The Best Seat In The House

USA Today Bestseller Jack Nicklaus II shares stories, insights, and lessons he’s learned from his father, the “Golden Bear,” that will delight golf fans of all ages, encourage fathers, and inspire readers to focus on what’s most important in life: family. Best Seat in the House, written with New York Times bestselling author Don Yaeger, gives us eighteen valuable lessons that Jack Nicklaus II learned from his father, PGA champion Jack Nicklaus. Although the “Golden Bear,” as he is known by fans, is widely regarded as the best golfer of all time, with a record number of PGA major championships, his life and values show that true legacy lives on through your children, grandchildren, and others we are blessed to call family and friends. For the first time, the public is given the opportunity to see what made Jack Nicklaus an off-course success, including how he and his wife, Barbara, fashioned fifty-plus years of marriage, understanding that they both had to give of themselves “at least 95 percent of the time” the importance of having boundaries and limits that everyone in the family agrees on how Nicklaus taught his son Jack, who worked as his caddie for several years, to value his competitors and treat them as he would hope to be treated the need to be connected to what we’ll leave behind: our legacies One June day, Jack Nicklaus II had just completed his second round in a Palm Beach County Junior Golf Association tournament and was sitting at the scorer’s table, signing his scorecard, when somebody told him his dad was on the telephone. He was a little frustrated because he didn’t want to be bothered on such an important day, but his dad wanted to know how he had played, so Jack II spent the next twenty minutes detailing every hole and every shot. Afterward, his father said, “Jackie, would you like to know how your dad did today?” Of course he wanted to know, and he felt a little guilty for not asking. “Well, I just won the US Open.” It was Father’s Day 1980, and on that day Jack II learned a valuable lesson that he carried with him into adulthood: family is more important than anything in the world.

DIVMark Rosen was hired by WCCO television at the age of 17 and has been a part of the ’CCO team for more than 40 years. During that time, he has become one of the most popular and esteemed sports media celebrities in the region—a true icon on the Minnesota sports scene. In this first-person account, Rosen shares his experiences working with athletes, journalists, and a variety of local notables. He describes the most memorable moments from the playing fields and behind the scenes, and he offers insights gleaned from four decades in the business./divDIV /divDIVIn Best Seat in the House, Rosen tells of joining the fast-paced world of television journalism as a wide-eyed high schooler and then traces his journey to becoming one of the most recognized and respected names in local sports broadcasting. He shares his experiences meeting heroes like Harmon Killebrew and Bud Grant, covering iconic sporting events like the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” and the Twins’ World Series victories in 1987 and ’91, and breaking the big stories about the Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, Lynx, Wild, and Gophers. /divDIVThe stories and anecdotes contained in Best Seat in the House offer a rare, exclusive look into the worlds of sports, media, and even politics from the perspective of someone who has been at the center of it all./div

Like the day Elvis died or O.J. was acquitted, the Tuesday you wake up paralyzed is not a day you soon forget. For writer Allen Rucker—baby boomer, husband, father of two, aging Hollywood also-ran—life started over that Tuesday when, at the age of fifty-one, he was struck by a rare disorder—transverse myelitis—that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Why him? Was he being punished? Was it his stressful life? His frustrating career? Telling too many Christopher Reeve jokes? Dazed and paralyzed, he was forced to reevaluate everything, from the simplest bodily functions to the mysteries of the universe. In a style that is at once funny and moving, The Best Seat in the House offers an unpretentious and unapologetic account of learning to live with paralysis. Without trivializing his situation, and without sermons or clichés, Rucker invites all readers, whether disabled or not, to identify with him for better or for worse. This remarkably comic and heartfelt book speaks to the fragility of life and to the resilience and adaptability of a single, ordinary human being. Lucky for us, this human being has a sense of humor. At first, it may not look like the best seat in the house, but read on. You might be surprised.

A candid memoir of the past eighty years in American politics, as told by the longest-serving congressman in history Congressman John D. Dingell first came to Washington, DC, in 1933 at the age of six, when his father was elected to the Congress, and became a House page boy at eleven. Dingell has devoted his entire life to public service and has witnessed and helped shape most of the important political events that profoundly changed America over the last nine decades. Rife with wisdom born of unparalleled experience and filled with the caustic candor that has made him a living legend on “the Twitter Machine,” The Dean is the inside story of the greatest legislative achievements in modern American history and of the tough fights that made them possible. Here Dingell looks back at his life at the center of American government and vividly describes the political currents that swirled through Congress and the nation. At the age of fifteen, Dingell was in the House Chamber on December 8, 1941, and personally heard President Roosevelt declare it “a date which will live in infamy.” Almost a quarter century later, he presided over the House when Medicare was passed and led the health care reform effort in the House of Representatives from his first term in 1955 through the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, when President Obama invited Dingell to sit at the table when the bill was signed into law. Congressman Dingell worked closely alongside some of the most legendary names in American politics, including Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Barack Obama; Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey and Joseph Biden; Senator Ted Kennedy; and House Speakers Sam Rayburn and John McCormack. And though he is a lifelong, proud Democrat, Dingell built lasting bipartisan friendships with Republican leaders such as Presidents Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush, Secretary of State James Baker, and Senator Alan Simpson. And in a scathingly powerful afterword, Dingell addresses our nation’s future in the wake of an unprecedented attack on all our democratic institutions. He presents a persuasive defense of government, reminding us how it once worked honorably and well across the aisle, and offers hope for how it can do so again. By sharing his personal story as a descendant of immigrants, Dingell also reminds us of this country’s founding promise to remain a beacon of liberty to the entire world. The Dean is essential reading for all who love this country as deeply as John D. Dingell does.

For 15 years, Tom Stephen had the unique distinction of being both drummer and manager of the Jeff Healey Band. The dual role was fraught with conflicts of interest. One minute, he was leading the debauched life of a rock musician; the next, he was disciplining the band for the havoc they caused. But few knew or understood Jeff Healey — a national icon and one of the world’s best blues guitarists — better. Funny and loyal, with a luminous mind and staggering talent, Healey was also provincial, stubborn, obnoxious, and antagonistic. This book explores both sides with honesty, clarity, and humor and reveals what life for the band was really like: Jeff challenging ZZ Top to a bowling competition — and winning; Bill Clinton inviting the band to the White House, and enjoying a special audience with Queen Elizabeth II. To say nothing of the legendary guitarist’s interactions with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Keith Richards, and more… Tom Stephen was there for it all. He believes that young fans deserve to experience Healey’s brilliance — to understand the complicated man behind those timeless sounds. Best Seat in the House offers an authentic perspective that fans won’t find elsewhere.

As a broadcaster and motorsports legend, Neil 'Crompo' Crompton has had the best seat in the house for the last 40 years of Australian motorsport. From Allan Moffat to Jamie Whincup, Supercars to Sportscars and the Bathurst 1000 to the Indianapolis 500, Neil has had a front-row seat to see the biggest names, machines and events of this high-speed, high-octane sport. As a kid from Ballarat in country Victoria, Neil was obsessed by speed. It was a passion that would take him to the top of motorsport and see him, at 28 years old, lining up on the grid at the Bathurst 1000, driving for a team run by his childhood hero, Peter Brock. Over more than 30 years, Neil has raced wheel-to-wheel with some of the biggest stars the sport has ever seen in this country - from the brilliance of Mark Skaife to the sheer speed of Craig Lowndes. Neil has seen and done it all: thrilling wins, heartbreaking disappointments and witnessing the tragedy of competitors and mates lost to the sport they all loved. Since 2003, as the trusted and respected modern-day voice and face of Supercars racing on television in Australia, Neil has added the audio soundtrack from the commentary box to some of the most iconic moments in the sport. Best Seat in the House is an unputdownable memoir of one of Australia's leading motor-racing and automotive industry personalities.

Best Seat in the House is a love letter from a passionate, unswerving fan to basketball, the New York Knickerbockers and their thirty-year relationship through disappointment, triumph, bad calls and air balls. It's a slam dunk.

Ring announcer for "Independent Promotion House of Hardcore" Justin Roberts wrote his experiences in wrestling sports broadcasting.

A back-up goalie's hilarious behind-the-mask look at life in the NHL Jamie McLennan spent twenty years playing professional hockey. Sort of. As the backup for such legendary goalies as Grant Fuhr, Ron Hextall, Roberto Luongo, and Miikka Kiprusoff, he saw everything—except much playing time. In The Best Seat in the House, McLennan looks back on his unique career, from breaking into the NHL, to working with the legends, to life on the road and in the league, offering readers an unprecedented glimpse into life inside the locker room. Filled with tales of camaraderie and crazy antics, the book covers 20 years on and off the ice—including McLennan's disastrous meeting with Gene Simmons, accidentally calling Lady Gaga a troll to her face, charging an opposing team's mascot on the orders of legendary coach Billy Smith, and even how he hid a hotdog in his gear for an in-game snack. A collection of hilarious, strange, and sometimes unbelievable stories about hockey, the NHL, and celebrity from throughout the career of NHL backup goalie Jamie McLennan A deeply personal account of life on and off the ice, packed with hilarious personal anecdotes Co-written with Sportsnet's Ian Mendes The Best Seat in the House is an irreverent look at the life of a professional hockey player, on the ice, on the bench, and in the dressing room, that is sure to delight hockey fans everywhere.

Jim Doyles hands were shaking as he signed off after a radio broadcast of one of the most remarkable college football games he had ever witnessed. Although he was a seasoned broadcaster, Doyles hope remained the same as it did when he first started in the business: that through descriptions, gusto, and accuracy, he once again provided his listeners a good feel for what it was like to be there. Doyle relies on nearly a half century of sports radio broadcasting experience to share a treasure trove of stories that range from the exciting to the bizarre and even the tragic. From the biggest comeback in the history of college football to a rainout of a college basketball game to the courageous story of high school football radio analyst fighting terminal cancer while continuing to broadcast the game he loved, Doyle provides fans an insightful, unforgettable behind-the-scenes look at the passion, commitment, and skill surrounding radio sports broadcasting in a small Pennsylvania town. The Best Seat in the House reveals a radio sportscasters fifty-year journey through the world of broadcasting as he called plays, painted vivid pictures for his listeners, and reminded fans that nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm.