Glory Days: The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever
- Downloads：8597
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-30 06:19:22
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：L. Jon Wertheim
- ISBN：1328637247
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Lance
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1984 was a year that was not only popularized by George Orwell's novel written 35 years earlier， but also was a year that was a watershed one in several sports， most notably professional basketball， tennis and the Summer Olympics。 Those moments and what they meant in the history of not only sports but also for social and political movements are captured in this excellent book by long-time Sports Illustrated （SI） writer L。 Jon Wertheim。The best passages are those about basketball and tennis， two 1984 was a year that was not only popularized by George Orwell's novel written 35 years earlier， but also was a year that was a watershed one in several sports， most notably professional basketball， tennis and the Summer Olympics。 Those moments and what they meant in the history of not only sports but also for social and political movements are captured in this excellent book by long-time Sports Illustrated （SI） writer L。 Jon Wertheim。The best passages are those about basketball and tennis， two sports he covered regularly for SI。 The passages on Michael Jordan， especially near the end of the book， are very compelling。 This is true whether they are about his basketball or his marketing appeal， especially for a relatively unknown shoe company at the time called Nike。 The reader will learn much about the 1984 Jordan， especially his connection with Nike。 Of course， Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are included as well， including a great chapter on the NBA Finals that year with Bird's Celtics winning a thrilling 7 game series over Johnson's Lakers。As for the tennis， the main personalities of his focus are the two players who were nearly unbeaten that entire year， John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova。 While the stories on McEnroe are good， Navratilova's story is even better， especially as she was one of the first athletes to speak out on social issues。 For her， there were plenty – an immigrant who became an American by defection， her coming out as a lesbian， her hiring of a transgender coach， Dr。 Renee Richards and even her training regiment。 For the latter， she developed a muscular tone， considered to be taboo for female athletes at the time。 I found this connection to many of the female athletes today who are activists like Megan Rapinoe and Serena Williams quite fascinating。There are other important athletes and teams of from that year， most notably the Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles。 Instead of focusing solely on the boycott by the Soviet Union and other communist nations， the text focuses on the athletes and the organizer of the games。 Portrayals of Mary Decker and Mary Lou Retton are notable， but the best writing on the Games was about the director， Peter Ueberroth and his determination to make the Games not only memorable but also profitable。 His success with them led to him being named the new commissioner of baseball that year。 Throw in some writing about Wayne Gretzky， Ryne Sandberg and the Chicago Cubs and even Mike Tyson trying out for the Olympic boxing team and you have a great book that captures the sports pulse for that summer。 I wish to thank Houghton Mifflin for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 https://sportsbookguy。blogspot。com/20。。。 。。。more
Jennifer Schultz
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Read if you: Want an energetic and entertaining look at the sports world in 1984， from basketball， pro wrestling， the Olympics， and more。 Niche histories focused on a particular year seem to becoming more popular。 The best sports writing will engage readers who might not be a fan of the sport/team/athlete， but are pulled in by the dynamics of the story。 Wertheim succeeds in doing so here; I am not much of a basketball fan， but the sections on the Lakers and Celtics rivalry was riveting！ Libraria Read if you: Want an energetic and entertaining look at the sports world in 1984， from basketball， pro wrestling， the Olympics， and more。 Niche histories focused on a particular year seem to becoming more popular。 The best sports writing will engage readers who might not be a fan of the sport/team/athlete， but are pulled in by the dynamics of the story。 Wertheim succeeds in doing so here; I am not much of a basketball fan， but the sections on the Lakers and Celtics rivalry was riveting！ Librarians/booksellers: A great choice for your Gen X and older patrons！ Many thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Perry
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A good overview （albeit somewhat Chicago-centric） of the goings on in the summer of 1984 in sports。 Michael Jordan， as he usually does， takes center stage， but Ryne Sandberg is represented。 I was a 12-year-old Cubs fan， so I had fond memories of that summer。
Rachel Murphy
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I consider myself a bit of a sports fan but there’s a lot I don’t know about American sports。 This book taught me so much about the magical summer of 1984 and how it came to be one of the most influential periods in the American sporting landscape， even it they didn’t know it at the time。 This book is a really intriguing read from start to finish and I was truly amazed at some of the details and facts listed （i。e。 annual income of the NBA and how much of that comes from television， a conversatio I consider myself a bit of a sports fan but there’s a lot I don’t know about American sports。 This book taught me so much about the magical summer of 1984 and how it came to be one of the most influential periods in the American sporting landscape， even it they didn’t know it at the time。 This book is a really intriguing read from start to finish and I was truly amazed at some of the details and facts listed （i。e。 annual income of the NBA and how much of that comes from television， a conversation I was coincidentally having with someone the day before I read that page， so I was pleased to be able to send the， a message saying I had just read about it！）。 You can tell that a lot of research has gone into creating this story and， while it focuses a lot on basketball， it’s also about the Olympics， tennis， ice hockey， NFL， and baseball， among other sports， which I really appreciated。 I enjoyed how easy this book was to read。 I was often finding myself getting through chapters quite quickly based on the interesting content and the language that wasn’t too complicated。 To me， sport is a huge part of my life and an important part of society， so I love stories that highlight the impact of sport on the wider world （commercialisation， politics， broadcasting）， so thank you， Werthheim， for introducing me to this magical summer。 An enjoyable read I would recommend to sports fans。 。。。more
Dhrishya
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"Glory Days" is fantastic about taking a piece of non-fiction and making it read like fiction。While I am neither a history buff nor an avid basketball fan。 I love sport and， more importantly， stories that change how we look at sports。 While I knew that the Summer of 1984 was an important part of sports history， I never truly understood why until I read this book。 This was an eye-opening experience and "Glory Days" does not shy away from the truly ugly moments of the era。 This book serves to high "Glory Days" is fantastic about taking a piece of non-fiction and making it read like fiction。While I am neither a history buff nor an avid basketball fan。 I love sport and， more importantly， stories that change how we look at sports。 While I knew that the Summer of 1984 was an important part of sports history， I never truly understood why until I read this book。 This was an eye-opening experience and "Glory Days" does not shy away from the truly ugly moments of the era。 This book serves to highlight how impactful sport is as well as show how commercialism and politics have changed and continues to affect sports。 This is a dense story in terms of the amount of information and truly helped me with understanding what changed in the sports scene。 It documents how athletes become superstars and the mechanisms have brought sports to this level of commercialisation and profitability。 I love how simplistic the language used in "Glory Days" was and as someone who routinely struggles to read non-fiction， I appreciated the accessibility that L。 Jon Wertheim's writing shows in "Glory Days"。 While I do recommend reading the first chapter first and the last chapter last， the rest of the book is written in such a way that you can pick and choose the parts you want to read in any order。 Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for giving me an e-arc to read in exchange for an honest review。 All opinions stated are my own。 。。。more
Kady
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I love these type of books that break down a year with highlights of things that happen （see One Summer: America， 1927）。 I didn't realize how much went down 1984。 Such a fun read for sports fans and history buffs alike。 I love these type of books that break down a year with highlights of things that happen （see One Summer: America， 1927）。 I didn't realize how much went down 1984。 Such a fun read for sports fans and history buffs alike。 。。。more
Jackie Lantern
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