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  What You’re Made For.    George Raveling and Ryan Holiday.    Powerful Life Lessons from My Career in Sports.    Teachers teach, coaches coach, preachers preach and so on as the saying goes.     George Raveling has done a little bit of each as a player, a coach, an administrator, a parent and now an author of his third book.    Raveling, co-author of What You’re Made For , was a long-time college basketball coach, teacher of young men and influential to many others along the way throughout his illustrious career and lengthy, perpetually growing life.   He skillfully teamed up with the renowned author Ryan Holiday, who happens to be a guru for stoicism.     At first glance the book might hint at stories told about Raveling’s coaching experiences at universities such as Washington State, Iowa and USC.     While there are some examples of this sprinkled throughout the book, this manuscrip...

  Quarterback Dads.      Teddy Greenstein with Donovan Dooley.   Wild Tales from the Field.    Wise Words for Players and Parents.   Kids play organized sports, and it is a growing, burgeoning industry.      Parents are known to lend their support to their sports-playing children, often traveling long distances and many hours so they can participate in the games.   And then some parents provide their support to another level altogether.     This is where the book, Quarterback Dads, fits into the cottage industry of developing young athletes in hopes of reaching a potential seen sometimes only by the overly appurtenant parent.    The author is Teddy Greenstein, a long-time sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune and his co-author is Donavan Dooley, a real live private quarterback coach to students of all ages.    Overzealous parents do not have to have their children participate ...

The Real Hoosiers.    Jack McCallum.  Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops.    The state of Indiana is known for its prep and college basketball.    The mention of this topic might elicit scenes from the famous 1986 movie, Hoosiers, starring the late Gene Hackman or revered players and coaches such as John Wooden, Bobby Knight or George Gervin.  While this book features another all-time great native, the book title alludes to a possible double meaning and possibly a question.  Who are the Real Hoosiers?   The answer may reveal a darker side than observers around the nation anticipate.   As fate and coincidence would have it, I traveled to the Hoosier state while in the middle of reading this basketball classic, The Real Hoosiers , by Jack McCallum, to help celebrate the milestone birthday of a distinguished relative.   My journey through this epic novel would enl...

Hot Dog Money.    Guy Lawson. Inside the Biggest Scandal in the History of College Sports.   There is no shortage of scandals or scandalous behavior in college sports these days.     So, the story for this book, Hot Dog Money , may not seem unusual for the times.     However, when the epic involves a financial planner, fraud, FBI and NCAA, the entire ordeal takes on a different tone altogether.    Guy Lawson is the author that brings this under the radar story to life.     The main character is Marty Blazer, a Pittsburgh-based financial planner, who in essence tells the story to the author through his own account of what happened to him throughout the entire experience and arrangement. Lawson, the esteemed author, pieces together a sordid story that takes place over nearly a decade’s time.      The story gets interesting rather quickly in the book.     Lawson explains how Blazer g...