Customer Reviews

Cleveland Sports Legends: The 20 Biggest Moments in Cleveland Sports History

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I disagree totally with the guy from Chicago. The book presents all kinds of new details about legendary Cleveland sports events. And half the stuff happened way before I was born. What's cool about this book is that it doesn't read like a typical sports book. The author puts the sports stuff into the context of the times. When you read about the 1920 Indians, for example, you get a great feel for what the city of Cleveland was like at the time. And there's a lot of inside stuff about recent events like the 1997 World Series. I thought the book was awesome and bought it for several family members.

I'm a die-hard Cleveland sports fan. So I was very excited to find Bob Dyer's book under the X-mas tree this year. Unfortunately, as a Cleveland sports fan, I already knew 95% of what Dyer talks about. The book turns out to be a dry retelling of oft-reported events.

Dyer did a lot of research...mostly reading old newspaper articles. There are virtually no interviews with players, coaches or fans involved. He sheds little insight into what went on behind the scenes at the biggest events in Cleveland sports history. Further, the book is riddled with errors. Saint Simons Island (Jim Brown's birthplace) was inhabited by Ntive Americans since 2500 AD? Lew Alcindor attended a meeting with Brown and Muhammed Ali in 1964...when Alcindor was still in high school? Given these mistakes, should I believe other stories I hadn't heard like Cavs forward Gary Suiter hiring a prostitute to pose as his wife and subsequently being pushed down the stairs of Bill Fitch's office? They just don't ring true.

Overall, there are some nice pictures and the book looks good on my bookshelf, but it was mostly a disappointing read.