Championship Manager, Kindle Unlimited and a nostalgia trip

I only read cheap books on the kindle – those that look interesting and pop up on the regular kindle sales. I now have 100’s of books on the kindle – and growing at a much faster rate than I read. I’ve been reading mostly on the kindle this week as I somehow accidentally signed up to Kindle Unlimited – a Netflix style book rental service of (mostly terrible) books. I cancelled as soon as I saw the charge but it means I have 3 or 4 weeks of access to the 1000’s and 1000’s of (mostly terrible) books.

Given that this happened just as I started this blog, it made sense to investigate the Sports books available on Kindle Unlimited. There are a few old classics that I read many years ago that turn up on best of lists – including the excellent Morbo – The Story of Spanish Football by Phil Ball and Tor! The Story of German Football by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger both of which I read not long after they came out in 2003. I even re-read Tor! shortly before going to the World Cup in Germany 2006 (supporting the Mighty Sparowhawks of Togo). I remember reading it an wondering if I could actually be any more of a nerd, though I’ve since topped this by spending most of a lads holiday in Thailand reading Inverting the Pyramid. Also available is The Real Deal by Jimmy Burns – a re-branded slightly re-edited version of his decent “When Beckham Went to Spain”.

There seem to be a few other interesting books available that I haven’t read – Roger Kahn’s less famous baseball books, an interesting looking book on football in North Korea by Tim Hartley and a tennis book called The Courts of Babylon by Peter Bodo. The book that jumped out the most was Fall River Dreams by Bill Reynolds – a book that I haven’t read that is often compared to The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey which I love. So it looked like my Kindle Unlimited error would at least yield one new book I really wanted to read.

But, and its the reason I’ve struggled with library books, I hate feeling like I have to read a particular book right now or I won’t be able to read it next week/month – it makes me resent the book. So…. given a turbulent week in work, I felt like pure escapism and I knew that I couldn’t resist The World According to Championship Manager 97/98 by David Black. I can’t imagine I would ever have paid the princely €2.99 normal asking price for this – but I couldn’t resist free access. Championship Manager is/was a football management computer game. You pick a team, buy players, set formations, then watch as the computer tells you – in text form – how your team do in each game. Its football by spreadsheet. I loved it when I was a kid. I was addicted to it. I still remember my best save games in more detail than almost anything else about my childhood.

Champ 97

I still played the newer versions when I travel with work – until I had to stop as I was staying up till 4 am to see if I could get Exeter to the Champions League. I couldn’t get the mighty Grecians past second in the Premiership and Champions League semi-final so I took the challenge of combining the Chelsea job with taking Ireland to 2026 World Cup. (I retired on the spot the day Ireland lost 7 – 0 to England in the World Cup quarter final and haven’t played the game since). But I’ll never love any game as much as I loved the 97/98 version – although 2001/02 is definitely the more popular retro version.

So rather than read a book I’ve been meaning to pick up, I used my unwanted free access to delve in to a pure nostalgia fest. The book is unquestionably objectively terrible – mostly recounting matches simulated in the authors computer as he attempts to win the World Cup with an England team led by Alan Shearer and Tony Adams. I don’t really understand why the book exists, but I enjoyed it. The names, the transfers, the memories, the emotions. It only took about an hour to read and I consider it an hour well spent.

The really shameful behaviour is that I didn’t then start Fall River Dreams. No, I opted for The World According to Championship Manager 01/02 by David Black. Just reread the review of the last book (paragraph above) to find out what this book was like – except this book had even worse editing. As in every tenth page has a sentence that makes no sense. But again I enjoyed it – there is something wonderful about reliving a very important part of your childhood. I can name more SerieA and La Liga players from that era than I can today – despite still watching plenty of football.

Champ 01

While on the subject of where football management computer games and books crossover, a more polished, and more ambitious book on Football Manager (the rebanded name for Champ Manager) that I read a few years back was Football Manager Stole My Life by Iain Macintosh. This book was at its best when telling the story of the development of the game, interviewing its Founding Fathers as well as some legendary players whose real life never quite lived up to their online avatars. Some parts of the book just don’t quite land- especially the fan fiction at the end. The stories of obsessive fans of the game felt familiar and had definitely heard them before – I’m proud to say I never put on a suit for a cup final but I did hold a daily press conference in my head on my walk to school everyday.

A major weakness is that book is not as good as the very enjoyable documentary – Football Manager: An Alternative Reality – which coves the same ground but in a more engaging manner. Ultimately it feels a bit like an opportunist stocking filler – a phrase which 100% describes the dreadful The Football Manager’s Guide to Football Management also by Mr. Macintosh – who is a better journalist/podcaster than a book writer. Ostensibly a book that is meant to explore the Game (football) through the eyes of a game (Football Manager), it isn’t really a ‘Football Manager guide’ to anything. It’s a very English bloke’s guide to football management (in a blokey FHM lads mag style mannner) with a few references to Football Manager thrown in to convince suckers like me to ask my Mum for it for Christmas (at age 30 years and 4 months).

So the moral of the story is that the great football management simulation computer game book is yet to be written. And don’t buy Kindle Unlimited.

FM stole my life

‘Full Time: The Secret Life Of Tony Cascarino’ by Paul Kimmage (2000)

I’ve always loved Tony Cascarino. From the joy of an Italian named striker playing for Ireland, his 7 goals in our ill fated qualification group for 98 World Cup and the sheer strangeness of an Irish player playing his club football in France. While I remember bits of Italia 90, my real (as in total recall of where I was and how it all felt) football memory begins with the final qualifier in Windsor Park for the 94 World Cup. By that time Cascarino was half way through his Ireland career, and his best days were presumed to be behind him – but his resurgence at club level in France and his goals in World Cup qualifying (albeit against pretty crap teams), meant he was one of my favourite Irish players.

I bought Full Time as soon as it came out in 2001 – at a time I was finally old enough to travel to Ireland games in Dublin with my mates. The Irish team became my sporting passion as we cruised to Japan / Korea. I read Full Time over one night, staying up all night and suffering like hell in school the next day. I couldn’t believe how good the book was. 17 year old me was definitely very shocked by the candid admissions of his demons, his affairs and his inner self doubt. I read Rough Ride immediately after it and became a huge fan of Kimmage (to my mind the best sports interviewer I’ve read with the possible exception of the great Donald Mcrae).

Rereading it this week, it struck me that the book is even better than I remember. Its short, its personal, and its very very honest – Cascarino does not present himself as a nice guy but rather as who he is – a complicated, compelling figure who has made a lot of mistakes. It is easy to judge him but the fact that Cascarino wanted his true self to be displayed is what makes the book so fascinating. None of us are all good or all bad – but we don’t usually publish books about arguably the worst things we have done.

The book jumps through different periods in Cascarino’s life with the first quarter painting a picture of his recent life (as of 1999/2000) – his new life in France at Nancy, his new family life with his French partner and their child and his later days in the Ireland squad. Already we are introduced to his inner critic – the little voice in his head that tells him he is crap at very unfortunate moments. Its Chapter 5 before we hit the backstory of his childhood – which is told very quickly and focuses on his Dad, Dominic.

News report when it emerged Cascarino never qualified to play for Ireland

The story of his early career is told in a brilliant engaging manner – as much about his self doubt, his growing ego and the his relationship with others – like Teddy Sheringham at Gillingham, Niall Quinn and Jack Charlton at Ireland, Glenn Hoddle at Chelsea and Liam Brady at Celtic. The stories with the Ireland team paint a great picture of the team that Jack built – but Cascarino remains the focus of the narrative throughout. Most strikingly, once Cascarino pulled a muscle in the build up to USA 94, he doesn’t even mention the game he played in (2nd round exit v Holland) but is straight into the unlikely tale of how he signed for the defending European Champions.

The days of “Tony Goal” in France are the most interesting football wise for me – as he bangs in goals while being unforgivably bad as a husband and father.

Ultimately, its a difficult read with a happy ending (for Tony) tinged with sadness (for others mostly) – on the pitch in France he ended with a great performance but with Nancy still being relegated. Off the pitch he committed to a new family but the impact of his behaviour on his ex and first two kids still a long long way from healing. Ultimately, it feels like the writing of the book and the searingly honest admissions it contains is Tony’s attempt and understanding himself.

Kimmage’s quality as a writer really shines through in the books narrative structure – the use of two separate series of diary entries captures the Tony of 1999/2000, and the telling of his life through the rest of the book helps explain how he became the man he is.

As Eamonn Dunphy said of this book, if it was fiction it would win the Booker Prize. It is as much about life as it is about football. It is a book I will reread every few years and enjoy every single time.

The closest we have ever come to a sequel to Full Time is a 2014 interview between Kimmage and Cascarino that updates a bit on Tony’s life since 2001. A book is also coloured by what happens next so don’t read it until after you finish Full Time.

The best books (I’ve read) on Muhammad Ali

Not all of these books are specifically about Ali, but he is a central figure in all of them. For those who just want a list:

King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero (1998) by David Remnick
Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World (2008) by David Maraniss.
Night Train (2000) by Nick Tosches
Drama in the Bahama’s (2016) by Dave Hannigan
The Big Fight (2002) by Dave Hannigan
Ali: A Life (2017) by Joathan Eig

My cousin boxed for Ireland as a youngster and just missed out on the Atlanta Olympics. My uncle, is father, was my intro to boxing and to boxing books. I was first exposed to Muhammad Ali as a young kid watching some old tapes in my uncles house. I remember thinking that how can he be the greatest when he lost so many times. Surely “undefeated champion” beats “multiple times champion” every day of the week. I remember watching Ali light the Olympic flame in Atlanta as a 12 year old and wondering why this guy was the hero, why was he loved so much by so many. Then I read King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero (1998) by David Remnick.

Ali

Its been over 15 years since I read this book, not long after it was first published. As anyone who has read any Remnick will know, its written with the style and with the imagination that has characterised all of his work. It is a wonderful book.

It was one of the first books I read that put any sportsman in the cultural context in which they operated. The majority of the book deals with the time-frame between Ali’s (then Cassius Clay) first heavyweight title fight against Sonny Liston, and the rematch between Liston & Ali.

I remember the vivid descriptions of Floyd Patterson – an incredibly sympathetic figure for a world heavyweight champion. Sonny Liston too looms large in the book. Most of all what struck me was that Remnick showed that great sportsmen are a lot more like you and me than we often think. Remnick captured some of Ali’s lightening in a bottle and the reasons he became such a dominant cultural figure. It showed me why, and how, a black man who converted to Islam and refused to fight became a cultural hero in a US where racism, love of military and fear of Islam have always been, and remain, at the very heart of the nation’s psyche. On a personal level, he showed me that sports books can tell you as much about a time and a place as any of the greatest literature. A re-read is long overdue (along with a more detailed review).

Since then, Ali has loomed large in other boxing books I’ve read and loved – as the young brash Olympian in Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World (2008) by David Maraniss. It captures the attractiveness of young Cassisus Clay and hints at the man he would become. In Night Train (2000), Nick Tosches dark and wonderful book about Sonny Liston, life and the American Dream, Ali serves a counterpoint to the often overlooked and unloved Liston. In Dave Hannigan’s excellent Drama in the Bahama’s (2016) he is the pitiful exploited figure unable and unwilling to listen to reason and call time on his wonderful career.

Hannigan previous book, The Big Fight (2002) chronicles a week that Muhammad Ali spent in Dublin and his fight with fight Al “Blue” Lewis in Croke Park in July 1972. Hannigan tells the story of Ali in Ireland through the experiences of those who saw, met and interacted with him in Dublin. At the time, Ali was on the comeback trail following his first fight, and loss, to Joe Frazier. Given his long lay off while he refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army, it was unclear whether Ali would ever be the same fighter he once was. He was still just 30 years of age however and it would turn out that his biggest days remained ahead of him. He was, and would remain for a long time, the single biggest and best known figure in world sport.

The Big Fight captures the magic and charisma of Ali while also capturing some of the magic and uniqueness of Ireland. It is hard to imagine any figure capturing quite the same attention and affection that Ali did – perhaps only the reception achieved by another famous African-American with distant Irish heritage, Barack Obama, compares.

Shortly after Ali’s death, I saw repeated reference’s to Thomas Hauser’s iconic Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (1991) as the definitive book on Ali. Regularly cited as the greatest book about the Greatest, I read it almost immediately. It deserves every word of praise it receives.

Ali Hauser

Hauser’s genius is to present the reader with a unique compilation of different peoples’ accounts of Ali throughout his career and life. The book presents Ali as who he was to those who experienced him – as well as adding many of Ali’s own words. Hauser knows when to step away and let the protagonists tell their own tale. He presents the good, the bad, and the ugly. His wonderful skill, his bravery, his commitment, his beauty, his pacifism and his words. And also his mistreatment of women, his misguided behaviour while in the Nation of Islam and his need to keep fighting when it was clearly the wrong thing to do. By the end of the book, a hero emerges. His kindness, his grace, his love shines through.

More recently, I read Ali: A Life (2017) by Joathan Eig. Its an extremely enjoyable and detailed book that deserves to be mentioned alongside the work of Remnick and Hauser but doesn’t quite reach their heights.

ALi Eig

I was a bit sceptical as to the need for a new bio of one of the worlds most written about men. The wonderful cover of the book made me curious however and I wasn’t disappointed. Eig had superb access to the remaining members of the Ali entourage as well as access to huge volumes of new material, including FBI materials and analysis of the punches taken by Ali. This new insight makes the book a welcome addition to the chronicles of Ali.

The book is an honest account of Ali, his contradictions and his genius. It captures what he meant to his time and place and why his legacy is so enduring. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read and given its scope – being the first major biography published after Ali’s death, I highly recommend it as a one stop source in Ali’s incredible life. It is a book best read while pausing at the retelling each fight to watch the action on YouTube then savouring the description on the page.

By his later years, Ali became a figure upon whom millions projected the characteristics they wanted their hero’s to have. What is clear is only a very special person could have chosen the path Ali did. Only a very special person could have touched so many people – only a very special person could declare himself the Greatest, then make it clear that that was an understatement.

Ali’s story is also the story of his time and place. He held up a mirror to the America he found – and dragged many people with him towards developing a more tolerant more loving worldview. For a man who punched people for a living and once preached radical racial separation, its quite the achievement.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me! This site will contain reviews of sports books (classic and contemporary). I plan to reread old favourites as well as new books that are published. Aim is to cover a wide variety of sports. I tend to read multiple books at once so a number of books will be on the go at any one time.

I have read a lot of sports books over the years. But I’ve definitely missed a few of the classics and looking forward to getting stuck in to a wide variety classics as well as random books from the €1 second hand bin!

Its gonna be primarily two types of posts – reviews of books I’ve just read but I also plan to take a topical approach to the books I’ve read and loved over the years – and some that weren’t so great. Expect posts on boxing, basketball, football, Italia 90 and many more.

If you have a favourite sports book that may not be known to many people, please leave a comment. Always seeking out new classics that I’ve somehow never managed to read.