Pat Summerall's Sport in America: Conversations with 40 of the Most Celebrated Sports Personalities of the Last Half Century

Since 1990, Summerall, renowned for his pro football career with the New York Giants and his sports telecasts, has conducted a syndicated radio show originally titled Instant Reply and now called Pat Summerall's Sports in America. Produced and directed by Moskovitz, the show is unusual in that it features two-hour interviews with sports figures. Kubey, a contributor to Sports Illustrated, has helped pare down the conversations presented here, and the collection provides more insight into the careers and personalities of the guests than sound bites could reveal. Twelve sports are represented and, because so many of the star athletes are African Americans, race is a recurrent theme, with such stars as Hank Aaron, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Arthur Ashe all acknowledging their debt to Jackie Robinson. But there are other revelations, as when Pete Rose blasts the sainted (but in his view not saintly) Bart Giamatti, or when O.J. Simpson talks about his unhappy years with the Buffalo Bills, a team that did not care about winning, in his opinion. Fans will have a field day. Photos not seen by PW. $50,000 ad/promo. (Jan.)