Everyday I read the book

I hope my regular readers (both of you) will forgive me as this is not a hockey post - although if you look closely you will find two, maybe three, books about hockey. This is a post about reading.

Inspired by my pal Peter Simpson and his annual book entry at The Big Beat, I decided to keep track of all the books I read (or tried to read) in 2009.

Here they are: forty-seven non-fiction and five fiction titles.

Unlike Peter, rather than list them chronologically, I’ve listed mine with the favourites up front, the good but not great in the middle, and the ones I couldn’t finish (or wish I hadn’t finished) at the end.

I’ve also tucked in a comment or two about the book…some are blank as there just wasn’t much to say.

Favourites (alphabetically)

1. 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, Tom Moon
Often songs or musicians can serve as a gateway into other related genres, bands, or tracks. This book helps connect those dots and serves up some great suggestions, selections and insights. Tom Moon has a website and there are two great podcasts with Tom available over at All Songs Considered that you can listen to here and here.

2. Alphabet Juice, Roy Blount jr.
I almost didn’t make it past the introduction but I’m sure glad I did. An A to Z compendium of insights, tricks, tips and examples of great (and not so great) writing.

3. The Big Sort, Bill Bishop
Maybe the best book I read this year. A fascinating look at how communities self-sort and what it means for culture and politics.

4. Cultural Amnesia, Clive James
I have to admit I haven’t quite finished this book yet, but I know I will. Forty essays about great thinkers, writers and artists of the 20th Century.

5. Farm City, Novella Carpenter
A true story about a woman who starts a farm on an abandoned lot in inner-city Oakland. I was so moved by this book that I bought 1/3 of a hog from a local farmer and may even take an interest in my wife's garden this spring. I hope to never buy grocery store meat again.

6. How Fiction Works, James Wood
Simply brilliant. I don’t even read much fiction anymore and I wanted to just curl up inside this slender book. Wonderful.

7. The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes
Not my usual fare or area of interest but it's brilliantly done. An in-depth look at the atom from the turn of the century to the dropping of atomic bombs along with the scientists who made it all happen. Won a slew of well deserved awards.

8. Netherland, Joseph O’Neill
One of just five pieces of fiction I read this year and miles away the best of the bunch. I read this in about three sittings and then asked my wife to read it so I’d have someone to discuss it with.

9. Not Quite What I Was Planning, Larry Smith, Rachel Fershleiser
Six word memoirs – tougher than it sounds (d’oh that’s 7 words!)

10. Orwell in Spain, George Orwell
Orwell’s description of being shot and, presumably, dying is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever encountered. I don’t like to mark a book, but that’s the type of passage that calls for a bent corner and marginalia.

11. Pictures at a Revolution: The Birth of the New Hollywood, Mark Harris
A very cool look at the five films nominated for the 1968 Best Picture Oscar, their origins and the impact they had on Hollywood. Enough factoids in here to get you through any dinner party (Robert Redford and Candace Bergen were originally tipped to play Benjamin Braddock and Elaine in The Graduate).

12. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Edward Tufte
I wish I was this smart.

13. World War Z, Max Brooks
A brilliant concept, smashing execution and loads of fun. Only downside is my wife is very tired of hearing my plans for when the zombies come.

Glad I read ‘em (almost alphabetically)

14. The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Benjamin Wallace
American billionaire buys centuries old wine – was it forged? It's clear who might have forged them, so call this one a how-dunnit?

15. Double Helix, J. Watson
Amazingly candid book about the race to discover DNA.

16. Eisenhower: The President, Stephen Ambrose
Formerly a blind-spot in my historical knowledge (I was inspired to read this after finishing The Making of the Atomic Bomb).

17. Farewell my Subaru, Doug Fine
Interesting story of a guy who moves off the grid.

18. Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I wish I was this smart.

19. Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark, Jim Bouton
Corrupt small-town politics get in the way of minor league baseball dreams.

20. The Gay Telease Reader, Gay Telease
A wonderful collection of great essays by Telease. “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” is tremendous.

21. The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire, Matt Taibbi
Hard to believe these stories are true. His writings on Congress are dispiriting; on religion sadly funny.

22. The Greatest Story Ever Sold, Frank Rich
Like his great Sunday New York Times column but in book form.

23. The Guinea Pig Diaries, A.J. Jacobs
Big fan of Mr. Jacobs' books. A collection of his essays involving personal experiments like radical truth, posing for a naked photo shoot, and outsourcing elements of his personal and professional life.

24. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, John Allen Paulos
I’m still innumerate, although a little less so.

25. King of Russia, Dave King
Former NHL Coach spends a season coaching in Russia. Interesting look at the KHL and Russian culture.

26. The Long Tail, Chris Anderson
A very cool examination of the distribution of goods.

27. Lush Life, Richard Price
Another well crafted police procedural from one of the best.

28. The New Asian Hemisphere, Kishore Mahbubani

29. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell

30. The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Alex Ross
I have no idea why I ordered this book from the library (I don't even remember doing so). Glad I did as it was a very interesting read.

31. Retrofitting Suburbia, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson
Ideas for what to do with those big box stores and the pod-style planning of suburbia.

32. The Road to Hockeytown, Jim Devellano (with Roger Lajoie)
I reviewed it here.

33. Strip Tease, Carl Hiaasen
Not a bad book, but more importantly a good lesson: I have to remember to pack more books for the cottage next summer.

34. The Twenty-One Balloons, William Pene Dubois
Inspired to read this after seeing Pixar’s Up (yeah, I cried). Some really clever stuff going on in here. Read this with my six year old daughter.

35. The New Game: How Hockey Saved Itself, Steve Paikin
The intro contains some of the best writing on what it is to be a beer league hockey player.

36. The Real Price of Everything, Michael Lewis
I only read the material by Lewis (this thing is bigger than a cinder block). Lewis could write the phone book and I’d read it, he's one of the best writers out there.

37. The Last Tycoons, William Cohan
Who knew the melt-down of Wall Street Firm Bear Sterns and the credit crunch could produce a page-turner?

38. The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America, Maury Klein
A very (almost too) detailed look at the evolution of power and technology from steam to the modern era.

39. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Andres Duany, Jeff Speck
Some cool stuff about Markham, Ontario and more of the usual new urbanism theories.

40. A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books, Alex Beam
An interesting look at the University of Chicago/Encyclopedia Britannica's "Great Books of Western Civilization" a 54 volume set (yup, 54 volumes) that sold millions of copies in the 1950s and 60s and then pretty much disappeared.

41. The Fix, Declan Hill
An investigative journalist's examination of allegations of match fixing in the world of professional soccer. Great topic, sadly it's told with the tone of a boring CBC documentary.

Meh (I think this is in chronological order)

42. The City in History, Lewis Mumford
Mumford's luddite tendencies were grating. I much preferred The Great Cities in History by John Julias Norwich and Cities by John Reader.

43. Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business, James Harding
Some interesting stuff, but too much emphasis on the whole “great men” version of history

44. Who’s Your City? Richard Florida
I think he keeps writing the same book. They're not getting better.

45. My White Planet, Mark Anthony Jarman
I wanted to like this more than I did. I’m a huge fan of his earlier work.

46. The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferris
Primary lesson of this book is time management - finishing this book wasn't worth my time.

47. Leafs Abomination, Michael Grange and David Feschuk
My review can be found here.

48. Snark, David Denby
One of the most misguided books I read this year. Humour is far too subjective a topic to take so seriously.

49. Deer Hunting with Jesus, Joe Bageant
200 pages of being hectored by a 60 year old who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. What fun.

50. Spain: A Culinary Road Trip, Mario Batali
TV series was great. Book, not so much.

51. Room for Thought: Rethinking Home and Community Design, Avi Friedman
No fault of the author, but this was not quite what I was hoping for.

52. The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics was Reborn, Louisa Gilder
If you want to read imaginary conversations between big-name physicists, this is for you…

Gift Ideas for the Hockey Fan

With Christmas all but upon us, I thought I'd put up a quick list of gift suggestions for the hockey fan in your life.

It's not all about me today, this isn't altruism to get in Santa's good books. I fear if I don't post this at least one poor Leaf fan is going to end up with that middling book Leafs Abomination under their tree.

Sports Books

King of Russia, by Dave King
This book, co-written by the Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek, is pretty much a diary of King's year spent as a coach in the Russian KHL. It's a really interesting look at hockey and the cultural differences King encounters in Russia. Former Leafs Igor Korolev and Dimitri Yushkevich played for King that season in Russia, as did current Leaf Nikolai Kulemin.

The Road to Hockeytown by Jim Devellano (with Roger Lajoie)
I posted a full reviewed of the book here. A very interesting look at how high school drop-out Devellano became a very successful sports executive and a key piece of the multiple Stanley Cup wins in Detroit. My full review is here.

The New Game: How Hockey Saved Itself, Steve Paikin
Steve Paikin interviews numerous players and hockey men about the post-lockout changes to the game and the impact of each. It may be a bit dated at this point, but Paikin's superlative interview skills make it worth the read. The intro contains some of the best writing on what it is to be a beer league hockey player.

Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark, by Jim Bouton
Like his must-read book on the 1969 MLB Season, this newer work is a day by day diary detailing Bouton's efforts to buy a minor league ball team and restore an aging ball park in New England. Along the way he encounters corrupt small-town politics, ugly media relationships, and some rather scary eocological issues. Bouton is a great storyteller and finds humour in the least likely situations. A sad, but fun, read.

The Fix, Declan Hill
As fresh as the headlines, this book is a very in-depth look at gambling, sports betting, and allegations of match fixing in professional soccer. Hill is an investigative journalist who brings a through approach to the book. Could do with a bit better pacing and story telling but it's worth the read. The NHL has a very minor role here, touching on the ties between Russian NHLers and organized crime.

Netherland, Joseph O’Neill
This book is about sports in the same way Jaws was about fishing. The game of cricket gets a lot of play here and is central to the plot, but that's not why I'm suggesting it. I'm not much of a fiction reader, but this was one of the best, if not the best, book I read this year. A beautfiul post-colonial retelling of Gatsby.


Fun Stuff

A great idea for a stocking stuffer or a quick gift for a friend, your dad, etc. is a Toronto Maple Leafs key chain.

Wholesalekeychain has a huge huge assortment to chose from and if your dad, son, mum, brother, door man, etc. isn't a Leaf fan (hard to belive I know) there are many other types available including automotive, sports, Disney, and even game and toy keychains.

They even have the ideal keychain - a Leaf logo with a bottle opener - a perfect way to get through those annual January/February losing streaks.

Other Leaf keychains can be found here. Last year we gave my mum and mother in-law digital key chains loaded with photos of my favourite Leafs kids and they wre a big hit.

Wholesale keychains has kindly made three Leaf keychains available as a give-away. The first three people that email me the correct answer to, "Which Toronto Maple Leaf holds the team record for most career playoff points by a defenceman." get a cool Leafs key chain.

Puck Attax

Topps has come out with a new hockey game called Puck Attax. It's like a very simple hybrid of two of my favourite childhood games - stratomatic football and stratego.

The two player card game takes place on a rink shaped game board with each team selecting puck shaped cards that feature an NHL player. Each player has an offensive and defensive rating. Players take turns flipping cards, if the offensive ranking is higher than the defensive ranking it's a goal; if it's lower, no goal. Play goes through three periods with the higher scoring team taking the win. If it's tied, there actually is a shoot-out round (as my feelings on the shootout are well known, I make my kids play another period of hockey to settle the game).

Additional card packs are also available.

My kids, who are a bit younger, quite like the playing cards and will take a pile to play a version of War.

Topps has kindly made a set of Puck Attax available for a reader. First reader to email me at bitter37@gmail.com will get a set.

Matt Stajan: Putting a Price on #14

Matt Stajan is having a career year playing on a line with Phil Kessel.

Stajan's emergence comes at an interesting time. As a pending UFA in a contract year one has to wonder if the Leafs can afford to keep him or, given his chemistry with Kessel, can they afford to let him go?

One unintended consequence of landing Kessel could very well be Stajan getting priced out of the Leafs' plans.

Boxcars

Before Kessel was healthy enough to join the Leafs, Stajan was putting up points at an 0.58 per game (ppg) rate. Good for a 48 point season. Since being given the plumb assignment of centering Kessel, his production has nearly doubled to a very impressive 0.98 ppg. Pairing up with Kessel has put Stajan on pace for 65 points with career highs in both goals and assists.

Determining Value

I have no idea what transpires between players, agents and GMs, but with Stajan on pace for 65 points this year, all signs point to a hefty raise. Factor in a thin crop of UFA centres – demand exceeding supply – and it's a safe bet that Stajan will be Oprah rich.

In order to get an idea of the compensation Stajan might be in line for, I took a look at the types of contracts signed by Stajan's peers in 2009, that is unrestricted free agent forwards, in their 20s, that scored in the 50 to 65 point band. Here's a quick look at Stajan's comparables:

Nik Antropov, career high 59 points – signed a $4M/year deal in ATL
Johan Franzen, career high 59 points – signed a $3.95M/year deal in DET
Travis Zajac, career high 62 points - signed a $3.88M/year deal in NJ
Tumomo Ruutu, career high 54 points - signed a $3.8M/year deal in CAR
Ryan Clowe, career high 52 points – signed a $3.5M/year deal in SJ.

Stajan has already outpointed Ruutu and Clowe and this season he will likely outpoint the totals put up by Antropov, Zajac and Franzen in their contract years.

Given the comparables, don't be surprised to see Stajan looking for a contract in the $3.5M+/year range this summer.

Who’s Driving the Bus?

If Kessel is generating the bulk of Stajan’s points (and all signs point to this being so: Stajan’s ppg nearly doubled since joining Kessel and he has countless assists from down near his own goal line) two questions immediately come to mind:

1. Can Stajan be replaced at a cheaper rate than the expected $3.5M+/year?
2. Should the Leafs commit salary and term to a player that isn’t generating the stats he's being rewarded for?

In terms of replacement value, it’s not just about keeping salary dollars for UFAs this summer. A potential Stajan deal is about cap dollars, cap space and flexibility for the life of the contract. $3.5 to $4M may not seem like a heavy cap hit to carry, but how many Leaf fans would love to see Finger ($3.5M) and Blake ($4M) moved?

As Eliotte Friedman noted in his most recent 30 Thoughts:

One GM told me that if you're going to sign a player to a long-term, big-money deal, he'd better be three things: critical to your success, consistently healthy and, most importantly, extremely self-motivated.

As much as I'm eating crow over the Kessel deal (I didn’t, and still don't, like the deal even though Kessel has looked fantastic for the Leafs) Kessel remains a rather soft player. Boston has effectively neutralized him in two games by playing smothering, tough hockey. I fully expect that this style would be SOP if the Leafs ever make the post-season.

In light of this, there are a few downsides to keeping Stajan as the Leafs #1 centre:

1. Stajan is not the guy you run 20+ minutes a night against tough competition. He’s not going to help shut-down the bigger pivots in the east;
2. On the other side of the puck, he’s not going to fight through smothering, tough, defence to generate points;
3. With Grabovski already signed as the #2 centre, can the Leafs succeed over the long-term, and in the post-season, with softer players centering the top two lines?
4. To Friedman's point, is Stajan the right type of player to build around or do the Leafs need to focus what assets they have – salary, term, the trading of spare parts and pending UFAs – to acquire a more physical or grittier player than can make some room for Kessel?

VORP

In terms of replacement value, there are always going to be bona fide NHL players looking for a short-term deal to stay in the game. Afinogenov signed for $800k, Moore for $1.1M. Peverley got picked off waivers. I think all 3 would put up Stajanesque numbers if given prime minutes with Kessel.

If there are other centres available who can produce alongside Kessel for less than $3.5M/year, trade Stajan for whatever you can get.

If no other viable options are available, or if you believe Stajan is a key part of the medium term success of the team, get Stajan’s name on a contract.

If I were GM

My tendency would be to let Kessel continue to inflate Stajan's stats for the rest of the season to see what the return for Stajan is at the trade deadline.

If the price is right, I'd move Stajan.

I'd also consider taking a page out of the St. Louis Blues playbook and move Stajan for picks at the deadline and look at re-signing him come July 1.

If Stajan is willing to take a home town discount (less than $3M/year or a very short term deal) I'd get his name on a contract.

The cap makes the NHL an efficiency contest. Elite teams lock-up their superstars and round out the rosters with players who are outperforming their contracts. Personally, I don't think Stajan fits either of these categories.

With 16 pending UFAs and RFAs on the Leafs extended roster and just 59 days between the January 1st opening of contract renegotiations (CBA 50.5 F iv) and the March 3trade deadline it's going to be an interesting few months for Burke and the Leafs.

Stajan may be the most intriguing challenge Burke has.

The Johnny Mitchell Effect

The best thing to happen to the Toronto Maple Leafs this season might just be a knee injury to John Mitchell.

Since Mitchell was placed on Long Term Injury Reserve the Leafs are 8-3.

Let me be clear: I know the winning streak has a lot to do with stable goaltending, a relatively soft schedule, and better compliance with Coach Wilson’s forechecking system.

That said, taking Mitchell out of the picture made three important things happen:

1. It brought an end to all the useless talk about who should centre Kessel;
2. It gave Stajan an extended opportunity to establish himself as the defacto #1Centre and, more importantly, it meant Mitchell (a fine #3 or #4 Centre) didn’t have to struggle or play in situations way-over his head; and
3. By solidifying the situation up the middle, all four Leaf lines have found some chemistry, provided secondary scoring and balanced play.

It will be interesting to see how Coach Wilson fits Mitchell back into the line-up once he gets the clearance to play.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Leafs assign Mitchell to the Marlies on a conditioning stint that’s just long enough to get this team to the trade deadline. Doing so would give Burke the opportunity to make addditional moves that don't expose Leaf players to waivers and a chance to move an extra body or two for a late round pick.