George Vecsey

NOTE: This review is of an "uncorrected proof" copy.

This book asks the very appropriate question, "Why isn't Stan Musial remembered as readily as some of the other all-time great ballplayers?" After reading the book, I have the answer.

Although he was a terrific all-around player, a great teammate, a fantastic hitter, and a three-time World Champion, Stan the Man was , frankly a little dull. He didn't play in New York, he didn't marry and divorce starlets, he didn't spit on his fans or cuss show more out reporters. He didn't take a controversial stand on race or politics or war or any other issue. He never demanded a trade or insist on a huge salary increase. He didn't embarrass himself, really in any way. He was just a pleasant, caring man who for twenty-plus years played the game as it was meant to be played. For that reason, we tend to forget him as we tend to forget Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, and Frank Robinson.

For the very same reason, the book is a little hard to get through. For about three hundred pages it's various people from Stan's baseball career and family saying nothing but nice things about him. This is all great, I wish someone could write a book like that about me, but it doesn't exactly make for a real page-turner.

In the end it's like this; Stan Musial, exceptional ballplayer, terrific family man, compassionate human being, uninteresting subject for a biography. show less

Vecsey sketches out the past eight World Cups, from Spain (1982) to the first held on the African continent (South Africa 2010), filling in his outline with personal vignettes as journalist and budding football fan; thumbnail histories of the principal rivalries within and across specific Cups; and displaying an abiding interest in the evolution of the U.S. National Team (primarily Men's, but there are meaty bits on the Women's teams, focusing on the 1996 Olympic and 1999 World Cup champion show more squads).

The result is an easy read hitting the conventional stories & providing agreeable descriptions of international stars (e.g. Maradona), yet with more than soundbite summaries (so, not just Hand of God or even the redemption goal later in the same match, but Maradona's history of questionable behaviour). While Vecsey doesn't shy away from extramural scandal, he focuses on a player's or team's onfield accomplishments. It makes for an easy reference, more fun than FIFA's official history pages or You Tube archives, and just as easy to dip into in an odd moment, or when prompted to relive a specific match.

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Changes in World Cup play and rules, from expanding group play to 32 teams; overtime and penalty shoot-outs; use (or not) of sideline judges, and inconsistency in referees; and other seeming arcana which nevertheless had major influence over onfield play at various times. Key examples: FIFA's mind-boggling carelessness in scheduling final games of the first round on separate days, allowing collusion between Austria and Germany to eliminate Algeria (1982); awarding 3 points for a victory (1 for a tie) for the first time in 1994, finally removing the misaligned incentives for teams to focus on their standings rather than play their best football.

Vecsey pointed out for me the serious concerns for FIFA viewed as a business: lack of professionalism and increasingly, lack of business ethics both in its practices and seemingly a pervasive aspect of its culture. Keep an eye on Sepp Blatter and cronies (Joao Havelange, Jack Warner), both during Brazil 2014, and leading up to Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. Already cracks appear in the aftermath of some public airing of past laundry: Blatter reversing himself to support video review of goals in 2014; and hints at moving the schedule in 2022 to avoid the beastly heat of Qatar in August, the traditional World Cup schedule.

In Vecsey's view, the US Men's Team has hit stride under Juergen Klinsmann, and is poised for one of its better showings in 2014, despite drawing the Group of Death: Portugal, Germany, and nemesis Ghana. Interestingly, this effectively mirrors the party line of the US Soccer Federation ... though I have no reason to believe Vecsey presents anything than his own opinion. Certainly, it reads that way, and convincingly. But this is the taint that corruption leaves, whether FIFA's specifically or international football generally. To his credit, Vecsey consistently raises this question of corruption and questionable business practice in international football, and traces many developments over the course of his book.

"Over the years, I sought out the writing of Glanville and Gardner, Foer and Kuper, Galeano and Hornby." [13]

Comes without the photo insert or index, and there are the scattered typos typical of an ARC. show less

Eight World Cups is a timely and clear-eyed view of World Cup football. Vecsey is a veteran journalist who has been writing about soccer for the New York Times since the early 1980s. The title alludes to the number of cups he has covered. With that experience comes an expert world view of the game and the personalities involved. Vecsey provides a personal view of covering the cups – a bit of football travelogue – as well as writing about the games.

His observations are witty as well as show more astute. About the Italian team’s adherence to the “tradition of enforced celibacy” during the 1982 cup: “It isn’t the sex that weakens a footballer but rather the demand for tickets from old friends and relatives.” On the perceived lack of action in soccer that many Americans cling to: “Things happen. But you have to watch.” On the controversial and troubled Argentine striker Diego Maradona scoring a goal in the same 1986 game as his “Hand of God” goal-saving handball: “He had sinned and then sought absolution with the most developed part of his being, that is to say, his feet.”

As indicated in the subtitle, Vecsey doesn’t shy away from the difficult issues. He addresses the perceived corruption, cronyism and egotism of FIFA, the poor opinion of soccer in the U.S., and the “hamster wheel of soccer,” where players now rarely get a break between their leagues, cup competitions and national team duties for some.

Not only an excellent book to prepare for the World Cup about to be played in Brazil this summer, but a pleasure to read. show less

In 1970, country music legend Loretta Lynn released "Coal Miner's Daughter," a song that tells the story of her life. I read the book a number of years ago but kept hearing good things about the audiobook version, narrated by Cissy Spacek. Loretta tells us the story of her upbringing in the coal mining town of Butcher “Holler” Kentucky where she grew up dirt poor. She married at a young age and had four children by the time she was twenty. Her husband, Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn bought her show more a cheap guitar and she taught herself how to play. Eventually she broke into the country music business where she became a role model for every other woman who wanted to become a country music star.

I found this audiobook to be quite compelling. I read that Loretta wanted the writing to sound just like she does, so if you're looking for a book where the pronunciation is always correct and the editing is pristine, you might not enjoy this book. She wrote songs dealing with cheating husbands and persistent mistresses, inspired by issues she faced in her marriage. I was surprised to find out that many of Loretta's early songs were banned by country music stations like “The Pill” (birth control) and “One's On the Way” (repeated childbirth).

I thought this book was a fascinating story of her life, family, poverty stricken childhood and of course, her famously tumultuous marriage. The style of writing, an oral history, might be difficult for some to read but Cissy Spacek does a wonderful job of narrating. I think I'll see if I can find the movie now and see how the two compare. show less