Compiled by Jamie H. Vaught
Are you looking for Christmas gift ideas? How about a sports book or two for a sports fan who loves to read? Here's a list of possible sports books that you may want to consider.
--Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers by Ian O'Connor (Mariner Books, $29.99) reveals all sides of the four-time NFL MVP, delivering the definitive portrait of the most mysterious and polarizing figure in the modern-day pro football. From his controversial COVID stance to his methods of spiritual awakening to his estrangement from his family to his high-profile romances to his devastating Achilles injury a mere four plays into his New York Jets career, Rodgers has long dominated the NFL’s news cycle. At 39, in search of a challenge that would rejuvenate him, Rodgers left the iconic Green Bay Packers for the Jets, who have not appeared in a Super Bowl since 1969. The trade made Rodgers the biggest story in the biggest league in the biggest market. The author conducted hundreds of original interviews, including one with Rodgers himself for this book, to pull back the curtain and answer the most penetrating questions about the league’s most complicated player. Just like he did in his biographies of Bill Belichick, Mike Krzyzewski, Derek Jeter, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, O’Connor delivers an intimate portrait of a complex man.
--Races, Games and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster's Life by Tom Hammond with Mark Story (University Press of Kentucky, $27.95) is an intimate story about a Kentucky native who started out reading horse racing results on a Lexington radio station and went on to cover 13 Olympic Games. In addition to covering horse racing for NBC, including 16 Kentucky Derby races, Hammond offers glimpses into his time as the play-by-play voice for Notre Dame football, calling NBA and NFL games, and his long-running stint announcing SEC men's basketball for the league's syndicated TV package. Hammond also discusses his early days with Lexington's WLEX-TV while covering UK basketball and football. It's an enjoyable book about a humble Lexington native who became a well-respected national voice. Story, who helped with the book, is a longtime sportswriter for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
--Tomlin: The Soul of a Football Coach by John Harris (Sports Publishing, $26.99) is a story about
one of the most successful African American head coaches in NFL history. Entering the 2024 season, Mike Tomlin hasn't suffered a losing record in his 17 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who hired him in 2007 at the age of 34. Now the league's longest-tenured active head coach, Tomlin also became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl in only his seccond season at the helm. But the question still unanswered is, who is Tomlin? Known for giving little to the media and keeping his thoughts and opinions private, those outside the locker room and Steelers offices know little about the future Hall of Fame coach. John Harris, who covered the Steelers for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, pulls back the curtain on the mystique behind this “coaching unicorn.” The 453-page hardcover shares how a young man from Hampton, Virginia, was able to establish himself as a leader of men in a business with so much turnover, earned the respect from his peers and players, and has continued to be someone that is looked up to by so many in the league. With interviews from former players, coaches, and executives, the author lets readers in on what it’s like to play for Tomlin, why he is (or is not) beloved in Pittsburgh, and how his continued success has helped change the landscape of what NFL franchises look for in hiring a head coach.
--The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football's Era of Chaos by Armen Keteyian and John Talty (Harper, $32) is an explosive look at the tumultuous state of big-time college football. Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) endorsements, the transfer portal, collectives, conference realignment, the powerful influence of media companies have all rendered the notion of amateur athletics a quaint relic of the past, replaced by today's sporting world where money and self-interest rule. The best-selling authors conducted more than 200 wide-ranging interviews with head coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners, administrators, politicians, power brokers, agents and media executives from one corner of the sport to the other. They reveal never-before-reported details on major football personalities such as Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh, Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, and Lane Kiffin.
--The Reggie Warford Story: Integrating Basketball at the University of Kentucky by Scott Brown (University Press of Kentucky, $28) is an incredible story about a trailblazing player who grew up during the Civil Rights era and the barriers he broke at UK in 1972. Warford was a lightning-fast, sharp-shooting lefty who was in high demand by big-name college coaches like Bobby Knight at Indiana and Digger Phelps at Notre Dame. When Warford was signed by Joe B. Hall at Kentucky, he would ultimately become an inspirational scoring force on the team and the first Black basketball player to graduate from the university. Warford also speaks honestly regarding his college coaching career that was torpedoed by agendas and dubious claims, his life experiences with Muhammad Ali, Larry Bird, and the Harlem Globetrotters, to working with youth at a juvenile detention center and winning a libel suit before the U.S. Supreme Court.
--1960: When the Pittsburgh Pirates Had Them All the Way by Wayne Stewart (Sunbury Press, $22.95) covers the entire 1960 Pirates campaign from spring expectations through a season of destiny culminated by the wildest, most lopsided World Series ever. Profiles of the Pirates and New York Yankees stars such as Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Cy Young winner Vern Law, National League MVP Dick Groat and World Series MVP Bobby Richardson are included. The book also featured entertaining stories about other baseball legends like Casey Stengel, Bill Mazeroski, Roy Face, Danny Murtaugh and Dick "Strangeglove" Stuart. The author interviewed almost every living Pirate, making this book and the miraculous 1960 season spring to life. The 264-page paperback is a fun read if you like baseball.
--Name, Image, and Murder: The Court of No Return by Dr. John Huang (independently published, $16.99) is an entertaining fiction about the Praise The Lord University (PTLU), where the fervor of basketball and the sanctity of religious values intersect, a murder rocks the foundation of an institution seeking fame, glory, and salvation. The captivating book peels back the layers of this fascinating mystery, uncovering a tale of deception, ambition, and the high-stakes game played in the shadows of divine judgment. Wrote former UK star Kyle Macy, "Although fictional, PTLU deals with issues that are very current in today's college sports environment." Needless to say, if you are a sports fan, you'll enjoy this incredible novel even more.
--That Deserves a Wow: Untold Stories of Legends and Champions, Their Wins and Heartbreaks by Chris Myers (William Morrow, $30) is an inside look at some of the most memorable moments in sports history through the eyes of an award-winning broadcaster. Myers reveals the joys and pressures of working with the world’s most famous athletes, and sharing the experiences and interactions that never made it on screen. He takes readers behind the scenes with the biggest names in sports, including Mike Tyson, Muhammed Ali, Tom Brady, John Wooden, Bill Belichick, Charles Barkley, Barry Bonds, Serena Williams, Jack Nicklaus, Pete Sampras, and even Bill Murray.
--Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (W Publishing Group, $29.99) shares aspects of her life story and personhood she has never shared publicly before, offering a more complex picture of who she is. McLaughlin, who ran track at UK during her freshman year of 2017-18, knows about facing down obstacles. She has mastered not only racing over hurdles on the track but also tackling challenges in her personal life—from lifelong battles with perfectionism and anxiety to persistent questions about her identity and whether she was "enough." The Olympic and world champion hurdler will inspire you to conquer your fears in Christ's strength, stand strong in your identity in him, push past your perceived limits and overcome the challenges you're facing. Before coming to Kentucky, the New Jersey native was one of the most decorated high school athletes ever.
--The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback by Louis Moore (PublicAffairs, $30) is the story of two pioneering Black NFL football players that changed the face of America’s game for generations to come. Quarterbacking was the exclusive domain of white players for many years, and when Williams and Evans arrived in the league in the late 1970s, they got death threats, faced racist questions, and knew that a single mistake could end their careers. The author is a historian of African American history and sports history. He has appeared in media outlets, including USA Today, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, among others.
--The Basketball 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NBA HIstory by David Aldridge and John Hollinger with The Athletic NBA Staff (William Morrow, $40) delivers a fitting tribute to the iconic figures who have defined the game. Over the course of 100 luminous player profiles, the book paints vivid portraits of the game’s most compelling characters. There’s George Mikan, who was cut from his high school team because he wore glasses, then went on to become the fledgling NBA’s first superstar. Gary Payton, called “The Glove” for his skintight defense, who talked as much trash to his teammates as he did to his opponents on the court. Dennis Rodman, who started playing basketball at age 20, and in a few short years went from working as a janitor at the airport to being one of the strangest superstars the sport has ever known. Allen Iverson, who drew inspiration from hip hop for his inimitable style and swagger, on and off the court. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was so dominant in the paint that they changed the rules—and Steph Curry, who was so dominant outside it that he seemed to expand the very boundaries of the court. A final note: Perhaps I'm biased, but I strongly believe the book should have included former UK and ABA/NBA star Dan Issel on the Top 100 list of greatest players. Issel is a Naismith Hall of Famer. By the way, Issel's ABA teammate, Artis Gilmore, is on the list, ranking No. 94. Like Issel, Gilmore is a Naismith Hall of Famer. Nevertheless, the 737-page hardcover is still a fun and wonderful book for a hoops fan.
---The Why Is Everything: A Story of Football, Rivalry, and Revolution by Michael Silver (W.W. Norton Company, $32.50) is an insightful story about a group of young NFL head coaches who have helped push the league to new heights of viewership and drama. With these young coaches, the 436-page hardcover tells the story of old dogmas falling before astonishingly creative new strategies and game plans. When Kyle Shanahan, now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, became the league's youngest offensive coordinator in 2008, he had one prevailing rule: Tell me the why. If a colleague couldn’t justify his position by providing the absolute reasoning behind it, he was told to get the hell out of Shanahan’s office. Shanahan and the members of his coaching tree―including Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel, Raheem Morris, and Matt LaFleur―came up in a sport where innovation was the exception, not the rule. There had been brilliant football minds before, from Paul Brown to Bill Walsh to Bill Belichick. But for the most part, coaches learned a particular system and stuck to it no matter what―no matter the players on their team, no matter what the opponent might do. And this group of young coaches would change all that. The author is an award-winning sports journalist and television analyst.
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In addition, there are some UK sports-related books which were previously featured in KySportsStyle.com Magazine last spring that you may want to look at as well.
--They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond by Jack Givens with Doug Brunk (University Press of Kentucky, $27.95).
--It's Hard for Me to Live with Me: A Memoir by Rex Chapman with Seth Davis (Simon & Schuster, $27.99).
--They Call Me Mr. Secretary: Through the Lens of a Winner by Derrick Ramsey with Dr. John Huang (indepedently published, $19.99).
Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.
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