Got Playoff Fever?
A Chance to Rise Up and Revisit Books on LeBron, Cle Sports

Admit it: even if sports just aren’t your thing you still get a little wrapped up in the excitement when one of our teams makes the playoffs. Its OK, go ahead and break out your jersey from the closet. You know you want to. The Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, led by a Northeast Ohio sports phenomenon, LeBron James. How could one not notice? It’s the talk all across the region, offering no better to revisit the whole of Cleveland’s professional sports memories. Local boutique publishers Gray & Company have a couple perfect reads for you on our sports culture; though both books are a few years old, they're gaining new momentum and popularity in this exciting basketball postseason.

LeBron James: The Rise of a Star offers a window into the world of the NBA great, detailing his first 20 years of life and times: from birth to a 16-year-old single mom in Akron, to superstar of the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball team, to the NBA’s number-one draft pick straight out of high school. Written by the Akron Beacon Journal’s David Lee Morgan, Jr., the book was released in 2003 to coincide with James’ rookie season with the Cavaliers. In it, Morgan offers insight into the gifted, munificent teenager who woke up one morning a franchise player with a record $90M shoe deal with Nike. The book offers great insight into what created the Superman on the court we all “Witness” today. A sharp read, well worth revisiting.

The Beacon’s Bob Dyer wrote a book a few years back called Cleveland Sports Legends, which Gray & Company has now reissued in paperback as The Top 20 Moments in Cleveland Sports. Dyer covers the big “thrill of victory” in everything from the 1964 Browns NFL Championship, to the Indians runs in the World Series and the “Miracle of Richfield” Cavaliers team in 1976. He also covers the wretched “agony of defeat” (you know those moments best as “The Shot,” “The Fumble,” “Red Right 88,” “Ten Cent Beer Night” and Art Modell moving the Browns to Baltimore). Reading these stories and reliving Cleveland's most engaging sports moments, you can’t help but realize just how embedded our teams are into the collective psyche and culture of Northeast Ohio.

Pick up these two great books. They are quick, solid reads with lots of fascinating stories and intimate details you just don’t get in your daily newspaper or scanning a website for scores and stats. The books are great additions to any collection and meet the mission of the publisher. Gray always does a great job of institutionalizing Cleveland culture, lore, history and the like -- and not just with sports, but with a plethora of other subjects as well. Lastly, both books are perfect summer reading for those younger Clevelanders gearing up for a summer break from school. And speaking of summer, let’s hope LeBron, Z, Drew, Sasha and the crew become the 21st Top Moment in Cleveland sports this year and give us a Championship buzz we can ride all summer long.

To learn more about LeBron James: The Rise of a Star and The Top 20 Moments in Cleveland Sports, visit the Gray & Company website at http://www.grayco.com. The site offers links to purchase these great reads, as well as Gray's dozens of other Cle-centric offerings..

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com (:divend:)