With insight, clarity and wit, Ryczek surveys a neglected era of early baseball history, and shows how baseball at its highest levels was transformed from a reasonably polite pastime for amateurs into a rowdy sport dominated by professionals. This first book-length treatment of baseball's post-Civil War era is a must read for anyone who would understand the origins of the professional game.

This book is a thoroughly researched account of the early days of baseball. Mr. Ryczek dutifully illustrates the exciting and often times painful transition of the sport from a loosely organized amateur pastime to an openly professional enterprise.

The Crash of the Titans represents good, solid sports reporting. It's fun reading. It recalls the first 3 seasons (1960-62) of the New York Titans franchise of the American Football League, now known as the Jets. It reminded me of the more wide open style of football the old AFL played and those late Sunday afternoon games on ABC with Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman. The buttoned up, corporate NFL was never as much fun. The central character is Harry Wismer, famous broadcaster of the 40s and 50s and the original owner of the Titans. Harry was a George Steinbrenner of an earlier day, with all the bombast but sans the dough and without a Yankee Stadium. The old AFL had some extremely wealthy owners; Harry was not one of them. The Titans played in Manhattan's ghostly Polo Grounds just waiting for Nirvana to rescue them. "Nirvana" was the construction of Shea Stadium, which opened too late to save Wismer. The baseball Mets survived 2 seasons in the Polo Grounds, 3 for the Titans were too many. This is sad because the Titans were NOT losers but respectably mediocre with a high scoring offense, albeit no defense. The author's research is impressive, almost impeccable. He interviewed over 50 former players, coaches and other reporters. He had the obvious cooperation of multiple sources. He ably balances the on field action with the off the field. There are some notable omissions. For one, there is an absence of any individual statistics, standings or rosters. There is also a dearth of photos. Since Ryczek had so many contacts, their inclusion should have been easy. The one back cover photo left out LB Larry Grantham of Old Miss (Ole?), a future hero of Super Bowl 3! Four of the SB lll Jets once were Titans ( FL Don Maynard, RB Bill Mathis, K Curly Johnson and Larry). Jets fans, here are your roots! Read Crash of the Titans and discover them! Super Bowl lll began here. We should not look back in life but after reading CT, I regret now I never went to a Titans game. With all those empty seats in the Polo Grounds, I certainly could have gotten in. We Jets fans can easily add a 5th star to the above rating.

For some reason, there has never been a major oral history of the American Football League. It is shocking when you realize that this is the only upstart league to merge as an equal partner to an established league with all of its franchises accepted. The AFL won as many Superbowls as the NFL did. And the busts of quite a few players are permanently on display in Canton, Ohio.

One of the weirder franchises of the AFL was the NY Titans. Most fans know the New York Jets, but the Jets was originally known as the Titans. They played their games in the decrepit Polo Grounds. The team was owned by an eccentric man named Harry Wismer who operated the team on a shoestring.

Despite all that, they were a pretty decent team and that is what this book is about, a chronicle of the Titans. While it is not the most entertaining book in the world, it is very well researched and it deserves to be read by every serious football fan.

Now we need an oral history of the entire AFL, as good as Terry Pluto's "Loose Balls", his hysterical oral history of the American Basketball Association.