Happy Thanksgiving! Hard to believe, but Christmas and Hanukkah are both on the immediate horizon. Looking for something special to buy for the basketball fan in your life? Don't go for what's in the mystery box! Try one of the following items from the 2010 princetonbasketball.com Holiday Gift Guide instead. A percentage of all purchases support this site. Something missing that you think people would enjoy? Please drop a line.
Reading Materials:
This summer I interviewed Oregon State coach Craig Robinson about his autobiographical work A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago's Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond. It is a worthwhile read, with many new stories about Robinson's time as a Princeton undergraduate.
Many times over the course of a season I'm delighted to run into Kyle Whelliston from Mid-Majority on press row. Two of Kyle's tomes are Sports Bubble Blues and One Beautiful Season.
I am eager to check out John Reagan's comprehensive Georgetown Basketball Vault.
Last year I spoke with author Kathy Orton about her book Outside the Limelight: Basketball in the Ivy League, which follows the league through the highs and lows of the 2005-06 season.
A companion to Orton's book is Playing the Game: Inside Athletic Recruiting in the Ivy League by Chris Lincoln, the first book to detail the Academic Index and the ins/outs of recruiting in the Ancient Eight.
Alexander Wolff's Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure starts at Jadwin Gym and then circles the globe, from remote mountaintops to the Palestra and across to China. The first book this web site was ever thanked in!
There's always The Smart Take from the Strong: The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril, the second book about the legendary Princeton coach.
I've read it hundreds of times, but if you've never enjoyed John McPhee's A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton, give it a go this year.
Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference features an introduction by Bill Bradley and has a wide range of scribes (George Vecsey, John Irving, Frank Deford...) telling tales of coaches that impacted their lives.
Bradley is also the author of Values of the Game, The New American Story and Life on the Run.
There was no better, more beautifully detailed basketball book I read last summer than When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball, about Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and the 1978-79 college basketball season. No direct Princeton content, but well worth your time.
He's written a good deal about Princeton basketball over the ages, but Grant Wahl's true passion is soccer. The Beckham Experiment: How the World's Most Famous Athlete Tried to Conquer America looks at the most famous player in the beautiful game's journey to the MLS.
I know I'm getting the latest iteration for Hanukkah every year, and I love traveling with books in this series. Best American Sports Writing always has incredible pieces written by well-known and newly discovered authors.
When I put the 2009 Holiday Gift Guide together, I forgot to include former Princeton player Rob Ryder's Hollywood Jock: 365 Days, Four Screenplays, Three TV Pitches, Two Kids, and One Wife Who's Ready to Pull the Plug.
Interested in the history of college hoops? Pick up the Official 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book, full of information about every season.
Get lost in the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game or Sports Illustrated's The Basketball Book.
Diagrams and descriptions more your thing? Then perhaps Basketball's Princeton-Style Offense: A Simplified Approach for High School Coaches will interest you.
Someday I dream of having a web site that looks as good as FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game or FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History does.
Video Games:
The best college basketball video game out there is EA's NCAA Basketball 10, available for the Playstation 3 and XBox. You can even run the "Princeton Offense" as one of the game's many sets. There won't be a 2011 edition of this game, so stick with last year's iteration.
Sporting Goods:
Actually want to play the game? The Wilson NCAA Solution Game Ball lets you use the same basketball as Division I players.
While dribbing, look sharp in this Princeton replica jersey by Nike, available in youth and adult sizes and emblazoned with Bill Bradley's #42.
A simple but effective Princeton basketball t-shirt by Adidas.
Various Northwestern basketball jerseys.
Various Georgetown basketball jerseys.
How about some Chris Young or Will Venable replica jerseys?
C. Young - Youth 2010 Majestic Road Khaki Replica #32
C. Young - Youth 2009 Majestic Road Khaki Replica #32
C. Young - Adult 2009 Majestic Road Khaki Replica #32
C. Young - San Diego Padres Home White MLB Replica Jersey
W. Venable - San Diego Padres Youth Home White #25
W. Venable - San Diego Padres Adult Home White #25
DVDs (NCAA tournament games):
Relive some of the great postseason moments in Princeton basketball history with these official NCAA videos.
1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball 1st Round - UNLV vs. Princeton
1996 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball 2nd Round - Mississippi State vs. Princeton
1996 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball 1st Round - Princeton vs. UCLA
1992 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Regionals - Syracuse vs. Princeton
1991 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Regionals - Villanova vs. Princeton
1989 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Regionals - Georgetown vs. Princeton
DVDs (instructional):
Want to teach the game? Look no further than the following.
Chris Mooney: Team & Individual Drills for the Princeton Style Offense
Chris Mooney: All Access Richmond Basketball Practice
