Whether Frank Deford is the voice you hear on National Public Radio's Morning Edition or the name you see in the Newsweek byline, you are sure to be highly entertained with the irreverent musings of this much-acclaimed sports mind. Deford possesses a witty and poignant take on the world of athletics that has earned him a wealth of fans, from the most ardent sports enthusiast to the greenest novice. In this best of the best compilation, Deford creates insightful, richly, drawn yarns on the human drama and the occasional high comedy of athletic competition. The Best of Frank Deford relates not only the specific and the spectacular events that make up great sports writing, but reflects through sports the larger world of American culture. This is a grand collection of his most vivid caricatures, colorful anecdotes, and out-of-left-field observations on the often humbling and humorous nature of sport. The Best of Frank Deford is a treasure of Deford's best writing and will make an instant fan of any reader. After nearly 40 years in the trenches, Frank Deford's niche in the pantheon of modern sportswriters is secure, making the subtitle-- I'm Just Getting Started --of his latest collection (tongue-in-)cheekily optimistic. Irony has always been one of Deford's best weapons; by putting his award-winning magazine work from Sports Illustrated , Newsweek , and Vanity Fair beside his award-winning commentaries from National Public Radio, The Best of... shows how adeptly he's wielded it in two very separate mediums. Still, reading the recent magazine work along with selections from two decades of radio broadcasts--Deford insists the latter are really nothing more than written columns read aloud--makes for an odd coupling that has you wishing for a lot more of the printed Deford. Not that there's anything wrong with the radio version. Deford's commentaries are timely, pithy, clever, opinionated, and insightful, but they're ultimately as ephemeral as the airwaves they were delivered on. His magazine journalism, on the other hand, is anything but ephemeral. It is work that is rarely less than elegant, and often just plain exquisite. His long looks at Bobby Knight, Bill Russell, and a former Connecticut high school football star who commits suicide at 24 are breathtaking. So is his exploration of University of Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson, spun out by Deford as a play in four acts. His intertwined profile of Roger Bannister--the first four-minute miler--and Sir Edmund Hillary--the first to climb Everest--is a tour de force, as is his personal journey into the world of bowling. These are all pieces to be savored again and again for their expansiveness, circumspection, reportage, heart, style, and wit. They remind you what is Best about a writer of Deford's caliber in ways the constraints of radio can't pull in quite as clearly. --Jeff Silverman Frank Deford is a senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated , an author, a commentator for National Public Radio, and a correspondent for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. The Best of Frank Deford I'm Just Getting Started By Frank Deford Triumph Books Copyright © 2000 Frank Deford All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57243-360-1 Contents Introduction, Commentaries, Sports Centered, What Is a City Worth?, The Bard Goes to the Super Bowl, Pas de Respect, Just Like Switzerland, Words to Play By, The Lost Generation, What Ever Happened to Frank?, The Rabbit Hunter: Bobby Knight, Commentaries, Pious Hypocrisy, Bus Protocol, A Case for Gambling, Sick and Tired of Dennis Rodman, Cheatin' Refs, Little Boxes, Bad Boys, Super Bowl Sunday, Hoop Geography, Hooked on Golf, Frank Deford Goes Bowling, Commentaries, The Sports Curmudgeon, All I Know about Cars, Own, Owner, Own!, Golf v. Tennis, Worth, Walking in a Winter Wonderland, Down in Front, Logos, The Not-So-Sweet Science, Got to Do Some Coachin': Nolan Richardson, Commentaries, Tough Love, A Man for His Times, How Sports Works, Gamesmanship, Gone Fishin', We Will Rock You, Sportscasters, Playoffs — The American Dream, Lessons from a Friend, B. D., Commentaries, The Field General, Dressing Up, Injury Prone, Soccer Moms, Sack, Yes, Virginia, There is Sportsmanship, Borrowed Time, Momentum Has Momentum, There Goes Summer, Barkley's Last Shot, Commentaries, Driven Crazy by Baseball Caps, The Grand Old Man, Noo Yawk, Choosing Sides, Time Zones, The Subtleties of Sports Lingo, Sports Fashions, Why Cowboys Became Kings, Pregame Shows — Coming at You!, Kenny, Dying Young, Commentaries, Jocks, Peterose, Lovers and Fighters, Spring Training, One of a Kind, Football and Basketball Coaches, How We Lost Our Pastime, Our American City, The Van Horns of a Dilemma, The Team Player: Bill Russell, A Gentle Goliath: A Tribute to Wilt Chamberlain, Commentaries, Athletes Dying Young, Ruthian, Good Sports Towns, Game Face