In all seriousness, though, this site is an incredible time waster. The biggest degree I’ve been able to come up with was 9, although I don’t remember the specifics after the dozens of different combinations I’ve run over the past few days.
Mike Ditka to Phil Jackson – 7 degrees
Ozzie Guillen to Scott Skiles – 4 degrees
Prepare to fall down the rabbit hole.
With the year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the books I’ve read this year, 24 in total and 18 if you exclude the graphic novels. Of those 24, 6 were graphic novels, another 6 were non-fiction, and 3 were TV show tie-ins. Overall, I did a good job of clearing out the “to-read” drawer, as 9 of the 18 books came from there.
The 8 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Eliot Asinof
Hugh Delehanty
James Patterson
Len Berman
Marcos Breton
Phil Jackson
Ray Bradbury
Sammy Sosa
Amber Benson, Brian K. Vaughan, and Pia Guerra were the only authors I read multiple times in 2012.
Greg Rucka’s Alpha and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl were the only books released in 2012 that I read in 2012.
I revisited the work of 5 authors that I had not read since the previous century:
Stephen King 1993
John Grisham 1996
Scott Adams 1997
Ketih R.A. DeCandido 1999
Mel Odom 1999
Finally, the breakdown by month. Being off for most of December certainly helped pad the total a tad bit. Continue reading →
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons Of A Hardwood Warrior - Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty
Following the disappointing end to the 1995 playoffs, Phil Jackson, with an assist from Hugh Delehanty, put pen to paper to chronicle his journey from a devout Christian child in Montana to a practicing Zen-Buddhist coaching the most successful team in the NBA, with a few stops and pratfalls along the way.
Jackson chronicles the lessons he has learned over the years, and how he had applied them in leading the Bulls to 3 straight championships. Those lessons extend beyond basketball, and Jackson shows how applying them to his life has led him to both professional and personal highs.
The best part of reading this book now, some 17 years after its initial publication, is revisiting a prolific time in Chicago sports. Hearing new tales about the heroes of my youth: how Michael Jordan decided to put team success ahead of his personal agenda, how Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant grew up together to finally become champions, how Bill Cartwright’s locker room leadership helped steady what could have been a sinking ship, and more.