Dick Schaap as Told to Dick Schaap: 50 Years of Headlines, Deadlines & Punchlines [Mass Market Paperback]

Dick Schaap (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2001

Over the course of five decades, Dick Schaap carved out his own legend with his reportorial verve, his indefatigable curiosity, and his irrepressible wit. This memoir, the last book from the former ABC correspondent and host of ESPN's The Sports Reporters, recounts a charmed career in which he met almost everyone and saw almost everything. Schaap walked with sluggers and senators, cops and comedians, authors and actresses. The sights he saw and the words he heard are all here in stories that will make you laugh and cry.

With an introduction by Tuesdays with Morrie author Mitch Albom, Dick Schaap As Told To Dick Schaap offers the ultimate highlight reel of the last fifty years and makes a compelling case that if the revered journalist wasn't there to see it, it didn't happen.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dick Schaap is the author of more than thirty books, including the New York Times bestsellers Instant Replay (with Jerry Kramer) and Bo Knows Bo (with Bo Jackson). Host of ESPN's The Sports Reporters and ESPN Classic's One on One and theater critic for ABC's World News Now, he has won six Emmy Awards. He is the only man who votes for both the Heisman Trophy and the Tony Awards.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (October 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380820153
• ISBN-13: 978-0380820153
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,467,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schaap is the ultimate storyteller, November 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dick Schaap as Told to Dick Schaap: 50 Years of Headlines, Deadlines & Punchlines (Mass Market Paperback)

Reading this book literally changed my life. I changed my major in college to journalism when i read this account of Schaap's life and his work. This book is a must read for sports lovers, people who enjoy great stories and people who love great writing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Six Degrees of Dick Schaap, March 30, 2002

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dick Schaap as Told to Dick Schaap: 50 Years of Headlines, Deadlines & Punchlines (Mass Market Paperback)

Dick Schaap knew everyone, and everyone knew Dick Schaap. For further proof, one need only scroll down to the bottom of [amazon.com's] page about "Flashing Before My Eyes", to the section which reads: "Customers who bought titles by Dick Schaap also bought titles by these authors". There, you'll find the names Don Zimmer and Mike Lupica (two other recent sports autobiographies)... as well as Mario Batali, and J.K. Rowling. Clearly this was a man with distinct crossover appeal.

I regret that I cam to read "Flashing Before My Eyes" only after Mr. Schaap's untimely passing at the end of 2001, for it had been on my Wish List since its original publication date. "Flashing" is a witty, urbane read, a book you can polish off in a couple of hours and yet one whose anecdotes will remain with you for quite some time. Schaap's nature was to listen and observe, and after a half-century of journalism, he collected anecdotes about everyone from Bill Clinton to Bill Lee, Bob Knight to Bobby Kennedy, from Norman Mailer to Reggie Jackson.

Along the way are some terrific insights into writing and the state of journalism today, but never once will you feel as if you've been bashed over the head with the author's personal opinions. It's easy for a longtime sports figure to turn his autobiography into a political manifesto (after reading Nolan Ryan's book, I was surprised to learn that he wasn't running for office), but like Don Zimmer's book, Schaap's is remarkably issue-free and hatchet-free, wry but never bitter. He was a terrific observer, who saw everything but kvetched about little. And yet, you still get into Schaap's head and understand what he was really thinking at all times. He walked that fine line remarkable well.

If nothing else, read this book for the stories. The most revealing moments are the chapters on the Watts riots, Bobby Kennedy, and gay Olympic decathlete Tom Waddell. My favorite quote is from Reggie Jackson, as I once heard Schaap relate on ESPN Classic... "The magnitude of me". If Dick Schaap hadn't been so modest and self-deprecating, that line could well have been this book's title.

4.0 out of 5 stars An Icon in Sports Writing, May 7, 2004

By 

R. Spell "raspell" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dick Schaap as Told to Dick Schaap: 50 Years of Headlines, Deadlines & Punchlines (Mass Market Paperback)

Dick Schaap was the Forrest Gump of sports. Always around fascinating personalities from the 50s to 2001, Dick Schaap had the reputation as quite the name dropper. And he acknowledges this participating in the joke early on. This book is an accumulation of anecdotes from his life. His early life and how he gravitates to sports journalism is quite interesting with many great stories of the writers he worked with like Jimmy Breslin and Thomas Wolfe. Then, he spends some time on well-known sports personalities. This was the weakest part of the book for me as he retells stories that further the reputation of already known figures. But the last third of the book turns into classic Dick Schaap with story after story written with his dry wit. I would strongly recommend this book if you have interest in sports or pop culture from the 60s on.