Sports books roundup
“TRUTH DOESN’T HAVE A SIDE” by Bennet Omalu with Mark Tabb, Zondervan, 304 pages, $24.99 Omalu is the unlikely figure who rocked the foundation of the National Football League and all of football with his scientific research. His autobiography tells the story of how the Nigerian-born pathologist discovered brain damage in football players — what now is referred to as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The first part deals with Omalu's difficult journey to the United States, an interesting story in its own right. But the core of the book begins in 2002 when Omalu, living in Pittsburgh, was assigned to perform an autopsy on Mike Webster, the former Steelers Hall of Fame center who descended into depression and homelessness after retiring.
Omalu, who was not familiar with football and Webster, examined his brain to get more answers. His alarming discovery that Webster was suffering from CTE turned Omalu's life upside down. He details how the mighty NFL tried to debunk his findings and how he was ostracized by many medical experts.
Eventually, he was vindicated and the league admitted it had a big problem.
“THE STREAK” by John Eisenberg, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 320 pages, $26
Few individual sports records captured the nation's attention more than Cal Ripken Jr.'s breaking Lou Gehrig's mark for consecutive games played. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were in attendance when Ripken played in his 2,131st game in 1995, eclipsing Gehrig's record.
Eisenberg chronicles Ripken's entire streak, which eventually stretched to 2,632 games. He also details Gehrig's long run, which tragically ended when “The Iron Horse” was struck by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1939. Eisenberg compares the difficulty of their streaks, examining various factors like travel, medical advances and even the media.
While the durability of these players is lauded, the book does a nice job of questioning whether they hurt their teams by never taking a day off, especially during a slump. Were they being selfish in the name of preserving a streak? Would occasional rest have made Ripken or Gehrig more productive?
“THE FIRST MAJOR” by John Feinstein, Doubleday, 320 pages $28.95
John Feinstein, the most prolific sports book writer of this generation, breaks down the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine Country Club, in Minnesota. For him, it is all about the backstory. In fact, he doesn't start to describe the matches until Page 234. Feinstein's talent always has been the depth of his relationships, which enables him to get important figures to divulge intimate details of what transpired.
Much of the book focuses on the Americans' long struggles in the Ryder Cup (winning only two of the previous 10 matches) and how the team's blowing a big lead Sunday in 2012 at Medinah led to a complete dysfunctional meltdown in 2014 in Scotland.
Feinstein writes about why Davis Love III, the losing captain in 2012, was given another shot to rectify his errors in 2016. The book features one interesting anecdote after another, including inside reaction to controversial statements by Phil Mickelson; how an injured Tiger Woods swallowed his ego to play a supporting role as an assistant captain; and more.