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OUR 2006 HOLIDAY SPORTS GIFTS

By C.J. SULLIVAN & DAVE HOLLANDER

SULLIVAN: As baseball teams peruse the absolute dreck of free agency hoping that Santa will deliver them that stud pitcher that may only exist in the recesses of some deranged and drunken scout’s mind, we here at the New York Press want our readers to get fine holiday choices for their gift giving.

Let me recommend a book that may have helped create one of the better young pitchers on the free market right now. The book is The Science of Mind (Penguin, N.Y.) by Ernest Holmes. Now this old chestnut has been around awhile, but Barry Zito credits this book with helping him become a better pitcher by using these life lessons. This is not some new age fluff but some deep thoughts written in a style that makes you have to put the book down every page to think about what you have just read.

That is one reason I like Barry Zito. He has actually read a book. His father, a musician, observed all his kids and then led them to what they were interested in. Barry liked to throw rocks, so his dad—who knew little or nothing about baseball—got him involved with pitching a baseball. He turned him onto Holmes’ philosophy, and that led to a 2002 Cy Young Award, and at age 28, he has a career 102-63 win-loss record and he is about to strike it rich with a free agency deal worth, possibly, more than $100 million for seven years. Maybe this book could do some good for us all.

I also like the 2005 DVD Through the Fire about Sebastian Telfair’s decision to go from a Brooklyn high school to a pro playing in the NBA. Telfair has had a hard time of it as a pro—getting busted for a gun possession and then getting mugged at P. Diddy’s joint—but this is all about before that. Telfair now toils for Boston as a small point guard with a lot of potential. This season he is averaging 10.6 points a game and 4.3 assists. His more famous cousin, Stephon Marbury of the Knicks, is struggling for his basketball life so it is nice to take a look back at the First Family of New York basketball.

HOLLANDER: That sounds like your re-gifting list. How about we offer some hot new items for the 2006 holiday season?

For the fellas, I suggest a bottle of Original 1910, an eau de toilette natural spray from Everlast. That’s right, the company that makes signature boxing gloves, speed bags and other pugilist accoutrements knows just what you need to turn a leathery sweat into a manly scent. Go knock yourself out shopping at: EverlastFrangrances.com
Nothing beats a holiday movie except a holiday sports movie. After slapping on some Everlast cologne, give your honey a night at the cinema with two tickets for We Are Marshall. It’s the true story about the 75 members of Marshall’s football team and coaching staff who were killed in a 1970 plane crash and the young coach who revived the football program and healed a grieving community in the process. I can’t stomach Matthew McConaughey either, but supporting roles by Ian McShane (Deadwood) and David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) make it worth the a stocking stuff.

Sports fans love a good sports book. I know you love Mark Kriegel’s unauthorized biography of Joe Namath, but Namath didn’t. So Joe Willie wrote his own story on his own words—Namath (Rugged Land)—published last month with never before seen photos and a DVD. If it’s a book you seek to give, then give the autobiography of the New York football legend who made Suzy Kolber famous for her rebuff under a nationally televised mistletoe.

Can’t decide what type of sports gift? Or maybe you can’t find a gift that matches the sport favored by your intended recipient? Look no further than Cafepress.com. They’ve got mugs, T-shirts, key chains and other assorted tschotchkes for every sport from bull riding to badminton. They even stock for borderline sports like Frisbee and lacrosse.

SULLIVAN: May I be so bold as to recommend the book, 52 Weeks: Interviews with Champions! by the one and only Dave Hollander. I really did enjoy the book, and the breadth of the interviews is excellent.

Two other books came out this year that show how there were athletes back in the 1970s who put their jobs and lives on the line for things they believed in. Today’s corporate athletes have no idea how cowardly they are with their shying away from anything controversial.

Brad Snyder’s tome on Curt Flood, A Well Paid Slave, shows how Flood refused to be traded and took the baseball owners to court so he and then others could become free agents. Flood created more millionaires than anyone in history. When Flood died in the late 1990s, not one current ball player had the grace to show at his funeral. The book is a fine look back to a time that was not all that long ago.

David Maraniss’s, Clemente is the last word on that Puerto Rican legend who gave his life trying to get food to earthquake-torn Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve, 1972. Clemente was the first Latino Hall of Famer and paved the way for the current crop of Los Mets. A look back to these fine men is what this Christmas season needs.

HOLLANDER: Those are great choices for great reasons. But, what if you love sports but can’t read? For many sports fans, it’s enough to just hold something in their hands. Here are a few choice items available exclusively at Steiner Sports, the New York sports collectibles Mecca:

Babe Ruth/Lefty Gomez dual signed baseball,  Price: $37,500
A museum piece that comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Pitching Rubber Used By Mariano Rivera,  Price: $ 1,999
This is the pitching rubber that Mariano warms up on in the Yankees bullpen just prior to coming out into the stadium to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” which Mo inscribed along with his name.

If that kind of memorabilia breaks your budget, then hit eBay where rare NYC2012 Metrocards are going for .99 cents. At Duane Reade, you won’t find a pitching rubber, but for $3.99 you can pick up the box of rubbers that Shawn Kemp, the former NBA star who is reportedly the father of seven children out of wedlock, should’ve used.

For sports hipsters, why not give the Renaldo Balkman South Carolina Gamecocks jersey (XL); $19.99 on eBay. Or, give them a butter knife (39 cents) from Fishs Eddy and call it an the “Official Adam Morrison Moustache Trimmer.”

Well, now you’ve got me coming full circle. For Knicks fans who need reminding that there indeed was a day, get them Garden Glory: An Oral History of the New York Knicks (Triumph). Dennis D’Agostino, who currently serves as Knicks historian, compiled colorful remembrances from players, coaches and Dancing Harry. Every significant Knick—Red Holzman, Bernard King and even Rory Sparrow—reflect on their eras with unfiltered candor and rich behind the scenes tales. It’s a sweet book of bedtime stories for Knicks fans who feel like they are unable to wake from this never-ending nightmare.

Lastly, will someone please give the Jets their own stadium.

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