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

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

Al Michaels with Jon Wertheim. Morrow, $28.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-231496-3

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.)