‘University of Nike: How Corporate Cash Bought American Higher Education’ by Joshua Hunt (2018)

Having read ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight and ‘Bowerman and the Men of Oregon’ by Kenny Moore, I have a good understanding of the Nike origin story. One thing that always struck me was just how comfortable Phil Knight was with taking risks and with screwing over business partners.

University of Nike shines a light on the dark side of Nike’s growth – the money it pumps into US schools and universities to ensure that the Nike brand is closely associated with collegiate sports. Hunt uses the relationship between Nike, Knight and his alma matter, the University of Oregon, to shine a light on the troubling commercialisation of public education in the US.

Hunt traces the rise of this commercialisation back to the reduction in public funding in US academic institutions. Unsurprisingly corporations began to fill the void but the money often comes with strings attached. Some of the background to corporate influence in US education is shocking. Hunt highlights, in particular, stories of school districts signing exclusive deals with Coke or Pepsi which rewarded the school district for every drink sold on their premises.

Knight made huge personal donations to the University of Oregon to build a wide range of facilities – both academic and sporting. Nike also provided huge resources in terms of PR and marketing to building the Oregon Ducks brand. It appears that the line between the University and Nike often became quite blurred.

Oregon used the money to build their sporting profile. They then used sporting success as a brand builder to encourage out of States students to apply to study there as such student pay more in tuition than Oregon native students pay.

Hunt outlines the downside of this commercial support. In a sporting sense, the aims of the University became twisted towards sport rather than learning. In non sporting situations limits can be placed on the publication of research that doesn’t align with the interests of corporate donors. This ultimately calls into question the very essence of what a public university should be. Additionally, Hunt shows how unforgivable behaviour by student athletes can be swept under the carpet to avoid embarrassment being caused lest the money tap be turned off.

University of Nike is a well researched, well written and extremely interesting read. Hunt has done an excellent job in highlighting really serious issues that go well beyond sporting concerns. This book is an excellent case study in the need for public funding of public goods – of which education may be the most important.

univ of nike

‘Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment’ by Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham (2004)

I loved WWF (as it then was) as a kid, staying up all night to watch the Royal Rumble, refusing to fully accept it was scripted and staging highly dangerous wrestling matches with friends. I don’t think I’ve seen 5 minutes of wrestling in the last 10 years or more.

When starting this blog I started hunting for books on sports stories I wanted to know more about. Near the top of the search list was a biography of Vince McMahon, the legendary owner of World Wresting Entertainment. The one book I could find that promised to cover McMahon’s life in any detail was Sex, Lies, and Headlocks from 2004. I’ve enjoyed (and reviewed here and here) Assael’s other books and was looking forward to this trip down nostalgia lane.

Sex, Lies, and Headlocks gives a historical overview of the business of wrestling. It’s very much about the business – the tv deals, the corporate takeovers, the court cases. At its heart it’s the story of how wrestling became a billion dollar commodity. A big focus is put on the various television networks and the role they played in the development of wrestling. I have to admit, I would’ve enjoyed a bit more focus on some of the wrestlers personal stories.

The book also serves as a biography of Vince McMahon. It covers his expansion of WWF after buying out his father, the controversy around steroids and sexual assault allegations and, in particular, the Monday Night Wars between WWF and rival WCW to be the dominant wrestling brand in the USA.

It is not a flattering portrayal of McMahon. It’s clear that the McMahon family did not engage with the authors and it’s likely that those who were willing to speak were among the many who bore grudges against Vince.

Vince McMahon is a fascinating character. He clearly has a keen sense of what sells and an absolute willingness to cross any boundary necessary to ensure his business is successful. I always thought his decision to insert himself as the bad guy character in the show was utter genius – the blending of fact and fiction helping fans willfully suspend their disbelief and buy fully into the story-lines. There are plenty of frankly bizarre anecdotes in the book which paint a picture of a slightly unhinged man with a genius for marketing and a love of risk taking.

There’s a good section on the XFL and McMahon’s ultimately doomed attempt to launch his own American Football league. It’s particularly interesting given that XFL is now due to return in 2020. I’m very interested in how XFL version 2 will fare, especially having recently read Jeff Pearlman’s excellent ‘Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL’ which captures the challenges and possibilities of a spring football league.

The book is definitely aimed at readers who may have been casual wrestling fans rather than at hardcore fans who will be well familiar with the stories told in the book.

I enjoyed the book a lot. It’s well written, interesting and entertaining. Vince McMahon is a fascinating character and I’d love to read a book updating on what has happened in the last 15 years!

vince

(I can’t write about Vince McMahon with expressing my childhood frustration with how the name McMahon is pronounced in the USA – it’s an Irish name and in the Irish pronunciation the H is not silent. – it’s pronounced with three syllables- MAC-MA-HON, not MAC-MANN)

‘Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History’ by Erik Malinowski (2018)

As a kid, Channel 4’s decision in 1995 to start showing the NBA led me to fall in love with the sport of basketball. The Bulls of Jordan’s second stint were the dominant team with Shaq led Orlando Magic also a particular favourite. Its only in recent years that I have rekindled a keen interest in the sport and got properly interested again after getting to watch Team USA play live at the Rio Olympics. This season Sky Sports have bought the rights to show NBA games in Ireland so I finally have regular access to games again (and highlight shows at more Irish timezone friendly hours).

All of which means I kinda missed the rise of the Golden State Warriors – all of a sudden they were not just a new Championship contender, but a contender for the best team of all time. I was really excited to read Betaball and figure out just how this happened.

Betaball is a very enjoyable read. It’s a detailed retelling of the rise of the Warriors under its current ownership and the key personnel decisions that led to the creation of an elite team. It’s also a pretty detailed blow-by-blow account of the key matches of the 14/15 and 15/16 seasons.

The book however promised more with its subheading of ‘How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History’. The book talks about the use of analytics, the reliance placed on unconventional hires and the importance of a harmonious working environment it. While there is a lot of talk about collecting and using data there really isn’t much insight into how or why their use analytics helped them win. There are suggestions that the Warriors were better at focusing at rest and conditioning than other teams may have been but the thread isn’t fully drawn out in the book.

In many ways the story feels quite conventional – a new owner arrives and makes some really good personnel decisions, the unrealised potential of an existing player (Steph Curry) is finally realised, some really good draft picks (including a bit of luck in Green turning out better than anyone expected) are made and free agency is used wisely to secure the final missing pieces.

The book does give some interesting insights into the managerial and organisational culture introduced by the new owners. In particular it was interesting how the new owners waited a full season before making radical changes. It’s rare to see a sports team owner show such patience and not immediately try to remodel the team in their own image. The process for decision making seems to have been very collegiate with everyone seemingly willing to listen to all viewpoints before making key decisions.

I don’t mean to be overly negative. If the book was subtitled differently this would be a more positive review about how interesting the book was, the keen insight it gives into Steve Kerr in particular, and the interesting ways in which small changes can have a big impact on an team’s performance.

Overall, Betaball is a very interesting look at the rise of the Warriors, but not quite the book its subtitle promises it would be.

betaball

‘Andy’s Game: The Inside Story of the World Cup’ by Andy Townsend with Paul Kimmage (1994)

While reading ‘The Gaffers: Mick McCarthy, Roy Keane And The Team They Built’ by Paul Howard (2002) I spotted a number of references to Andy’s Game. Once I realised it was ghost-written by the great Paul Kimmage I was on to the library ordering system immediately!

Published shortly after the USA ’94 World Cup, Andy’s Game is part tournament diary and part autobiography of Ireland captain (and future ITV pundit) Andy Townsend. It’s written in a style that will be familiar to Kimmage fans with the chapters jumping between different phases of Andy’s life interspersed with the World Cup diary.

As a 10 year old soccer obsessed kid, the summer of USA ’94 was the happiest time of my life. As I was only 6 for Italia ’90, the qualifying campaign for USA ’94 was my first really clear memory of international football. I devoured everything I could about the tournament during the build up. I spent the tournament at a holiday resort (i.e. in a tent) in France with my family where I played football all day and watched football all night. It was perfect. I say this because any book that examines USA ’94 is getting a 5 star review from me regardless of whether it deserves it.

Reading Andy’s Game know, 24 years on, is primarily a nostalgia trip. It’s an interesting insight into the way the Irish team operated under Jack Charlton, and into Andy’s own career. He touches on his own developing sense of Irishness as well as the stories behind his transfers between Southampton, Norwich, Chelsea and Villa.

It is well worth a read for any Irish football fan. Any sports fan would also enjoy the insider view on life at major football tournament – things have likely changed quite a lot since ’94 but the basic concept of 23 young men heading on a 30 plus day adventure to take on the very best in the world remains at the heart of every World Cup campaign.

andy

‘How to be a Footballer’ by Peter Crouch (2018)

I don’t think there’s a more likeable footballer in England than Peter Crouch. Immediately memorable as, at 6’7, he towers over any other Premier League player, Crouch went from early ridicule to broad recognition as a pretty talented player. He holds the record for most Premier League headed goals, he appeared in Champions League final for Liverpool, scored at the World Cup finals for England and has an impressive 22 goals in 46 England international appearances. He is also very very funny as his twitter usage and widely quoted one-liners reveal.

Likeable as Crouch is, I’m not sure I’d want to read his autobiography (turns out he published one at age 26 in 2007!). The USP is that he is really tall and got some stick until he proved he’s actually quite a good player – not the stuff of a bestseller. Wisely, Crouch has written a very different book to the standard footballers fare. How to be a Footballer is a wide lens look at the game from a multitude of angles – the dressing room, transfers, agents, etc. Crouch dips into his vast stock of anecdotes to illuminate life behind the scenes in the Premier League.

It’s an entertaining read that any fan of English football will enjoy. The jokes work, the anecdotes are never too cruel, and there’s plenty of the self-depreciating humour you’d expect from the man who famously answered the question of what he would be if he wasn’t a footballer with the answer “a virgin”. It’s light, informative and very funny. An ideal Christmas present for any football fan.

EDIT: I’ve also just read the follow up book “I, Robot, How to be a Footballer 2”. It’s equally as entertaining as the first book. Wouldn’t recommend reading them back to back as the anecdotes all merge together in memory.

crouchie

‘The Gaffers: Mick Mc Carthy, Roy Keane And The Team They Built’ by Paul Howard (2002)

When a writer decides to select an ongoing event or situation to cover for a non-fiction book, there’s always the unknown question of what happens if the situation changes radically? The coach gets fired, the team turns out to be crap, the player gets a drugs ban etc. etc.

Howard decided to write The Gaffers in 2001 looking at how the awkward double act of Mick McCarthy’s management and Roy Keane’s captaincy had driven Ireland to the 2002 World Cup in Japan & Korea. Little could Howard have known that the dynamic of their relationship would become the biggest story in world sport as Keane ultimately ended up leaving the squad in the incident that will forever be known simply as ‘Saipan’. Howard ultimately ended up writing about a relationship that was dissected over in immense detail – I’ve no idea whether it was good or bad for sales but it certainly made it a different book than would have been intended.

handshake

The Gaffers has sat in my ever expanding to-read pile for about 10 years. McCarthy’s re-appointment as Ireland manager (as Keane departs as assistant manager) has led me back to books from that era of Irish football.

Howard paints a picture of both McCarthy and Keane through the eyes of the other members of the Ireland squad. McCarthy was the former captain who showed great loyalty to players and knew how to handle nervous young stars. Keane was the champion who refused to settle for second best and resented time away from home if it wasn’t being put to maximum use.

Howard’s thesis is that the combination of a supportive manager and a driven demanding captain inspired a team of mixed talents to outperform their individual abilities. In hindsight, it seems obvious that the relationship could only continue for so long, but all logic suggested they would make through a few more weeks till the end of the World Cup.

The book takes us through the background to their relationship and the qualification campaign that saw the memorable 1-0 win vs. Holland in Landowne Road. By necessity, the later stages of the book become a retelling of the Saipan story and an overview of Ireland’s World Cup games. Unfortunately the great ‘what-if’ remains whether the Keane/McCarthy dynamic could have driven Ireland further in what remains the weakest World Cup in years.

The book was an enjoyable nostalgia trip and a good insight into the dynamics behind the Irish team in the later stages of McCarthy’s first spell in charge (it also brought back much more painful memories of Ian Harte’s spell as a starting international centre-back). It’s a short and well written book that any Irish football fan would enjoy.

As McCarthy takes the reins again, it will be fascinating to see whether he can recreate the team spirit and dynamism in a team that no longer has the world class talents of Robbie Keane, Damian Duff, and the one and only Roy Keane.

The Gaffers

‘El Macca: Four Years with Real Madrid’ by Steve McManaman and Sarah Edworthy (2004)

Steve McManaman was a footballer who was impossible to dislike. Talented and entertaining to watch, he also came across as a decent guy. Off the field, he was known for wisely investing his money, his love of horseracing and marrying a lawyer.

After nine years at Liverpool, during which time Liverpool had to come to terms with no longer winning Championships, he moved to Real Madrid in 1999. The transfer was one of the first high profile Bosman free transfers and McManaman one of the few English players to move to the Continent and succeed. And succeed he did, despite at times relatively little attention being paid to his time at Madrid by the British media. He became the first English player to win the UEFA Champions League with a non-English club in 2000, and the first English player to win the Champions League twice.

El Macca is a detailed look at the 4 years McManaman (known to all as Macca) spent at Real Madrid. His first year was incredibly successful as he became a regular starter in a Champions League winning side and scored a spectacular volley in the final against Valencia.

Following the installment of Florentino Perez as Real President, McManaman found himself sidelined as the club looked to get him off the wage bill to pave the way for the Galactico era – the plan of Zidanes & Pavons – that was intended the club combine global superstars with youth team graduates. McManaman refused to complain, worked hard, and eventually made himself indispensable. As the Galactico era continued, he became a more regular substitute than starter for his last two seasons. Despite this, he seems to have remained a key figure for his coach Del Bosque, often having a significant impact when brought off the bench.

The book provides a really interesting insight to an era of change at the biggest football club in the world. Every player at the club was a household name and the very biggest names in the game found themselves all in the same team at Madrid. All the players come across quite well with Figo and Hierro standing out as interesting characters who got on very well with McManaman. After he left the club, it would take another 12 years before they managed to win another Champions League and complete La Decima.

In many ways the book reads like a book written solely by Edworthy as its mostly written in the 3rd person. However, with McManaman’s seal of approval, its highly unlikely that other players would have spoken so openly and candidly. The warmth the player feel towards McManaman is clearly evident as is the impact he had at the club at a personal and professional level. The book also serves as a partial biography of McManaman who speaks openly about his disappointment about missing out on the 2002 World Cup and a look at what the England camp was like under Glenn Hoodle.

Overall, El Macca is an enjoyable read and an interesting look behind the scenes of the most fascinating club in football during its most fascinating era.

El Macca

‘Tackled: The Class of ’92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate’ by Ben Thornley & Dan Poole (2018)

Ben Thornley was a professional footballer who played for the same Manchester United youth team as the fabled Class of ’92 – David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville etc.

With Beckham-esque looks and Giggs-esque skill, Thornley was tipped for greatness by many. However, a horror tackle in a reserve game, just weeks after his first team debut, severely damaged his knee and ultimately his chances of making it to the very top. Thornley recovered and played for a number of years but was never able to fulfill his vast potential.

Tackled tells the story of Thornley’s life in football. The book jumps back and forward between the time before his injury and the time afterwards. The earlier periods are told through many voices including his family members the likes of Beckham, Giggs, Scholes etc. The later periods are told in a more orthodox autobiographical style.

The format works very well. The book feels really genuine and the style captures the interaction among friends and family really well. There is a lot of humour in the banter among friends and many of the anecdotes may not have been told to a more traditional biographer.

Thornley is pretty open about his own failings in particular his fondness for booze and his constant cheating on his partners. At times the stories are a bit laddish – and Thornley seems to relish the retelling of some of his less than polite behaviour. However, the telling of his off-field life while a player is necessary to fully appreciate how difficult it must have been to come to terms with his reduced status in the game.

The attitude to booze is interesting. Thornley is open about enjoying a drink but there isn’t a close look at whether he might have had addiction issues – overall the treatment of booze leans more to the “pints are great fun” direction (which they are) than the role booze likely played in hampering Ben to do as well as he possibly could post injury. I’m conscious I’ve just hit a year without a drink so my attention naturally more drawn to boozy stories.

Football wise, the book contains some interesting insights into the English game of the late 90’s. In particular Thornley was fairly scathing of the short-lived Lilleshall model which saw the FA try to mimic the French Bluefontaine academy with very little success. Most of all, it gives quite a lot of insight into the Man Utd set up at the time, with a particular focus on the youth coach Eric Harrison.

Thornley is not the first or last footballer to have his potential cut down by injury. Thornley’s association to the famous Class of ’92 – that remarkable generation of players to come through the ranks at Man Utd at the same time – helps add some glamour and celebrity to the story. There is something about the fact that the players have developed their own group brand annoys me no end, but it’s good to see one the less successful members able to cash in on it.

You might find yourself wondering why bother to read an autobiography by a player whose career highlight is winning an underage tournament. But any sports book is never solely about the results on the pitch – Thornley shows a different side of the game, the side of potential unfulfilled, of hopes dashed and the challenges of nonetheless building a life. It is a very honest and candid account of the life of the superstar that never was.

Thornley comes across as a likeable guy (unless you were his ex girlfriend) who has matured and come to appreciate what he achieved rather than what he didn’t. Overall Tackled is an enjoyable read and one that Man Utd fans in particular would enjoy.

‘The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee’ by Paul D. Gibson (2018)

The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee is a remarkable, gripping and brilliant book. Magee is a well known figure in Irish boxing but has a relatively low profile outside of the boxing world (outside of Northern Ireland at least). My own clearest memories of Magee stem from his fight with Ricky Hatton who was then very much on the rise. Magee gave Hatton a scare and made him work exceptionally hard for this win. But I had no idea about Magee’s life or why his story might be more interesting that the traditional tale of a boxer who briefly held a minor world title but ultimately never quite fulfilled his vast potential.

Magee’s sporting life alone would make an interesting book. Preciously talented, he was denied a place in the Olympics due to internal politics and his refusal to participate in an unjust runoff fight. His professional career was hampered by his extra-curricular activities but he still managed to win a World title.

However it’s Magee’s personal life which make this story special. Magee was a child of the Troubles – the dark period in Northern Ireland’s history when sectarian violence was a regular feature of everyday life. Magee grew up witnessing his father being interned without trial, constant violence and the British Army patrolling the streets. As the book cover says he’s been shot, stabbed, exiled and jailed but he’s also been a world champion. His personality and circumstances drew him towards danger but boxing offered him an alternative path.

Magee’s life is the kind of story that would be unbelievable as a fictional tale. It is a compelling story filled with violence, tragedy and addiction but also love, victories and a lot of laughter. Gibson has done a great job shaping countless anecdotes and stories into a compelling narrative.

Magee is a difficult figure to empathise with. But you cannot read the book and not feel some sympathy for him. In many ways, the book is an attempt to explain who Magee is, why he is the person he is, and why he never quite fulfilled his potential. The book is brutally honest and does not shy away from the dark side of Magee’s character and deeds.

MageeHatton

Reading the book I found myself wondering to what extent sporting talent makes us overlook a person’s flaws? Or at very least, make us look more closely at their background and try to understand their behaviour? Is it right to forgive a man’s sins simply because he has talent, charisma and a hard luck tale? Had he not been a world class boxer, Magee would likely have been dismissed by society as a violent troublemaker, a drunk, a gambler, an addict, and a womaniser unworthy of sympathy. His talents, however, make us consider him more deeply and this consideration leads inevitably to empathy.

Gibson spent a lot of time with Magee and seems to really care for him. Finishing the book, I can’t quite figure out how I feel. I cannot judge his self-destructive behaviour as we all face our different demons in our own way. However, the charges of domestic violence (and there have been even more since the book was published) go beyond self-destruction and can’t be accepted or forgiven by virtue of having a difficult past. I do feel tremendous admiration for what he achieved in boxing though. He is a man born with extraordinary talent, who achieved remarkable success despite his demons and his difficulties. A man who is a product of his time and place while remaining very much a unique character.

The book has received widespread praise and jointly won the William Hill Sports book of the year for 2018. Such praise and accolades are well deserved. It’s not an easy read, but it is gripping, engaging and emotional.

eamonn

‘Friday Night Lights: a Town, a Team, and a Dream’ by H.G Bissinger (1990)

“Permian football had become too much a part of the town and too much a part of their own lives, as intrinsic and sacred a value as religion, as politics, as making money, as raising children. That was the nature of sports in a town like this. Football stood at the very core of what the town was about, not on the outskirts, not on the periphery. It had nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves”.

Friday Night Lights likely needs no introduction for anyone who would read a blog about sports books. H.G. Bissinger chronicles the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas. The book spawned both a movie and a very successful TV show and the phrase ‘Friday Night Lights’ has become synonymous with the idea of high school football in the USA.

Often proclaimed the greatest sports book of all time, Friday Night Lights is that rare book that fully lives up its praise. It is also a book that is just as rewarding when read for the second or third time – the tension about how the team will perform is reduced, and the broader story Bissinger sets out to tell comes even more into focus.

Bissinger zooms in on the lives of 6 team members – some black, some white, some poorer than others. Around these narratives he tells the story of the town – its schools, its history, its people, its politics and its prejudices.

Aside from the gripping football narrative – will the team make it to State – there a number of underlying stories that Bissinger focuses on. At its core, Bissinger wants to talk about the idea of worshiping high school sports and athletes and the damage that can be caused. But he cannot resist the allure, the passion and the drama that results from a town putting kids playing football at the very centre of civic life. Bissinger openly admits that the games he attended remain his happiest sporting memories.

Reading this book in 2018, it’s impossible not to have today’s political environment in mind. Many books have tried to chronicle the factors that led to Trump’s election, to capture the ‘Real America’, but reading this account from 30 years ago gives you more insight than any of the recent books. Replace Reagan’s name with Trump and the social commentary could easily have been written today – it’s eye-opening how consistent the issues, concerns and arguably prejudices of everyday working class American’s have been over the 30 year period.

Fundamentally we see a society where life hasn’t lived up the hopes and dreams of many. Bissinger talks about how the town “absolutely worshiped Ronald Reagan, not because of the type of America that Reagan actually created for them but because of the type of America he so vividly imagined” – it’s easy to see Trump as the darker side of that same impulse, rather than helping people forget their problems by imagining a better future, Trump gives his supporters a licence to blame those problems on ‘the other’ – liberals, elites, Mexicans, globalists etc. etc. etc.

Above all, this book is superbly written. The descriptions of the matches are intense, the imagery is vivid and the heartbreak and joy feels very very real. It’s a gripping, entertaining and simply wonderful book.

FNL