|
|
Post by Trent Lawless on Sept 11, 2007 16:00:15 GMT -5
Right now Im reading the last Harry Potter and then Im probably going to start rereading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books by Laural K Hamilton. Be prepared for a whoooooooooooooooooooooole lotta sex. We recorded these books at my job, and according to the narrator doing them, you can basically just flip to a page and have a 50-50 chance of finding some sort of "activity." |
|
|
|
Post by hofclemens on Sept 11, 2007 16:51:15 GMT -5
Just read Jerry Tarkanian's book which was awesome. blew through Howard Stern's second book because only a few certain parts of it really interested me. I think I am going to start Clyde Gentry's No Holds Barred book about the history of MMA next. Even though I am a Rebel (UNLV graduate) and have lived in Las Vegas for years, I learned alot from Tarkanian's book. One of my personal favorite stories was how he succesfully recruited Sidney Green  while preventing UCLA from getting Green. Remember Tarkanian's quote about how he recruited Eddie Owens (still UNLV's all-time scorer) whose mother wanted him to sign instead with Oral Roberts: "Here I am trying to sell Las Vegas to her while Oral Roberts is selling God." What did you think about the story that the Vegas mob was rumored to be responsible for the murder of Tarkanian's friend to prevent Tarkanian from taking the Lakers job the same year Magic Johnson would have been a rookie? Tarkanian also did a great job describing how he recruited the players that led UNLV to winning the NCAA Championship in 1990 (and the championship season itself along with the 1991 season in which UNLV went undefeated until the Final Four). Another story that Tarkanain did an excellent job describing was how he successfully forced the NCAA to pay him $2.5 million. The NCAA still hates UNLV for this. Last season during the tournament seedings, UNLV was then ranked 19th in the nation and the NCAA selectuon committe (it is believed here in Las Vegas) said "UNLV- a 4 seed? a 5 seed? [censored] them, give them a 7 seed." But UNLV proved they really deserved the higher seed by advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and almost to the Elite 8. Tarkanian still attends lots of UNLV games and often has public signings for his book on The Strip and at other places around town. Next time he has one off these signings, I think I am going to get my copy of his book signed. Excellent reading choice hofclemens! hes a great characther. I really love Vegas and hope to get out there more. The story about his agent getting whacked does seem to make sense. He didnt provide alot of background in regards to his friend so we don't know his story either. Didn't realize his wife was involved in politics and that is something I thought he would have talked about. Would have liked to see more background about the scandal with the UNLV players in the hot tub with the fixer. Vegas a question that you could answer for me better then just looking at just the history books. how good was that early 90s team that was banned from tourney play. the team right after their finals loss.. They had two losses that whole year.. was there a feeling that this was a national title team? Do you think Tark giving in so easy to NCAA pressure was seen as a sign of admitting gulit or did he think it would get worse? There's a great painting that paraodies a famous ratpack photo featuring the UNLV team from that era that I would love to get my hands on. I think I saw it at the ESPN zone last time I was out there. I have another Vegas themed book entitled Super Casino that I will have to dig up sometime. |
|
|
|
Post by Tournament Master on Sept 11, 2007 16:57:48 GMT -5
Right now Im reading the last Harry Potter and then Im probably going to start rereading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books by Laural K Hamilton. Be prepared for a whoooooooooooooooooooooole lotta sex. We recorded these books at my job, and according to the narrator doing them, you can basically just flip to a page and have a 50-50 chance of finding some sort of "activity." Hmmmmmm....I don't remember all that much sex in Harry Potter...maybe I should reread it. |
|
|
|
Post by Trent Lawless on Sept 11, 2007 17:42:56 GMT -5
Then look for the version spelled "Hairy Potter."
|
|
|
|
Post by stephenvegas on Sept 11, 2007 19:05:02 GMT -5
Even though I am a Rebel (UNLV graduate) and have lived in Las Vegas for years, I learned alot from Tarkanian's book. One of my personal favorite stories was how he succesfully recruited Sidney Green while preventing UCLA from getting Green. Remember Tarkanian's quote about how he recruited Eddie Owens (still UNLV's all-time scorer) whose mother wanted him to sign instead with Oral Roberts: "Here I am trying to sell Las Vegas to her while Oral Roberts is selling God." What did you think about the story that the Vegas mob was rumored to be responsible for the murder of Tarkanian's friend to prevent Tarkanian from taking the Lakers job the same year Magic Johnson would have been a rookie? Tarkanian also did a great job describing how he recruited the players that led UNLV to winning the NCAA Championship in 1990 (and the championship season itself along with the 1991 season in which UNLV went undefeated until the Final Four). Another story that Tarkanain did an excellent job describing was how he successfully forced the NCAA to pay him $2.5 million. The NCAA still hates UNLV for this. Last season during the tournament seedings, UNLV was then ranked 19th in the nation and the NCAA selectuon committe (it is believed here in Las Vegas) said "UNLV- a 4 seed? a 5 seed? [censored] them, give them a 7 seed." But UNLV proved they really deserved the higher seed by advancing to the Sweet Sixteen and almost to the Elite 8. Tarkanian still attends lots of UNLV games and often has public signings for his book on The Strip and at other places around town. Next time he has one off these signings, I think I am going to get my copy of his book signed. Excellent reading choice hofclemens! hes a great characther. I really love Vegas and hope to get out there more. The story about his agent getting whacked does seem to make sense. He didnt provide alot of background in regards to his friend so we don't know his story either. Didn't realize his wife was involved in politics and that is something I thought he would have talked about. Would have liked to see more background about the scandal with the UNLV players in the hot tub with the fixer. Vegas a question that you could answer for me better then just looking at just the history books. how good was that early 90s team that was banned from tourney play. the team right after their finals loss.. They had two losses that whole year.. was there a feeling that this was a national title team? Do you think Tark giving in so easy to NCAA pressure was seen as a sign of admitting gulit or did he think it would get worse? There's a great painting that paraodies a famous ratpack photo featuring the UNLV team from that era that I would love to get my hands on. I think I saw it at the ESPN zone last time I was out there. I have another Vegas themed book entitled Super Casino that I will have to dig up sometime. Yeah Tarkanian's wife Lois is a member of the Las Vegas City Council. But she has only been there for two years so she probably just started about the time he was already working on this book. About the 1992 team that was banned from participating in the tournament, I didn't move to Las Vegas until 1999 so I can't tell you what the local perspective was for that team. But I do know that the last game they lost that year was back in December which means at the time of the tournament they were on about a 3 month winning streak. And whenever you don't lose for 3 straight months you have to consider yourself a legitimate title contender even when going into a sudden death format like the NCAA Tournament. About Tarkanian's decision to quit in 1992, the hot tub picture (although it wasn't as bad as the initial reaction) hurt him but I tend to downplay the NCAA in his decision to resign because they had been chasing him with a vendetta even before he first started coaching at UNLV and, although I won't say UNLV (or for that matter many other schools) have always had a totally clean program, the fact that the NCAA was later forced to pay him $2.5 million shows that their actions weren't completely legitimate either. In addition to the NCAA, local pressures also contributed to Tarkanian's resignation. Trakanian didn't get along with UNLV's athletic director and president at the time and the casinos weren't backing him either. The early to mid 1990s, when Tarkanian quit, was a major transition period for The Strip as the historical casinos like The Dunes and The Sands started being replaced by the mega-resorts like The Mirage, Excalibur, and the current MGM Grand which were all owned by distant Eastern coporations that didn't necessarily have the local ties that previous Strip casinos had to Tarkanian and the adjacent UNLV program. As Tarkanian wrote in his book, these new owners from the East Coast didn't like the fact that back then you couldn't bet on ANY games in the NCAA Tournament when UNLV was regularly one of the 64 participants (although you can now bet on the tournament games even when UNLV makes the field of 64 like last year)because this always cost them a tremendous amount of money in gaming revenue. And here in Las Vegas if you don't have the support of the casinos like Tarkanian didn't in the early 1990s, it's often very difficult to get anything done. For instance, I teach here in the school district and the casinos are our biggest financial backers but they don't contribute nearly as much as they can. Why? Because supporting education is not in their interest as they need lots of unskilled workers to clean their rooms and help cook their food. Plus most smart people (except for me )don't gamble much anyways. As a result Nevada ranks among the lowest 50 states in terms of things like teacher salaries (although I do well because I have a Masters + 32 that I earned at UNLV) and student expenditures. So I really think the early 1990s marked a turning point in the culture of Las Vegas that just wasn't as conducive for Tarkanian to continue coaching. Let me know what you think about Super Casino. The next Las Vegas book I am going to read is called "The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs the Mob" which is about the 1970s-80s when the Chicago Outfir controlled lots of Las Vegas. The book came out last year and somebody gave me a copy of it just last night. |
|
|
|
Post by hofclemens on Sept 11, 2007 21:38:53 GMT -5
great insight thanks!
|
|
|
|
Post by Gunslinger on Sept 18, 2007 19:48:03 GMT -5
Anyone on the board read Interworld or M is for Magic, both by Neil Gaiman? They're the last two hardcovers to get through on my unread book pile.
|
|
|
|
Post by Wildfire on Sept 18, 2007 22:15:03 GMT -5
Are those his new ones?
I read Anasasi Boys not too long ago.. really good read.
|
|
|
|
Post by Gunslinger on Sept 19, 2007 12:13:51 GMT -5
They both came out a couple months ago. I finished M is for Magic earlier today. It was good but only three or four of the stories aren't in one of his other three collections of short stories. I'll probably start Interworld tonight.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shon Maxx on Oct 7, 2007 7:18:12 GMT -5
"How to Survive a Horror Movie," by Seth Grahame-Smith.
I found this in the humor section of Barnes and Noble. Great book. Very entertaining, yet informative.
Includes:
-How to survive a high school horror film.
-How to survive a slasher.
-What to do if you did something last summer.
-How to defend against an evil object (house, car, doll, etc.)
-How to deal with ghosts.
-How to tell if you've been dead since the beginning of the movie.
If you're watching a horror movie, this book will make you chuckle. If you're stuck in one though, this book will save your life!
Take care,
Jay
|
|
|
|
Post by hofclemens on Oct 8, 2007 20:20:08 GMT -5
just started Turning the tables by John Lister...sort of wish he got more into the TWA days but its good so far
|
|
|
|
Post by stephenvegas on Oct 10, 2007 23:23:31 GMT -5
Earlier today I finished "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels" and tonight before I get some sleep I am going to start "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams."
|
|
|
|
Post by Knapik on Oct 10, 2007 23:50:26 GMT -5
I just finished Eric Bischoff's "Controversy Creates Cash". Anyone else read this? There are lots of typographical errors in the book, but it was pretty informative.
|
|
|
|
Post by DracoRulz on Oct 12, 2007 0:25:21 GMT -5
Finished Gateways by F. Paul Wilson a few days ago. It's another book in his Repairman Jack series. Repairman Jack is like a mix of The Equalizer and The X-Files. Very fun series to read, I have a few more to catch up on of his books. Now I'm starting The 50 Greatest Red Sox Games by Cecilia Tan & Bill Nowlin. Picked it up while looking for a birthday present for my dad. Very good timing on reading this one. |
|
|
|
Post by hofclemens on Oct 13, 2007 11:23:18 GMT -5
just finished turning the tables..decent,fast read.. would like some more meat in some of the stories though.
I do own the bischoff book and will get to it down the road sometime.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shon Maxx on Oct 18, 2007 7:13:20 GMT -5
My fiancee sent me on a shopping spree to Barnes and Noble. I picked up the following (and ordered some more off of Amazon):
-How to work for an idiot, by John Hoover
-Cube Monkeys (from the creators of Careerbuilder.com)
(The above 2, I highly reccommend if you laugh and nodded your head during the movie, Office Space).
-How to be a villain, by Neil Zawacki
-The villain's guide to better living (same author)
-How to rule the world, by Andre` De Guillaume
Take care,
Jay
|
|
|
|
Post by stephenvegas on Oct 18, 2007 7:46:02 GMT -5
I just finished Eric Bischoff's "Controversy Creates Cash". Anyone else read this? There are lots of typographical errors in the book, but it was pretty informative. I own a copy of Bischoff's book "Controversy Creates Cash" but it's been about a year since I've read it because I got it when it first came out. It wasn't the best wrestling book I read last year, but it is worth reading. |
|
|
|
Post by Scott Fire on Oct 19, 2007 8:04:56 GMT -5
I just finished Wrestlecrap.
I thought it was good although I think R.D. Reynolds is a little too smarky at times and shows his dislike toward certain wrestlers to much. But for the most part it's pretty funny.
|
|
|
|
Post by JamieOD on Oct 19, 2007 9:51:21 GMT -5
I reread "No Holds Barred: Ultimate Fighting and the Martial Arts Revolution" by Clyde Gentry. Pretty good insight into the creation of UFC and MMA in general. My only problem is that it only goes a little bit into the period a few years after Zuffa bought UFC, where it slowly gained popularity again. The book was published just before the Ultimate Fighter began, so obviously it just got in before the UFC boom. I wanted to see how Zuffa helped UFC clean up its image. I know about the 'Zuffa Myth' (and the book briefly mentions it) but you do have to credit the company for its success.
I ordered Death of WCW, which is something I have wanted to read for a long time.
|
|
|
|
Post by hofclemens on Oct 21, 2007 20:54:51 GMT -5
The No Holds barred book came out under a different title around 03(always wanted to get it from Sherdog but never wanted to order from them) and although he did updated a bit I think was before the MMA craze really took off.
I have read "Brawl" and I think the Gentry book is superior. The best part IMO is going behind the scences of the early UFC events. I was a bit disappointed by the last 1/4 of the book but its still great.
|
|
while preventing UCLA from getting Green.
