Agent Palmer

John Feinstein’s The Last Amateurs: Playing for Glory and Honor in Division I College Basketball is a love letter to amateur athletics and the notion of the unironic “student” athlete. 

In the book, he chronicles the 1999-2000 Patriot League Basketball season. The Patriot League is something I guess I took for granted, as it is in my backyard. But for those who don’t know, it’s academically right up there with the Ivy League.

Five-Point Play is an uncommon book about leadership in that it doesn’t preach. It is written by Duke Blue Devils Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K) with Donald T. Phillips, and it documents the 2000-01 season from the preseason to the 2001 National Championship.

The premier philosophy featured in this book is Coach K’s “The Fist.” The Fist has five points, thus the title of the book: Communication, Trust, Care, Collective Responsibility, and Pride.

I’ve reviewed business books before. Usually, they are boring, outdated, lacking in reality, “do as I say, not as I do” affairs which I am surprised I ever let sit on my personal library shelves.

Thankfully, Legacy of Winning finally breaks that tradition. Here is a book that is co-written by then University of Tennessee Volunteers Football Head Coach, Phillip Fulmer, and Tennessee Associates International Chairman and CEO, Gerald Sentell.

Over the past decade or so, I’ve recapped most Tours due France. I’ve watched all of them, but somehow it has only recently become an annual thing.

I also watch every Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and sometimes I write about them. As a spectator, both Tours offer excitement, and for me, it’s the joy of experiencing two Tours per year, which I’m all for.

It’s that time of year when I wake up with my coffee and watch the best cyclists in the world tackle the most prestigious race in the world, the Tour de France.

The 112th edition of the Tour had more than its share of crashes, heartbreak, and as much triumph as is usually had over the three-week race.