Intervention Needed

I am in need of an intervention. Seriously. I need a push or a shove, some sort of impetus to get me to step away from the MacBook. Once that has been done, I have to switch off whatever sports talk show that I happen to be listening to on the radio. The next step is turn off the game that the TV is currently tuned to. With all of that accomplished, I can finally do something that I have been meaning to do for months.

Read a book.

Since February I have been meaning to do just that. Read a book. It should be simple, right? It’s not as if I have any problem choosing something to read. Right now in my bookcase I have no less than six books that I want to dive into.

I even started one, Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Perlman. I got about seven chapters into it and put it back on the shelf where it sits staring at me while I write this.

The others are Slap Shot Original by Dave Hanson, Pistol the Life of Pete Maravich, Gladiator by Dan “Nitro” Clark, Bobby the Brain by Bobby Heenan, and My Dirty Little Secrets the Tony Mandarich Story.

I know what you are thinking - nice choices, but they are truly books that I want to read. It’s just a matter of getting started. I am not sure what happened with the Perlman book. Typically, if a book is interesting, I will barrel right through it once I start.

For instance, I finished all 192 pages of Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie without stopping. Okay, maybe once or twice to wipe my eyes and blow my nose, but you know what I am saying.

Another book that falls into this category is Playing With the Enemy. My friend Pat Hegewald graciously presented me with an autographed copy a few short hours after he interviewed its author, Gary Moore. I read the book from cover to cover during a Labor Day weekend.

Playing With the Enemy tells the story of a farm boy from Illinois who is recruited by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1940s, but forsakes a career in baseball due to WWII and joins the Navy, where he is sent on a secret mission to guard German POWs.

In the book, author Moore relates the events of his father's life with regard and care. As a result, Playing With the Enemy is a pure delight to read. It surprises you and then surprises you again while you're attempting to digest what you just read on the previous pages.

It might not be fair to compare other books with this one. It is outstanding. After finishing it, I bought copies for my brother and another friend of mine. I had to; my father was reading my copy. They all loved it.

So you see it’s not a matter of choosing a book or an inability to read. It’s just comes down to doing it! And I will. Honest. With or without the intervention.

I meant what I said about how exceptional Playing With the Enemy was. I have made the title a link to its site throughout the column if you want to look into it for yourself. By the way, one of the tunes you hear playing on the site’s opening page is a song called Field of Broken Dreams. Hegewald, Jamie Cairo (FSG) and Matt Meyer wrote it, with Meyer and Cairo doing the vocals.

I think I’ve said enough. Now it’s time to read. Or watch Hell’s Kitchen. Aarghh! Until next time…from the booth.