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  Talk of Champions.    The stories of the People Who Made Me.     Kenny Smith.    A Memoir.   Sometimes judging a book by its cover or by the author alone is enough to make an informed decision.    In this case, though, for me, that would have been a mistake.     Kenny Smith, the author of Talk of Champions, is fairly well-known analyst seen on TNT throughout the basketball season.     Much like what Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul did in their books, Smith wrote about his upbringing and life before reaching the pinnacle of his professional career.    Smith was a starter at the prep, college and even the pros and now has become a formidable pundit in the business these days.     The book reveals what an interesting and often unique life he has led.     That in itself was a propitious hook  augmenting this memoir.    However, Smith also compi...

Fields of Play.    Sport, Race, and Memory in the Steel City.     Robert T. Hayashi.   As a Pittsburgh native (and current resident) it is not unusual to be drawn to books connecting literature to local sports and even some of the region’s history.     That is exactly what author Robert T. Hayashi has produced in his latest book:   Fields of Play .      Hayashi, a Pittsburgh native, takes the reader back as early as the 19 th century to explain how sports began impacting the many communities of western Pennsylvania.    The book tends to straddle between sports, race and culture over a wide swath of history.  We like how the author, of Asian descent, infused some of his personal experiences to the chapters telling stories about how his family made their way to the region in the middle of the 20 th century.     He also told of experiences of racism he and his family endured early in his ...