Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden- Steinbrenner was one of the most polarizing personalities in all of sports and Madden perfectly captures the essence of being Steinbrenner and what it was like to be a Steinbrenner employee.
Madden doesn't leave one stone overturned in this book. Madden talks about Steinbrenner's attempt to buy the Cleveland Indians, his purchase of the Yankees, his involvement in Watergate and subsequent guilty plea and suspension from baseball, signing Catfish Hunter, and that's just in the first 60 pages. Like I said, Madden goes over everything.
Maybe Madden goes over a little too much information, because there's a lot that Madden goes over. What Madden does so well in this book is go over why Steinbrenner was so cantankerous and why that attitude has seeped into his son Hank.
Warning this is a very long book but definitely worth the read. Even if you don't like the Yankees or Steinbrenner, this book is still fascinating. (Recommendation Rating: 4)
The Education of a Coach, by David Halberstam- What I love about Halberstam's books is that he never relies heavily on quotes. He gathers information and puts everything in perspective. Halberstam perfectly puts Bill Belichick's life as a coach is a great perspective in this book.
I loved this book for three reasons. First, you understand that Belichick is a football lifer. His father was a long-time football coach who spent much of his life in Annapolis at the Naval Academy where he broke down film for the various coaches at Navy over the years. Belichick began his education as a coach when he was very little.
The second reason why I loved this book because it goes over the complicated relationship between Belichick and Bill Parcells. I don't know if it's because Halberstam was close to Belichick, but Parcells comes off as a huge jerk in this book. Maybe Parcells was a huge jerk, but you could see why Belichick resigned as the New York Jets coach as soon as he was given that job. He would rather coach anywhere else than coach a team with Parcells as his boss (Parcells was still the Jets GM at the time).
The third reason why I loved this book is that Halberstam goes in depth into Belichick's coaching decisions. Gameplan as the defensive coordinator for the Giants against the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 25. Gameplan against the Rams in the Super Bowl. The Brady-Bledsoe decision.
Like Madden's book the subject of this book (Belichick) isn't the most likable character, but the author doesn't try to convince you the subject is likable but rather trying to get you to understand the subject and their character. Halberstam does this perfectly with Belichick. (Recommendation Rating: 5)
The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy, by Bill Carter- In a follow up to Late Shift, Carter goes back to the Late Night wars but this time centering on the fight between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien over the Tonight Show.
While the main part of the book goes over O'Brien-Leno fighting over the Tonight Show chair, Carter also delves into the careers of Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and David Letterman and their impact on late night television.
I had less to none sympathy for Conan before the reading the book and zero sympathy for him after reading the book. So NBC jerked you around. So Leno had a better contract than you. You should have never left NBC. Leno's contract was only for a couple of more years, stick around in the Midnight shift and watch Leno fail and NBC will no doubtfully have to keep you over him.
If you want to know all the details of the behind the scenes happenings at the Tonight Show, buy this book. (Recommendation Rating: 4)
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