BUTKUS: Flesh and Blood
By Dick Butkus, with Pat Smith
Doubleday, 326 pages, $22.95
Nearly a quarter-century after forcing his last fumble, Dick Butkus remains one of the most revered figures in Chicago sports history. For fans who can remember a time when football players didn’t congratulate themselves after every tackle or dance in the end zone after a touchdown, the mere sound of the word “Butkus” recalls glorious memories of a game that no longer can contain the egos of its stars. This autobiography–co-written by ESPN’s Pat Smith, but told in the linebacker’s gruff voice–won’t be confused with any of the great memoirs of our age. Still, it’s hard to put down once Butkus begins spinning stories about such Bears legends as George Halas, Gale Sayers, Mike Ditka, George Allen, Abe Gibron, Doug Atkins and Ed O’Bradovich, and describing the physical and mental ordeals that ended his career.
SUPER BOWL: The Game of Their Lives
Edited by Danny Peary
Macmillan USA, 448 pages, $27.95
There is no more significant date on the American sporting calendar than Super Bowl Sunday, if only because it’s an easier day to plan parties around than the hope of a Game 7 in the World Series or NBA Finals. By offering a forum to 31 of the game’s greatest stars, Danny Peary–a respected sports and film historian–examines what winning the NFL championship means personally and professionally to the athletes. The book starts and ends in Green Bay, with reminiscences by Bart Starr (I), Jerry Kramer (II) and Desmond Howard (XXXI), but such greats as Franco Harris (IX), Joe Montana (XIX), Mike Singletary (XX) and Steve Young (XXIX) also offer cogent perspectives on the event.
TOTAL FOOTBALL:
The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League
Edited by Bob Carroll et al.
HarperCollins, 1,652 pages, $49.95
Although the minutiae of another season is nearly ready to be entered into the annals of the NFL, this mammoth statistical record of the game will make a welcome addition to the libraries of football junkies on your list–unless, of course, they drop the 7 1/2-pound tome on their toes first. The careers of 17,037 players are documented, alongside such features as “The 300 Greatest Players,” “The 25 Greatest Regular Season Games,” “The Evolution of Strategy,” “Lore & Legends,” rosters, all-pro teams, draft picks and official rules. All this might be a bit too much of a good thing for the casual fan, but it is an impressive achievement nonetheless.
WOMEN IN SPORTS
By Joe Layden
General Publishing Group, 272 pages, $29.95
As Joe Layden reminds in the preface to this book, it has been 25 years since the passage of Title IX, which banned discrimination on the basis of sex in federally assisted educational programs and precipitated an “explosion in women’s sports.” Female athletes have been making their presence known for much longer than that, however, and 250 of the world’s best are represented here in biographical sketches and photos. They range from A (Amy Alcott, Tracy Austin) to Z (Babe Didrikson Zaharias), with visits in between to hot-rodders (Shirley Muldowney), umpires (Pam Postema) and sharpshooters (Annie Oakley). Each of these women probably deserves a book of her own (and indeed, many already have them), but this comprehensive study will open the eyes of kids, especially, to the opportunities now available to them in sport.
In this regard, it’s worth taking the time to find Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s autobiography, A Kind of Grace (Warner, 310 pages, $23), which recounts the career of “the world’s greatest female athlete.”
JACKIE ROBINSON
By Arnold Rampersad
Knopf, 512 pages, $27.50
The 1997 baseball season was dedicated to the memory and accomplishments of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in the major leagues. This critically lauded biography of the multisport star and human-rights activist will keep the legacy alive for those introduced to him during the course of the year, as it reminds us of his courage, skills and determination to change the course of history. Rampersad’s research is impeccable and a valuable addition to the literature of baseball and the civil-rights movement.
THE CHICAGO CUBS ENCYCLOPEDIA
By Jerome Holtzman and George Vass
Temple University Press, 413 pages, $59.95
THE WHITE SOX ENCYCLOPEDIA
By Richard C. Lindberg
Temple University Press, 571 pages, $59.95
Let’s read two! Published in July, these authoritative documents lack only a record of the teams’ 1997 campaigns, which is just as well considering their disappointing seasons. Otherwise, it would be tough to imagine a better gift for die-hard fans. Both volumes provide year-by-year histories of the teams, as well as biographical sketches of the players, coaches and front-office personnel. The books are profusely illustrated and overflowing with statistics, and the well-chosen authors also provide chapters on managerial strategies, offbeat events, Hall of Fame players and trades. Serious students of the game also will enjoy David Nemec’s The Great Encyclopedia of 19th Century Major League Baseball (Donald I. Fine, 848 pages, $49.95), which demonstrates how deep baseball’s roots truly are.
GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE IN AMERICA
By George C. Thomas Jr.
Sleeping Bear, 342 pages, $85
The links-savvy folks at Sleeping Bear Press (of Chelsea, Mich.) have reprinted this rarely found 1927 work, which is one of the essential texts of course design. George C. Thomas Jr. designed Riviera, the Los Angeles Country Club and Bel-Air, and he offers fascinating insights into the game along with the nuts-and-bolts of his art. The book remains a wonderfully accessible document, and the more cerebral practitioners of this cruel sport will welcome it as a gift. Geoff Shackelford’s companion volumes, The Captain: George C. Thomas and His Architecture ($35) and Masters of the Links ($24.95), update the legend and examine the work of other significant architects, including Bobby Jones and Pete Dye.
GOLF MAGAZINE’S COMPLETE BOOK OF GOLF INSTRUCTION
By George Peper et al.
Abrams, 352 pages, $45
FATHERS, SONS & GOLF
By Andrew Shanley
Hyperion, 224 pages, $22.95
Advice is the one gift a golfer never stops receiving, and the editors of Golf Magazine marshal their many resources to provide a useful compilation of techniques, strategies and pointers, which is presented in an attractive and easy-to-decipher package. All aspects of the game are covered–from preswing to putting–with plenty of space also devoted to discussions of unconventional methods and theories.
In his memoir of a summer spent teaching his sons the game, Andrew Shanley focuses on lessons that can’t be taught on a driving range, among them honor and integrity. Using the example of Hale Irwin’s decision to call a penalty stroke on himself in the 1983 British Open, the writer hopes to impart how golf can be something more than numbers on a scorecard.
GOLF IN THE COMIC STRIPS
By Howard Ziehm
General Publishing Group, 175 pages, $29.95
This being the centennial of the newspaper comic strip, it seems appropriate to honor those artists who found humor in a game that often takes itself much too seriously. Howard Ziehm’s journey starts with “The Yellow Kid” in 1897 and extends to “B.C.” and “Peanuts.” In between, we are introduced to strips as diverse in style as “Gasoline Alley,” “Beetle Bailey,” “Abbie an’ Slats,” “Henry” and “Doonesbury,” all of which were able to exploit the frustrations of the average duffer for a laugh. This is a wonderfully entertaining collection of memories, and a can’t-miss gift.
DISTANT WATERS: The Greatest Fly-Fishing Worldwide
Photographs by R. Valentine Atkinson
Random House, 192 pages, $35
THE GOLDEN AGE OF FLY-FISHING
Edited by Ralf Coykendall
Countryman, 172 pages, $32.50
No holiday list would be complete without at least a couple of titles designed to inspire wanderlust in fly-fishing devotees. There may be tougher assignments than being asked to travel the world in search of the best and most beautiful fishing holes, but who’s keeping score? R. Valentine Atkinson’s photographs are spectacular, but what makes this volume stand out are the essays that accompany them, from such writers as Tom McGuane, David Profumo, Peter Kaminsky and artist Russell Chatham.
“The Golden Age of Fly-Fishing” is an anthology of articles first published in the Sportsman magazine, from 1927-37, representing the thoughts of anglers Eugene Connett, Edward R. Hewitt, John Alden Knight and others. It’s interesting to note how little this contemplative sport has changed over the years–but that’s most of its appeal, anyway.
THE FRANCHISE
By Michael MacCambridge
Hyperion, 434 pages, $24.95
Journalist Michael MacCambridge mines a rich vein in this history of Sports Illustrated magazine. Launched by Henry Luce in 1954, SI struggled at first in an effort to find its audience. The magazine has since become an institution in a world increasingly consumed by larger-than-life personalities and nation-states disguised as sports franchises. “The Franchise” demonstrates (largely through profiles of SI’s roster of gifted writers) how the magazine’s rise paralleled the corporatization of sports and how its current multimedia ventures might affect its future.
JACK NICKLAUS: My Story
By Jack Nicklaus, with Ken Bowden
Simon & Schuster, 505 pages, $30
BYRON NELSON
By Martin Davis
Broadway, 160 pages, $60
The word “legend” has lost a lot of currency in this age of media overkill, but there’s no need for hyperbole when discussing these giants of golf. Jack Nicklaus recalls his greatest triumphs, putting them in perspective and acknowledging that even his success may someday be eclipsed. He leaves out his accomplishments on the Seniors Tour, as if they aren’t terribly meaningful to him.
Byron Nelson, who won 18 tournaments in 1945 (11 in a row), probably wouldn’t have put too much stock in the Seniors Tour either. Incredibly, he retired in 1947 at age 34. This fully illustrated, large-format biography celebrates Nelson’s life and career, and features essays by Dave Anderson, Tom Watson and Dan Jenkins, and analysis by Ken Venturi.
FAVRE: For the Record
By Brett Favre, with Chris Havel
Doubleday, 287 pages, $22.95
THE ICE BOWL
By Mike Shropshire
Donald I. Fine, 218 pages, $24.95
No one south of the Cheese Curtain likes to admit they might socialize with or be related to fans of the Green Bay Packers. But odds are you know someone who wears a chunk of cheddar on his (or her) head on game day. If so, you can’t go wrong giving them either of these two books as a gift.
Two-time league MVP Brett Favre has a lot of fun recounting how he has made it this far in his young career, without first becoming alligator bait in Kiln, Miss., or a Vicodin victim in Titletown. It has been a fast ride, and Favre gives it his rowdy best–although one wonders what he’ll do for a literary encore.
“The Ice Bowl” takes a more sober look at what might be the most significant game in Packer history, but Mike Shropshire gets to it only after first analyzing the events and games that led up to the subzero championship with the Cowboys 30 years ago, and the players who were forced to endure the cruel elements. Many of those same athletes are profiled in Pete Golenbock’s exhaustive oral history of the Dallas franchise, Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes (Warner, 838 pages, $29). Considering what’s left of “America’s Team,” though, that might be a bit too much for anyone outside of Texas to swallow.
