You Can't Make This Up: Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television

by Al Michaels, L. Jon Wertheim

Overview

In this highly entertaining and insightful memoir, one of television’s most respected broadcasters interweaves the story of his life and career with lively firsthand tales of some of the most thrilling events and fascinating figures in modern sports.

No sportscaster has covered more major sporting events than Al Michaels. Over the course of his forty-plus year career, he has logged more hours on live network television than any other broadcaster in history, and is the only play-by-play commentator to have covered all four major sports championships: the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup Final. He has also witnessed first-hand some of the most memorable events in modern sports, and in this highly personal and revealing account, brings them vividly to life.

Michaels shares never-before-told stories from his early years and his rise to the top, covering some of the greatest moments of the past half century—from the “Miracle on Ice”—the historic 1980 Olympic hockey finals—to the earthquake that rocked the 1989 World Series. Some of the greatest names on and off the field are here—Michael Jordan, Bill Walton, Pete Rose, Bill Walsh, Peyton and Eli Manning, Brett Favre, John Madden, Howard Cosell, Cris Collinsworth, and many, many more.

Forthright and down-to-earth, Michaels tells the truth as he sees it, giving readers unique insight into the high drama, the colorful players, and the heroes and occasional villains of an industry that has become a vital part of modern culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062314970
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/08/2015
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	105,205
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Al Michaels has logged more hours on network television than anyone in history, including twenty years as the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football. Michaels is currently the play-by-play voice of NBC's Sunday Night Football, TV's highest-rated show.

L. Jon Wertheim is the executive editor of Sports Illustrated. He is the author of seven highly praised books, including the New York Times bestseller Scorecasting. He is a regular contributor to CNN and National Public Radio and is a commentator for the Tennis Channel.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Preface xi

Chapter 1 Brooklyn 1

Chapter 2 California Kid 7

Chapter 3 The Rascal 13

Chapter 4 Cut by the Lakers 20

Chapter 5 Aloha 31

Chapter 6 Rose, Bench, Sparky, and the Machine 48

Chapter 7 The Giants of Candlestick, and the Wizard of Westwood 70

Chapter 8 Wide, Wide World 93

Chapter 9 Do You Believe in Miracles? 105

Chapter 10 Saturdays in the Fall 124

Chapter 11 The One and Only 135

Chapter 12 Roone, the Olympics, and the Fight Game 152

Chapter 13 Monday Nights 169

Chapter 14 Two for the Ages 183

Chapter 15 O.J. 205

Chapter 16 Diversions 217

Chapter 17 Monday Might Transformations 228

Chapter 18 Partners 246

Chapter 19 Links 261

Chapter 20 A New Horns 270

Epilogue 285

Editorial Reviews

An enjoyable look at an important period in sports and television history by a man who helped shape it.” — Washington Times

“A playful puppy of a memoir about a big dog career.” — Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Al Michaels: “Al Michaels is my favorite. . . . He is the last of the true icons.” — Eminem, in GQ Magazine

“Al Michaels might be the best storyteller in all of sports.” — Bill Simmons, editor-in-chief of Grantland and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Basketball

“One of my favorite guests. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve had Al Michaels on my shows” — Howard Stern

“Al Michaels may be the best all-around play-by-play announcer ever.” — Sports Illustrated

From the Publisher

An enjoyable look at an important period in sports and television history by a man who helped shape it.

Washington Times

Al Michaels might be the best storyteller in all of sports.

Bill Simmons

Al Michaels may be the best all-around play-by-play announcer ever.

Sports Illustrated

Praise for Al Michaels: “Al Michaels is my favorite. . . . He is the last of the true icons.

in GQ Magazine Eminem

One of my favorite guests. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve had Al Michaels on my shows

Howard Stern

02/16/2015
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 (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2014
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

Library Journal

2014-10-07
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.

Kirkus Reviews