The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr

I love to pick books off of friends' shelves. I get to learn what types of books they like to read. Often times these books are older so I can either reminisce about something I read or find a hidden gem. When I was over my cousin's house I found The Brothers Bulger, which sounded like it would be right up my alley.

The Brothers Bulger is a documentary-like book detailing the rise and fall of the Bulger brothers in Boston. Whitey Bulger was a vicious criminal of every sorts who was on the FBI's most wanted list. His brother Billy was a powerful politician as the president of the Massachusetts State Senate. Howie Carr, the author, was a reporter in Boston who often wrote about both men. He tells tales of Whitey and Billy, FBI investigations, cover-ups, political wrangling, gangs, crime, and everything in between.

Being from Massachusetts, I knew about Whitey Bulger, but I didn't really know all the details. I knew his brother was a typical politician, but once again I didn't really know all the details. It made for a very interesting read for me, especially as I recognized many names that eventually became involved in politics or other roles in Massachusetts. I could not believe the involvement of the FBI, state police, and local police. My one issue with the author is once in a while he would slip in a personal comment rather than simply presenting facts and remaining unbiased. I should also point out the book was written in 2003, which means Whitey was not yet captured.

Older folks who lived through the Bulger era will know the story but may not know all the details. The younger generation probably has an idea of Whitey from The Departed, the movie loosely based on Whitey Bulger. No matter what one knows or does not know, the reader will find The Brothers Bulger to be a fascinating read.

My rating for The Brothers Bulger: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

This was a behemoth. 778 pages. Definitely the longest book I have ever read. I have seen this book laying around many places, and often times I have heard people mention it. I wanted to read it when it came out, but truthfully I saw the length and passed. One of the guys I work with mentioned something from the book a few weeks ago so I decided to give in and read it. It took me nearly a month.

ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun documents the history of ESPN. It starts with how the idea blossomed. As a start up, they were blazing their own path. There were no rules. Soon the creators were pushed out as more experienced TV people took over. They kept gaining momentum and eventually became who they are today.

The entire book is interviews. That' right - the history is told through various people's perspectives. When there is a transition, there may be a paragraph or two to give some background, but over 95% of the book is direct quotes. It almost has a documentary type feel, which kind of goes with the ESPN way of storytelling. The downside to all these interviews is it can become wordy and is one of the reasons the book is so long. The upside is you get to hear both sides of controversial stories.

I thought it was hard to keep track of who was actually in charge. People were at different companies, different titles, moving up/down the ranks, mergers and acquisitions. It was tough to follow. But, it didn't really take away from the stories. Also, people did not hold back - they criticize each other. This is refreshing and feels real, but as the authors mentioned in the afterword, many apologies were needed afterwards.

A few interesting things I wanted to share...

• At the beginning, satellites were just becoming a thing. When ESPN began negotiating, the price was actually cheaper to use the satellite 24 hours a day than it was for 4 to 5 hours. They were the first customer to purchase it for 24 hours a day. The satellite provider wasn't sure if it would work 24/7.
• Even with the satellite, they still had to bring all the tapes back to their Bristol, CT location and then send up to the satellite. This literally meant filming a game in California and flying it back to Connecticut.
• In the beginning, they did not have rights to any popular sports. So they covered obscure sports to fill air time.  This would come in handy later (next bullet). At the same time, they really developed anchor personalities and capitalized on that.
• Stations made money by selling advertisements. ESPN was the first station to negotiate a fee from cable providers. At the start, they were asking for 2 cents a subscriber. Cable providers pushed back and threatened to take the channel off the air, but customers complained. It wan't the football or basketball fans complaining, but the bowling and sailing fans because there was no other channel they could watch their sports. The subscriber fee is now something like $6 per subscriber.
• The dynamic between sports leagues and ESPN is interesting. The NFL forced ESPN to shut down shows that the league did not like (for example, Playmakers was a hit show but pulled after one season). ESPN low bid for the NHL because the NHL did not want to do things ESPN requested, such as having players take their helmets off on the bench (this would help fans recognize players and build them into stars for ESPN).
• When a new head took over at ESPN, he was a soccer fan and really pursued the World Cup in 2010. The influence of ESPN is fascinating as soccer has become more popular in the last 5-10 years.

I enjoyed the stories and learning about the history of ESPN. I grew up watching SportsCenter, so clearly I found the book very interesting. But I think it can be very insightful for those in media or running a company. My only complaint is the book is too long for the casual reader.

My rating for ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun: 3.5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Classic Movies

Somewhat of a filler post as I am reading ESPN: Those Guys Have All The Fun, which is nearly 800 pages. Here is the background on why I'm posting a review on "Classic Movies". At work I'm on the younger side and my co-workers often reference movies from the 80's and 90's, many of which I have never seen. Last year for my birthday they each made a list of their top 5 classic movies.

There were a few I had already seen, but I had my work cut out. Over the last year, I have been watching movies whenever I had time, either on TV or Netflix. Some movies were hard to find (not surprising given many of them are nearly 30 years old). I've made one final push as my birthday is approaching. Here are the classic movies I've watched in the last year:

Dazed and Confused - A movie about nothing (ok, really about high school kids on the last day of school). The coolest thing about this movie was seeing the start of famous actors - Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, and Milla Jovovich to name a few. Also a great soundtrack.

Office Space - Hating your job, doing nothing, and still getting promoted?! Seeing all the old technology (floppy disks!) made me laugh.

Reservoir Dogs - Reminded me of The Usual Suspects. Good movie with a great twist at the end.

Good Will Hunting - Solid movie all around. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were kids in this one.

Pulp Fiction - The dialogue is good, but the story is bleh. I'm surprised this is a classic movie - it's good, but doesn't knock my socks off. It did have many great actors.

Caddyshack - A fun, goofy movie. I have never seen a caddy in my life ha. I think it would be cool to use a caddy. I can see how this is a classic, although I may be biased because I golf.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Smart aleck who skips school and cons his way through a memorable day. Some parts were a little over the top, but this was my favorite "classic" I watched.

E.T. - I have to admit I probably saw this as a kid. Obviously knew what it was about. After watching, this definitely formed stereotypes of space and aliens for many years.

Grosse Pointe Blank - This was a crime comedy, which is a weird mix, starring John Cusack. One of the few on the list that I had not heard of.

That's what I was able to find and watch in the last year. If you're bored on a rainy day or just want to stay in for a night, put on a classic.