The Daily Blahg.