Camp Fire Site

  Football Done Right.   Michael Lombardi.    Setting the Record Straight on the Coaches, Players, and History of the NFL.    Michael Lombardi has lived, enjoyed and endured a bit of a peculiar football life.    He was a college football player and long-time front office wizard serving as general manager for several NFL franchises.   Now an author of two books, including Football Done Right, he brings his vast knowledge of the game and its history to print.  Make no mistake, this is a hard-core football book.    A lot of lists included, some history lessons imposed, and a touch of personal life experiences mixed throughout the odyssey.   The book comes across as disjointed at times.  It goes from one chapter to the next without a strong connection and then finally jumps into a list of 100 best football players, at least according to the author.       The...

  Legends and Soles. Sonny Vaccaro with Armen Keteyian. The Memoir of An American Original.      As a Pittsburgh native, resident and longtime admirer and attendee of the Pittsburgh roundball classics, I have known of John “Sonny” Vaccaro, also a western PA native, for many decades.      Upon reading his recently published memoir, I, along with any potential reader, know considerably more about his background, upbringing and philosophy of life.      Not only that, though, the cleverly titled book, “Legends and Soles” provides insight into his love for gambling and how he used those skills to succeed in his business endeavors but also his interactions with basketball luminaries such as Michael Jordan, John Thompon or Business moguls such as Phil Knight at Nike.     The book starts predictably with a summary and account of Vaccaro’s family and his upbringing in mid-20 th century suburban Pittsburgh.  ...

  The Football Game That Changed America.     Dennis Denninger. How the NFL created a national holiday.       Author Dennis Denninger asserts that one football game in particular changed the United States of America.     While there is likely truth to this notion, we could argue that America changed the importance, interest and popularity of the nation’s most sought-after sport and its coveted championship game.     In February of 2025, America finished watching the 59 th super bowl where the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs among a record crowd of patrons and television viewers, advertisers, social media content and just about any other connection that helped glorify this event towards a near national holiday.    Of course it wasn’t always like that.     Denninger, a professor at Syracuse in the Falk School but also a former award-winning sports television produ...

  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...