Customer Reviews (5)

Superb Book about RX-7's.
"Sports Car Color History" Mazda RX-7 is just that.A picture book about Mazda's RX-7 model from its introduction in 1979 through the 1993 model year.The book includes a lot of specifications about the various versions and explains the variations between model years as well as some text about competition in each year.The book includes a lot of great pictures including engine pictures, interior, racing and exterior pictures.It includes enough to know which version is which and explains the thinking and development work behind the scenes.If you are interested in RX-7's you need this book!

Solid, well-rounded book
This book reviews the history of the RX-7 in a broad brush and well written format.It leaves off a little after the release of 1992 model so does not go into depth on the latest series of RX-7.

Else, good book.

A must have...
...for RX-7 enthusiasts. Provides a great history of and timeline of its progress. High quality. Well written by a John Matras who appears to be passionate about his RX-7s. Buy it!

Fabulous review of a terrific car
Matras has a way with words and a great knowledge of cars. The Mazda RX-7 thanks you, John!

Justice Served For the RX7
Matras did a very nice job of composing this book on the much-loved mazda rx-7. ... Read more

Product Description
In a history spanning more than 500 years, a Scottish seaside pastime has become the passionate pursuit of 60 million players and 10 times as many fans worldwide. Along the way, golf has provided heroes, heroines and moments that live forever in the hearts of those who follow the sport. In its 296 stirring pages, THE GOLF BOOK offers a spectacular tribute to an old game that never runs short of surprises--a celebration of the grand, still-unfolding story of golf. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Sports Illustrated Golf Book
This is a beautiful book.Just full of golf tidbits.It was a gift for my golfing husband and he said it would take him a long time to read it all;there ws so much in it.He was very pleased.

A Golfer's Must
I gave this as a Christmas gift to a golfing buddy of mine and he can't stop talking about it.

Gorgeous golf book
I bought this as a gift for my husband who loves it. It is a great coffee table book which is primarily excellent photos and some commentary. Anyway a great price and a great gift to keep for golf fanatics.

Great Conversation Piece!
Beautiful, coffee table type book. Lovely, LARGE pictures. Definitely a conversation piece for the golfer in your life. It's a book that will be leafed through repeatedly.

A "must-have" compendium for golf fans
Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book is a coffee-table compendium of golf stories from the award-winning magazine Sports Illustrated. The absolutely stunning photography combined with insightful articles makes for an engaging chronology of the sport's highlights over the decades. From golf's finest and most challenging courses, to the golf legends of the past century (including Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Nancy Lopez, Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, and more), to cherished artifacts and stories highlighting great moments, Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book is a "must-have" compendium for golf fans. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
On the heels of the successful Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Book comes a spectacular celebration of professional football that will be treasured by fans of America+s Game. With the same kind of unforgettable photographs and award-winning writing that made the SI+s 50th Anniversary Book a best-seller,this lavish coffee-table volume brings to life the bone-rattling action of NFL football and the extraordinary athletes who have made it America+s true national pastime. In 256 oversized pages, The Football Book commemorates the dynasties and the dominating players, the crucial plays and classic games, the personalities and performances that propelled the NFL during SI+s first 50 years of publication, from a marginal, ragtag league to the biggest game in town. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Football Book
This is a great book for any football fan! Lots of info and awesome pictures! Highly Recommend

Good book - lots of photos!
My nephew is looking forward to reading this before bed each night.Thank you.

A great book for anybody...
This is a great book and will be handed down over the generations for others to read...

Ex-college football player loved it
Last night my family opened Christmas gifts. My niece's new husband played college football and now does substitute coaching at a small college where he is a zoology professor. He spend a good half hour looking through his new gift book and was delighted. Excellent gift!

The Man They Left Out
The most exciting runner of all time was Hugh McElhenny. They left him out. If you've never heard of him, check out some of those old grainy black-and-white films of the 1950s. He played for the 49ers. The first time he touched the ball in the NFL was a kickoff he ran back for a TD. In one season, he averaged over 8 yards per carry. That's not a typo. And that's in the NFL, not college. He did similarly amazing things in college at the U of Washington. He's a member of the NFL Hall of Fame, but they left him out. In the pantheon of most exciting football players of all time - that's most EXCITING, not necessarily the ranked best - it might look something like this:

1) McElhenny
2) Gale Sayers
3) Barry Sanders
4) Roger Staubach
5) John Elway
6) Jim Brown

Sure, Montana's not on here, but that's because he wasn't really that exciting. He was like a machine. Great, sure, but machines aren't exciting. Joe wasn't exciting.
McElhenny was. He was the King, but they left him out.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

"Solid Throwback Piece of Work"
Great book, I actually read this book during the All-Star Break and it conjured up reminants of nostalgia from my own Little League days. Rader examines a "semi-comprehensive" look at Baseball's flucuating stages, touching economical and social issues, while recounting memorable games. Rader's compelling account of Ruth's "called shot" of the 1932 World Series made me feel as if I was at Wrigley! He also reminds us that American History and Baseball will forever remain synonomous, remembering the Great Depression and how the game once struggled as well. The "War Years" also serve as a testament to Baseball's effect on American society and how the game diverted many fellow Americans attention. Throughout the book, Rader illustrates graphs and charts, highlighting a club's attendance, realignment issues, and salary-cap/player income. Solid piece of historic literature on the development of the game and American history as well, his objective sold me completley, moreover, rekindled my passion for the game on all levels.
AllotofVision
-Marshall University-

THIS HISTORY IS ON THE BALL. AND, YES, IT SCORES. BIG.
Benjamin Rader's second edition of his definitive history of America's favorite national pastime continues to score. Big. The lively, compact history has been expanded, now including baseball in the 1990s, the Latino invasion, the building of retro parks, the dizzying race for home runs (think Sosa and McGwire), the return (again) of the New York Yankees and team dynasties. This may be a somewhat scholarly analysis of the sport, but it's also highly approachable and highly readable and rich in detail. Rader takes readers into the game both inside and outside the foul lines; he also corrects errors he made the first time 'round, most notably in chapters 14 and 15. (Readers of the first edition will know exactly what we mean, and can start whooping it up now.) As for the rest of you, all together now: Take me out to the ballgame ....

Baseball history the way it should be written
I am currently taking a course at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux,Louisiana, entitled: The History of Baseball. Thus far, Benjamin Rader'sbook has provided valuable insight into the complete early history of therise of baseball. Anyone seeking to explore the beginnings of the game, andwhat the game has become from its beginning, should use "Baseball: AHistory of America's Game" as the primary source. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by a well-known Australian sports historian, this work shows the history of how soccer has become the world's most popular sport.Amazon.com Review
Soccer, one of the most popular games in the world, is playedby many and is supported fanatically by millions. So, how did thissport come about? What were its origins? Why has it flourished for solong? Bill Murray, an Australian sports historian, answers thesequestions and many more as he persuasively presents the case for whysoccer is the premier sport of the world.Tracing the history of theorganized game--from its origins as a leisure pastime forprivate-school alumni in London in 1863 to the World Cup held in theU.S. in 1994--Murray commentates on the evolution of soccer from pastto present. Attention is paid to all aspects of the game, ranging fromAmerica's ambivalent attitude toward professional soccer to theprogress of the women's game to the threat of hooliganism. The groundcovered is vast, but Murray's readable style will be appreciated byanyone who has a passion for the game, and will inspire interest inthose who know little about it.--Jeremy Storey ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The World's Game: A HISTORY OF SOCCER (Illinois History of Sports)
Very pleased with how fast I recieved the book.It was in wonderful shape

A great overview of soccer history.
Unlike other soccer books which can be narrow in scope and range, Murray's book attempts to take us beyond the borders of South America and Europe and examines soccer all over the world. It also examines political and social affiliations attached to the game. The appendix has major soccer disasters covered,tragedies involving players,major soccer grounds,FIFA membership,Soccer at the Olympic Games before 1930,The Growth of the World Cup,and The Growth of Various Youth Tournaments. It also has a useful Glossary which is a must for any observer, casual or hardcore fan of the game. It would be a good introductory book for someone learning about soccer history because it has plenty of useful anecdotes that illustrates the game's colorful and controversial history.

This book was great!
After having played soccer for years, it wasamazing to see how much I didn't now about the history of the sport. Now that my daughter is absorbing everything soccer, this book has helped. She is preparing to do areport on soccer and it's history. I am sure she'll do great! ... Read more

Product Description
A handful of star athletes, along with their promoters and journalists, created America’s sports entertainment industry during the 1920s, the Golden Age of American sports. The period had an extraordinary impact, profoundly changing individual sports, establishing the secular religion of sports and sports heroes, and helping bond disparate social and regional sectors of the country. It’s when sports became a cornerstone of modern American life.

Heroes and Ballyhoo profiles the ten most prominent Golden Age heroes and describes their effect on sports and society. Babe Ruth saved baseball after the Black Sox Scandal. Boxer Jack Dempsey made the “sweet science” a respectable sport. Red Grange single-handedly set professional football on a path to eventual success. Knute Rockne helped transform college football from a game to a colossal enterprise. Bobby Jones changed golf into a spectator sport, and Walter Hagen sparked the first national interest in professional golf. Bill Tilden put tennis on the front of the sports section. Tennis player Helen Wills Moody joined swimmer Gertrude Ederle in empowering women athletes. Johnny Weissmuller astonished international swimming before becoming Tarzan.

The book also explores the ballyhoo artists—sportswriters, promoters, and press agents—who hyped the stars to a receptive public. Simultaneously, the spectators established themselves as the focus of popular sports. The personalities and events of the 1920s thus created today’s entertainment conglomerate of heroes, promoters and advertisers, fans, arenas—and money. Sports as a profit center started with the Golden Age’s heroes and PR artists, and the public’s obsessive interest in sports helped shape America’s emerging mass society. Heroes and Ballyhoo tells the story of what was both a symptom and a cause of modern America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Overview of the 1920s Sports Era
Great overview. Touches on the major points. Bibliography is an excellent list from which to go deeper on the topics. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is the only up-to-date general introduction to ancient Greek sport now available in English.Its subjects include the origins and history of the Olympic games, athletic nudity, professionalism, and the place of women in Greek sport.Accessible to nonspecialists, its overall perspective and discussions of many particular problems will also interest experts in Greek history and sport studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unfortunately, only useful for students
I was not impressed at all with this book. This is not really a book; its merely a collection of essays written for a university course on Greek Athletics. I do not consider the writer a good author, and would recommend readers to find interesting educational books on this same subject, elsewhere. ... Read more

Product Description
As a serious player, a high handicapper, or simply a baffled onlooker to the awesome nonsense that is golf, have you ever wondered why, say, the golf balls have dimples, and the tee is both the thing you stick in the ground and the place you hit from, and the hole is so small, and the courses have all these big pits full of sand where any sane person would put grass?

Well, so did noted humor writer and avid hacker Henry Beard, who brought twenty-first-century computer search-engine technology to bear on this thousand-year-old game, tapping the internet's inherent capacity to confer a thin veneer of authenticity to far-fetched accounts of great moments in the history of golf, warped portraits of its legendary players, and fanciful conjectures about its origins and evolution.

Employing an easy-to-read and simple-to-fudge timeline format, he chronicles the amazing process through which this screwy pastime with wacky equipment and loony rules played for penny wagers by a bunch of bored-silly shepherds was gradually transformed into a screwy sport with wacky equipment and loony rules played for million-dollar purses by superstar athletes.

As he peers through the mists of time to the birthplace of the game, Beard resolves once and for all its many mysteries, like where those weird-looking pants came from, when the fi rst telling of the "Hit, drag Harry" joke was, what a Stimpmeter is, and who dreamed up the idea of those stupid blimps.

Here, then, in one convenient golf-bag-side-pocket-sized volume is a rich, wildly embroidered, ludicrously embellished tapestry of colorful fabrications and highly entertaining but thoroughly dubious speculations that tell the tall tale of golf -- the game that deranged the world. ... Read more

Product Description
What if Babe Ruth had not been sold to the Yankees in 1920 and instead played his entire career in Boston? What if Muhammad Ali had lost or quit in his first fight against Sonny Liston? What if the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants had never moved to the West Coast? What if Vince Lombardi had become head coach of his hometown Giants instead of heading to Green Bay? How would sports history, and our perception of it, be different today? These are some of the questions asked and answered in this entertaining book of alternate history, the first book of its kind in the field of sports. It is sure to appeal to every thoughtful sports fan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If Sports History Had Taken A Different Turn...
Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of the "what if" genre of historical fiction. Suppose the Nazis had won World War II? Or John F. Kennedy had not been assassinated? How would the world be different? In this collection, Bill Gutman applies the what-if question to the world of professional sports.

The scenarios are intriguing. Imagine a New York City where the baseball Giants and Dodgers never left. Imagine a young Cassius Clay failing to take the heavyweight boxing championship from Sonny Liston. Imagine Vince Lombardi leaving the Green Bay Packers to become head coach of the New York Giants. Imagine a healthy Willis Reed leading the New York Knicks to a whole string of NBA titles in the 1970s.And of course, as the title suggests, imagine a world with no Curse of the Bambino--a world where the Boston Red Sox never traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Gutman explores these scenarios (and several more) in a series of chapters that feature solid research and lively writing. Recommended for any sports fan.--William C. Hall

... Read more

Product Description
There was little fanfare when Art "Mickey" McBride flew into Chicago in 1945 to purchase a professional football team for Cleveland. But that act set in motion a tradition that has brought the city of Cleveland together on Sunday afternoons for (most of) the sixty years to follow. Cleveland Browns History is the story of championship seasons, legendary coaches, and Hall of Fame players. Coach Paul Brown led his teams to seven league title games in their first 17 seasons. Running backs Marion Motley, Jim Brown, and Leroy Kelley each rushed over opposing defenses and

straight into Canton, Ohio, along with fellow Browns like Otto Graham, Ozzie Newsome, and Len Ford. The "Kardiac Kids" in 1980 had too many nail-biters for some fans, but won the AFC Central in typical fashion--by three points in the final game of the season. All these stories, plus those of the many unsung heroes to don the NFL's only logo-less helmet, fill the pages of this book, sure to delight any Cleveland Browns fan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Father in Law Gift.
My husband bought this book for his dad planning to either cut it up and make a collage of photos or scan it and do so, and after the book arrived he liked it too much in it's entirety to do so. He ended up reading through the book himself and just giving the book as a whole. It was like a dual gift, he enjoyed it himself and then gifted it like he had planned.

TICKLED PINK
I WAS VERY EXCITED TO RECIEVE THIS BOOK AND EVEN MORE AS I BEGAN TO READ IT! THANK YOU

Must Read
It is remarkable how much information Frank Henkel crams into 128 pages. From the Cleveland Browns' beginnings in the mid-1940s, to the title teams of their first decade, to the club's "slump" in the late-1950s and early '60s, to Cleveland's last pro sports championship in 1964, to the near-misses of the late-'60s, to the Bad News Browns of the mid-70s, to the Kardiac Kids, to the Kosar era, to The Move, to the "return" of the Browns in 1999, to the troubled times of today, Henkel takes the reader on a unique path through the history of one of the most celebrated franchises in the NFL. Besides bringing to the reader the obvious highlights and lowlights of nearly 60 years of Browns football, Henkel also writes of players and happenings about which many fans may have forgotten. The author goes into great detail in the play-by-play of some very memorable games. He also adds spice by offering the reader an array of trivia tidbits throughout the book. If you are a fan of Cleveland Browns history, you will love Cleveland Browns History. It's that simple.

All there is to know about the Cleveland Browns!!! A+++++
A very well written book.There is an amazing amount of information packed into 128 pages.The book is broken down in chronological order, starting in the early days of the All-American Football Leauge, through all the NFL and AFC championships, the hard years of the 1980's and 90's, the move out of Cleveland and the triumphant return in 1999.The book starts with Cleveland's utter domination of the AAFC and their move to the NFL.It covers Paul Brown's accomplishments and his eventual firing by Art Modell, the "Kardiac Kids" of 1979 - 1984, and the careers of Lyle Alzado and Bernie Kosar.The book draws to a close with the old Browns moving to Balitimore, the fans fight in Congress to keep the team in Cleveland, and the eventual rebirth of the new Cleveland Browns and their future, including the recent hiring of Romeo Crennel as the team's new head coach.Plus, there are countless black-and-white pictures and rich captions of Cleveland Browns history.The cool thing about b&w pictures is that it makes everything equally historical, from 2004 to 1946.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book about one of the most historic sports teams in history.I look forward to Mr. Henkel's next book.Perhaps he can work his magic over the Dallas Cowboys history. ... Read more

Product Description

Sports films are popular forms of entertainment around the world, but beyond simply amusing audiences, they also reveal much about class, race, gender, sexuality, and national identity. In All-Stars and Movie Stars, Ron Briley, Michael K. Schoenecke, and Deborah A. Carmichael explore the interplay between sports films and critical aspects of our culture, examining them as both historical artifacts and building blocks of ideologies, values, and stereotypes. The book covers not only Hollywood hits such as Field of Dreams and Miracle but also documentaries such as The Journey of the African American Athlete and international cinema, such as the German film The Miracle of Bern. The book also explores television coverage of sports, commenting on the relationship of media to golf and offering a new perspective on the culture and politics behind the depictions of the world's most popular pastimes. The first part of the book addresses how sports films represent the cultural events, patterns, and movements of the times in which they were set, as well as the effect of the media and athletic industry on the athletes themselves. Latham Hunter examines how the baseball classic The Natural reflects traditional ideas about gender, heroism, and nation, and Harper Cossar addresses how the production methods used in televised golf affect viewers. The second section deals with issues such as the growth of women's involvement in athletics, sexual preference in the sports world, and the ever-present question of race by looking at sports classics such as Rocky, Hoosiers, and A League of Their Own. Finally, the authors address the historical and present-day role sports play in the international and political arena by examining such films as Visions of Eight and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. This important and unique collection illuminates the prominent role that sports play in society and how that role is reflected in film. Analysis of the depiction of sports in film and television provides a deeper understanding of the appeal that sports hold for people worldwide and of the forces behind the historic and cultural traditions linked to sports.

Product Description

Even before the desegregation of the military and public education and before blacks had full legal access to voting, racial barriers had begun to fall in American sports. This collection of essays shows that for many African Americans it was the world of athletics that first opened an avenue to equality and democratic involvement.

Race and Sport showcases African Americans as key figures making football, baseball, basketball, and boxing internationally popular, though inequalities still exist today.

Among the early notables discussed is Fritz Pollard, an African American who played professional football before the National Football League established a controversial color barrier. Another, the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, exemplifies the black American athlete as an international celebrity. African American women also played an important role in bringing down the barriers, especially in the early development of women's basketball. In baseball, both African American and Hispanic players faced down obstacles and entered the sports mainstream after World War II. One essay discusses the international spread of American imperialism through sport. Another shows how mass media images of African American athletes continue to shape public perceptions.

Although each of these six essays explores a different facet of sports in America, together they comprise an analytical examination of African American society's tumultuous struggle for full participation both on and off the athletic field.

Charles K. Ross, interim director of African American studies and an associate professor of history and African American studies at the University of Mississippi, is the author of Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League. ... Read more

Product Description
As long as people have played games, there has been a temptation to win (or intentionally lose) by cheating. Infamous cases throughout the history of sport abound, from the "thrown" 1919 World Series to the recent doping confessions of track star Marion Jones. In this entertaining and informative book, sports historian Fran Zimniuch recalls the notorious scandals that have tainted our most popular sports, concluding that such incidents are often a reflection of the times. Benefiting from personal interviews with many figures either involved in or on the periphery of recent scandals, including BALCO's Victor Conte, Crooked presents a pageant of infamy as rich as the history of modern sports. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

pedetrian
i found this book to be a rehash of well known often retold cheating scandals.Nothing new no controversial opinions. the writing unexciting. A book for the semi-literate often misinformed american sports fan portrayed in the movie "Big Fan."

Cheating is not just in baseball
A fun and informative work that chronicles the cheating that has gone on since practically the dawn of time.Fran gets first hand accounts from experts and those involved with modern cheatin scandals and touches on historical events, i.e. Vietnam, that changed the American tolerance for cheating and deceit.

Highly recommended for sports fans (not just a baseball book) who wish to explore the phenomenon of deception that exists in our modern sporting world.

Complete and compelling
What's really incredible about this book are the sheer amount of sources that the author was able to consult across a broad variety of sports, including football, basketball, baseball, and Olympic and amateur sports.If you ever wanted to know anything about cheating in pretty much any sport, this book is the place to find it.I was especially fascinated by the in-depth look at NBA officials, the Tim Donaghy scandal of 2007, and the methods through which officials and players alike practice "one-upmanship" in an effort to gain advantage in the game.Zimniuch also does an excellent job of pacing, as the book is an easy read and keeps you turning the page.

Lots of great info in "Crooked"
This book is really a ton of fun. As a dedicated baseball fan, I got a ton of great information out of the chapter on illegal pitches (spitballs, scuffed balls, etc). Hadn't known that Carl Mays (who threw the pitch that fatally injured Ray Chapman) was a spitballer. Also enjoyed getting the inside story on the 1919 Chicago White Sox World Series "fix".

Sports and more
What an interesting book! Crooked not only discusses cheating in sports, but attitudes in society that not only condone cheating but in many respects encourage it in society as well as sports. While steroids are an important part of this book, there are a long history of examples of cheating in sports that are discussed as well. Let's face it. Cheating happened in sports long before steroids hit the scene. Crooked is fun and it's informative. ... Read more

Product Description
For 50 years, Sports Illustrated has set the standard for sports writing and action photography. Now, for the culmination of the magazine's 50th Anniversary celebration, some of the finest writing and most memorable pictures from Sports Illustrated's archives have been collected in a lavish coffee-table book that will be treasured by the magazine's devoted readers for years to come. Along with the stunning photography, which includes every one of the magazine's covers since its launch in 1954, and the great writing that has appeared in Sports Illustrated's pages, this 288-page book will also be chock full of all-new facts and figures that will give readers an entertaining view of 50 years of American sports.Amazon.com Review
This colorful book celebrating fifty years of America's most prominent sports magazineis 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 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Great gift for the Sports Fan
I gave the collection to my father for Christmas.Every male relative could not put the book down for the rest of the evening.They were all huddled together thumbing through the books.

Great Gift for the Sports Lover!
I got this as a gift for my boyfriend...he loves it!But it's only for the sports buff.Too much for someone who doesn't love all sports.

Sports Nostalgia
Good coffee table book for the sports afficionado, especially the older one who likes to quietly "remember when".Careful when ordering from an Amazon partner.I got it on the cheap but it obviously had been stored in a damp environment as the pages were "rippled".Since it's not an heirloom or collectible I didn't go through the trouble of contesting it.Maybe the seller will get a hockey puck in the face or a bookcase will fall on him.

Must Have Book!
I'm on Amazon to purchase this book as agreed with my 5th grade son who checked this out of the school library in September and has never returned it.After renewing for months (it's now March!) I agreed to purchase it if he would only return it for another child to enjoy!

It is a beautiful book w/ lots of treasures particularly for the almanac-type sports fans.And besides his football book, it's one of his top 3 books!

Worth Its Weight
This is a glorious celebration of Sports Illustrated's 50 years coverage of the minor and the major in sport. At first, the magazine devoted a disproportionate number of articles to "gentlemenly" pursuits such as troutfishing and yachting.However, the once timid magazine eventually hit its stride, with the help of television, with the talents of new editors and writers, and, arguably, by the visuals of television.

The book, with an informative but slightly cloying introduction by Frank Deford (he keeps on mentioning the swimsuit issue--about as relevant to the major sports scene as yachting was 50 years ago), organizes the magazine's stories and pictures by the decade.A current sportswriter gives an overview, there arearticles from the magazines, sidebar-like features such as quotes, historic cultural and historical events, and, mostimportantly, the photographs.

SI photography is the best of its kind, setting a standard that will defy any attempt to cater to some notion of the "new" SI reader.It is as dependable and as beautiful as a museum.The full page and two-page spreads here are magnificent records of sports history, character studies, stories of emotion, action, the literal and the figurative.A low angle shot of the then-named Lew ALcindor beating Houston in 1968. an underwater shot of Michael Phelps winning gold at the Australia Olympics, a black and white of Duke Snider climbng the outer field wall at Ebbets Field, an extreme overhead of Ali knocking out Cleveland Williams in 1966, mini-reproductions of cover of every issue, and yes, that includes the swimsuit issues--it's here at an overwhelmingly fan-friendly price.

In a way, then, the book is a direct descendant of the unique magazine of which one British man complained in 1954: "For 25 cents there is too much value."Although the book was produced bt SI and--as expected--celebrates SI, it also teases itself as well, noting that in 1954, "it published only six articles on basketball but 14 on bowling. It published 17 articles on clothing (but oddly, none on bowling clothing)."My only complaints: There's not quite enough of the original text (more of the writing is included in a companion book) and there is no index. A superb gift with more substance and memories than the usual oversized book. ... Read more

Product Description
For 50 years, "Sports Illustrated" has set the standard for sports writing and action photography. Now, for the culmination of the magazine's 50th Anniversary celebration, some of the finest writing and most memorable pictures from "Sports Illustrated's" archives have been collected in a lavish coffee-table book that will be treasured by the magazine's devoted readers for years to come. Along with the stunning photography, which includes everyone of the magazine's covers since its launch in 1954, and the great writing that has appeared in "Sports Illustrated's" pages, this 304-page book will also be packed full of facts and figures that will give readers an entertaining view of 50 years of American sports. ... Read more

Product Description
This exciting sports almanac will tell kids all they need to know about the previous year in sports (Fall '03-Summer '04). It includes major sports (basketball, baseball, football, hockey); "secondary sports" (golf, tennis, cycling, auto racing); action sports (BMX, snowboarding, in-line skating) and some Olympic sports (gymnastics, skiing, track and field).Year in Sports 2005 is heavily illustrated with fabulous action photos. It will also feature a 16-page, four-color insert that contains photos of the year's thrilling moments and memorable athletes. Perfect for hanging in lockers!
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sports!
YearInSports2005 gives youallof2004.As well,itgives hockey,basketball andmuchmore.Itgivesyoufast facts,triva. ... Read more