You Can't Make This Up
Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television
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4.3 • 11 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this highly entertaining and insightful memoir, one of television’s most respected broadcasters interweaves the story of his life and career with lively firsthand tales of some of the most thrilling events and fascinating figures in modern sports.
No sportscaster has covered more major sporting events than Al Michaels. Over the course of his forty-plus year career, he has logged more hours on live network television than any other broadcaster in history, and is the only play-by-play commentator to have covered all four major sports championships: the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup Final. He has also witnessed first-hand some of the most memorable events in modern sports, and in this highly personal and revealing account, brings them vividly to life.
Michaels shares never-before-told stories from his early years and his rise to the top, covering some of the greatest moments of the past half century—from the “Miracle on Ice”—the historic 1980 Olympic hockey finals—to the earthquake that rocked the 1989 World Series. Some of the greatest names on and off the field are here—Michael Jordan, Bill Walton, Pete Rose, Bill Walsh, Peyton and Eli Manning, Brett Favre, John Madden, Howard Cosell, Cris Collinsworth, and many, many more.
Forthright and down-to-earth, Michaels tells the truth as he sees it, giving readers unique insight into the high drama, the colorful players, and the heroes and occasional villains of an industry that has become a vital part of modern culture.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this fairly straightforward autobiography, Michaels, with the help of Sports Illustrated writer and author Wertheim (Strokes of Genius), chronicles how his early love of sports growing up in Brooklyn and Southern California inspired him to want to become a broadcaster at an early age. Singularly focused on that one goal, Michaels worked his butt off, first at Arizona State University, and later calling minor league baseball and all manner of high school games in Hawaii. This dedication led to jobs with the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ABC's Wide World of Sports, the NFL, and the Olympics. Michael's most memorable moment is calling the US hockey team's upset over the Soviet Union in 1980 and makes for the most interesting chapter as it demonstrates his passion for sports, dedication to his craft, and humility, as he admits he had "no idea what I'd said," when he uttered his famous line, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes." There are a host of fun and interesting stories peppered throughout the book, and fanatic and casual sports fans alike will enjoy his insider's perspective and personal anecdotes about sports legends like Howard Cosell, Pete Rose, O.J. Simpson, and countless other stars and broadcasters. A testament to Michaels' commitment to and love of sports, this memoir may not be a miracle but it certainly is memorable.
