Deemer and Halberstam

Received a note from CD today reminding me of a great book that I read years ago.

First, read CD's good-humored take on a recent spammer at his blog.  CD is having some health issues at the moment and is visiting a cardiologist today, which he recently mentioned at his blog.  A spammer wrote and told him it was a funny post and left a web address for advertising purposes.  Talk about bad taste.

But anyway, we wish CD the best moving ahead as he deals with his health.

But back to the book.  I read David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game upon its publication in 1981. It is a sports book that, like the best in the genre, transcends sports.  It is ostensibly about the Portland Trailblazers, 1979-1980, but more importantly it is about the culture of sports, the NBA in particular, and the role of sports in Americans' lives.

Pick up anything by the late David Halberstam and you will immediately become engrossed.

Mr. Halberstam unfortunately was killed in an auto accident in Menlo Park in April, 2007 as he traveled to interview Y.A. Tittle about the 1958 NFL Championship game between Tittle's New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts, often referred to as football's greatest game.

While he wasn't particularly anti-war himself, Halberstam is still lauded for his early New York Times reportage of the Vietnam War, when he called out the generals for lying about the war's purpose and direction.

JFK hated him and tried to get him fired.  That's credentialed enough for me.


TS