{"product_id":"to-the-hoop-the-seasons-of-a-basketball-life-9781683585107","title":"To the Hoop: The Seasons of a Basketball Life","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"A wonderful book--not just for basketball fans, but for everyone.\" --Earvin \"Magic\" Johnson \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Ira Berkow steps out from behind his \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e reporter's notebook to spin the wonderful and moving tale of his love--for the game of basketball, for his friends and family, and for life itself. His enduring passion for the hardwood began in his boyhood in Chicago in the 1940s and '50s, and has continued in pickup basketball with the same vigor and competitive fire of his youth, often against opponents half his age. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo the Hoop\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of a year in his basketball life, as he resolves to enhance his game and stave off the ravages of time amidst a looming family tragedy. Here he runs the court with Oscar Robertson, talks strategy with Walt Frazier, and find fellowship and good humor across the country on playgrounds, in gyms, even in some of the world's most famous arenas. Ira Berkow's poignant book transcends the game and approaches a kind of wisdom usually unavailable in writing about sports.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIra Berkow\u003c\/b\u003e is both a Pulitzer-prize winner for national reporting and a Pulitzer-prize finalist for distinguished commentary, and the author of twenty-six books, including the bestsellers \u003ci\u003eRed: A Biography of Red Smith\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMaxwell Street: Survival in a Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eRockin' Steady: A Guide to Basketball and Cool\u003c\/i\u003e (with Walt Frazier), as well as nine anthologies of his journalism. A sports reporter and columnist for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003efor over two decades, his work has regularly been reprinted in literary anthologies, college rhetoric textbooks, in the prestigious annual anthology \u003ci\u003eBest American Sports Writing\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Sports Writing of the Century\u003c\/i\u003e. He resides in New York City.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Sports Publishing LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51812613751058,"sku":"9781683585107","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_eb59bb1a-b1ac-4a06-a17a-2e56a80a07ee.jpg?v=1766492580","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/to-the-hoop-the-seasons-of-a-basketball-life-9781683585107","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}