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.

November 1, 2014
The ubiquitous Michaels has been a presence in television sports broadcasting since the 1970s. His defining moment came in the 1980 Winter Olympics, when the unheralded U.S. hockey team dispatched the heavily favored Soviets. Michaels' call as the game ended, Do you believe in miracles? YES!, has become a beloved sports catchphrase. Michaels' longest-running assignment was as the lead announcer on Monday Night Football, a post he held for 20 years, from 1986 to 2005. His strength as an announcer consists of his virtual invisibility coupled with tremendous preparation. This egoless announcing style is great in the booth but doesn't necessarily translate into great reading. Readers are given a fairly dry recitation of the announcer's career ( and then I moved on to . . . ). He sprinkles the narrative with anecdotes of players, managers, and coaches, but, gentleman that he seems to be, there is no dishing here nor even much that isn't common knowledge (e.g., Pete Rose always liked to gamble). Still, this is a solid professional memoir by a nice person who rose to the top of his field.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)