Sports of the Times: A Day-By-Day Selection of the Most Important, Thrilling and Inspired Events of the Past 150 Years (Hardcover)

by The New York Times (Author), David Fischer (Editor), William Taaffe (Editor) "In a thrilling football game before a capacity crowd of 70,000 in the Rose Bowl here today, the Golden Tornado of Georgia Tech defeated the..." (more)
Key Phrases: divisional playoff game, decisive game, championship today, New York, United States, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Here's a nifty variation on the page-per-day book. Turn to June 9, and read a story (originally published in the New York Times on June 9, 1973) about Secretariat's victory in the Belmont Stakes. Or turn to January 5 and read the Times' 1920 report on the Yankees' buying Babe Ruth's contract from the Boston Red Sox for the then-astronomical sum of $125,000. It's a very clever concept, one year's worth of stories from the Times representing the biggest sporting news to have occurred on each day of the calendar over an entire century. There is something here for nearly every sports fan: baseball, hockey, horseracing, running, basketball, golf, tennis, even skateboarding. The stories appear in their original form, unembellished by contemporary commentary and with their original photographs. There are only two problems with the book: it's an oversize hardcover, which makes it less than ideal for bedtime reading, and it's hard to imagine any sports fan portioning the book out to one page a day. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
very sports fan has a personal memory book-a treasury of unforgettable achievements-moments in which a game was spectacularly won (or lost) against all odds, a hero was crowned, or an unspeakable human error cost an athlete a championship or a team the entire season. Sometimes it's a scandal, a rule change, or even technology that changes a sport dramatically. Sports of the Times draws from the archives of Times reporting to recreate and select the most important event of each calendar day, from any sport-horseracing to the Olympics and more. A few classic examples include: -January 12, 1969: Joe Namath promises a Super Bowl victory and delivers -June 22, 1938: Joe Louis beats Max Schmeling for the heavyweight boxing championship -August 3, 1984: Mary Lou Retton becomes the first American gymnast to win the gold medal. With three runners up for each day and exclusive photos throughout, this book makes a wonderful gift.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (November 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312312326
• ISBN-13: 978-0312312329
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,228,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great idea!, November 9, 2003

By A Customer

Pick any day of the year, and you can read the New York Times story of what the authors select as the most important sports event of that day in history. The photographs that go along with each story are terrfic as well.

While the authors got most of the sports events correct, i.e.Broadway Joe's guarantee of a Super Bowl victory, The Brooklyn Dodgers winning their first and only World Series, Roger Maris surpassing the Babe, they missed a few i.e, selecting Steve Carlton's 19 strikeouts in a loss to the Mets over Muhammad Ali becoming the first boxer in history to win the heavy weight title 3 times,and overlooking Jackie Robinson's first game with the Dodgers in favor of John Havlicek's steal to help the Celtics win the 1965 NBA Championship. In a move that will ensure ongoing discussion and controversy, the editors provide descriptions of the three runner up events for each day as well. This has already provoked a few friendly arguments around here.

This book is great, and I plan on giving it as a gift to many of my sports loving friends and family members.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For Any True Sports Fan, February 22, 2004

By A Customer

This is a great book. Well researched and very well written by one of the best sports writers of all time. It's enlightening, informative and entertaining. Inspires the reader to excell in daily life! Enjoyable to anyone with an interest in the history of human accomplishments as well as factual accounts and fascinating information on our greatest sports legends and heroes. Lavishly illustrated with memorable photographic images from the archives of the New York Times. Enjoyable from Page One.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, December 10, 2003

By A Customer

This is a fabulous read. The authors have selected the most important sporting events of each day of the year and tossed out runners up so that sports nuts can argue endlessly about the choices. Amazing photos, too.