ESPN SportsCentury

A unique collaborative effort from the worldwide leader in sports, this beautifully illustrated volume featuring original essays by some of North America's most renowned writers shows what sports means to North America and why it continues to matter. Beginning with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam, the book includes ten chapters, each with an essay on the athlete(s) who best defined a particular decade, as well as sidebar essays on each of the other athletes named by ESPN's sports experts as the 100 Greatest Athletes of the Century. Each chapter concludes with a Playbook that provides memorable stories and much more.

An illustrated showcase of the centurys foremost athletes, achievements, and issues in American sports. With the tasks and skills of a museum curator, MacCambridge (The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine, 1997) has chosen those words and scenes that best capture the drama, glory, and cultural impact of 100 years worth of major pro team sports (plus boxing, college football, and some golf, tennis, track and field, and auto racing). Large photos frame Ebbets Field in the World Series, Lew Alcindor reaching for a tip-off, the winning play in college footballs ``Game of the Century,'' and a tripped, airborne Bobby Orr celebrating his Stanley Cupwinning goal. Each of the ten decades features every sports champion, stars, stats, and highlights such as media coverage, rule changes, franchise, and stadium moves, and even uniform innovations. Sure, somebody will argue why Aaron, Starr, Gretsky, Petty, Sampras, or Woods only got as much coverage as Cosellbut historical effect rules. Thats why Chris Berman writes that Jackie Robinson ``was a decade ahead of Rosa Parks.'' If Marino only gets half a page, there are details like his ``Lenox Hill derotation bracedesigned for Namath.'' The most significant voices and icons in sports get feature articles. The lineup of writers and decade-dominating superstars: Gerald Early on Jack Johnson; Nicholas Lemann on Jim Thorpe; Robert Creamer on Babe Ruth; Wilfrid Sheed on Joe Louis and Babe Didrikson; Roy Blount Jr. on Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams; Dick Schaap on Johnny Unitas; Tony Kornheiser on Bill Russell; Joyce Carol Oates on Muhammad Ali; Thomas Boswell on Pete Rose; and Nelson George on Michael Jordan. Numbers are important, so we get Wilt Chamberlains 20,000 sexual conquests, the 50 seconds left in the Heidi game, and a final page of 1100 in sports associations. With hundreds of color photos enlivening the writing and graphics, this is the sports fans coffee table gift of the century. (TV and radio satellite tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In September 1998, ESPN began airing some 60-plus hours of programming covering significant 20th-century American sports personalities and events. Other outgrowths of this SportsCentury project include a traveling mall tour and this companion book. The book kicks off with David Halberstam's introduction discussing the role of sport in 20th-century America. Each of the ten distinguished essayists (including Gerald Early, Nicholas Lemman, Robert Creamer, Joyce Carol Oates, and Nelson George) focused on one decade of the century and the athlete or athletes who best defined that timeAfrom Jack Johnson to Michael Jordan. At the end of each essay are sidebars on the athletes ESPN's experts have named as the 100 Greatest Athletes of the Century; following is material highlighting each decade's most memorable games, coaches, etc. Editor MacCambridge is the author of The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine (LJ 10/1/97). A good summing-up choice for most sports collections.ATerry Jo Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., ID
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.