No Blood, No Foul

Charley Rosen has immersed himself in the first years of the NBA (atually the BAA) and produced two new, enjoyable books. One is best characterized as non-fiction (The First Tip-Off), and the other is best characterized (more or less) as fiction (No Blood, No Foul). Real-life characters and situations from the early history of the league inhabit both books, albeit painted in different ways. Not surprisingly, I'm finding that the two books go better together. The second book is about about the life-transformations of an all-too-human basketball-loving vet who through some of the book finds himself working as a ref for the BAA, warts and all. ("No blood, no foul" refers to how the refs in the league were supposed to call the games, at one point.) I hope to describe in a later review how the books jibe together. I'm a bit surprised that the books weren't marketed together more aggressively. "No Blood, No Foul" certainly can stand on its own two feet without the other book. I've just posted my review of the other "The First Tip-Off"... I hope to say more about NBNF shortly, but here are a few observations... This book caught my attention because (A) it is about a vet with an amputation (my research and clinical focus, professionallly, (B) it captures basketball history, even if it is "fiction," (C) its title is reminiscent of the late, great line used by Chick Hearn (Lakers announcer), "No Harm, No Foul", and (D) I'm a fan of Rosen's columns (formerly with ESPN, now with MSN/Fox). This book seems to embody various dialectics that seem to emerge in all of Rosen's work... purity vs. impurity of the game; human excellence vs. human frailties; human limitations vs human transformation; fairness vs exploitation; individual quirks vs. selfless expression... etc. Not surprisingly transformation via basketball comes not from being a referee -- Rosen has often stated that refs are necessary evils -- but from purer things... Anyway, more shortly... I hope...