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.

At Beijing in 2008, Henry Cejudo became the youngest American ever to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal. In his new book, American Victory: Wrestling, Dreams, and a Journey Toward Home, he narrates his remarkable story of determination and survival, and shares his version of the American Dream.

When it comes to U.S. basketball in the Olympics, it’s easy to focus on the glory days of the past two decades. But where did it all begin, and how did it get to this point? In turning back the clock in his new book, American Hoops: U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball From Berlin to Beijing, Carson Cunningham reveals that Team USA hasn’t always been a “dream team,” and that in its extensive history, the program has certainly come a long way.

Alabama plays Texas for the BCS National Championship this week, which makes it a good time to look back on Alabama’s other national titles. Bill Littlefield reviews “Twelve and Counting: The National Championships of Alabama Football.”

Each year since 1991, Glenn Stout, the series editor for Houghton Mifflin’s The Best American Sports Writing, has read a lot of stories set in sports. And each year he has sent the best of them to the guest editor of the volume. This time around, that was author Leigh Montville, late of Sports Illustrated and, before that, The Boston Globe.

Professional football’s current success makes it hard to remember the game’s simpler days. Before the NFL was on television four nights a week, the tiny National Football League struggled to make a name for itself. Bill talks with author Robert S. Lyons about his new book, On Any Given Sunday, about NFL pioneer Bert Bell.

What happens when you give a passionate basketball fan keys to the NBA’s castles and tell him to go wild? Chris Ballard’s new book, The Art of a Beautiful Game. Bill talks with the Sports Illustrated basketball writer about the current state of the NBA.

Displays of religiosity are almost ubiquitous in the world of sports today. In his book, Onward Christian Athletes, author Tom Krattenmaker examines religion’s role in today’s sporting culture.

One of the most famous athletes of the 20th century, Sugar Ray Robinson is also one of the most complex. In his new book, Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson, author Wil Haygood contends that Robinson belongs with many of the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.

It’s safe to say that many ordinary Russians needed at least a figurative escape from the U.S.S.R. under Stalin’s oppressive regime. In his new book, Spartak Moscow, author Robert Edelman contends that for many, that escape was soccer.

Just like the wide receiver’s work on the field, Chad Ochocinco’s new autobiography is entertaining. But, Karen Given discovers, it’s certainly not teeming with literary merit.

Can you argue for days about the relative virtues of Bill Walton and Dave Cowens? Are you more interested in reforming the Basketball Hall of Fame than the country’s healthcare system? Then Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketball might just be your bible.

Though many fans remember baseball in the early 20th-century as a different age in which players played “for the love of the game,” baseball players were no different then than they are now. In his book, The First Fall Classic, author Mike Vaccaro explores the making (or re-making) of baseball.

In The Opposite Field, author Jesse Katz writes about baseball, sure. But Katz’s extraordinarily candid memoir is really about fatherhood, community, and life’s bumps and road-blocks.

There are always more mountains to climb. In his book K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain, author and climber Ed Viesturs deatails his climb to the top of the world’s most menacing summit.

What’s your favorite sports movie? Ray Didinger and Glen Macnow have ranked the top 100 of all-time. Though Bill takes issue with some of the rankings, the book will surely accomplish its goal: to inspire arguments.

As any athlete knows, there are few things more painful than being a part of a bad team. But author Jack Ridl proves that all is not lost in a losing season, as he finds poetry among the heartache and frustration.

While many athletes today count themselves among the world’s most famous people, Montreal Canadiens fans almost deified hometown hero Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. In his book, The Rocket: A Cultural History of Maurice Richard, author Benoit Melancon examines Richard’s significance beyond the ice.

Though every Olympiad is full of drama and excitment, there is no denying that the 1968 Mexico City games were special. In his book, Something in the Air: American Passion and Defiance in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, author Richard Hoffer examines just what made the ‘68 games exceptional.

Author Jay Price explores the transformation of both football and American community life in his book Thanksgiving 1959: When One Corner of New York City Was Still Part of Small-Town America, and High School Football Was the Last Thing Guys Did for Love.

Michael Oriard’s “The End of Autumn” is 30 years old, but Bill Littlefield says, it still has much to teach to athletes who have trouble putting their playing days behind them.

Say the name Trey Junkin to a New York Giants fans, and they will curse his name. Say the name Brian Kinchen to Patriots fans, and you will receive a blank face. As Jeffrey Marx points out in his book, “The Long Snapper,” not knowing your long snapper’s name means he is doing his job well, no matter how terrified he is on the inside.

Nothing says America quite like apple pie, Chevrolet, and … college football? In his book “College Football and American Culture in the Cold War Era,” Kurt Edward Kemper argues the sport was used to help galvanize anti-Communist feelings in the United States. Bill reviews the Dakota State University professor’s efforts to show the links between the gridiron and the politics of the 1960s.

Over 30 years have passed since Marty Appel co-authored Thurman Munson’s authorized biography. Appel’s second crack at capturing the essence of the Yankee great is told in the book, “Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain,” which paints a more detailed and nuanced portrait of the former catcher.

People forget Michelle Wie is only 19-years-old. The golfer has endured a father’s greed, numerous ailments, and the scorn of her peers throughout her career. Author Eric Adelson chronicles her rise and fall in “The Sure Thing: The Making and Unmaking of Golf Phenom Michelle Wie,” a book that leaves open the possibility for a happier and more successful future chapter in Wie’s still young life.