For David Zirin, the unexamined sports life is not worth living. While other writers might be content to browse over box scores or dish the dirt on the private lives of athletes, he prefers to look deeper into how the games address (or... Read More

The comedian George Carlin has a classic routine in which he compares the gentle, pastoral game of baseball with football, which he describes in martial terms. “In football, the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field... Read More

Any exciting and fulfilling tennis match includes a broad mix of awe-inspiring shots thrown at the opponent, as well as a variety of pacing from the start to the final point. "Tennis Confidential II" offers all of these things. Readers... Read More

For all the racism and discomfiture that African-American ballplayers endured in the years following Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947, Latino players had it even worse. In addition to discrimination based on the color of their skin,... Read More

According to legend, the first marathoner, Pheidippides, ran from the Greek town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Greeks had defeated the Persians; also according to legend, he promptly fell down dead. Today, millions of... Read More

This book provides fascinating insight into the notorious Chung Moo Doe (a.k.a. Chung Moo Quan Oom Yung Doe etc.) martial arts cult founded by John C. Kim (a.k.a. Chull Kim Jack Park or “Iron” Kim). Although the group was exposed in... Read More

The days of an Oscar Madison-type sportswriter schlepping around a battered portable typewriter while covering the New York Mets are over. Today’s reporters have to contend with grueling schedules, crushing deadlines, shrinking... Read More

Unfortunately, a lot of kids like the author grow up in unfavorable circumstances: born to a single mother in an impoverished home, living in a dangerous neighborhood, he started life with strikes against him. On top of everything else,... Read More