Customer Reviews

Jordan: The Man, His Words, His Life

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

 

 

I like to read biographies of athletes but so many times they do not explain the athlete's life, game, how he gets ready for a game or how he deals with all the critism. This biography is just the oposite and I feel they explain every thing about what Michael Jordan does and who he really is. Another reason why I give this book 4-stars is because it is not often that you get to hear what the athlete really thinks about the critism or how they handle it, or any thing to deal with there life outside the game.

This is more than a biography. This is a complete overview of the man and his life. Krugel does what Bob Greene, Sam Smith and David Halberstam failed to do - get inside the life of Michael Jordan and explain how he did what he did. If you are looking for one book about Michael Jordan, this is it

From Michael Jordan's humble beginnings to his NBA superstardom, Jordan: the man, his words, his life by Mitchell Krugel is a brilliant account of the life of Michael Jordan on and off the court. At first, the book hooked me instantly because it told you what to expect and the information was presented very well. The author's introduction was phenomenal. What really interests the reader is how the author includes his own opinions about the events of Michael's life. For example, the author expresses his emotions in such an intense way about the tragic murder of Michael's father, James Jordan, in downtown Chicago. After the halfway point of the book, I concluded that this biography goes into a lot of depth as far as his spectacular college and professional basketball career. Overall, this book is an excellent account of Michael's public as well as his personal life.

The Man, His Life, His Words, by Mitchell Krugel. This book showed the many ways Michael Jordan became the great player he did. This shows his most memorable moments and his worst ones. One of his worst was when he didn't make the basketball team in his sophomore year in high school. After he was cut, he got every morning at 6a.m. to work with the varsity basketball coach and worked on all his areas he was lacking in. He ended up being an all-american at Laney High School. One of his most memorable moments was when he won 3 straight national championships with a team that did not even have a winning record the year before he came. This book also shows his struggle with trying to balance super-stardom with fatherhood. It also shows his struggles he had with him being too impatient with his teammates. I recommend this book to anyone into basketball because this book is inspiring and fun to read.

This has to be the best single book on Jordan so far. Not only does it cover intense game situations as they happened, it has the events covered from other players' perspectives and then by Jordan himself. He talks about opponents and they talk about him. He talks about people calling him greatest ever and how other players measure up to him - especially Wilt. The only negative point is that the photographs are weak. However, the text is fascinating and offers an in-depth world of the pressures of being Michael Jordan. It does not repeat the same factoids about his childhood that we already read a hundred times about. This book is about The Man and what makes him tick and how he goes about doing what he does. It is a truly unique experience and one of the rare occasions where we can actually learn about a genius from his own words.

If amazon.com had a "NO STARS" category, that would've been my selection. But as it is, 1 Star will have to do. I have no idea how this Krugle guy thinks he was tight with MJ. From reading this book, there's just no way he was! Half the quotes sound like they were made up, and the rest sound like they were taken directly off of a freakin' press release! Who does this guy think he is? I was at least glad to see that Krugle has another instant classic...this one on Patrick Swayze! Maybe that one has some quotes that actually came directly from the book's subject. To me, this poorly-written book is merely a means for Krugle to capitalize on the success of someone other than himself, and it doesn't look like he's had much of it. Hey, I could be wrong. But I don't think so. What a disappointment this book was. How the other reviewer gave it 5 stars, I have no clue. But that reader obviously must be Krugle himself, looking to tout this not-so-fine piece of work further. I wonder what Jordan had to say about this book...funny how I never heard MJ mention anything about his good buddy Mitchell Krugle. I smell a lawsuit.

I have mixed feelings about Michael Jordan. On the one hand, he is a great athlete. I respect his work ethic. He has turned in a number of great performances and is no doubt one of the greatest to have ever played the game of basketball.

There is a flipside. Michael Jordan got all kinds of special treatment while he was in the NBA. He was the first player I noticed who was granted all kinds of trips to the charity stripe because of unbelievably, ticky tack calls. He scored at least ten points a game at the free throw line from bogus calls. It was great when there was a picture session for 'greats of the game' with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. Magic told Larry not to stand too close to Michael or they might call a foul. In front of reporters and television viewers, that was a classic comment by Magic. I believe Mike got 99% of all calls in his favor because he was such a cash cow for the NBA. Dominique Wilkins was robbed of a slam dunk championship when Mike scored a perfect 50 doing the same dunk Dr. J did years before. I doubt Dr. J ever received a perfect 50 for it. Dominique's dunk was much more impressive, and he received a 49.5. Please. Mike got in a fight with Reggie Miller, and only Miller got suspended at first. Only after there was an outcry did Mike get suspended. How are Mike's punches different? Mike elbowed Kevin Johnson to the ground for all to see, and Kevin was called for blocking!

I am not too impressed that the bulls beat the lakers in the NBA finals. Magic was double teamed every game every minute he was in. On top of that, James Worthy and Byron Scott were injured. Magic and Larry never won three championships in a row because the competition, teams, and players in the 80s were much better than the nineties. Luc Longley, Will Perdue, Bill Cartwright, or Bill Wennington stopping Kareem? Ha!

Sport Magazine recently had a piece on the ten greatest moments and ten greatest players ever in the NBA. Mike was ranked number one all time player. Kudos to Mike for mentioning in 'For the love of the game' that to pick a "greatest ever" is impossible because of all the different eras and evolutions of basketball. The nineties bulls were given three of the ten greatest moments in NBA history. This is just more Mike bias. Give me a break. There are hundreds of classic and amazing moments in NBA history. One of the moments picked was Mike beating the Jazz in the final minutes of his last game. He put his hand on Bryon Russel's backside and shoved him out of the way. Then Mike made the game winnig shot. All eyes were on Mike, but the ref did not make the obvious call.

There is also Mike's arrogance. According to him, Wilt Chamberlain was a fluke eventhough Wilt was a great all around player. He made a comment about Magic and Larry reaching a 'certain level of greatness' and that the two were not good on defense. What? Are we talking about the same Larry Bird? Shaquille Oneal is also much better and much improved than Mike gives him credit for. Shaq has turned into a solid defender, passer, and he works hard at both ends of the floor.

Mike's corporate poster boy behavior is laughable. He did ads for AT&T and then MCI. The Wayans family is also split between the two companies. Mike talked about the enviroment in Rayovac ads and then pitches hot dogs? Mike is not the only athlete who will pitch anything and everything to make millions. I wonder if Mike has checked into Nike's labor practices.

Players like Mike and Charles Barkley soured me on the NBA. Charles played like a thug and got away with it because he was a star. Plus, Charles insisted on wearing number 34 at Philadelphia eventhough it was retired for NBA great Billy Cunningham. The star treatment and inflated egos has grown old, and that has turned a lot of people off to sports. I miss the Lakers and Celtics match ups of the 1980s.