The Games Do Count: America's Best and Brightest on the Power of Sports

There are should-reads and then there are must-reads. The "Games Do Count" is the latter. It's very simple, we're all looking for a basic formula where the result is success. Brian Kilmeade finds that formula and his common denominator is sports. The beauty of this book is that the inspiration is not rooted in the stories of athletes who conquered their sport, but those who didn't. Success for Brian's subjects was born out of the failure to achieve greatness in sports on a professional level, the benchmark by which we judge a truly successful athlete. Whether adult, or child, Kilmeade's 70+ vignettes show success is achieved through a series of life's lessons. Whether you're looking to be inspired, or just entertained the book offers a bit of everything... most of all a reason why you should get off the proverbial couch.

This is a must read for any female or male who wants to know how sports (doing not watching) can help improve your life in all areas. Reading about each of the men and women one better understands how they became whom they are, both good and bad. I think it is a book that parents of pre-teen and teen agers would be wise to buy as well, since statistics show that young women who take part in sports as teens, succeed better in school and put off sexual activity. And for an adult grappling with some major challenge in their life be it work related a disease or loss of a spouse, reading the stories may well help them re-focus and succeed in the challenge as well. I speak from experience. Growing up in a family of engineers, physicists, educators, to homesteaders and homeschoolers, sports have always played a big role in small and big successes, because they teach team work, accountability and priority making skills as well as how to think quick or what I call triage thinking. And as a young girl growing up ion the fifties my Dad would often use shooting baskets, casting a fly fishing line, golf, or hitting a baseball, or skiing to teach me skills that would serve me well be it building a house, working on a car, or being a good wife and mother. Or surviving widowhood and illness.

Kilmeade's seventy-some interviews of world leaders, politicians, celebrities, and business moguls are great reading, insightful, and very entertaining. I learned a lot about the how the lives of George Bush, Gerald Ford, John Kerry, Condoleeza Rice, Henry Kissinger, Jack Welch, John Bon Jovi and many others were affected by what they learned in sports; how a game, a coach, or a significant event impacted their lives. I participated in a wide variety of sports growing up: judo, skiing, target shooting, archery, hunting, football, baseball, and mountain climbing to name a few. The lessons I learned from the individual competitions made me stronger while the team sports helped me get along better with my friends and coworkers. All these activities helped mold my character and improve my self-esteem. Before reading this fascinating book I had not realized how great an impact such activities can have in all successful people. In a time when a majority of American's are overweight, schools are cutting back on physical education, and more and more youth sports take competition out of the game, this book is a compelling argument that we ought to pay more attention to the way sports used to be played. Through the thrill of victory and the humiliation of defeat we can learn to set high goals and achieve great things by participating in sports. The author poignantly states how competition has enriched the lives of our best and brightest. Great book! Lawrence Kane Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

I read this book from cover to cover in a record amount of time. Each story is more inspiring and moving than the next. Even though I never played team sports, I learned how the smallest win in school could lead to the biggest successes in life. I'm so glad Brian got his celebrity subjects to open up as much as they did. You'll be suprised how candid some of the stories are. I can't wait for book #2 to come out.... !

JUST A REALLY GOOD READ! Brian does a great job in retelling the sports stories of so many interesting people. Each person in this book is more interesting than the next. I really enjoyed reading about how sports influenced the presidential candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry, but I must say that the stories of the 9/11 heroes from flight 93, as told by their loved ones are worth buying the book alone.