Dallas Morning News: Review

Rick Gosselin, the respected NFL writer for the Dallas Morning News, has a nice review of The Galloping Ghost.

The Galloping Ghost, by Gary Andrew Poole.

In the three-plus decades I've covered the NFL, I've interviewed many an inflated ego that thought pro football began with him. Poole's book is about the one player who can truly make that claim – Red Grange, the Galloping Ghost from the University of Illinois. Pro football was a sideshow in the 1920s that drew sparse crowds of family and friends. But when Grange turned pro after his college career, the crowds swelled to 20,000 and 30,000 overnight.

There's an incredible amount of research by Poole in telling the tale of a football player who shared the national sporting stage back then with Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Bobby Jones. The legendary football names of George Halas, Jim Thorpe, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Bronko Nagurski, Fielding Yost and Ernie Nevers are weaved into the narrative. Here's what George Halas had to say about Grange's impact on pro football: "Grange was to us then what television is to the modern era."

It's also a tragic tale of how Grange was manipulated by the sport's first player agent. It's a story of how C.C. Pyle milked Grange, burned through his fortune and likely shortened his career (and window of greatness) with a ridiculous barnstorming tour after his first season as a pro that staged 10 games in 18 days, battering the American hero to a pulp.

Grange was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the only unanimous selection by the Football Writers Association of America to its 100th anniversary college All-America team selected in 1969.

The book is a terrific read.

Sports Illustrated: The Galloping Ghost

A very nice review of my Red Grange biography in Sports Illustrated's October 20 edition. (The article is entitled "Remember the Titans".) I have been reading SI since I was a kid so being in the magazine is a total thrill.

Reading: Village Books

I will be speaking at Village Books (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) tonight. The event starts at 7:30 p.m.

In The Fray: On iTunes

You can now hear my podcast on iTunes. Thus far, I have posted several radio interviews, featuring yours truly on my book tour talking about The Galloping Ghost. In the coming months, I will contribute essays and interviews to the podcast--"Gary Andrew Poole: In The Fray". The podcast is targeted at the thinking sports fan, which I am sure, includes you.

Just go to the iTunes Store and type in my name and subscribe.

(Please note: some shows, like The Bob Edwards Show, prohibit me from posting the interviews...but...you can hear the full Edwards interview through Audible.com.)

Bob Edwards: The Galloping Ghost

I am pleased to announce that I will be on The Bob Edwards Show on Tuesday, October 14.

I listened to Edwards for years on NPR, and I am a fan of the Hall of Fame broadcaster. He is now with XM/Sirius, and he also distributes his Bob Edwards Weekend show through public radio stations. Edwards is arguably the best interviewer in the business, and after being interviewed by him I realize why. He spent 50 minutes talking with me about The Galloping Ghost and his questions and sense of narrative were astounding.

The Bob Edwards Show airs Monday through Friday from 8-9 AM on XM Channel 133 and Sirius Channel 196. Encore presentations: M-F 9-10 AM; M-F 10-11 AM; M-F 8-9 PM; M-F 7-8 AM (they replay each show the following morning at 7:00 AM).

Show description:

Red Grange was a three-time All-American running back at Illinois in the 1920’s when the college game was the only football that fans respected. Indeed, it was only when Grange joined the Chicago Bears that anyone paid attention to professional football. In 1969, when the Football Writers Association selected its all-time All-American team, Red Grange was the only player chosen unanimously. Writer Gary Andrew Poole joins Bob to talk about The Galloping Ghost, Poole’s new biography of the man who may have been the best player in football history...

Hopefully, for those of you without XM/Sirius, the interview will be re-broadcast on Bob Edwards Weekend. I will let you know later this week on In The Fray.

New York Newsday: Football books

New York Newsday featured The Galloping Ghost as part of a roundup review of football books. Gotta say, the review is definitely a head-scratcher: referring to the book "War As They Knew It" about the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, the reviewer says that "neither team is very good these days." Maybe that is true with Michigan, but wasn't Ohio State in the last two national championship games? And it won the title in 2002. That ranks the Buckeyes as one of the best teams of this decade.

MediaBistro: Author web sites

I penned a little article ("Making Author Web Sites Work") about author Web sites for MediaBistro, a site for media professionals. I talk about the making of my Website and include some tips. Unless you're a writer, it's mostly inside baseball, and you have to be a MediaBistro AvantGuild member, but--if you're interested--click here for the article url.

The Galloping Ghost: Media Roundup

My local paper wrote an article about the book.

Wheaton College--the home of the most comprehensive collection of Red Grange papers, memorabilia, etc.--has a nice write-up of the book. I can't say enough positive things about the collection. Wheaton has an incredibly well-organized archive and it was pleasure to do research there.

Sticks of Fire, a blog out of Tampa Bay, talks about my book, and Grange's place in Tampa's history.

History Wire talks about the book and includes an interview.

Q & A with Best Ever Sports Talk, a blog.

The radio interviews continue...I wanted to tell you about one recent one. Tony Crivello, a Tony Award winner, who plays the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian, has a sports radio show on KBAD in Las Vegas. Crivello is a knowledgeable sports history guy; the Phantom was passionate about the Galloping Ghost.

Comeback: The single wing

I like that the Miami Dolphins have brought back the single wing, a play made popular in the early part of the last century. This innovation-by-going-back-in-history has some of the best football minds, including Bill Belichick of the Patriots, struggling with ways to defend it. [Registration required for the New York Times article.]

Design Charts: More website praise

The Galloping Ghost Website is number 2 on Design Charts Top 40 Websites. According to Design Charts, "Every week Design Charts scans the traffic generated from our network of Websites that award Website design...with our weekly chart design lovers and creatives alike have a new defacto standard for gaging which Websites are truly a cut above the rest."