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Only a brave soul presumes to offer a list of the "greatest," whatever the category. What we have here is a collection of material from Investor's Business Daily's "Leaders & Success" section which focuses on 55 "top sports leaders & how they achieved greatness." Being somewhat of a listmaniac myself, I am always curious to see who makes a given list and who doesn't. Here's the problem which I as well as all other list compilers really cannot solve: Whom to replace? In this volume, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson are mentioned only briefly. Should one or both replace Nancy Lopez, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, or Babe Didrikson Zaharias? What about Sam Snead who isn't even mentioned, nor are several great athletes in other sports such as Wilt Chamberlain, Jack Dempsey, Lou Gehrig, and Pete Sampras? Re the list of 55, should Chamberlain replace Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (yes), Dempsey replace Jersey Joe Walcott (yes), Gehrig replace Jim Thorpe (at least in the baseball section, yes), and Sampras replace Ivan Lendl (yes)? Oh well. All 55 are worthy. Perhaps the most important differentiator is leadership. Even then, I have some disagreements. To repeat, oh well. This is the IBD's list, not mine.
All that said, I enjoyed reading this book. It is filled with relevant information and makes a strong case for certain qualities of character which usually enable those who possess them to succeed, whatever the field of competition may be. For example, "they work hard, they're driven to achieve, they're fiercely determined [Dempsey once said that champions get up when they can't] and they also have a singular approach that sets them apart from the competition." String together a series of adjectives associated with the 55 and you also have a respectable list of what success in other areas requires: studious, focused, stubborn, resourceful, tenacious, passionate for competition, self-assured, mentally as well as physically fit, obsessed with winning (or not losing), fearless, and proud.
The material is organized within six Parts:
Insisting on the Best (e.g. Mays, Hamm, McEnroe, Ted Williams)
Clearing the Toughest Hurdles (e.g. Heiden, Thorpe, Ronaldo, Owens)
Putting the "Work" in "Work Ethic" (e.g. Lewis, West, Erving, Armstrong)
Learning How to Be the Greatest (e.g. Navratilova, Shoemaker, Louis, Spitz)
Without Risk, There Is No Success (e.g. Jackie Robinson, Phil Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Rickey)
Fine-Tuning Focus Yields Excellence (e.g. Auerbach, Jordan, Paige, and Gretzky)
The profiles which I enjoyed most were of those about whom I knew little (if anything) previously. For example, George Haines, Erik Weihenmayer, Jackie Stiles, Peggy Fleming, Paula Newby-Fraser, and Nadia Comaneci. Those who share my high regard for this book should check out Michael Mandelbaum's The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball and What They See When They Do as well as Rosabeth Moss Kanter's Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End.
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Sports Leaders & Success chronicles how 55 celebrated athletes and coaches rose to the top of their games, uncovering methods that can be adapted to any competitive environment and translated into success. Building on the popular and respected Investor's Business Daily "Leaders & Succes" section, this inspirational, results-focused book examines:
How basketball legend John Wooden won an unsurpassed 10 of 12 NCAA Championship titles
How Mia Hamm's committment made her the all-time leading scorer in women's soccer
How Michael Jordan's dedication won him the NBA scoring title a record 10 times
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