One Last Read

Ray Didinger has won four Emmy Awards as a writer and producer at NFL Films. Before that, he was a reporter covering the National Football League for The Philadelphia Bulletin, and later The Philadelphia Daily News. In 1995 he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award for long and distinguished reporting of pro football. He is the author (with Robert S. Lyons) of The Eagles Encyclopedia, and a weekly commentator and panelist on Comcast SportsNet's Post Game Live show during the football season.

"There is no city in America where voices of reason are in greater need-and shorter supply-than Philadelphia. Fortunately, Ray Didinger has been stepping forward for more than three decades to serve as a paragon of sanity in a town where panic is always just a missed field goal away. As this book so beautifully reminds us, Ray has always had a knack for being as eloquent as he is professional. So who the heck cares if it took him a little longer to find just the right words? One Last Read proves once and for all that it was worth the wait." -Jayson Stark, senior baseball writer for ESPN.com and longtime Philadelphia Inquirer baseball writer and columnist

• Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One: The Home Town TeamsThe Eagles1.  Bednarik's Legend Etched in Concrete2.  Vince Papale Ain't Just Another Bum from the Neighborhood Anymore3.  Wilbert has a Mom that Frets4.  A Real Philadelphia Kind of Win5..  Introducing Tommy McDonald at the Pro Football Hall of Fame6.  The New Dick Vermeil - Who is He?7.  Reggie WhiteThe Phillies8.  Phillies are Rosel-less and Red-Faced9.  Maddox Takes Ride of His Life10.  Walk-ing into the Series Spotlight11.  McGraw's Retirement Tugs at Heartstrings12.  The End is Here13.  Lieberthal Receiving Good ReviewsThe Flyers14.  For Hard Luck Parent, Another Damaging Blow15.  Stickle: It Could have been Worse16.  In Flin Flon, They Knew He'd be Great17.  Hextall's Goal Always was to be in Goal18.  Flyer's Shining Moment Tarnished Before GameThe Sixers19.  Moses Makes His Private Life Most Valuable20.  This One's for You, Jack McMahon21.  Erving Can't Make Sense of It All22.  Barkley Uncomfortable with Life in the Glare of the SpotlightPart Two: American Sports at Home and in the WorldFootball23.  The Black Athlete: Jackie Robinson? He Wasn't the First24. America's Team: Cowboys Corral a Nation25.  Montana Magic26.  The Shulas Always have Felt at Home Near the Gridiron27.  Elevating Frankford28.  Just a Truck Drivin' Man29.  Passing of the Chief Marks the End of an Era30.  Larry Brown: King of the HillBaseball31.  Aaron's Numbers Speak for Him32.  Munson: A Man of No Frills33.  The 500 Club34.  Fernando has been Touched by GodOlympics35.  Thorpe Nets Golden Debt36.  Decker Runs Armed with a Killer Instinct37.  Huber Junks Diet for Taste of Gold 38.  Teti Always Seems to Stand Out on Rowing Team1980 - The Year That Was39.  A Cure for America's BluesIs Rosie a Real Winner?40.  Flyers Lose to Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals41.  “The Officials Killed Us,” Snider Sizzles42.  Fans Roar Tells Jack He's Back43.  Winning Makes It All Worthwhile44.  Duran Calls It Quits45.  A Real Philadelphia Kind of Win46.  Jim Plunkett's Journey Ends in TriumphPart Three: Facts and OpinionProfiles47.  Alcorn's Battle Over48.  Jim Tyrer Story Ultimate Tragedy49.  Their Hearts Belong to Daddy Mass50.  Hard Man to Please, Tough Man to Beat51.  Sugar Ray Pulls People Together52.  Waterboy Reaches Hall of Fame53.  Best of All Time?: Bird's Genius Puts Him in Rarified Aire54.  Climbing Capitol Hill55.  Abolition of Boxing Wouldn't be Jake56.  I'm not a WhinerOpinion57.  Phillies Left Red-faced and Rose-less58.  NFL Should Sack Tose59.  The Real World of Professional Football60.  Working Up a Strong Hate61.  Woody Hayes Doesn't Merit an Appreciative Audience62.  A Sense of Perspective