Intervention Update

Back on Tuesday, September 22nd, I wrote a column titled “Intervention Needed”. Basically it was my way of telling myself to incorporate a few books into my steady diet of sports talk radio, the Internet and television. Having forced myself to close the MacBook and turn off 540 ESPN, I was actually able to start reading the pile of books that had been staring at me for so long.

Okay, the TV was on with the sound turned off and I was listening to iTunes, but there was honest-to-goodness reading going on.

I started off by finishing “Boys Will Be Boys” by Jeff Pearlman. This book chronicles the Dallas Cowboys rise to their glory days during the ‘90s.

It also describes in great detail all the drinking, drug abusing and whoring that “America’s Team” did during that same period. Just the stories involving Charles Haley are well worth the $25.95 that I paid for this book.

The next book that I sunk my teeth into was “Gladiator - A True Story Of ‘Roids, Rage and Redemption”. This was written by Dan Clark aka Nitro from the original American Gladiators television show.

It wasn’t a bad read; I wanted a little more behind the scenes type stuff. What it did have was a detailed account of Clark’s addiction to steroids. It was fairly evident that this was the ex-Gladiators attempt at some sort of cathartic healing.

Looking for something a bit “lighter”, my choice following Gladiator was “Bobby The Brain – Wrestling’s Bad Boy Tells All”. The 2002 autobiography of Bobby Heenan brought back many memories along with countless laugh out loud moments.

The man the fans called “Weasel” was just as funny in print form as he was when he was doing his thing on television. I am just glad the book ended when it did. The epilogue dealt with Heenan discovering that he has throat cancer. After the first two books, I had had enough grizzly reality.

Having said that, for some reason, I next chose to read “My Dirty Little Secrets (Steroids, Alcohol and God) the Tony Mandarich Story”. I began reading my autographed copy last night. I am almost halfway through, but I needed to take a break from it.

The book is very intense. It deals with the Green Bay Packers first-round draft pick in 1989 and his rampant steroid use. More importantly, it also reveals his addiction to alcohol and painkillers and his subsequent battle to overcome them.

Knowing a little bit about Mandarich, I am aware that his story does eventually result in an uplifting conclusion. It’s just very tough getting to that point. I can’t begin to imagine what it was like actually living it.

Needing to decompress when I finish Mandarich’s book, I will have two books left to select from, “Pistol - The Life of Pete Maravich” by Mark Kriegel and “Slap Shot Original” by Dave Hanson. Based on my knowledge of Pistol Pete’s life, I am leaning toward first delving into the world of one of the Hanson Brothers.

So there you have it, 3 1⁄2 books in less than two months and I am still going strong. Not bad, eh? As soon as I post this, I plan on getting back to the Mandarich book. Obviously there no longer exists a need for the aforementioned intervention to get me to read.

However, if there is something I can do about my obsession with Survivor, please let me know. Until next time…from the booth.

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.