Customer Reviews

From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recently, as part of the Thomas Nelson Blogger Reviewer Program, I received a copy of Eli Gold's "From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic". The work is an autobiography looking back at the life of a kid from NYC who skipped most of high school to watching sporting events that found himself in the right place in the right time many times over who advanced up the ranks of sportcasting.

I give the work three stars. It was an easy read; something to read while trying to fall asleep at night. For me, a sign of a great autobiography is one that the subject shares not only the events of his life, but why those events were important enough to recall as well as the lessons learned. Overall, this work is a feel-good retelling of Eli's favorite stories, without much added depth.

Eli's work has been overall contained to hockey, NASCAR, Alabama football and basketball. If you're familiar with any of these sports, there will be many stories that will be quite enjoyable and fun to read. If you're not, but have some idea of the benefit of sport, there are stories that will make you laugh, or make you stop to think for a moment.

All in all, a fine book.

I would by no means count myself a sports fanatic. I enjoy seeing sports on TV and occasionally I will catch a live event. I picked up Eli Gold's book "From Peanuts to the Pressbox" not really knowing what to expect. I can tell you that after the first chapter I was hooked and by the end I had been reminded of what I love about sports. The events themselves, Eli is a fan and it shows in this book. Eli tells the story of his life by recalling events he has seen on the court and the experiences that got him to each of those events. Told in a refreshing conversational style I often had to remind myself that I was not sitting around the table with him having coffee swapping stories. Starting from his childhood selling peanuts to be close to the action he shows us all what we can do if we only hold on to our dreams. Realizing his through his dedication and hard work he has done everything he wanted to and truly lived his life the way he chooses to. From Peanuts to the Pressbox is a must read.

I was interested in this book because I had listened
to Eli Gold broadcast many University of Alabama basketball
and football games. In the book he relates his almost
unquenchable desire to be a radio broadcaster.
He is to be admired for his determination to reach his goal.
Education was of no importance to him as he felt he only
needed to gain the opportunity to obtain experience.
Much of the book is related to broadcasting of NASCAR
and hockey games. Therefore I was somewhat disappointed
in the book as my sports interest is mainly confined to football
and basketball. Broadcasting enabled him to meet quite a number
of interesting, well known people. particularly in the sports
and broadcasting fields. I believe anyone with an interest
in a wide range of sports would find the book to be to their liking.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger program I was able to review the book From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic
by Eli Gold.

I chose to review this book because my family is big Alabama football fans and Eli Gold is known as the voice of the Crimson Tide.

Personally though, I'm not a huge sports fan. That however didn't lower my enjoyment of reading this autobiography by Gold. It is told in a personable manner that captivates his audience into wanting to read more of his story.

I found this book to be enjoyable. However, maybe due to subject matter it wasn't a real page turner that made me finish it in one day. It is a good book to read a few chapters a day and then come back to it when you can.

Despite what the title says and cover pictures look like this book is not just about football. Overall it is an interesting read with lots of Eli's personal pictures and travels in the book. I was hoping for a more in depth view into the world of the Alabama Football Program from Mr. Gold's perspective. It has a surprising amount of info on NASCAR and basketball included in the book. It was nice to read but the 5 star book I was hoping for.

I am not a big sports fan. I watch a variety of sports on television, but only sparsely. I have never even heard of the guy who wrote this book (although I have probably listened to him on some sportscasts without knowing who he was). I don't even think this was a great job of writing. However, I completely enjoyed reading this book.

Any faults in writing ability by the author was more than made up for in enthusiasm for the subject about which he writes. He obviously enjoys his job and it was refreshing to read a book written by someone who is so dang happy.

I found the book very interesting concerning how he became a sportscaster and how he progressed through the "ranks." The author lead a very different life than I have lead and I find it enjoyable to learn how others came to be who they are.

The Amazon book description gives a good overview of what the book is about, so I will not waste space repeating it, but the real reason I liked this book was because of the way the author went about writing it. He doesn't trash people, he doesn't tell us how he is better than others (in fact, he is very humble), he is thankful to those who has helped him along the way, and he just plain tells an enjoyable and pleasurable to read story about his life in broadcasting.

Reading this book is like watching a favorite old movie and you just feel good sitting there watching it and eating popcorn. I like it. So four stars it is.

As a Californian, the main exposure I've had to Eli Gold has been as a NASCAR announcer on MRN and what used to be TNN. There are also times when I have heard radio highlights of him and his work as the voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

He's always struck me as an enthusiastic and accurate sportscaster that would be hard to dislike. His new autobiography proves my hypothesis. Eli is a versatile broadcaster, a good family man and a principled person who is interested in sports and competition and not gossip and tearing people down. You can glee these positive attributes from this book.

The only downside from his book is that it sometimes reads like sports play-by-play. He touches on a number of interesting sports stories and life experiences but there are times when I wanted a little more detail. Some of his memories of racecar drivers such as Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt were the highlights of the book, but I wished there had been more - perhaps about some of the hockey stars he has covered or the players at Alabama.

The good thing is that a good man like Eli has one of the best jobs in sports for one of college football's most successful programs. I wish him the best of success and hope to hear his voice again on NASCAR broadcasts in the future.

Eli Gold, a veteran of some 30+ years at broadcasting, has written a wonderful book on his life from literally selling peanuts at Madison Square Garden (just to get into the events free) to being the voice of the Crimson Tide and NASCAR Today. Gold describes a world of journalism that spans from the hard-wired mic days and no cell phones to the digital-remote days of today.

His book is filled with deatiled, often humourous, stories of some of the more colorful sports personalities with whom he's crossed paths. For instance, one exciting story describes the dangers of reporting the 1982 Pocono Winston Cup and having Dale Earnhardt's fender coming flying up to almost decapitate Gold in the broadcast tower.

But more importantly, his book is filled with how to take the "fire in the belly" need to broadcast sports and become tops in the field of radio and television broadcasting. Gold worked at whatever, whenever to get the experience he needed to do what he does today. His stories prove that although the road isn't easy, the journey is worth the sweat, tears and hardships of flea-ridden motels, non-airconditioned buses and too-much time away from home.

This book is perfect for sports fans (especially NASCAR, arena football, hockey and college football and basketball), sports historians, broadcast/print journalism enthusiasts and those just interested in reading about one man's journey from being a Brooklyn high school peanut-stand seller to the Voice of the Crimson Tide!

This is all great stuff.

I do have one small quibble. The book doesn't flow as well as it could -- some jokes and comments are repeated as if the chapters were separate articles strung loosely together and the text can be a bit rambling. All in all though, this is a great read and one I'm saving for my seven year old son who loves to practice "sports broadcasting" all the time.

For any die hard Crimson Tide fan (is there any other kind?) or NASCAR lover, Eli Gold's new book is a wonderful peek behind the curtain to see how the magic happens. Gold has more stories to tell from his days as a sports broadcaster than most Baptist preachers. The color and candor with which he relays his fondest and at times funniest memories of his childhood and his ascent up the ladder to the pressbox are priceless!

I lived in Alabama for about four years while doing graduate work, so I was familiar with the personality and of course the voice of Eli Gold. His name is almost synonymous with Bear Bryant in Alabama, I said almost. Gold's stories almost sound as if you were sitting at a coffee shop and catching up with an old friend. He has the ability to take you to the moment and the person so that you feel as if you were experiencing his memory for yourself. I guess that's why he's so good at what he does by calling games, races, and nearly everything in between.

At times the choppiness of the chapters made it feel repetitive. Not sure if perhaps a bit more editing would help that or not...regardless this book would make a great Christmas gift for any University of Alabama fan or any sports fan for that matter.
[...]

This was a good book but it definitely could have been better. I never knew that Eli Gold has started so young and worked his way up from the very bottom. I loved his stories about his teenage years and when he was just breaking in the business. However there were so many stories that as a reader you want more information on. I thought that Mr. Gold could have taken more time to describe his fascinating life and really reached a lot of fans on so many levels. He has broadcasted hockey, basketball, football and racing. He name drops a lot of different people from those sports that the book just leaves you wanting to know more about. I can't imagine being involved in NASCAR that long and not having a book full of stories about his time in the sport. What about Kenny Stabler? Eli Gold has broadcasted so many games with him...are you really telling me that things haven't happened or that you couldn't have wrote more about your friendship and professional relationship with him. This book is wrote like Eli Gold speaks so it's very easy to read and a quick read. I wouldn't pay hardback price on it. I would wait until it's a bargain book or in paperback. If you need to read it now, then I would go to the library.