Oh, What a Texas Billionaire Can Do!

As good as A Season On the Brink was as a starting point, David A.F. Sweet's biography of Lamar Hunt was a pretty good choice for the second book. It was published in 2010 and the writing isn't anything spectacular, but the broad scope of the subject matter covered introduced a variety of other topics that I want to explore further. Lamar Hunt is most famous for being the driving force behind the founding of the AFL, but he also was behind two soccer leagues (the NASL and the still in existence, MLS) and legitimizing pro tennis (WCT, the precursor and competitor of the current ATP). So while I enjoyed learning about Lamar Hunt's life and impact on pro sports in this country, it also gave me great leads on future stories to pursue including but not limited to; George Halas and his role in the early NFL, the opening of Wimbledon and other majors to professionals, the founding of the ATP as by the players for the players pro league, and Pele's time in New York.

For the book itself, it was interesting if not compelling. One of the most compelling parts was the revelation in the introduction that Lamar Hunt's father, L.H. Hunt, had three families in his lifetime. His first two were concurrent. It reminded me of the scene in Fight Club when Ed Norton or Brad Pitt (can't remember which one, but because of the ending, does it matter?) talk about how their father moved from city to city starting new families like he was opening franchises. Beyond that, Sweet doesn't really dramatize any of the key events, everything is laid out somewhat chronologically. I don't want the author to make it melodramatic, but events tend to unfold very quickly with cursory descriptions of any difficulty, but Lamar Hunt was known for his persistence so he wore his opposition down. It might have helped to hear from the perspective of those who were opposing him, either to own an NFL franchise, start his tennis circuit, etc. Generally the only way the opposition is characterized is as corrupt or ridiculous in their position, which I find hard to believe. Why did the NFL, MLB and NHL refuse Hunt a franchise? It could have been his youth and inexperience, but then why when Hunt announced his plans for a Dallas AFL franchise, did the NFL immediately stick the Cowboys in Dallas with another owner? I find it hard to believe that he didn't have more personality flaws or those league's didn't have concrete reasoning for doing that.

Also, part of the problem I had with the book was that I was unconvinced that there was something special about Hunt besides hit billions of dollars. Couldn't just about any super sports fan do what he did if they had an inexhaustible amount of money? He basically took a bath with the NASL and the WTC (not to mention the early portion of the Dallas Texans/KC Chiefs). He just was too big of a fan to give up because he was losing massive amounts of money. Then since he didn't have to work, he could attend massive amounts of sporting events and cherry pick the best ideas/features of other sports/arenas/leagues/etc. So as cool as it was to read about some of the history of the NFL, Soccer and Pro Tennis in this country, I didn't feel like Lamar Hunt was some particularly unique individual for all of this to come together. That being said, I did enjoy the humble persona they described. The billionaire who would rather sit in the upper deck and treated everyone with respect is an entertaining idea.

A Season on the Brink - A Year with Bob Knight

A Season on the Brink is a very appropriate book to kick things off with. It fits all the criteria of what I want out of this undertaking. It details a prominent figure in a sport I am interested in in a time period I don't know too much about (the book was first published in the year I was born). The book is also the first of the "spend a year with a team/person" genre which is now extremely common (and I think it's important to check out the breakthrough/first of any genre to appreciate where everything that came after it originated from).

Also, for a little context, while I am aware of Bob Knights perfect college season and his various other accomplishments, by the time I was a college basketball fan (2001-ish after moving back from Australia), he was the coach at Texas Tech. So my impressions of Bob Knight were from the very tail end of his career as he piled up victories in pursuit of the all-time win record after his legacy was tainted by the incident which led to his Indiana coaching career. I saw his red-faced tirades and some other highlights on ESPN, but I didn't really get a chance to see him coach up his teams to a nationally prominent level and I don't equate Indiana to Bob Knight as much as Mike Davis and the scandals of Kelvin Sampson's era (especially when Sampson, the notoriously dirty recruiter, convinced Eric Gordon to go back on his verbal commitment to Illinois he made as a junior). So being taken back to a time when Indiana University was always relevant in the national conversation and Bob Knight was at the height of his powers filled in a lot of holes I have in my experience/knowledge.

I loved reading about players like Steve Alford (who I knew as the Iowa and then New Mexico coach), Keith Smart (the Golden state warriors coach), Scott Skiles (former Bulls and current Bucks' Coach), and briefly Sean Kemp (former Seattle SuperSonic and father of innumerable illegitimate children). It is great to read about the perception of these players at that age knowing how things eventually turn out for them. It was also great to be inside the locker room and at practice for a top tier college basketball team. Having grown up playing basketball, reading about the mid-season fatigue and one chilling cold of the playing during the winter months were things I could relate to and understand. But also to see things from the coaches standpoint was revealing. I loved seeing Bob Knight struggle to find the right buttons to push and his delight or frustration depending on how it worked. The amount of work Knight and his staff put in from watching tape to game planning to practicing to recruiting seemed incredible.

I thought Feinstein's game recaps left something to be desired. He often told the reader how things turned out in an abstract sense with a line like, "everything needed to go right for them to win the game, and today, it didn't seem like anything could go right." So he tended to kill the drama but then would retell the game story in all its twists and turns. I realize that the goal of the book wasn't meant to be a scrap book of a beat writer's game recaps, but I did feel like the games were the weakest part of the book, unless there was some particularly Knight good anecdote. I did love the games from the beat writer, Bob Hammel's perspective though. His reaction when things took a positive or negative turn were always great an very entertaining.

How different the media and competitive landscape is today from when it was back then was one of the most interesting parts of the book. Bob Knight could not survive in today's environment and I am not sure he would want to. His tirades directed at players/coaches/fans/administrators would lead sportscenter or be feature in scathing deadspin article's nearly every day. His altercations would be caught on camera phones and be youtube sensations overnight. His propensity for profanity and less than PC terms would offend massive numbers of people and he would refuse to back down or apologize for any of it. He didn't come across as racist, but I think growing up in rural Ohio definitely didn't provide a very diverse or open environment. Also his sexism which Feinstein addresses directly, would cause a massive sensation among equality groups. Not to mention his disdain for the media. If he though the media was stupid or terrible in the mid-80s, I think he would lose his mind today. That is not to say professionals in the industry aren't as good as ever, but now almost anyone can secure a press pass and number of people covering/attending a college basketball game has multiplied enormously since then (after being in locker rooms and post game press conferences I can safely say athletes and coaches are generally justified in their frustration over stupid questions).

All in all, it was a very interesting story and painted a pretty good picture of Bob Knight and the Indiana program. I felt like there were a few times you could read between the lines to some things Feinstein was not going to write about but witnessed as well as how the author felt about a few incidents along the way. I am looking forward to checking out other Feinstein books to get a better idea of his style and how he differs from other writers out there.

Adaptive Re-use

I initially started this blog as an exercise and a resource. I could work on my writing, flesh out ideas for potential papers, and I could have a database of my initial impressions of important literary works to reference if I ever needed reminding. But now I have finished my English undergraduate studies and instead of moving on to pursue a potential Ph.D or teach, I am pursuing my Master's in Multimedia Communications with the intent to pursue a career in sports broadcasting. So this blog is not as useful of an exercise or a resource as I once hoped.

Yet I have recently decided that if I am going to make it in sports, I need to educate myself on the history of sports and sports media in much greater detail. I need to actually read books about sports. Surprisingly, despite my love for both sports and reading, I have never done this before. I either was reading classic literature for school or fantasy/sci-fi novels for fun. I don't think I have ever picked up a non-fiction book about sports ever. Until now. I am re-purposing this blog as a place where I can record my impressions and thoughts about these books of an entirely new genre for me.

I will do some summarizing so I can refresh my memory later, but I also want to delve into the story telling techniques of the authors. Even though I am pursuing a career in television and writing in TV is completely different, I need to become a better story teller. So hopefully by enjoying and dissecting some of the best literary examples of sports story telling, I'll be able to pick up a few things on the way.

If anyone does read this blog, I am always open to suggestions for the next book(s) as well as opinions on the books and/or my analysis. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated. I just hope my newest post is always better than the one before it.


**EDIT - As an additional note (adding to the title of the post), I want to read as many of these book second hand as possible. I think the genre is pretty money driven and often is a way for former players/coaches to partner up with a sports write and make a little extra on the side. So I'd like to avoid contributing to the money grab by paying a little less than retail when I am buying the book. Of course, I won't complain when I receive them as a gift like I did with my next book (Lamar Hunt). A few other reasons, it is fun to shop at second hand book stores and I like knowing someone else has read the exact copy I am holding in my hand (Although I guess they weren't too crazy about the book if they sold it or donated it).