Always By My Side

April 28, 2008
In this sentimental look back, Nantz recounts his beloved father's descent into illness during his own rise to success in sports broadcasting. Nantz's early ambition was to announce sporting events, and he got his start by taking advantage of even the smallest opportunity; his first job was driving Houston Open announcers from the parking lot to the clubhouse. Meanwhile, his jolly, curious and encouraging father was fielding the first symptoms of Alzheimers; sadly, as Nance finds greater recognition within the industry, the man who inspired him becomes more distant. Nantz finds father figures in his friendships with George H.W. Bush and golfer/broadcaster Ken Venturi, and turns up charming stories of others he admires like Tony Dungy, Arnold Palmer and former college roommate Freddie Couples. Though it has a saccharine streak, Nantz's on-the-job memoir fulfills his old man's vision ("Good people with good stories... To him, that was what sports-and sportsmanship-were all about") with a gentle, anecdote-heavy tour.

May 19, 2008
In this sentimental look back, Nantz recounts his beloved father's descent into illness during his own rise to success in sports broadcasting. Nantz's early ambition was to announce sporting events, and he got his start by taking advantage of even the smallest opportunity; his first job was driving Houston Open announcers from the parking lot to the clubhouse. Meanwhile, his jolly, curious and encouraging father was fielding the first symptoms of Alzheimers; sadly, as Nance finds greater recognition within the industry, the man who inspired him becomes more distant. Nantz finds father figures in his friendships with George H.W. Bush and golfer/broadcaster Ken Venturi, and turns up charming stories of others he admires like Tony Dungy, Arnold Palmer and former college roommate Freddie Couples. Though it has a saccharine streak, Nantz's on-the-job memoir fulfills his old man's vision ("Good people with good stories... To him, that was what sports-and sportsmanship-were all about") with a gentle, anecdote-heavy tour.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2008
CBS sportscaster Nantz, who has broadcast every major sporting event from the Olympics to the Super Bowl to the Masters, is one of those rare people who defined his professional goals early in life and set about reaching them. While in college in Houston, he worked his way through a series of low-level jobs, all related to broadcasting, and then, with his businessman father serving as mentor, he negotiated his way upstream in an incredibly competitive field. The elder Nantz, who developed Alzheimers just as Jim was entering the most satisfying stage of his career, has served as a constant benchmark for his son, who approaches his life seemingly armed with one question: What would Dad do? This professional memoir works best when Nantz reflects on memories of his fathers irrepressible optimism. When Nantz the elder isnt a presence, the book devolves into a series of anecdotesinteresting enough but hardly revelatoryabout the big events in sports over the last 20 years and the machinations of sports broadcasting. One of Nantzs best qualities as a broadcaster is his ability to fade into the background while emphasizing the action in front of him. Thats his approach here, too, and if it works slightly less wellin a memoir, it does offer a refreshing change from the typical all-about-me celebrity bio.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)