Synopses & Reviews
Hailing from suburban Los Angeles, raised by supportive parents, and educated at a boys-only parochial school, Darryl Henley had it all. He earned a history degree from UCLA, became a first-team All American for the Bruins in 1988, and was a rising star as the starting cornerback for the LA Rams in the early nineties. How Henley, in the space of three short years, went from golden NFL role model to federal inmate is one of the most bizarre stories in the annals of sport-stars-turned-criminal.
The product of eight years of investigative research and over one hundred interviews, Intercepted takes us into Henleyand#8217;s fourth season in the NFL, when he met Rams cheerleader Tracy Donaho and bumped into a boyhood friend named Willie McGowan, a onetime youth-league standout who had since turned to drug trafficking. Henley, Donaho, and McGowan embark on a scheme to transport cocaine that lands Henley in federal prison, where he attempts to arrange a Mafia hit on the sentencing judge and Donaho, who had been the star witness against Henley at his trial. Detailing how one of the best and brightest of our professional athletes destroyed himself through temptation, arrogance, and anger at a justice system that he felt had failed him, Intercepted is also a cautionary tale about American culture, as disturbing as it is impossible to ignore.
Review
and#8220;A sympathetic, moving life of the Brown Bomber by veteran cultural historian and biographer Roberts. . . . All legendary athletes should hope for treatment by such capable, compassionate hands.and#8221;and#8212;
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Review
"The author of superb studies of the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey, Mr. Roberts spins a graceful and reliable narrative of Louis's life. [He] also gets into the ring with the question: Why did Joe Louis matter so much to so many?"and#8212;Wall Street Journal
Review
"[This] new biography by Randy Roberts restores Louis to his proper place in the pantheon, both as an athlete and as a cultural icon."and#8212;Allen St. John, Dallas Morning News
Review
"A biography to be savored. . . . Roberts' narrative of the pugilist and the man is gripping. . . . He captures the spirit of the age, when boxing on radio fed the national imagination. . . . Roberts recovers a great story and makes it sing for him."and#8212;Andrew Burstein, Baton Rouge Advocate
Review
"Roberts is a fine match with his subject. He supports with powerful evidence his contention that Louis's impact was enormous and profound."and#8212;Bill Littlefield, Boston Globe
Review
"Well-researched, intelligent, and insightful. . . . [Roberts is] able to capture the drama, brutality, and pathos of Louis's epic battles."and#8212;Glenn Altschuler, Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
"It's a thrilling account of an extraordinary life, one that needed to be retold to a generation tow hom Joe Louis is no more than an occasional face on ESPN Classic. There was a giant in those days, and Roberts has reclaimed him for us."and#8212;Allen Barra, St. Petersburg Times
Review
"[An] exciting account of the great champ's life. . . . [The book] isn't so much a biography as a cultural history of its subject's life and times. . . . It's a thrilling account of an extraordinary life, one that needed to be retold to a generation to whom Joe Louis is no more than an occasional face on ESPN Classic. He was a giant in those days, and Randy Roberts has reclaimed him for us."and#8212;Allen Barra, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Review
"Louis's story ghad been told by sportwriters and historians many times, but Roberts is a fine match with his subject. He suppports with powerful evidence his contention that Louis's impact was enormous and profound. His explorations of the shameful social conditions and smug hyporcrisy poisoning the landscape over which Louis loomed for a time are incisive and convincing."and#8212;Bill Littlefield, New York Post
Review
"Roberts has written a thoroughly researched, engaging book on African American heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. . . . This excellent book has much to say about race, nationalism, and identity."and#8212;A. Ejikeme, CHOICE
Review
"Roberts's book is a thoroughly researched beginner's guide to boxing as well as an introductory course in 20th century politics that contains, at the heart of it, a stoic enigma of a fighter who wasn't afraid to go toe-to-toe with the world."and#8212;Lance Hicks, Bama Escapes
Review
"[In this] concise, judicious biography, . . . Roberts vividly re-creates a bygone time when boxing enjoyed enormous popularity. . . . Roberts is superb at conveying the excitement that surrounded Louis' exploits."and#8212;Richmond Times-Dispatch
Review
Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the Sports and Recreation category. Richmond Times-Dispatch
Review
and#8220;The most versatile man I know; sports, music, writing, the law, he could do it all.and#8221;and#8212;Tim McCarver
Review
and#8220;When it came to baseball, Cashen had the magic touch.and#8221;and#8212;Nelson Doubleday Jr., former president of Doubleday and former owner of the New York Mets
Review
and#8220;Frank Cashen, through shrewd trades and organizational development, put together two of the most complete pitching staffs in baseball history. Through the use of both the numbers and his great appreciation of the eyes and ears of the game (the scouts), Mr. Cashen assembled iconic franchises. Orioles and Mets fans applaud.and#8221;and#8212;Ron Darling, New York Mets pitcher in the 1980s
Review
and#8220;Frank Cashen liked being a sportswriter, liked being a lawyer, liked running a brewery, but loved being a baseball general manager. He took his intellect, people skills, great judgment, and passion and became one of the best baseball GMs ever.and#8221;and#8212;Jim Palmer, broadcaster and Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher
Review
and#8220;Cashen is a hero to the little people in baseball. He believed in scouting and the Minor Leagues and persuaded the big league owners to provide a retirement plan for the forgotten people of baseball.and#8221;and#8212;Harry Minor, long-time New York Mets scout
Review
"[Winning in Both Leagues] delivers a refreshingly compact and unpretentious change of pace."and#8212;Henry D. Fetter, Wall Street Journal
Review
"Whether you've heard the stories before, or whether some of the information is totally new, Cashen's is a good read."and#8212;Pete Kerzel,
Mid Atlantic Sports NetworkReview
and#8220;Capturing the inner life of an NFL player is challenging enough. Revealing the torment, hubris, and shame that marked Darryl Henleyand#8217;s downfall is a task that only the bravest reporter could undertake.and#8221;and#8212;Adam Schefter, NFL reporter for ESPN
Review
and#8220;[
Intercepted is] engrossing, heartbreaking, upliftingand#8212;and dynamic. A fantastic book.and#8221;and#8212;Jeff Pearlman, author of the
New York Times bestseller
Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter PaytonReview
and#8220;Intercepted is rivetingand#8212;the perfect pairing of saga and author. The twisted, tragic, stranger-than-fiction journey of Darryl Henley is sensational in the hands of Michael McKnight, a gifted storyteller who also happens to be one of Americaand#8217;s best investigative journalists.and#8221;and#8212;Austin Murphy, senior writer for Sports Illustrated and author of The Sweet Season
Review
and#8220;Gritty and intimate, Intercepted is a mind-blowing account of an NFL starand#8217;s fall from fame. McKnight is a first-rate reporter who masterfully tells a story that will leave readers unable to put the book down. The detail and the drama are breathtaking.and#8221;and#8212;Jeff Benedict, Sports Illustrated contributor and author of Poisoned
Review
and#8220;This tormented tale of hubris and corruption, loaded with seedy characters, reads like a legal thriller. But McKnightand#8217;s thorough examination of former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darryl Henleyand#8217;s sordid fall from grace is a cautionary all-too-real story of sex, drugs, and murder. . . . Sports Illustrated writer McKnightand#8217;s meticulous research and attention to detail nearly indicts the U.S. justice system and its own glaring flaws.and#8221;and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
and#8220;In the end what proved the fatal flaw of a man who looked as if he should have succeeded in the NFL and beyond? William Kopeny, an attorney who helped Henleyand#8217;s defense team, offered McKnight this explanation: and#8216;Vanity and cool . . . Thatand#8217;s the only thing I can come up with. Vanity and cool.and#8217;and#8221;and#8212;Bill Littlefield, Boston Globe
Review
and#8220;A legal/mystery novel with a compelling tale of both justice and injustice of our legal system. There were definitely two sides to this story of Henley.and#8221;and#8212;
Gridiron Greats Book Reviewand#160;
and#160;
Review
and#8220;[A] crime story page-turner.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal
Synopsis
Joe Louis defended his heavyweight boxing title an astonishing twenty-five times and reigned as world champion for more than eleven years. He got more column inches of newspaper coverage in the 1930s than FDR did. His racially and politically charged defeat of Max Schmeling in 1938 made Louis a national hero. But as important as his record is what he meant to African-Americans: at a time when the boxing ring was the only venue where black and white could meet on equal terms, Louis embodied all their hopes for dignity and equality.
Through meticulous research and first-hand interviews, acclaimed historian and biographer Randy Roberts presents Louis, and his impact on sport and country, in a way never before accomplished. Roberts reveals an athlete who carefully managed his public image, and whose relationships with both the black and white communitiesand#8212;including his relationships with mobstersand#8212;were far more complex than the simplistic accounts of heroism and victimization that have dominated previous biographies.
Richly researched and utterly captivating, this extraordinary biography presents the fulland#160;range of Joe Louisand#8217;s power in and out of the boxing ring.
Synopsis
Joe Louis defended his heavyweight boxing title an astonishing 25 times and reigned as world champion for more than 11 years. Through meticulous research and first-hand interviews, acclaimed historian and biographer Roberts presents Louis, and his impact on sport and country, in a way never before accomplished.
Synopsis
In Winning in Both Leagues J. Frank Cashen looks back over his twenty-five-year career in baseball. Best known as the general manager of the New York Mets during their remaking and rise to glory in the 1980s, Cashen fills the pages with lively stories from his baseball tenure during the last half of the twentieth century. His career included a stint with the Baltimore Orioles of the late andrsquo;60s and andrsquo;70s, working with manager Earl Weaver and the great teams of the early andrsquo;70s, including such players as Jim Palmer, Frank Robinson, and Brooks Robinson. Later, tapped by Mets owner Nelson Doubleday Jr. to bring the Mets to the pinnacle of Major League Baseball, Cashen, with the rise of superstars Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, led the Mets to the thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Boston Red Sox leading to the World Series championship in 1986.and#160;
Winning in Both Leagues also chronicles the drafting of Billy Beane, who would later be the focus of the New York Times bestseller Moneyball. Cashen, who was a central figure in the fierce competition with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, excelled at building winning ball clubs and remains one of only two general managers ever to win a World Series in both leagues.
About the Author
J. Frank Cashen was, at various times, executive vice president, chief operating officer, and general manager of the Baltimore Orioles in the and#8217;60s and and#8217;70s and the New York Mets from 1980 to 1991. His teams won three world championships in five World Series appearances and were runners up in three other league championship playoffs. He passed away on June 30, 2014.
Billy Beane is the vice president and general manager of the Oakland Athletics.and#160;and#160;
and#160;