Really Good Quick Reads About Sports!

Hooo--eeee! This has been the busiest summer that the Iron Guy can remember. Things have been moving faster around here than the Millennium Falcon in hyperdrive. That's why I haven't posted anything lately. Fortunately, there are some really good, short and interesting books out there--what I call Good Quick Reads--and I have a few for you. Plus, in keeping with my Manly resolution for this year, they're about sports! How could it be any better?

The first is The Carolina Panthers Story, one in a new set of books about NFL teams. (sorry, but there's no picture of the cover) It's short, has lot of photos, a glossary of football terms, a website to learn more about each team, recommended books about each team and information the team's about great players, its history and even what the fans are like! There's a lot of good stuff here but not a lot of text (a fancy grownup term for the amount of words on a page), so these books would be good for younger reader guys, especially third or even second graders. It's good, it's quick and it's very interesting, even for this Charlotte guy who's followed the team from the beginning. I also read The Seattle Seahawks Story, The San Diego Chargers Story, The Jacksonville Jaguars Story, and the Atlanta Falcons Story. (booo! to the Dirty Birds, the big rival to the Panthers)

All these books follow the same format and, what's even better, the information is current! (another fancy grownup word which means "actually up-to-date and not 20 years old") Sports books are great but the problem is that things change so fast in the sports world that, by the time a book comes out, a team star could have left, a major player got traded or the whole team could have moved to another city! These books came out this year, so the information really is current. So that means you should run right out the door and get these books now. (PS--all the NFL teams are covered in this series, so if you have a favorite team or want to learn about one you didn't know about, there will be a book for you)

The second is The Best NFL Quarterbacks of All Time by Natt Scheff. Hmmm, this sounds like a title that could stir up a bunch of arguments! Well, this book provides a reasons why these guys really could be considered the best. It talks about 14 great quarterbacks, all the way from Otto Graham in the 1950's to Terry Bradshaw to Steve Young to Brett Farve down to Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Each section is only 4 pages but gives lots of good information about why each guy was great. For instance, who was the quarterback that was a 17-round draft pick but went on to win the first two Super Bowls? Who was called "Captain Comeback" and why did he earn that name? And why was Warren Moon, who never won a Super Bowl, so important to the game and many of today's quarterbacks? It's a very good read and there is also a recommended site, a glossary, recommended books and a list of quarterbacks who didn't make the list but are Honorable Mentions. (Will Cam Newton make the list one day? We'll see!) Go get this book too. You'll really enjoy it and will have plenty of info when someone asks, "Who really were the greatest?"