John Schulian, a much-honored sportswriter for nearly forty years, takes us back to a time when our greatest athletes stood before us as human beings, not remote gods. In this compelling collection, Schulian paints prose portraits to remind fans of what today8217;s cloistered stars won8217;t share with them. Here, Willie Mays remembers how to smile in dreaded retirement; Muhammad Ali muses about a world that was once his. For every moment of triumph8212;Joe Montana in the Super Bowl, Marvelous Marvin Hagler over Thomas Hearns8212;there is another filled with the heartache that Pete Maravich felt when he hung up his basketball shoes. The result is a book guaranteed to stir memories for the generation that was8212;and to leave subsequent generations wishing they had it so good.