When the University of Washington won the 2001 Rose Bowl, Husky fans celebrated their underdog team rallying to beat the odds behind young coach Rick Neuheisel. Years later, Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry published newspaper reports that showed Washington players had been under investigation for rape, assault, and other serious infractions while University officials and members of the Seattle community chose to look away. Armstrong and Perry turned those articles into the new book Scoreboard, Baby – and Bill provides his thoughts.

In his new book Benching Jim Crow: The Rise and Fall of the Color Line in Southern College Sports, Professor Charles Martin describes the SEC’s long resistance to recruiting black athletes, and the “gentleman’s agreement” with other schools and conferences that allowed the practice to continue for far longer than it should have. Bill Littlefield shares his thoughts on the book.

Walkmen cassette players and legwarmers may have disappeared since they reached the height of their popularity in the 1980s. But in his book Bigger than the Game, Michael Weinreb argues that the athletes of the 80’s like Bo Jackson, Brian Bosworth and William “The Refrigerator” Perry left their permanent mark on sports by providing modern athletes the model to make themselves into a brand. Bill provides his review of Weinreb’s new book.

In her new book Getting in the Game, University of Pittsburgh law professor Deborah Brake examines the history of Title IX, a law that is much discussed but often misunderstood. Brake says Title IX has succeeded in encouraging women and girls to become more involved in athletics over the last 40 years, but there is still work to do to achieve the goals lawmakers desired when they wrote Title IX in 1972.

Steroids, muscles, orgies, more muscles, and a heart attack at the age of 22 are just a few of the elements in Paul Solotaroff’s memoir, The Body Shop. The book is subtitled “Parties, Pills, and Pumping Iron – or, My Life in the Age of Muscle.” In his review, Bill Littlefield notes that Solotaroff weaves between amusing anecdotes and cautionary tales.

At first glance, Peter Heller’s new book, Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave, may seem like a typical story about a man dealing with his mid-life crisis by hopping on a surf board to feel young again. But Bill discovered that Heller’s story is anything but typical. He explains in his review of the book.

Fans of professional sports have never exactly held a high opinion of the owners who control their favorite teams, but in the past the flaws of owners were harmless sideshows that didn’t affect the product on the field. Now, that’s changed, says Dave Zirin, author of Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love. Modern owners that threaten to uproot teams if taxpayers don’t shoulder the burden of building palatial stadiums crammed with luxury boxes are guilty of more than just selfishness, Zirin argues, they are actually driving fans away.

You might want to think twice before swinging open your car door into the legs of a passing biker. Otherwise, you may become a target of ridicule for Eben Weiss, author of the popular blog Bike Snob NYC. Now, Weiss has written a book, in which he unleashes his snarky wit on anyone from pretentious Brooklyn pedestrians to professional cyclists. Bill provides his review of Bike Snob.

Any book that includes stories about the exploits of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych and “notorious horn dog” Pete Rose and is sure to be an entertaining read. Big Hair and Plastic Grass, Dan Epstein’s look at baseball in the 70’s, does not disappoint. Bill provides his review of the book.

The Only Game In Town features sports stories from the New Yorker magazine written by authors who are extremely talented whether they’re writing about sports or not. Bill takes a look at one piece describing the strange story of boxer Stanley Ketchel through the eyes of his trainer.

As Father’s Day approaches, Bill shares his thoughts on a collection of essays that look at the influence of sports in relationships between fathers and daughters.

If Rafe Bartholomew’s experiences are any indication, a D-League journeyman struggling to break into the NBA could do worse than looking east to the Philippine Basketball Association. Bill shares his thoughts on Bartholomew’s new book, Pacific Rims.

Since Tiger Woods sent his car careening into a fire hydrant, anyone following the constant media coverage would be excused for thinking he was the only golfer in the world who mattered. But John Feinstein’s book, Moment of Glory: The Year the Underdogs Ruled Golf, looks at what winning a major means for the guys who don’t contend year after year.

Are you looking forward to the World Cup next month but feeling you need to brush up on your soccer knowledge? David Hirshey and Roger Bennett have you covered. In their book, the ESPN World Cup Companion, you can learn everything you’ll need to impress your friends at the office. Bill shares his thoughts on the book.

Many remember Henry Aaron only as the gifted hitter with incredibly quick wrists who broke Babe Ruth’s home run record. But Bill says Howard Bryant’s biography, The Last Hero, provides a new perspective of Aaron as a man who not only excelled on the diamond but overcame immense challenges off of it.

Despite the name of our program, we here at Only A Game are open to the idea that sometimes a sport’s impact reaches way beyond the score on the field. Bill Littlefield examines whether the new book, “More Than Just A Game,” lives up to its title.

Christoper McDougall’s widely acclaimed book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, has left Karen Given nearly speechless. She had a much easier time reading the book than reviewing it, so she’s decided to leave that to the experts.

Christina Kim and Alan Shipnuck’s new book, Swinging From My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star, documents Kim’s experiences as a professional golfer both on and off the course. Bill shares his thoughts on the book, and wonders if it could have had a more fitting subtitle.

When watching professional sports it’s easy to wonder, “How did these guys get so good?” Some chalk it up to natural talent, but author Matthew Syed has another theory. In his new book, Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success, he argues that with enough practice, we can all be excellent. Bill shares his thoughts on the book.

The documentary film, Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team, tells the story of the Seattle Supersonics and the backroom dealings and courtroom drama that led to the team’s move out of Washington. Bill shares his thoughts on the film.

In his new book, Cardboard Gods: An All American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards, Josh Wilker uses the stats and pictures of his favorite players to describe his childhood. Bill shares his thoughts on the book.

The name J. Douglas Edgar might not be familiar to today’s golf fans, but he was star in his own time. In Steve Eubanks’s new book, To Win and Die in Dixie, the author credits Edgar with the creation of the swing that today’s pros have perfected, and examines the controversy surrounding his death. Bill shares his thoughts on Edgar’s legacy and the unsolved puzzle of his passing.

A 20-win season for a Major League pitcher is considered an outstanding achievement in this day and age, but it certainly wasn’t always that way. In his new book, Fifty-nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball & The Greatest Season A Pitcher Ever Had, Edward Achorn documents the unprecedented 59-win season of a 19th century hurler. Bill shares his thoughts on the book.

In his new book, Straight Down the Middle: Shivas Irons, Bagger Vance, and How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Golf Swing, Josh Karp documents his long and winding quest to improve his golf game. Bill shares his thoughts on the book.

Everybody knows that Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball. Bill Littlefield reviews a book that covers interactions between black and white baseball players before 1947.

In his new book, The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy And Promoted The American Way Abroad, Robert Elias explains how America’s pastime has proven to be more than just a game. With spring training underway, Bill shares his thoughts on the book.

Rus Bradburd’s new book, Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson, tells the story of one of the first black coaches to run a basketball team at a predominantly white college, and how he led the University of Arkansas to the 1994 National Championship. Bill reviews the book and takes his own look at Richardson’s career.

Mark Yost’s new book, Varsity Green: A Behind the Scenes Look At Culture and Corruption In College Athletics, condemns the state of today’s major college programs. Bill reviews the book and admires the author’s passion, but doesn’t think the NCAA will be making ethical overhauls any time soon.

Throughout his storied career, the Say Hey Kid dominated the game and earned the admiration of baseball fans everywhere. Among those fans was Bill Littlefield, who could hardly wait to review James Hirsch’s new book, Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend.

Per NHL tradition, every player on the team that wins the Stanley Cup gets to take the trophy home, regardless of where they live. Needless to say, this custom has sent the Cup on a number of adventures, the best of which Kevin Allen captures in his new book Then Wayne Said to Mario: The Best Stanley Cup Stories Ever Told.