‘Sting Like a Bee’ explores Ali’s struggle after refusing draft

“Sting Like a Bee” by Leigh Montville, Doubleday, 368 pages, $30

Few, if any, athletes lived a bigger life than Muhammad Ali. Leigh Montville, who has written best-selling biographies of larger-than-life figures Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Dale Earnhardt, decided to focus in squarely on a critical part of Ali’s life when he was a polarizing political figure. During a time when the Vietnam War divided the country, Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay and refused the Army draft. He famously said, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” Ali’s stance caused him to be banned from boxing for 31/2 years, costing him some of his prime years as a boxer. Montville details how Ali fought the U.S. government, boxing’s governing bodies and his many critics to fight again. Montville, one of the best sportswriters of his generation, vividly frames Ali’s individual struggle against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and the upheaval of the late ’60s. He shows how Howard Cosell went against the media sentiment in defending Ali, showcasing his unique personality to a national audience for the first time. Montville also writes portraits of the various people and hangers-on surrounding Ali at that time. Ultimately, Montville shows how Ali evolved and changed throughout the entire ordeal, and how it shaped the remainder of his career in the ring.

“The Big Chair” by Ned Colletti with Joseph A. Reaves, 464 pages, Putnam, $28 Ned Colletti’s baseball journey took him from Bleacher Bum at Wrigley Field to becoming general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Colletti, with the assistance of former Tribune baseball writer Joseph A. Reaves, provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of his 35 years working in the front office of the Cubs, Giants and Dodgers. Cubs fans will be interested in his recollection of how the team blundered in failing to keep Greg Maddux in 1992, especially when the future Hall of Fame pitcher wanted to stay. Colletti writes about his “interesting relationship” during his stint as assistant general manager of the Giants with the mercurial Barry Bonds. The meat of the book, though, details his nine-year run as GM of the Dodgers from 2005 to 2014. He faced a supreme challenge in working for embattled owner Frank McCourt, who was eventually forced to sell the team. Colletti provides insights into what goes into making crucial decisions and the process behind trades. He writes about his negotiations with then-Boston GM Theo Epstein, including an on-the-edge deal that sent slugger Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers. While he is no longer on the job, Colletti had a hand in assembling many of the players on the current Dodgers team, which has the best record in baseball. More than anything, Colletti shows how being a GM is a 24/7 thrill ride, with the phone constantly ringing, usually with unexpected developments. “Chaos and crisis management,” Colletti writes about the heartbeat of the job. “Pick a day. Any day. That was a day in my life.”

“The Quarterback Whisperer” by Bruce Arians and Lars Anderson, Hachette, 256 pages, $28 Bears fans will wince when they read in Bruce Arians’ new book that he thought he would be the team’s new head coach after the 2012 season. “I honestly figured I’d get the job,” he wrote. Nope. Instead, the Bears hired Marc Trestman, who had a terrible two-year run. Arians, meanwhile, was hired by the Arizona Cardinals, where he twice has been named NFL Coach of the Year. Arians writes about his work with quarterbacks at various stops in his career. He has coached some of the best: Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck and Carson Palmer. Arians believes no two quarterbacks are the same, so he aims to devise strategies that play to their strengths. Of Manning, Arian raved about the quarterback’s preparation, which involved watching hours of film. “To Peyton, every snap was like viewing a gripping blockbuster movie, full of nuance, mini-plotline and layers of complexity.” Arians helped revive the career of Palmer, who had a career season in their first year together. Arians also provides good insider details about coaching offense. If he had come to Chicago, Arians wrote, he had a plan for Jay Cutler “that would put him in position to succeed.” Imagine how history might have been different. Oh well.