A great book is a great book, no matter the subject. So
why do sports books often get such a bad name? Sports editor
Hayden Meikle - who answers his own question by acknowledging
the sports book market has more dross than most - names
another 12 sports books you simply must read.
1 When Pride Still Mattered
(David Maraniss): The life and times of NFL coaching legend
Vince Lombardi.
2 Hitler's Olympics (Christopher
Hilton): Superbly researched yarn about the goings-on in
Berlin in 1936.
3 Lovelock (James McNeish):
Brilliant ''historical fiction'' about the magnificent Jack
Lovelock.
4 More Than
Just A Game (Chuck Korr): Fascinating story of the
importance of football to the prisoners on Robben Island.
5 Hogan (James Dodson): The
definitive biography of golfing great Ben Hogan.
6 A Good Walk Spoiled (John
Feinstein): The sport is blessed with great writing, and this
is the finest golf book you will read.
7 Heaven is a Playground (Rick
Telander): Great title and great story about New York street
basketball in the 1970s.
8 Fall River Dreams (Bill
Reynolds): Sweet story of a season with a high school
basketball team in Massachusetts.
9 The Greatest Game Ever Played
(Mark Frost): The true but almost impossibly romantic story
of the 1913 US Open.
10 The Boys of Summer (Roger
Kahn): Baseball writing at its best as Kahn follows the
Brooklyn Dodgers in their prime and the years following.
11 Open (Andre Agassi):
Incredibly powerful autobiography from the tennis great.
12 Preferred Lies (Andrew
Greig): Exquisite words on golf from one of Scotland's finest
writers.
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