Review of "I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It," by Charles Barkley and Michael Wilbon

 Review of

I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It, by Charles Barkley and Michael Wilbon, ISBN 037550883x

Five out of five stars

Honest opinions from an athlete

 Charles Barkley has long been a rarity in the professional sports world. He is a superstar basketball player that is willing to state his opinions, even to the extent that it may diminish his reputation or reduce his income. This is in contrast to Michael Jordan, who refused to say anything considered controversial because, “Republicans buy sneakers too”

 Barkley famously stated that he did not want to be a role model for young people, that parents and other adults in the lives of children should fill that role. It was not a statement declining responsibility, but a fact that a talented and famous athlete should not fill the role of a mentor to children that they really do not know.

 Barkley expresses many strong opinions in this book, even to the point where he criticizes the ownership of the NBA teams. He points out that the owners of NBA teams make money even when their teams lose and that some of them deliberately give up star players rather than pay them star player salaries in order to maximize their profits.

 Barkley grew up poor and developed into a quality basketball player later in life than most other stars. Therefore, unlike most of the other NBA stars, he was not on star watch while in high school and early college. His greatest asset was a body made for the physical action close to the rim in the NBA.

 This is a tell-all book with a different focus. It is not one where there is an airing of the dirty laundry of other players, it is about Barkley, what he experienced and an honest statement of how he looks at things like endemic racism, player salaries, player attitudes and the real ways in which the poor black regions of the country can experience economic development.  Most of the time, you find yourself agreeing with his positions.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of "The Autumn Dead," by Ed Gorman

  Review of The Autumn Dead , by Ed Gorman, ISBN 0345356322 Four out of five stars An aging ex-cop is handed a case to retrieve a case   Jack Dwyer is an ex-cop that now works for a private security agency. Most of what he does is bust shoplifters and other petty criminals. He is a bit overweight and has few prospects to improve his situation. However, he has an interesting past that is focused on his high school years.   A woman that was a flame of his in high school and has retained her beauty suddenly pops back into his life. She offers Jack a significant amount of money to retrieve a suitcase from the house of a man she had been living with. Since she has a key and claims that the suitcase is really her property and she still has a significant sway over Jack, he agrees to take the job.   When he gets there he finds the owner unconscious from a blow on the back of the head. This is the first hint that the case is much more complex than Jack thought. Hi...
Read more

Review of "The Forty-Minute War," by Janet and Chris Morris

  Review of The Forty-Minute War , by Janet and Chris Morris, ISBN 0671559869 Three out of five stars Absurd initial premise and bad ending   This book begins with an absurd premise, not the event, but the context. A group of committed terrorists manage to acquire a nuclear weapon and a plane. The manage to fly it from Saudi Arabia to Washington D. C. where they detonate it. Distraught over the knowledge that his wife and family have been killed, the American President orders a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. They retaliate and it is all over in 40 minutes. After ordering the strike, the American President takes a gun and kills himself.   There are two reasons why this premise is absurd, one major and the other minor. The major one is that the intelligence services of the United States were aware of the nuclear weapon and had an elite anti-terrorist team on the ground ready to take out the terrorists. However, the team was given a stand-down order. Whil...
Read more

Review of "Heat," by Mike Lupica

  Review of Heat , by Mike Lupica, ISBN 9780142407578 Five out of five stars More about life than sports   Satchel Paige is arguably the all-time best baseball pitcher. One of his teammates once said, “The good lord didn’t give Satchel an arm, he gave him a whip.” Michael Arroyo was also born with what his father said was, “the arm.” Even though he is still young enough to play Little League baseball, Michael can throw an 80-mph fastball and he has excellent control. His goal is to help his team move on to the Little League World Series.   While baseball is his joy, his life is complicated. His father brought Michael and his seventeen-year-old bother Carlos with him in an escape from Cuba and they now live in New York City. Their father died suddenly of a heart attack and the boys are terrified that social services will learn of their plight and either separate them into foster care or send them back to Cuba.   With the help of some kindly neighbors, the ...
Read more