Book On The Bedside Table

[GVGjr]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Moneyball - The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
It's a stats based recruiting methodology used by the Oakland A's who despite a modest payroll of $40M they were at least competitive with the the likes of the Yankees who had $120M to play with by using that strategy.
The had to strip back the club to the bare basics as they just didn't have the money to compete. For a team that was in the bottom 5 clubs on their player payment to finish in the top 5 was a terrific effort.

It's pretty much the equivalent of and AFL side raiding the state leagues for specific players especially to perform defensive roles at the club.

The way that they evaluated players is quite interesting.

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Yeah it was amazing how well he could recount everything - and i loved how honest he was about what he thought about other players (Sampras, Chang, Becker and Connors in particular - and of course Tarango!).

Doesn't seem like a very likeable type Jimmy Connors from the way Agassi described him. Didn't sound like Agassi was a huge fan of Jim Courier either.

Brooke Shields painted her out to be very diva like with her actor friends - glad he ended up with Stef Graf they seem to be the perfect match. Great book.

[Scraggers]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

No worries Scraggers - I was looking through the thread and there are some great books that other posters have read on here. It's like our own little WOOF Book Club.

Maybe we could get Oprah to suggest books for our club ... then again ... maybe not

[LostDoggy]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Doesn't seem like a very likeable type Jimmy Connors from the way Agassi described him. Didn't sound like Agassi was a huge fan of Jim Courier either.

Brooke Shields painted her out to be very diva like with her actor friends - glad he ended up with Stef Graf they seem to be the perfect match. Great book.

I'm a massive tennis fan, and reading autobiographies of all the guys I respect from that era -- Ashe, Borg et al -- Connors just comes off as a brat/prat who never grew up (Ashe and he in particular had alot of run ins off the court with Ashe in his capacity as president of the ATP). Certainly a lot of vulgar redneck in him in his playing days and very, very unlikeable fellow from the sounds of it (although he seems to have mellowed a lot now as a coach and occassional commentator). His alter-ego McEnroe, on the other hand, although seen as more 'volatile' in the public eye, was almost universally mates with everyone and has parlayed that into a far more successful media career.

With Connors you got the sense of grudging respect for a grinding, swearing nutcase, with McEnroe there was often genuine admiration of a genius with awesome natural talent (albeit with a volatile temperament).

ps. Yes, Agassi/Graf certainly seems like a perfect match -- as fellow professionals they would understand the demands of the sport a lot better than an outsider, and I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

[Twodogs]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table





As history goes it's fairly light and breezy with a gossipy style and as result I'm flying through it. I know the topic fairly well so I'm not really learning anything new but it's managed to bring a few things I was a confused about into sharper focus becuase Weir uses contemperary sources a lot.

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Maybe we could get Oprah to suggest books for our club ... then again ... maybe not

Nahhh, we can just call it the Scraggers Book Circle...has a good ring to it!!

With Connors you got the sense of grudging respect for a grinding, swearing nutcase, with McEnroe there was often genuine admiration of a genius with awesome natural talent (albeit with a volatile temperament).

Massive tennis fan here also Lantern if you haven't read Andre Agassi's book seriously get it as it is excellent - Connors comes accross as very aloof from the way that Agassi described him it was like he begrudged the success of Agassi - Agassi's father used to string Connor's racquets and a young Andre used to deliver them to him. Years later Agassi is a star he approaches Connors and tells him about those times when he was a kid and Connors totally dismisses him - I would be interested to hear Ozza's thoughts on Connors also.

[Ozza]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

I would be interested to hear Ozza's thoughts on Connors also.

I can only go what what I've read - and as Lantern said - he sounded like a complete prat. But I don't think I remember Connors as a player - I was still very young when he retired so I can't even picture him playing outside of the highlights.

Interesting that Agassi trashed Becker as a bloke - when in inerviews Boris always seemed personable and funny. I had to laugh at his (Agassi's) commentary of Chang though - I do remember his habitual 'I'd firstly like to Thank God' - and it was interesting and amusing to hear Andre's take on it!

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Latest book I'm reading is "Black Crow" the Andrew McLeod story, only a couple of chapters in but it's an interesting book thus far. It starts off with his childhood and leads up to the present.

[Scraggers]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Latest book I'm reading is "Black Crow" the Andrew McLeod story, only a couple of chapters in but it's an interesting book thus far. It starts off with his childhood and leads up to the present.

Sounds interesting BB ... I admire him both as a footballer and a human being (particularly after he told Lleyton Hewitt where to go)

Was it he that said he was only playing AFL so he could buy his Mum a house ??

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Sounds interesting BB ... I admire him both as a footballer and a human being (particularly after he told Lleyton Hewitt where to go)

Was it he that said he was only playing AFL so he could buy his Mum a house ??

It's a very good book Scraggers, so if you're looking for a good book to read this is the one. Yes, I have always admired him, he just goes about his business. Amazing part in the book about his wife Rachel and her upbringing...she had an amazingly tough childhood.

Not sure if it was him that said about playing AFL so he could buy his mum a house...but I will let you if it comes up in the book.

[GVGjr]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Value - Able
Australian investing commentator Roger Montgomery provides some tips on how to value a company share price.

[The Underdog]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Value - Able
Australian investing commentator Roger Montgomery provides some tips on how to value a company share price.

God I hope they're not talking tabout that one on "The First Tuesday Book Club" tonight

I'm trying to read "White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga. Nothing against the book which is pretty easy reading but i'm not in that reading mode at the moment.

[Murphy'sLore]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

I'm trying to read "White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga.

Me too! I can't seem to get past the first chapter though -- not sure why -- it is easy reading but it just hasn't grabbed me for some reason.

My reading is suffering at the moment, think I'm frittering away too much time on WOOF...

[Scraggers]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Me too! I can't seem to get past the first chapter though -- not sure why -- it is easy reading but it just hasn't grabbed me for some reason.

My reading is suffering at the moment, think I'm frittering away too much time on WOOF...

Not possible ... you can never spend too much time here

[Ozza]

Re: Book On The Bedside Table

Having been reading 'Southern Skies, Western Oval' by Martin Flanagan about the Bulldogs 1993 season.