Everything They Had: Sports Writing from David Halberstam

In a number of these essays, Halberstam shows us why he was the best chronicler of our times of the intersection of sports and society, and all the different angles that complex and convoluted connection had. He reminisces about sports and adolescence, takes several looks at triad of race/sports/society, gives his take on lesser as well as "major" sports and more. It's also a gift of Halberstam the craftsman. The essays range from just a couple of pages long to 10 or more. So, Halberstam practices his writing craft in several different ways. Finally, often for better, occasionally perhaps for a bit worse, you get a look at how a magazine journalist, and former newspaper journalist, practices the art of recycling stories, or of turning the same interview or event into three different articles for different publications.

This collection of essays from various magazines spans more than two decades. It reflects on fathers and young sons going to their first pro baseball game together. It covers how youngsters become involved as sports fans and fanatics. It explains how a boy can be a Yankees fan, or a Sox fan or even both, and why. It discusses how baseball is suited well to radio, and football to television. Women's ice hockey is given a good analysis. I haven't started the fishing section. Halberstam is very much an observer of people and personalities, many from more than fifty years ago. An excellent purchase.

In "Everything They Had," we get the lighter side (in the best sense) of David Halberstam. A noted Pulitzer winning journalist and writer of contemporary history, he also wrote many books and articles about sports such as baseball, football, basketball, and fishing. Sports were the fun part of his life as a writer. In fact he noted that taking time for his sports projects were his way of taking a sabbatical. This shows in the sheer love and wonder he displays through half a century of sports writing. At times, I felt as I was reading an autobiography. Not being a professional sportwriter, Halberstam was able to pick and choose his subjects. Through his writing from the 1950's to the new millenium we see the rise and role of sports in America against the backdrop of the sociological and technological changes. Halberstam describes the rise of the NFL, the continual hold of baseball in the hearts of America, and the excitement brought by the NBA. We also gain insights into personal sports Halberstam loved such as fishing and rowing. Halberstam does not always present a rosy picture, but "Everyting They Had" is the work of an optimist and a man who looked for the best. It is not an all inclusive anthology as many sports such as Ice Hockey, Golf, and Motor Sports are left out. However, this compilation is Halberstam's story of a part of his life's journey and the writing quality is wonderful and memorable.

This is a very solid collection, and a reminder of what a talented writer Mr. Halberstam was. The themes he would turn into books can be found throughout the essays. He was, it seems, most interested in the combination of race, the media, fame, and friendship. There is a certain weight toward his more recent writings (much of it available online through espn.com and other sites). Certainly worth reading, and for those of us who found Halberstam to be the most gifted writer who happened to write about sports, it is a must have book.