Book Review (by Brian Edwards @ West Michigan High School Hockey Blog)

Spent time last night reading a new book that's due out any day, and it's one that the WMHSH Blog thoroughly endorses for two reasons. First, it's about the life lessons that sports teach you - a recurring theme here on the Blog as well as for the WMHSH Blog Scholarship program. Second, it's by a guy who's been an active member of the West Michigan Hockey community since the early '90s: Traverse City Central Hockey Coach Chris Givens.The book is called "More Than The Score" and it's written as a series of short stories describing the life lessons that Givens was taught, by his dad, through sports. While many of us know Coach Givens as a hockey guy, he was an all-state football player in high school who also played D-1 football at CMU. As a kid growing up in Hancock, Mich., Givens played just about everything from marbles to baseball to hockey. Along the way, his dad, Bill Givens, was there to lend perspective to whatever successes or hurdles Chris encountered on the football field, marble patch, baseball diamond or at the rink. My favorite story involves not hockey, but baseball, and an encounter with then Minnesota Twins Manager Gene Mauch in his underwear in center field.The lessons are simple, but filled with wisdom. There's humor and perspective and the love that comes from that special bond between a dad and a son who love games and competition. I had a "Field of Dreams" moment when I finished reading it, wishing for one last game of catch and some wisdom from my old man, who's been gone for 20 years now.It's a quick read, about 70 pages in paperback (Dog Ear Publishing), and costs less than a $10-spot. The son of a blogger (SOB) will be getting a copy in his stocking this year, and a copy will also go to the winner of the 2008-09 WMHSH Blog Scholarship. You can order it online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and it will be available at some local booksellers throughout West Michigan.