Gary M. Pomerantz

The 1970's Pittsburgh Steelers are an iconic dynasty in the modern era of professional football. Typically defense wins championships and Pittsburgh had some of the best defensive players ever to don pads and cleats. But they also had some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball like Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth. And let's give Terry Bradshaw his due for slowly becoming a team leader and competent enough quarterback to lead the Steelers to four Super Bowls in six years.

Gary Pomerantz has gone back and takes a look at this dynastic team from the point of view of the players who made it all happen all those many years ago. You can truly see the deep bond many of the players developed for a lifetime, particularly on the defensive side the ball, and the importance of that team's legacy to the not just the players, but the city of Pittsburgh itself.

Central to the book is how Franco Harris became so deeply ingrained in the community becoming a local hero, philanthropist, and businessman. He also talks about some of the more tragic stories such as the unfortunate decline in health, both physical and mental, of Mike Webster, one of the best centers ever to play the game. And the great affection and brotherhood that marked the best defensive line in NFL history - Mean Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White, and Crazy Ernie Holmes comes to life as they remember the glory of the past.

Pomerantz was a journalist who covered the Steeler's in the seventies. One of the oddest comments in the books introduction is this disillusion with professional football because of brain trauma and the recent studies about the plight of many former players. Fair enough. Thankfully the book is well balanced and doesn't drone on about this topic other than when discussion Mike Webster.

For any football fan this is a book well worth reading and it is a must read for Pittsburgh Steeler's fans.… (mehr)

THE LAST PASS, by Gary Pomerantz, is at it's core about Bob Cousy. The book looks at the Celtics and their winning dynasty in the 1950's and 1960's and it's unique and polarizing leader, Arnold "Red" Auerbach. It looks at Bill Russell, the amazing athlete and passionate advocate for equality in the NBA and the turbulent sentiments of the country during that same time. But it all comes back to Cousy, who is the through line of it all. He is one of the most revered NBA players ever; one of the first real greats of the game, and yet he still struggles with how he could have been a better teammate, better NBA personality, and better moral leader in the emotionally charged 1950's and 1960's.
Pomerantz clearly has an affinity for Bob Cousy, but does an admirable job of looking at both sides of him, mostly by how different people (teammates, journalists, etc) perceived him. Some revered him, some found him aloof and self-centered, but few could say he was anything less than a talented and one-of-a-kind player. Pomerantz goes deeper, interviewing Cousy and challenging him to talk about things he doesn't want to talk about, like his relationship with Russell and how he was perceived in the public eye. Pomerantz also weighs heavily how race equality and the nation's shifting view of that racial equality affected the NBA, the Celtics, and each of the players. The story of the Celtics is so much more than Cousy and the book recounts how the team came together, grew, and thrived year after year. The stories Pomerantz has collected are wonderfully fascinating and quite informative at the same time. He involves so many of the major components (players, coaches, executives, journalists) of those championship teams and how each of them were part of the greatness, giving as balanced of a look at that time as possible.
As an avid sports history reader, THE LAST PASS is among the best I have ever read. The novel tells the story of a special man, chronicles one of the greatest sports dynasties, and touches the reader with the humanity of the game, the people, and the special time in our country when this all was taking place.
Thank you to Penguin Press, Gary Pomerantz, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (mehr)

Interesting but ultimately trivial. Two main strands, both from the 1930s: the story of a woman who shot her husband over a bridge game, and the story of Ely and Jo Culbertson, a married couple who apparently revolutionized contract bridge. The murder strand was actually the less tragic of the two. All in all, reminded me forcefully of why I don't play card games that require partners. (Although as a child I used to watch my parents play a partnership game--not bridge, something else--with my mother's cousin and her husband. People don't seem to do that anymore. When we see our friends we mostly drink wine and gossip about the school and the synagogue.)
… (mehr)