The Book Shelf: Part 4 of 4

A brief look at some of the books I have read over the last while:

Raylan – Raylan, of course, is Raylan Givens, the U.S. Marshal who is the focus of the TV series Justified. Raylan, the book, was written by Elmore Leonard, and it is a treat to read any of his work. His dialogue and his characters always make his work worth reading, and this one is no different. Even if the first half deals with the stealing of kidneys. (William Morrow, hard cover, 263 pages, US$26.99 -- found at Chapters for $7.99)

Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories – If you are a fan of Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap, the popular CBC radio program, you'll enjoy reading this book. And if you haven't heard even one Vinyl Tap show, you'll enjoy it, too. Lots of music-related stories here, and lots of anecdotes involving Guess Who, BTO, Bravebelt, Chad Allen and the Expressions, and on and on. The last few pages feature a whole bunch of interesting lists, too. (Penguin, soft cover, 224 pages, Cdn$20.00)

Red Mittens & Red Ink: The Vancouver Olympics – Vancouver-based journalist Bob Mackin takes an intriguing look at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games that were held in Vancouver and Whistler. Mackin tackles the years before the Games, the leadup to the Games, the two weeks of the Games and the post-Games period. If you have any interest at all in what went on behind the scenes, in the impact the recession had on these Games, the city of Vancouver and the province of B.C., you absolutely must read this book. If you want to know whose backs got scratched, you absolutely must read this book. If you are a sports fan and a taxpayer, and wonder how our dollars get spent, well, have a towel ready because you will cry your eyes out. . . . This book is available in many forms; I found a Kindle version at www.shamswords.com.

Selling The Dream: How Hockey Parents and Their Kids are Paying the Price for our National Obsession – The subtitle pretty much says it all. You may have heard stories about the lengths some parents go to in order to facilitate their child’s minor hockey career. Well, Ken Campbell, a veteran writer with The Hockey News, and Jim Parcels, a veteran minor hockey observer, have taken some of them and put them between the covers of one book. But there is more to this book than that. There a whole lot of numbers, statistics and facts, explaining just what the odds are of your child making it to the NHL. This should be required reading for anyone with anything whatsoever to do with minor hockey. If you are a parent about to enter the world of minor hockey, well, be prepared to have nightmares. And, yes, the authors agree that spring/summer hockey sucks. (Viking, hard cover, 360 pages, $32.00)

The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez – Written by famed New York newspaperman Jimmy Breslin, this is one of those books that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. The teenaged Eduardo Gutierrez leaves Mexico, taking the overland route across the border, and goes to New York City looking for a job and money to send home. He ends up dead after drowning in concrete following the collapse of the apartment building on which he was working. In between life and death, Breslin, as only he can, takes apart the bureaucracy that allowed all of this to happen. This was published in 2002 but still has its bite today. (Crown, hard cover, 214 pages, Cdn$33.00, US$22.00)

The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects – Like your grandfather or favourite uncle who loves to tell you stories, author Steve Rushin presents for our reading enjoyment about a million wonderful baseball-related stories, as he lets us in on a whole bunch of the game’s secrets. It isn’t just that he tells us about the evolution of the catcher’s mitt; he tells us through anecdotes and is able to put faces on the players. This is one of those books that will have you saying “I didn’t know that! That’s interesting!” a few thousand times. (Kindle)

A Wanted Man – This is the latest (No. 17) in the Jack Reacher novels, all of them written by Lee Child. Following the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Reacher’s wanderings throughout the U.S., as the former military policeman encounters situations, conspiracies and crooks and thieves, is great escapism. (Dell, soft cover, 533 pages, Cdn$10.99, US$10.99)

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures – Author Malcolm Gladwell, as only he can do, explores various subjects in this work that was published in 2009. Gladwell writes some interesting stuff and this is no different. The highlight, perhaps, is a chapter that deals with Ron Popeil, the king of television marketing. Or maybe it's the one on Enron. Or maybe . . . Each of the 19 essays contained in this book have appeared in The New Yorker. (Little, Brown and Company, 432 pages, Kindle)

Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt that Brought Him to Justice – There were a couple of Boston-based gangsters who believed they had immunity granted to them by the FBI, so they acted accordingly. Yes, they killed, they extorted, they did it all. You're thinking it's a work of fiction. Uhh, no. Authors Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy, a pair of Boston Globe reporters, detail the story of James (Whitey) Bulger, from his childhood in South Boston through his arrest in Santa Monica, Calif., at the age of 82. This is a great, if terrifying, read. (W.W. Norton & Co., 496 pages, Kindle)

The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James – Scott Raab, who has written for Esquire since 1997, was born and raised in Cleveland. He is a Cleveland fan. Cleveland Browns. Cleveland Indians. Cleveland Cavaliers. No, he is not a fan of LeBron James. This is Raab's story of that relationship and all that went wrong. It is profane. It is hilarious. (Harper Perennial, soft cover, 302 pages, US$14.99, Cdn$16.99)

Winter of the World – Author Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy follows five familes through the 20th century. This is the second book, following Fall of Giants and preceding Edge of Eternity, which is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2014. Winter of the World’s focus is on the Second World War – the buildup, the fighting and the aftermath. If you are looking for a lengthy easy-to-read work of historical fiction, this is for you. It is escapism, for sure, and there also is a hint of American propaganda, but, hey, it’s enjoyable prose. (Kindle)

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Malcolm Gladwell is the renowned author of, among other works, Blink, Outliers and What the Dog Saw. In Outliers, one of the things he writes about is the advantage presented to athletes born in the first part of the year. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a look, as are any of his books.
Gladwell also writes for The New Yorker, which is where you will find his essay titled Offensive Play: How different are dogfighting and football?
If you haven’t read it, it’s right here. In it, Gladwell writes extensively about concussions and football.
Anyway . . . Gladwell recently was interviewed by Kathy Waldman for Slate.
In one question, Waldman asked: “What do you think is the single most compelling reason to abolish college football? Corruption? Head injury? Lost focus on academics?”
Gladwell replied: “The factor that I think will be decisive is the head-injury issue. Colleges are going to get sued, and they will have to decide whether they can afford their legal exposure.”
I’m sorry fight fans, but that also is a decision that hockey teams and leagues are going to have to deal with if they don’t act to abolish fighting.
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There was tragic news on Wednesday with former NFL linebacker Junior Seau having been found dead in his Oceanside, Calif., home, an apparent suicide victim. Seau, just 43 and a sure-fire Hall of Famer, apparently died of a gunshot wound to his chest. That fact immediately had people jumping to conclusions as they assumed he wanted to preserve his head in order for it to be examined in a search for CTE.
This situation is eerily similar to that involving Dave Duerson, a former Chicago Bears safety, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest in February 2011.
The Associated Press reported: “Duerson's family has filed a wrongful death suit against the NFL, claiming the league didn't do enough to prevent or treat concussions that severely damaged Duerson's brain before he died in February 2011.”
Seau is the eighth player off the roster of the San Diego Chargers who played in the 1994 Super Bowl to have died. All eight weren’t yet 45 when they died.
But it is far too early to be jumping to conclusions about Seau. So let’s just allow the process to play itself out and then we’ll see what’s what.
Seau had a tremendous career, having playing in two Super Bowls and having been selected to 12 straight Pro Bowls. He was an All-Pro on six occasions. Yes, he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Mike Lopresti of USA Today takes a look at Wednesday in the NFL right here.
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It was Adam Hughesman Day in Kennewick, Wash., on Tuesday, as proclaimed by Mayor Steve Young. Hughesman, who just completed his fifth and final season with the Tri-City Americans, shed a tear or two as he was presented with a key to the city.
Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald has more right here.
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F Brendan Shinnimin, Hughesman’s linemate with the Americans, picked up two trophies at the WHL awards ceremony in Calgary yesterday. For a look at all the winners, visit the WHL website.
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The transfer of the AJHL’s St. Albert Steel to Whitecourt, Alta., has been unanimously approved. The AJHL’s board of governors met Wednesday in Red Deer and approved the request by Greg Parks, who is the owner/GM and head coach of the Steel. . . . Whitecourt, with a population of around 14,000, is 175 km northwest of St. Albert. The Whitecourt Wolverines will play in the Scott Safety Centre, which seats around 1,000.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads won’t renew Hardy Sauter’s contract as head coach. Sauter, a former WHL player and coach, spent two seasons as Idaho’s head coach, going 63-59-22 and getting to a conference semifinal each time. . . .
Todd Gordon won’t be returning as head coach of the SPHL’s Pensacola Ice Flyers. The team made that announcement this week. Gordon had been head coach since 2009-10, the franchise’s first season. . . .
The BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters have added Brent Heaven to their staff as an assistant coach. He spent the last six seasons with the junior B Castlergar Rebels and Creston Valley Thunder Cats, both of whom play in the Kootenay International junior league. He has worked as an assistant coach, head coach and GM. . . . This season, he guided the Thunder Cats to a 30-17-0-5 record. . . . In Trail, he will work alongside GM/head coach Bill Birks. . . .
Dane Litke has resigned as head coach of the NAHL’s Janesville Jets. He had been head coach since the birth of the franchise in May 2009. He was the NAHL’s coach of the year for 2009-10. . . .
Andrew Verner is the new goaltending coach with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. He takes over from Ron Tugnutt, who chose to leave the Petes in order to focus on his position as Hockey Canada’s goaltending consultant. Verner, who ended his pro career two years ago, and Tugnutt are former Petes goaltenders.
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Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 30 Thoughts always is a good read and this week is no exception. It’s right here.
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During this season, the BCHL asked fans to vote on the top player from each decade of its history.
“In November, the top 50 players in BCHL history were revealed as voted by the fans,” reads a BCHL news release. “There were 10 players chosen from each of the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. From those groups, more fan voting was held to determine the top player of each decade.”
Here are the final results, as released by the BCHL, with the runner-up in parentheses:
1960s – F Bob Nystrom, Kamloops Rockets (F Eric Shishido, Kamloops Rockets).
1970s – F Chad Campbell, Penticton Broncos (G Andy Moog, Kamloops Braves, Penticton Vees).
1980s – F Brett Hull, Penticton Knights (F Mark Recchi, Langley Eagles).
1990s – F Paul Kariya, Penticton Panthers (F Shane Kuss, South Surrey Eagles).
2000s – G Brad Thiessen, Penticton Panthers/Vees, Prince George Spruce Kings, Merritt Centennials (D Duncan Keith, Penticton Panthers).
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The WHL’s championship final begins tonight in Edmonton with the Oil Kings meeting the Portland Winterhawks.
For a preview, tune in to Oilers NOW with Bob Stauffer on 630 CHED out of Edmonton this afternoon at 1:30 MT (12:30 PT). You’ll hear Stauffer, Cam Moon, the radio voice of the Red Deer Rebels, and yours truly taking a look at the WHL’s final series.
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Here are the dates for the series for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):
Thursday, May 3: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 4: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 6: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 8: at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x-Thursday, May 10: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Saturday, May 12: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, May 13: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.


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