I definitely read my share of Matt Christopher books, and probably at about the same age (I'm only about nine months older than you). I remember The Kid Who Only Hit Homers (and its first sequel) and Touchdown Tommy. Probably others I haven't thought about in over 30 years.
The biggest sports book that made me was the 1992 Sports Illustrated Sports Almanac, which I got from a book store with some Christmas money and was hooked on stats from just about every sport and records from Olympic events, etc. I never had to buy that book again, because every Christmas for about the next 6-7 years my older cousins would get the new edition for me as a gift.
I ended up publishing it probably a month after I meant to because I learned of the Jackie Robinson connection with my subject very late in my research and made some efforts to learn if there was more to that before finishing the post.
You citing The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro brought back memories -- I still recall the passage where McGinnis learned that a referee had gotten hung after a match. He asks if anyone was arrested: "Oh no ... everyone knew the referee had been at fault."
Other prime football books:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
Hell yeah, Judge "New York Crew" reference. crossing those two mental streams indeed must have been mind blowing.
Happy belated birthday buddy!
It may be old brain, but I think you maybe have a birthday around this time too?
And man oh man, you have no idea. "oh cool the old guy has a Judge shir...wait what?"
I definitely read my share of Matt Christopher books, and probably at about the same age (I'm only about nine months older than you). I remember The Kid Who Only Hit Homers (and its first sequel) and Touchdown Tommy. Probably others I haven't thought about in over 30 years.
The biggest sports book that made me was the 1992 Sports Illustrated Sports Almanac, which I got from a book store with some Christmas money and was hooked on stats from just about every sport and records from Olympic events, etc. I never had to buy that book again, because every Christmas for about the next 6-7 years my older cousins would get the new edition for me as a gift.
On the subject of Jackie Robinson, he played a starring role in the title (though a very minor one in the actual story) of my most recent post: https://texasandlonghornhistory.substack.com/p/judson-atchison-texas-longhorns-football-track-long-jump-jackie-robinson
I ended up publishing it probably a month after I meant to because I learned of the Jackie Robinson connection with my subject very late in my research and made some efforts to learn if there was more to that before finishing the post.
oh man, how could I forget the SI Almanacs! Those were big for me as well!
You citing The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro brought back memories -- I still recall the passage where McGinnis learned that a referee had gotten hung after a match. He asks if anyone was arrested: "Oh no ... everyone knew the referee had been at fault."
Other prime football books:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
Soccer in Sun and Shadow
Ajax, Barcelona, Cruyff