Sports Biblio Digest, 9.15.19: A Few Good Mid-September Reads
News, Views and Reviews About Sports Books, History and Culture
Also In This Issue: Antifa and Soccer in Portland; Sid Luckman’s Dark Secret; Red Grange; Harper Lee and the Crimson Tide; Baseball Encyclopedia at 50; In Search of Wax Pack Legends; For Love of Watching the Game; A Dog Photographer
* * * * * * * *
A Few Good Reads
Portland, Ore. is a twin hotbed for soccer and antifascist protests that in the case of the latter, have occasionally become violent. Major League Soccer has imposed a ban against “antifa” groups from waving flags at Timbers home games that’s caused an uproar. Others think the league is doing the right thing by trying to prevent activists from using soccer venues as recruiting grounds;
A new book about early-NFL quarterback star Sid Luckman uncovers some unsavory stories about his father Meyer, a Brooklyn trucking business owner with mob ties and who was sentenced to a long prison term Sing Sing for the gangland murder of his brother-in-law. Review here about “Tough Luck” from The Wall Street Journal, which notes the hush-hush discretion from the media, just as Luckman fils left Columbia University and embarked on a Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears;
Another new book about an NFL pioneer, Red Grange, is reviewed at Pro Football Journal;
“To Kill A Mockingbird” novelist Harper Lee was more than just a big University of Alabama football fan: She wrote letters about Bear Bryant and avidly listened to radio host Paul Finebaum’s college football program. Lee and her sister Alice were Crimson Tide fans, and like many families in Alabama (including my father’s) the Lees were split in their allegiances. Other relatives were avid followers of the Auburn Tigers;
Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement has spawned many new takes about the future of the NFL with familiar narratives, including the tiresome yawner that “to challenge the dominance of football, Americans will need to embrace new dreams and new ideals of masculinity;"
Following up previous newsletter entries about the 50th anniversary of the Baseball Encyclopedia, here’s more on a panel discussion with the book’s creators and contributors at a recent SABR conference;
Author Brad Balukjian has gone in search of the players featured in a single 1986 pack of Topps baseball cards, and is publishing a book about it next spring. The names include Al Cowens, Carlton Fisk, Doc Gooden, Rick Sutcliffe and Steve Yeager;
A lovely photo essay in The Washington Post by Vincent Musi, formerly with National Geographic and who’s taken up a new passion: Taking pictures of dogs near his home in Charleston, S.C., and others whose owners brought them there just to have Musi handle them with care;
Reflections on sports and fan spectatorship from a lawyer and writer who’s thinking about these matters with his 9-year-old son in mind.
* * * * * * * *
The Sports Biblio Digest is an e-mail newsletter delivered on Sunday. You can subscribe here and search the archives.
This is Digest issue No. 178, published Sept. 15, 2019.
I’d love to hear what you think about the Digest, and Sports Biblio. Send feedback, suggestions, book recommendations, review copies, newsletter items and interview requests to Wendy Parker at sportsbiblio@gmail.com.