April 15, 2016
Deford is a skilled and versatile writer on sports and other topics who has been associated with Sports Illustrated for over 50 years. In addition, his three-minute sports commentaries on National Public Radio's (NPR) "Morning Edition" have been a staple for many listeners since 1980, with a slight gap from 1989 to 1991, when he edited the ill-fated daily sports newspaper the National. From roughly 2,150 NPR commentaries, Deford has culled 98 to be included in this collection, arranged to provide a mix of subjects and tone. Deford claims the transition from spoken to written word is "99 44/100ths pure," only occasionally editing the originals. A 1983 essay on baseball and language adds a sentence about Bill Clinton's politics, but the pieces mostly hold up on their own. The essays tend to be light and frothy amusing interludes; quick reads that do not go into much depth and generally concern sports' impact on and reflection of our culture. Readers learn that Deford likes human interest pieces and charming characters such as former college basketball coach Al McGuire and does not care for soccer, the NCAA, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, touchdown celebrations, and modern uniforms. VERDICT Primarily of interest to NPR listeners, regardless of whether they enjoy sports.--John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2016
Deford, senior contributing writer at Sports Illustrated, has delivered nearly 2,000 commentaries on NPR since 1980. He has a wickedly droll sense of humor, which, when coupled with his encyclopedic knowledge of sports, results in commentaries that are incisive, amusing, touching, or incendiary in various combinations. This collection brings together his favorites, including the 2008 piece, The Super Bard, in which Deford posed as ink-stained wretch Bill Shakespeare and offered a short play featuring a Sideline Wench along with reporters Wilbonstern and Kornheisercranz, who ask Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a question for the ages, Brady, Brady what is afoot with thou? In 2010, he took on FIFA, the incredibly corrupt governing body of international soccer. A 1999 piece ponders the cultural significance of Joe DiMaggio and asks how we mere mortals measure ourselves against our heroes. His tribute to basketball coaching legend Al McGuire, shortly after his passing, celebrates the joyful humanity of the effervescent coach and gently prescribes that we all live life a little more like Al. A rich collection for anyone interested in the sporting life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)