Here are 100 books that Season Ticket fans have personally recommended if you like
Season Ticket.
Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I have been privileged to cover sports for the Boston Globe for the last 40-plus years. It is the best place in the country to do what I do. New England has tradition, smart readers, historic teams, and a great deal of success, especially in this century. As an author of 14 books, it's nice to bring some sports to the conversation on this site.
The veteran scribe grew up in Baltimore and knew Unitas well. This book is worth it just to read what Unitas said to former teammate Johnny Sample when Samply tried to taunt him at the end of Super Bowl III. It's "Diner" meets "North Dallas Forty.''
In a time “when men played football for something less than a living and something more than money,” John Unitas was the ultimate quarterback. Rejected by Notre Dame, discarded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he started on a Pennsylvania sandlot making six dollars a game and ended as the most commanding presence in the National Football League, calling the critical plays and completing the crucial passes at the moment his sport came of age.
Johnny U is the first authoritative biography of Unitas, based on hundreds of hours of interviews with teammates and opponents, coaches, family and friends. The depth of…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I have been privileged to cover sports for the Boston Globe for the last 40-plus years. It is the best place in the country to do what I do. New England has tradition, smart readers, historic teams, and a great deal of success, especially in this century. As an author of 14 books, it's nice to bring some sports to the conversation on this site.
The author looks back on 50 years of sportswriting. This is a personal book, rich with stories of the sports gods of the 1960s and 1970s. Callahan was an insider and has stuff on Larry Bird and Muhammad Ali that no one else has. Callahan presents a fascinating earlier time when newspaper beat reporters were valuable to the team's they covered. Cincinnati Royals coach Bob Cousy refused an airline's request to bounce Callahan off a commercial flight, telling the pilot "we fly as a team and he is with us."
As a columnist for Time magazine, among many other publications, Tom Callahan witnessed an extraordinary number of defining moments in American sport across four decades. He takes us from Roberto Clemente clinching his 3,000th, and final, regular-season hit in Pittsburgh; to ringside for the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman fight in Zaire; and to Arthur Ashe announcing, at a news conference, that he'd tested positive for HIV. There are also little-known private moments: Joe Morgan whispering thank you to a virtually blind Jackie Robinson on the field at the 1972 World Series, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar saying he was more interested in being…
I have been privileged to cover sports for the Boston Globe for the last 40-plus years. It is the best place in the country to do what I do. New England has tradition, smart readers, historic teams, and a great deal of success, especially in this century. As an author of 14 books, it's nice to bring some sports to the conversation on this site.
This is the behind-the-scenes account of the most-watched NCAA Final in television history, and the epic Celtic-Laker clashes of the 1980s. MacMullan had ultimate access and knows the game. In this work, she captures the voices of Magic and Larry throughout giving the reader primary source history on a golden time in the NBA.
From the moment these two legendary players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. In Celtic green was Larry Bird, the hick from French Lick with laser-beam focus, relentless determination, and a deadly jump shot, a player who demanded excellence from everyone around him. Magic Johnson was Mr. Showtime, a magnetic personality with all the right moves. Young, indomitable, he was a pied piper in purple and gold.
Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most thrilling rivalry in the NBA—East vs. West, physical vs. finesse, old school vs. Showtime, even…
The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More
by
Meredith Marple,
The coastal tourist town of Great Wharf, Maine, boasts a crime rate so low you might suspect someone’s lying.
Nevertheless, jobless empty nester Mallory Cooper has become increasingly reclusive and fearful. Careful to keep the red wine handy and loath to leave the house, Mallory misses her happier self—and so…
I have been privileged to cover sports for the Boston Globe for the last 40-plus years. It is the best place in the country to do what I do. New England has tradition, smart readers, historic teams, and a great deal of success, especially in this century. As an author of 14 books, it's nice to bring some sports to the conversation on this site.
A political writer, Leibovich brings tremendous levity to the ever-serious NFL. The author had good access to Tom Brady and outs Jerry Jones and Bob Kraft for the needy buffoons they are. You will learn and laugh. Jones and Kraft, two of the most powerful owners in the might National Football League, engage in wild and hilarious competition for a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"A raucous, smash-mouth, first-person takedown of the National Football League." -Wall Street Journal
The New York Times bestseller
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Town, an equally merciless probing of America's biggest cultural force, pro football, at a moment of peak success and high anxiety
Like millions of Americans, Mark Leibovich has spent more of his life tuned into pro football than he'd care to admit. Being a lifelong New England Patriots fan meant growing up on a steady diet of lovable loserdom. That is, until the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era made the Pats the most…
I have spent four decades studying the sports business. A lifelong sports fanatic and a trained antitrust lawyer, I originally approached the problem as a straightforward cartel by owners. When consulting for a UK government investigation into sports, I learned how often owners “leave money on the table” because they can’t agree on how to divide things up, and how often league decisions are not responsive to consumer preference. The book is part of a career of analyzing how the structure of sports governance fails to meet the expectations of fans and the general public.
Although now quite old, I still think the wonderful journalistic description of Pete Rozelle’s success in what the author coined as “LeagueThink” to overcome the structural problems in sports identified in my book is a great model.
I knew David Harris by reputation as an anti-Vietnam War activist and singer Joan Baez ex-husband, but I found he pivoted to this topic with excellence.
Based on three years of research, extensive interviews, and confidential NFL documents, an investigative report documents the little-known power struggles that have recently reorganized the internal structure and politics of the football business
I have spent four decades studying the sports business. A lifelong sports fanatic and a trained antitrust lawyer, I originally approached the problem as a straightforward cartel by owners. When consulting for a UK government investigation into sports, I learned how often owners “leave money on the table” because they can’t agree on how to divide things up, and how often league decisions are not responsive to consumer preference. The book is part of a career of analyzing how the structure of sports governance fails to meet the expectations of fans and the general public.
This book has nothing and everything to do with sports.
I loved it because Trebilcock recognizes that the way to innovate in the public interest is to buy off those who can oppose good new ideas.
My book demonstrates how owners selfishly reject proposals harmful to their own interests, and the only way to move forward is to figure out ways to overcome their objection. Trebilcock uses political examples that can be applied to sports.
Whenever governments change policies-tax, expenditure, or regulatory policies, among others-there will typically be losers: people or groups who relied upon and invested in physical, financial, or human capital predicated on, or even deliberately induced by the pre-reform set of policies. The issue of whether and when to mitigate the costs associated with policy changes, either through explicit government compensation, grandfathering, phased or postponed implementation, is ubiquitous across the policy landscape. Much of the existing literature covers government takings, yet compensation for expropriation comprises merely a tiny part of the universe of such strategies. Dealing with Losers: The Political Economy of…
Don’t mess with the hothead—or he might just mess with you. Slater Ibáñez is only interested in two kinds of guys: the ones he wants to punch, and the ones he sleeps with. Things get interesting when they start to overlap. A freelance investigator, Slater trolls the dark side of…
I have spent four decades studying the sports business. A lifelong sports fanatic and a trained antitrust lawyer, I originally approached the problem as a straightforward cartel by owners. When consulting for a UK government investigation into sports, I learned how often owners “leave money on the table” because they can’t agree on how to divide things up, and how often league decisions are not responsive to consumer preference. The book is part of a career of analyzing how the structure of sports governance fails to meet the expectations of fans and the general public.
I loved the clear and accessible way that a leading sports economist explains economic concepts to sports fans.
The explanation of why global soccer is characterized by continued dominance in each league (I loved how he shows this is not only true in France but in the Faroe Islands), and how he incorporates important economic insights to explain our current situation.
Modern soccer is big business. From the ill-received takeover of Manchester United by the Glazer family to Paris Saint Germain's current shopping spree for the best footballers on the planet, soccer finance has become an increasingly important part of the game.Barely a summer goes by now without a cherished club going into administration or a wealthy businessman funding a mid table team's ascension to Champions League competitor. Meanwhile, the twice-annual multi-million dollar merry-go-round of transfer season sees players (and now managers) signed for sums thought impossible just a decade ago. Understanding soccer finance has become essential for comprehending the beautiful…
I have spent four decades studying the sports business. A lifelong sports fanatic and a trained antitrust lawyer, I originally approached the problem as a straightforward cartel by owners. When consulting for a UK government investigation into sports, I learned how often owners “leave money on the table” because they can’t agree on how to divide things up, and how often league decisions are not responsive to consumer preference. The book is part of a career of analyzing how the structure of sports governance fails to meet the expectations of fans and the general public.
Bud Selig was complete personality contrast with other successful sports league commissioners, such as the NBA’s David Stern or the NFL’s Pete Rozelle.
I love how Zimbalist demonstrates how Selig was incredibly successful for HIS league and HIS time by patiently overcoming owner objections to get them to act in the best interests of the entire league. I found it to be a perfect complement in the specific realm of sports to Trebilcock’s general work on overcoming parochial opposition to good initiatives.
"The season's best book so far." The Boston Globe Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig faced tremendous opposition when he became acting commissioner of baseball. A longtime critic and observer of Selig, Andrew Zimbalist takes a balanced, insightful look at the governance of baseball before and during Selig's tumultuous reign, revealing how Selig redefined the commissioner's role and shepherded the transformation of baseball into a business. He explores how Selig brought the owners together as partners, analyzes the fairness and effectiveness of revenue sharing, and examines whether the best interests of the sport have been served. In the process, Zimbalist elucidates…
For most of my life, stillness eluded me. I struggled to be present in any moment, to experience joy or comfort, let alone peace. It took me a virtual lifetime to understand that this exterior version of me, with its incessant mental chatter and negative bias, could no longer control me. I reached a breaking point. Divorced after a lifetime partnership, played out of my most recent company, kids all grown up—utterly alone and without meaningful purpose, the hard inner journey began. I spent years focused on my own journey of self and spiritual development. The payoff is I am now not only more present to life but able to help others on their journeys.
I loved Moneyball and most of Michael Lewis’ books as great storytelling.
It's the story of how the Oakland Athletics baseball team, led by general manager Billy Beane, challenged traditional scouting wisdom in the early 2000s by using data and statistical analysis to build a competitive team on a very small budget.
The message is all about challenging conventional wisdom and orthodoxy, and thinking originally. It was inspirational to me at a time in my business life when I was buoyed by the message and theme.
Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. Following the low-budget Oakland Athletics, their larger-than-life general manger, Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts, Michael Lewis has written not only "the single most influential baseball book ever" (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what "may be the best book ever written on business" (Weekly Standard).
I wrote this book because I fell in love with a story. The story concerned a small group of undervalued professional baseball players and executives, many of whom had been rejected as unfit for the big leagues, who had turned…
I’m a baseball history fanatic who writes on a wide range of topics for work and pleasure, which I’m glad to say often are the same thing. I’ve been a journalist for many years, even covered a few World Series, and I’ve written stories for books published by the Society for American Baseball Research. I’ve also written a lot about music, science, business, and politics, for newspapers and magazines. I’ve been a playwright, fortunate to have seen my work staged in different venues. And I also wrote a book called, The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography, which I’m really excited to tell you about in the next section!
In the 1960s, Ritter interviewed a bunch of guys who played major league ball in the early days, from the 1890s through the 1930s (or so), with lots of stuff from the Deadball Era. The result is this marvelous book filled with priceless tales told by the men who knew, played with (and occasionally fought with) Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, and the immortals from that era. Anyone who wants to understand what baseball was like in 1903, or there-and-then-about, must read this book. Reading this book is like sitting on a porch in a rocking chair next to grandpa while he tells stories that you actually want to hear.
“Easily the best baseball book ever produced by anyone.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
“This was the best baseball book published in 1966, it is the best baseball book of its kind now, and, if it is reissued in 10 years, it will be the best baseball book.” — People
From Lawrence Ritter (The Image of Their Greatness, The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time), comes one of the bestselling, most acclaimed sports books of all time, The Glory of Their Times—now a Harper Perennial Modern Classic.
Baseball was different in earlier days—tougher, more raw, more intimate—when giants like Babe Ruth…
