Reviews

If it's sports related and we've used it, read it or done it, we've reviewed it here. Well, everything except the Jake Plummer Moustache Kit. (But for the record, 3-stars.)

 TD BankNorth Garden
Ups: Clear sightlines, bright, good sound system
Downs: Not enough secondary stat scoreboards, bland, cavernous
You know all the cookie cutter 70's era baseball stadiums being torn down right now? Well, the new Garden, no FleetCenter, wait, TD BankNorth Garden is the perfection of the bland, multi-function arena. The seats are a uniform hard plastic. We have cupholders. No obstructed views. Plenty of restrooms. Plenty of concessions. In short, little to complain about, but also little to remember except bottlenecks at the escaltors. The old Garden was a dump in almost every respect, but like Fenway, after a time, the loads of crap took on a perverse charm of its own. The new Garden is a never offend Ms Manners. In short, you'll have a perfectly forgettable time whether it's a Celtics, Bruins, concert, ice show or circus act.
Reviewed by: mike d


 Unfinished Business by Jack MacCallum
Ups: Short/Punchy style, practice and off court focus, McHale
Downs: Now pretty dated
I grew up rooting for the Celtics, but their 1980s renaissance took place mainly during my single digit years. I cheered them on, rooted for Larry and hated the Lakers. But I didn't read the papers, scour the Internet or critique personnel moves. A loss was a shrug then back to elaborate GI Joe battles or baking Shrinky Dinks. It wasn't till the end of their run, the early nineties, that I was a full blown obsessive. Thankfully, MaCallum's book fills in some of these blanks, at least for the 90-91 season. His day in the life book follows the team from training camp to their ultimate playoff loss to the Pistons. It's remarkable in its intimacy. You really feel like you were there at the end of it. As if you could walk up to McHale and joke about the crazy lady that interrupted your chess game at that diner in Salt Lake. And McHale is the true star of the book. The Sports Guy was right, it is criminal that he is not on television. He's smart, insightful and damn funny. If I had one complaint it would be the book is a bit dated and takes for granted some knowledge of the NBA in the early nineties. I found myself googling a bunch of players, either to remember or find out what happened to them. Still NBA fans and Celtics fans, in particular, would really enjoy this book.
Reviewed by: mike d


 Lance Armstrong's War by Daniel Coyle
Ups: Intro to cycling, insider access, first person quotes
Downs: Lacks new Armstrong insight, abrupt ending
Lance Armstrong’s War is a very good book, serving as much as an introduction to the world of pro cycling as it does to Lance Armstrong and the Tour. After a steady diet of OLN propaganda the last couple years, most Americans are probably familiar with the thumbnail sketch of Armstrong and if the book falls short anywhere it is in breaking any new ground on the seven time champ. It flushes out or confirms some details, but otherwise Armstrong remains a larger than life figure haunting the book more than being revealed by it. Not that this is a bad thing, really. Turns out cycling has enough eccentricities on its own without involving Armstrong to more than fill up a book. It is in the chapters and small asides about the features and people that inhabit Armstrong’s orbit that the book finds its legs. Coyle's magazine background (former Outsider writer/editor) is evident in the way he can cleanly and quickly get readers up to speed on a variety of cycling topics from bike frame minutiae to in race tactics to Armstrong’s BlackBerry. See my full review.
Reviewed by: mike d


 The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam
Ups: Clean prose, stories of Belichick's formatitive years
Downs: Belichick is still very guarded
While a solid book about football and the teams and players Belichick has come across during his career, this book goes deeper and looks at the development and ultimately the type of man it takes to lead and succeed in today's NFL. As always Halberstam has done his homework and research and his writing is as clean as ever. No wasted words in this slim, yet engaging book. Non-Patriots, hell even non-football fans would enjoy this book. See my full review.
Reviewed by: mike d


 Now I Can Die in Peace by Bill Simmons
Ups: Footnotes, SG humor, Red Sox writing, hindsight opinions
Downs: A bit repetitive
At this point the Sports Guy is a known quantity. You know you are getting the fan's perspective, running diaries, pop cultural references, Shawshank quotes and some New England bias. This book looks at the Sports Guy's history with the Red Sox through his columns, both pre-ESPN and his Page2 stuff. If this were only a rehash of columns stitched together for a book, I'm not sure it would work as well as it does. Simmons has always been a good writer, clear and concise, and he is never better than when the Sox get his blood boiling, but I'm sure 90% of those that read this book have read 90% of it before. This is the only real downside. While we get only the best columns, reading them all back to back, some of his writing tics and themes become repetitive.

What raises this above a Rick Reilly column clone is the footnotes. There are hundreds of them. It's almost a book inside a book. Learn about the inside jokes, learn who the hell J-Bug is, learn how Simmons came to write for ESPN. It's almost like he penned his own Behind the Music. Ultimately, as a Sox fan, reliving the columns is a torture and, of course, ultimately a joy, but even non-Sox Simmons fans might find it fun and interesting. At least as bathroom reading, where let's admit it, 90% of us read Simmons's column.
Reviewed by: mike d


 Newton Commonwealth Golf Course
Ups: Pretty good maintenance, online tee times, affordable
Downs: Very hilly, crowded on weekends
A Donald Ross course built in 1921, Newton Commonwealth is a nice course built into the side of a hill just outside Boston. It's affordability and proximity to the city can make a slow round on the weekend, but it is a pretty good option if you're playing hooky from work on a nice afternoon. The course isn't overly long, but offers a good variety of holes that should use most of the clubs in your bag. While some holes are narrow, there are not a lot of traps, so the low handicapper might find the course a bit easy.

For a public course the greens weren't in bad shape, even late in the year, spotty in areas, but okay overall. The hills are the only big downside for me. If you want a real workout, walking this very hilly course will give it to you. If it's hot, or you're looking for a leisurely round, I recommend a cart. The hills, especially on the back nine, can also lead to some real awkward lies, even on good shots but for the price ($35/$28), Newton Comm is more than fair.
Reviewed by: mike d


 Patriot Reign by Michael Holley
Ups: Solid writing, Quick read
Downs: Lack of insider stories, not much analysis, nothing new
Perhaps my expectations were too high for this book. I always enjoyed Holley's columns in the Globe and when I heard he was taking time off to write this book, and further, was given unprecedented access to the team, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, the book rarely gives us more than we already knew, especially if you are a fan of the team, which I'm sure a majority of the readers will be. Aside from a chapter that gets behind the game planning and coaches prep, the book reads like newspaper and game recaps. It's all vaguely familar. This isn't to say it's bad. If you have an afternoon or a plane ride to kill, it'll do the job, but if you are looking for new insight into the what makes the Pats tick, you'll probably be disappointed.
Reviewed by: mike d