Murph

I was hoping for more behind the scenes information on the leagues Mr. Murphy organized. However the book came off more as a thank you to all the people Mr. Murphy was associated with through the years. It was a short book and I skipped a couple of sections as I lost interest in the in depth information about Mr. Murphy's friends and acquaintances. I appreciate the fact that he needed these wonderful people to accomplish everything that he has in his lifetime, and these are wonderful people. It just wasn't what I was looking for in this book.

I enjoyed this book very much. Dale Murphy is a childhood hero of mine. This book balances his on the field accolades, the importance of his family, and his faith and commitment to LDS.

Purchased used, in fair to good condition. Dustcover a little tinted and damaged, otherwise, everything I expected for price. Very happy with purchase.

As I was an ABA and WHAT fan growing up I found this book very interesting. Reading this bought back a lot of memories.

It was a gift!

Dennis Murphy deserved a far better biography of the life of such an influential figure on the North American sports scene. Then again his co-founder of many of these rival leagues, Gary Davidson, and his book (Breaking The Game Wide Open) is terrible as well so maybe neither guy could write worth a lick. I'll cut Murph some slack as it was written by the guy himself in his mid-80s.No, my problem with this is with the editor who's obviously not a professional at all. When I open the book up to find out who this editor is, well, lo and behold it's Richard Neil Graham who wrote Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks (a league history of Roller Hockey International) which was also a disappointment so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.Let's have a look at some of these gems in editing:p. 12--Apparently Birmingham and Cincinnati had ABA basketball teams. They didn't. They were hockey cities in the WHA.p. 33--Has the 76ers losing the '83 NBA Finals vs. the Lakers. Uh, no, that was in 1980. The Sixers won the '83 title.p. 62--"The team (ABA's Utah Stars) presently plays in Utah in the NBA as the Jazz." The Utah Stars folded in 1976. The NBA's New Orleans Jazz moved to Utah in 1979 and kept the nickname.p. 78--"Dynamo were considered the best team in Russia." I wonder what Red Army thought of that?p. 97--Jacques Plante was talked about as the WHA Philadelphia Blazers' goalie. Plante did play in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers. The goalie on the Blazers was Bernie Parent.p. 130 and p. 142--Larry Lund never was on the New England Whalers nor the Blazers. His entire WHA career was with the Houston Aeros.p. 135--Jerry Pender is actually Cleveland Crusaders' winger Gerry Pinder.p. 138--"St. Louis loved the Saints." Guess you can't tell your Midwestern cities named after Catholic saints without a map. The Minnesota Fighting Saints played in St. Paul.p. 145--Despite numerous mentions of the fact ex-Hab Ralph Backstrom was on six Stanley Cup-winning teams in in this book, he still blows it by saying on this page he won just four Cups.p. 199--Ever heard of that women's tennis star Margaret Wade? Maybe Virginia had a sister? Or Margaret Court lent her first name to Ginny for the World Team Tennis season?p. 202--Australia Tony Roche won numerous Grand Slams in doubles as well as one in singles. Yet he's changed his spelling to Tony Roach here.There is also no cohesive narrative at all to the text. Lots of repetition as well.On p. 28 when discussing the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis (NOT St. Louis Spirits, Neil) there's a superficial analysis of the NBA TV revenue in perpetuity the former owners managed to snag. Go check out ESPN's 30 For 30 series and their "Free Spirits" for more on that.On p. 32 there's zero mention of Julius Erving signing with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and then because his contract was challenged he had to return to the ABA's Virginia Squires.On p. 42 and this is a little obscure so I'll cut some slack but Murph goes on about how his ABA Miami Floridians' lawyer Ruby Rickman and his Toronto connections showed that that Canadian city would be ripe for an ABA team and says he's not surprised the NBA Raptors have done so well. Well, why not talk about the ABA doubleheaders played in Toronto at that time then? From remembertheaba.com: "On January 14, 1972, the Pros broke an ABA record by scoring an amazing 52 points in the 4th quarter of a loss against the Pacers in (of all places) Toronto, Canada. The game was part of an ABA doubleheader designed to gauge Canadian interest in the red, white and blue league (the second game featured Kentucky vs. Dallas). The event attracted 7,225 curious fans to the Maple Leaf Gardens on a bitterly cold night in Toronto. "I could go on about more spelling and factual errors as well as the missing info and the cloying self-congratulations of people he knew with no critical eye. Honestly, I was psyched to read something on this guy but for those of you into the ABA or WHA, there are better books out there such as Terry Pluto's Loose Balls or Ed Willes's The Rebel League.

This book is engrossing from page 1 to the end. I'm from the generation that benefited directly from the fruits of Dennis Murphy's creative energy and infinite passion for sports, by witnessing the ABA, World Team Tennis and the WHA. The book is edited exquisitely, capturing your focus from chapter to chapter. It took a while to get this book out, but I am grateful that it did. Pick this up soon!

Amazon:The book cover is correct...Two of the reviews are incorrect, and discuss a book by Dale Murphy the baseball player.Please fix this.Thanks!