Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire [Hardcover]

Tom Kertscher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2002

Al McGuire was the Mark Twain of college basketball. Never was there a figure in the game so quoted and so quotable, on sports and on the human condition. This book collects more than a hundred of McGuire’s most colorful quotations, plus photographs from his life and career, in a tribute that is funny, poignant, and brimming with his streetwise sagacity.
    McGuire, a brash and fiery New Yorker who grew up working in his parents’ saloon, played a rough and tumble game of basketball at St. John’s University and briefly in the NBA before entering the coaching ranks. He reached the pinnacle of his profession and gained national fame at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where in thirteen seasons he compiled a 295-80 record, appeared in nine NCAA tournaments, and won eighty-one home games in a row. He was a fine coach who cared deeply about his players and was beloved by his teams and fans alike, but his flamboyance and his mouth sometimes got him into trouble. The end of his coaching career captivated the nation: McGuire wept on the bench as his Marquette Warriors won the national title.
McGuire then began a ground-breaking career in network broadcasting, adding a zest and unconventionality that the college game had never seen. His sometimes bizarre and always entertaining commentary kept viewers tuned in even after the outcome of a lopsided game was a foregone conclusion. When Al McGuire died of leukemia in 2001, the sports world lost a true original.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Tom Kertscher's book-both words and pictures-helps shed additional light on the complex, complicated, and intelligent man that was Al McGuire."-Dean Smith, coach of the University of North Carolina Tarheels, who lost the 1977 national championship game to Marquette

About the Author

Tom Kertscher is a legal affairs reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. As a teenager in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, he closely followed Al McGuire and the Marquette Warriors, especially during their 1977 national championship season.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (November 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299183106
• ISBN-13: 978-0299183103
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Kertscher stumbled into a writing career after taking a journalism class in high school simply because it fit into his schedule. One of his first assignments ended up filling the front page of the school paper and, even though his name was misspelled in the byline, he was hooked. Tom has worked as a local news reporter for more than 25 years and currently is one of the PolitiFact Wisconsin reporters at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He previously worked for newspapers in Tulsa, Okla., Aurora, Ill., and Fresno, Calif. A journalism graduate of the University of Wisconsin (B.A.) and Ohio State University (M.A. on a Kiplinger Fellowship), Tom has authored books on two Wisconsin sports icons. His "Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire" (University of Wisconsin Press) collected quotations from the late Marquette University basketball coach. "Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute" (Turner Publishing) was published, thankfully, before the drama of the quarterback's retiring and unretiring. Tom lives with his daughter, Hailey, in Milwaukee.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An unusual coffee table-type book, November 30, 2003

By 

m_noland "m_noland" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire (Hardcover)

This is a strange coffee table-type book. Author Kertscher apparently did not know Al McGuire personally, and this book is the product of a posthumous project of collecting McGuire-related photographs and quotes. Yet despite the lack of direct personal connection, the book does a good job of communicating the odd combination of street-level wisdom, humanity, and whimsy that made McGuire such an intriguing and compelling character to a generation of basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Gift, November 23, 2002

By 

Elizabeth Wiseman (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire (Hardcover)

I don't know basketball, and I'm sure that my elevator doesn't go to the top, but I know a wonderful remembrance when I see one. Kertscher illustrates the humanity of McGuire - humorous and touching. The phrases from the glossary have become a shared language between myself and my son.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the real Al McGuire, November 12, 2002

By 

Greg Borowski (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire (Hardcover)

Most people may know Al McGuire as one of television's most colorful broadcasters, but the real Al McGuire can be found in his insights into coaching, recruiting and life. Even after his death, McGuire remains a towering figure in sports and one of the most intriguing coaches in college basketball history. This book delves deeply into McGuire in the most telling way possible - his own words.