You Can't Make This Up

February 16, 2015
In this fairly straightforward autobiography, Michaels, with the help of Sports Illustrated writer and author Wertheim (Strokes of Genius), chronicles how his early love of sports growing up in Brooklyn and Southern California inspired him to want to become a broadcaster at an early age. Singularly focused on that one goal, Michaels worked his butt off, first at Arizona State University, and later calling minor league baseball and all manner of high school games in Hawaii. This dedication led to jobs with the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ABC's Wide World of Sports, the NFL, and the Olympics. Michael's most memorable moment is calling the US hockey team's upset over the Soviet Union in 1980 and makes for the most interesting chapter as it demonstrates his passion for sports, dedication to his craft, and humility, as he admits he had "no idea what I'd said," when he uttered his famous line, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes." There are a host of fun and interesting stories peppered throughout the book, and fanatic and casual sports fans alike will enjoy his insider's perspective and personal anecdotes about sports legends like Howard Cosell, Pete Rose, O.J. Simpson, and countless other stars and broadcasters. A testament to Michaels' commitment to and love of sports, this memoir may not be a miracle but it certainly is memorable. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment

December 1, 2014

Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster Michaels recounts his long, illustrious television career in an autobiography cowritten by prolific author Wertheim (Blood in the Cage). Michaels, who is known to many for his "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" call at the 1980 Winter Olympics "Miracle on Ice" hockey game, takes readers behind the scenes of a remarkably eclectic career that began as a Hawaii minor league baseball announcer in the late 1960s and has since encompassed everything from the Olympics to the Super Bowl to Wide World of Sports. Writing with humor and humility, Michaels provides inimitable insight into covering some of sports' biggest moments live on television and shares his perspective on working with legendary sportscasters and larger than life personalities, such as John Madden and Howard Cosell, plus a revolving cast of Monday Night Football analysts. Michaels's story is rife with amusingly told lessons for aspiring broadcasters, but adult themes and profane language make this inappropriate for younger sports fans. VERDICT This breezy, immensely entertaining book is recommended as light reading to adult readers interested in the inner workings of sports television broadcasting.--Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014
A veteran sportscaster revisits his career. Michaels (b. 1944) begins with-and alludes to in other places-his good fortune in his life and career. He writes about his boyhood in Brooklyn (yes, he loved Ebbets Field), the family's move to Southern California and his great admiration for the Dodgers' announcer Vin Scully. Throughout, the author mentions "the Rascal" that's in him, a Puckish sort of personality that occasionally escapes its minimum-security facility for some prankish fun. Michaels' father had one sort of connection to the celebrity world, and the author got an early audition (at 19) with sportscaster Curt Gowdy, who was encouraging and gave him some important advice: "Don't ever get jaded." After an early break that nearly broke him (working with uncooperative Chick Hearn), Michaels-who'd early on resolved to be an announcer-began his rise through the ranks, including a big break, announcing games for the Cincinnati Reds during some of their Big Red Machine years. He proved himself there, and before long, he was in the booth for some of the most memorable contests of our era. He writes in detail about the 1980 Olympic hockey game between the United States and the Soviets (and how he ad-libbed his classic line, "Do you believe in miracles?"). He also writes frankly about his friendship with OJ and Nicole Brown Simpson. He was slow to accept OJ's guilt and visited him several times in prison. The author does not really eviscerate anyone here (he has kind words for almost everyone), but he does declare that by the end of Howard Cosell's career, the tell-it-like-it-is guy had become "the world's biggest pain in the ass." He also takes a few jabs at producers Chet Forte and Mark Shapiro, but for the most part, the author is genial rather than vengeful. A playful puppy of a memoir about a big dog career.

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