Review: Big Loosh (2025)

By Jim Leeke

Let's start this review of "Big Loosh: The Unruly Life of Ron Luciano" with a story.

When Luciano was pushing one of his many books, he even took a half-hour to appear on my sports talk show back in the day. I knew that Ron had umpired in Buffalo when the Bisons were playing in War Memorial Stadium in the International League back in the 1960s. I asked if he had any particular memories of those days. 

As a matter of fact, he did. It seemed that that was a particularly loud woman who sat behind home plate back then every night. She seemed to think it was her job to criticize the umpires, no matter what happened in the game. "That pitch was outside!" "He was safe!" "You guys are terrible." And on and on it went. 

Ron and his crew grew tired of it all. Then they received a tip that the woman was a breakfast waitress at a suburban restaurant. So the three umpires got up early one morning and visited the restaurant, and they gave it to her with all sorts of orders. "These pancakes are cold." "I need more coffee." "How did you burn the toast so badly." "Where's the bill?" And so on. Finally, the woman came over to their table. "Guys, if you leave this place right now, I promise that I will never yell at you at a game again."

They left, and she kept her word. In fact, she became the umpires' best friend. She always said hello before the game, and would bring them a freshly baked pie to start the homestand. 

The rest of the 30-minute show was fun too. But that's a side of Luciano that doesn't really turn up in "Big Loosh." It's a straight biography about a surprisingly complicated man. 

If you were a baseball fan, it was tough to avoid Luciano during the 1970s and 1980s. He seemed like an unlikely choice to be a celebrity umpire. Ron came out of the Binghamton area as a young man large enough to receive a scholarship as a lineman on the football team at Syracuse University. Injuries were a problem there, but he was still good enough to be drafted by the Detroit Lions. But injuries were an issue there too, and he bounced through Minnesota before landing with the Buffalo Bills for two games in the American Football League. Yup, more injuries. Luciano's pro career was over before it started. 

What next? He ended up at umpire school, and he happened to be good at it. Who is going to argue with a man big enough to play defensive tackle in pro football? Luciano was good enough to work some of the game's Crown Jewels, like the All-Star Game and the playoffs. Yes, he didn't get along well with Baltimore manager Earl Weaver, but then again no umpire did. Luciano also showed a little flair with his work, sometimes using a pistol-shooting gesture to call a runner out instead of the traditional thumb going up. The fans seemed to like it, and Ron liked the attention - although baseball still had a tradition-bound reputation at that point, and forced separation seemed likely.

NBC called at just the right time, and Luciano signed up for work as the analyst for backup "Game of the Week" on Saturdays - in the days when only two regular-season games were nationally televised per week. The backup game was the broadcast that went into blacked-out markets, or was used during rain delays with the primary game. (Kids, ask your parents for a further explanation of all that if necessary.) The relationship lasted a short time; as he put it, by the time he got done at NBC, it was behind Atari in the ratings. From there, Luciano moved into the unlikely position of author. He was always naturally funny, and he knew how to tell a story, so "The Umpire Strikes Back" became a hit. There were four more books along those lines. 

But the literary gravy train eventually ended, and Luciano became a bit lost. His sporting goods store back home rose and fell along the way, and after a while he started receiving treatments for depression. Luciano committed suicide in 1995. 

In one sense, a straight-forward look at Luciano's life is a pretty good idea. Ron did have trouble keeping his facts straight, particularly when he was headed toward a punchline. Facts could be exaggerated beyond recognition. No, Luciano didn't eject Weaver every time they were in the same ballpark, although the possibility always seemed to be lurking in the background. It's also nice to see that Luciano really was a good umpire, particularly when he first arrived at the majors before fame started to turn his head a little. 

There's not much insight into what happened at the end, but Luciano was well out of the public eye at that point and probably wasn't giving too many clues to what he was thinking. But as co-author David Fisher told Leeke, "He didn't look or ask for any help because he didn't want to bother people." 

"Big Loosh" - a nickname picked up as a youth for obvious reasons - moves right along, a short book that tells the truth about this interesting man. That's fine. It's just that much of the fun came out of the story, and that guy that told the story about the waitress in Buffalo enjoyed a good laugh. It's easy to wish that side had come out a bit more.

Three stars

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Review: Rory Land (2025)

By Timothy M. Gay

It's difficult to read "Rory Land" and not think about how much the book would have changed had he written it a few months later ... or a few years later.

Timothy M. Gay obviously put a lot of effort in this biography of Rory McIlroy, one of the world's best and most famous golfers. The story line must have seemed set when it was finished, oh, probably late last year. Rory was the comet who blossomed into a superstar at an early age, only to develop the habit of not winning major championship soon after that. 

Then in April, McIlroy finally went out and slayed that dragon. He won the Masters title in slightly messy but a typically exciting way. The arc of the story has been altered, and we don't know where it's headed. 

It's easy to wonder, then, what the reaction of Gay might have been when McIlroy sank that last putt to win the playoff in Augusta. Certainly he couldn't have been upset that the subject of the soon-to-be-published biography was a topic of conversation around the golfing world for days, growing the fan base of the Northern Ireland native in the process. On the other hand, McIlroy is no longer the sympathetic equivalent of Sisyphus, the Greek mythology figure doomed to push a rock up a hill only to have it fall back down the slope.

McIlroy's golf career seems to have entered a new phase. Now he's one of the handful of golfers who have won the career Grand Slam - victories in the four major championships. It will be fascinating to see how McIlroy reacts to that. Free from the constant pressure of expectations, he may start winning majors with regularity through the peak of his playing days (at 36 as of this writing, he has some prime years left). On the other hand, he could relax a bit with the dragon slayed, even if he doesn't realize it at the time. It will be fascinating to watch.

Marketing matters aside, most of the book wouldn't be changed if it had been written this morning - so don't let that stop you if you're interested in McIlroy. He has had an uncommon life, with plenty of influencing factors ... starting with his birthplace.

McIlroy hails from Northern Ireland, born to a Catholic family in a mostly Protestant region. You probably know about the Troubles that took part in the world for many years. Rory's family tree has some difficult twists and turns, as Gay discovered, because of all that. But the situation has settled down a bit in the last 25 years ago. McIlroy never chose to make religion a big part of her life. He was too busy worrying about getting a tee time later in the week. If anything, the golfer became a unifying factor for both sides of the divide in that area. 

McIlroy was playing golf by age three, and dreaming at age seven of becoming a pro golfer someday. Upon reaching double digits, it was obvious that McIlroy was something of a prodigy and had a chance to be something special. His working class parents had to sacrifice a great deal to support their son, as they worked extra jobs and spent little on themselves. In his teens Rory was headed to the United States every so often to find better competition. 

McIlroy was a young man in a hurry by that point, and he wasn't too interested in books unless they were written by Nicklaus and Hogan. Rory left school and was playing in top events by the age of 16. He turned pro at 18 in 2007, and didn't need much time to make an impact. In 2009, Rory bought his parents a house and told them they'd never have to work another day in their lives. That promise certainly has been kept. 

McIlroy won four majors between 2011 and 2014 inclusive, and seemed to have a chance to be one of the all-time greats. Along the way, he's been very visible in the public eye, whether it's through endorsements or relationships (the tabloid press, you know). The 10-year drought changed the script a bit. He's still a great player, but perhaps not as good we thought he might be. McIlroy has become a thoughtful, interesting personality along the way, and it's easy to wonder what he might be like if taken the more traditional route of finishing high school and enrolling in college, But, as we know now, there's still some time to add to his life story.

Gay starts off a little slowly, trying to capture the whirl around McIlroy's life in recent years. The now-veteran has been involved in the "fight" between the PGA Tour in America and the Saudi's LIV Tour - all while trying to win a major. And there are a lot of golf shots described here, especially in describing the wins and near-misses. But for the most part, the author settles in nicely to presenting the story, aided by the occasional use of some hilarious footnotes. Gay - who has a couple of other good sports books to his credit - put in the hours of research to make this work, and it shows.

"Rory Lane" fills the assignment of showing what the first act of Rory McIlroy's life has been like. The book no doubt will increase your interest in following along as he takes it into the second act.

Four stars

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Review: When the Game Was War (2023)

By Rich Cohen

Rich Cohen deserves a lot of credit for his range. You just never know what book he might come up with next.

Cohen has written for a wide variety of publications - from the Wall Street Journal to the New Yorker to Rolling Stone.  Rich was the co-creator of an HBO series. His books including looks at the Rolling Stones and America's "banana king." Even the sports books are diverse, although it's fair to say they have a Chicago-bias in spots. Cohen has books about the Bears and Cubs to his credit. 

So what was he doing during the Pandemic? Thinking about basketball. In particular, the 1987-88 NBA season. You might remember that one if you are a basketball fan. There were four very good teams in that point in history, and all were in different stages of a hoop lifespan. The Boston Celtics still could be good, but they were getting old. The Los Angeles Lakers were a bit younger, but still had plenty in the tank for the moment. The Detroit Pistons were coming up from below, with a deep bench and a rough-and-tough style that left opponents bruised. The Chicago Bulls had Michael Jordan, but hadn't quite figured out how to reach the next level. 

Cohen admits at the very start of the book that Game Six of the NBA Finals turned him into a basketball fanatic. With Covid-forced time on his hands, he decided to write a book on that '87-88 season called "When the Game Was War."  The idea was to show that that year of basketball was the best in the NBA's history. That's a very difficult argument to win, but Cohen presents his best arguments here ... and brings enthsiasm with him.

It's no coincidence that the best teams had many of the best players; that's the way it often works in sports. The Lakers started with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and that doesn't account for fellow Hall of Famer James Worthy. The Celtics offered Larry Bird along with Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson. Detroit was led by Isiah Thomas, followed by Joe Dumars and Adrian Dantley with a bench that included Dennis Rodman. Chicago had Michael Jordan, enough said, with Scottie Pippin slowly learning how to play Robin to Jordan's Batman. 

Cohen centers on a few regular-season games, but that only serves a launching point for background information on the players and teams. He gets plenty of points for the amount of information he covers, including some new items that usually come up with the passing of time. So the story moves right along into the playoffs, where fans who matched Cohen's intensity in those days probably can recite the details of the key contests without much effort. 

The Celtics lost their chance to stay relevant in the title picture when Len Bias died in 1986. The Bulls didn't have the right pieces yet, but they figured to be a handful if they did. The Pistons probably were the best team, but sometimes the best team didn't always win. And the Lakers had enough know-how and a break or two at the end of games to emerge on top. 

Was it the best year ever? Sometimes it seemed like Cohen forces the argument a little bit, overstating the ability of some players and teams at certain points. For example, the Atlanta Hawks are given a great deal of respect for starting the season with a division lead over Detroit and Chicago. Even at 25-9, it's hard to say anyone thought the Hawks would be there when it mattered in the spring. 

Cohen also has a second cause on the side. He thinks Isiah Thomas has been badly underrated for what he did in his career. Thomas's reputation took some hits during the course of his career, particularly in an incident involving Larry Bird in the playoffs. He and Magic Johnson were in each other's way in this particular season too, and their friendship suffered. Johnson was always going to win that popularity contest. Cohen's argument probably isn't air-tight, but it's an interesting discussion. Thomas' status is another portion of a book that shows the author trying to make a case along the way. I'm a little of the "show me, don't tell me" school on such matters, but I'm willing to listen.

"When the Game Was War" is book that's filled with research, some of it through direct interviews and some of it through other sources. It reads quite quickly. You may not be convinced about the validity of Cohen's two points, but if you remember this era you'll find it to be quite an entertaining book.

Four stars

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