Whitey's Book Club: "GLAD" to be up and running again
BLINK.
When you see the word, it probably strikes you as a reflex...a reaction. You blink thousands of times a day. Reading this book will forever change the way that you see that word, and might just change the way you see the world.
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I know, this is a sport s station, right? It's a sports station website...and I'm a sports talk host...blogging so it should be about sports or something? Maybe....
The best I can give you is this: I will ALWAYS look at the month a Canadian hockey player is born, now that I've read Malcolm Gladwell's 3rd book - Outliers.
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Let me guess, you clicked this link because you were hooked by the "GLAD". Am I right? Even if you don't know WHY you clicked it...here you are. Something in your mind...in the way you think...in the way you were raised...etc has you here. So please, indulge me.
I am blogging today to suggest that you read all three of Malcolm Gladwell's books. Gladwell has taught me quite a bit. I've never met the man, but in the course of BURNING through his three books, I feel better for the knowledge I've gained.
He is a wonderful story teller, who lives in the world of non-fiction. Gladwell artfully uses studies from major universities and applies them to things that we can all understand. In the order that I read them ( I stress the order that I read them in) the three books that I'd recommend to anyone are:
Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Facial expressions. Gut feelings. Major events in history broken down to a new level, to ascertain better understanding. Even going so far as to explain why, indirectly, the best team doesn't always win. "Blink" is one of the best books I have ever read. It has changed the way that I see the world.
His concept is fairly simple: The human mind can often examine a situation and skim all of the information that is necessary to make a correct decision and plot a course of action almost instantaneously.
Trust your instincts. The book helped me win a "Loser Pool" in the NFL this year. Every week, I blinked. FIRST game that I thought I could pick the loser in. Absolutely NO analysis. BLINK. "I'll take the ______". I won.
The Tipping Point - How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
The Tipping Point is Gladwell's first book, and while I loved it, it is not his best in my opinion.
Wikipedia describes it this way: The book sets out to explain why "Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do." The examples of such changes in his book include the rise in popularity and sales of Hush Puppies shoes in the mid-1990s and the dramatic drop in the crime rate in New York City in the late 1990s."
I hope that doesn't sound too stale...because it's not. The book offers so much more. Find out why companies with SMALL work forces work so well. Why the company that makes GORE-TEX will only have 150 people in a factory. Rather than adding on, they'll build another factory right next door. Why?
Why is the war against teen smoking failing?
Why did Paul Revere's famous midnight ride work so effectively?
Why in the hell do kids respond so well to "Blues Clues", when it seems soooooooooo silly?
You might think you never wanted to know the answers to these questions...but trust me. If you're anything like me, you consider knowledge to be power. Gladwell doles out the knowledge with every page, and if you're interested in thinking "outside the box"...it's further proof that his books are for you. That's me all the way.
Outliers - The Secrets of Success
I finished up Gladwell's "Outliers" (his third and final book to date) just about an hour ago. It's more food for thought. It's like Thanksgiving for thought. How come Bill Gates was the guy who figured out how to harness the rising computer boom? Talent? Of course...but lots of things fell his way.
I think about this when it comes to athletes ALL the time. Sometimes, I shy away from heaping so much praise on....LaDainian Tomlinson (just for an example). For all I know, there were 4 young boys in his high school that would have been ust as good, if not better than him had they had the same opportunities throughout life. I use Tomlinson totally arbitrarily, but it's true. Think of someone you know that was REALLY good, but then blew out a knee, or got too many concussions, or flunked out of school, or had a coach that made them fall out of love with their sport.
What led the Beatles to their galactic success?
Why are Asians better than Americans at math?
Does a pilot's ethnicity have a role in likelihood of a crash? (That chapter I found particularly fascinating. I was reading it at about 25,000 feet on a flight to Baltimore)
There are thousands of daily things that happen that shape who we are and where we go. Outliers tells many stories, but at the end of the day you're armed with knowledge.
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Ok, so my book club got off to a slow start, but I'm proud to announce that things are up and running fully. I wanted to get this going going a while back for a few reasons:
1. I'd like all of you who listen to the station to know more about my tastes, what makes me tick, and how I think.
2. I know how difficult it can be to find a truly GREAT book that can challenge you.
3. I want suggestions on what to read next.
I hope you like Blink. I hope that you'll send me your suggestions. Truthfully, I'm not interested in fiction. I LOVE reading true stories that I know nothing of. I'm in it to learn...to be challenged...to think.
Now excuse me, while I go Kathy Bates "Misery" style, and find Mr. Gladwell and demand that he write MORE books!!!
To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 1 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy tips.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 2 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy tips.; tournament; WGR; Jeremy White; Golf; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 3 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy tips.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 4 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 5 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 6 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 7 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 8 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala;
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