John Feinstein

One of the benefits of being sick is having the chance to catch up on my reading.
Right now I'm reading, "One on One...Behind the Scenes with the Greats in the Game," by John Feinstein.
Feinstein is my favorite sports author and this book is riveting as are most of his books. I'm not a golf fan but even his many golf books I've really enjoyed.
Disclaimer time. I'm a friend of John's and he comes on our Sunday night show frequently. But I would love his books even if I didn't know him.
I met Feinstein at West Point, New York in March of 1996. I introduced myself to him and asked him to be a guest of mine at halftime of an Army basketball game. He said, "Sure," we did the interview and that was that.
That fall, I was in the Army football press box at Michie Stadium and I heard someone call out my name. It was John. I couldn't believe he remembered my name. We chatted a bit and I realized what an incredible memory he has and it certainly serves him well in his latest book.
One of my favorite sports memories is being at Cameron Indoor Stadium a few hours before an Army-Duke game. Feinstein was there, said hello and then said, "Let's go see the Captain," which is what he called Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. We went to Coach K's office. For the next hour John, Coach K and myself just shot the breeze. Who didn't belong in that conversation? I also did a pregame interview with Coach K. What I remembered most about that interview was Krzyzewski saying that he was startled when he left for the game. As was the routine, his family would say, "Good luck. Beat Carolina" or whatever team Duke was playing that day. However, on this particular Saturday they said, "Beat Army," and it shook the former Army player and coach for a moment. Duke did beat Army that day...100-38.
Back to Feinstein. One of the books he's written was called "Living on the Black," chronicling the 2007 baseball season through the eyes of two veteran pitchers, Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine. If you haven't read it you should. When you do read it you'll wish that Feinstein had written more books on baseball.
The point of this post? Check out "One on One." It's terrific so far...and I haven't even gotten to the baseball parts yet.