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.

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.