Commentator, analyst, author, and all-around pro basketball presence, Charley Rosen may seem like a natural, sprung upon the sports scene with the NBA in his blood. Phil Jackson, Rosen's longtime collaborator, might agree; after all, he attributes the statement on a plaque on his desk to Charley: "Basketball isn't just a metaphor for life-it's more important than that!" And yet how Rosen arrived at his present position comfortably overseeing basketball at its finest is a story as unexpected as it is delightful, documenting basketball travels as unlikely as they are nomadic and eclectic.
Rosen's story begins during his undergraduate days at Hunter College, where his basketball exploits were equally triumphant and embarrassing, including a pickup game against Wilt Chamberlain. Things really got interesting when he made his way into the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the breeding ground for nothing less than the second-best gathering of basketball players in the world. In the circus that was the CBA, Rosen found his place alongside Phil Jackson, then the newly hired coach of the Albany Patroons. Life in the CBA, as Rosen tells it, was never dull, with players doing illegal substances on van rides through snowstorms and teams financed by porn producers. His journey from the CBA to a desk at Fox Sports is a one-of-a-kind basketball story-only to be believed in the words of the guy who actually lived it.
Commentator, analyst, author, and all-around pro basketball presence, Charley Rosen may seem like a natural, sprung upon the sports scene with the NBA in his blood. Phil Jackson, Rosen's longtime collaborator, might agree; after all, he attributes the statement on a plaque on his desk to Charley: "Basketball isn't just a metaphor for life-it's more important than that!" And yet how Rosen arrived at his present position comfortably overseeing basketball at its finest is a story as unexpected as it is delightful, documenting basketball travels as unlikely as they are nomadic and eclectic.
Rosen's story begins during his undergraduate days at Hunter College, where his basketball exploits were equally triumphant and embarrassing, including a pickup game against Wilt Chamberlain. Things really got interesting when he made his way into the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the breeding ground for nothing less than the second-best gathering of basketball players in the world. In the circus that was the CBA, Rosen found his place alongside Phil Jackson, then the newly hired coach of the Albany Patroons. Life in the CBA, as Rosen tells it, was never dull, with players doing illegal substances on van rides through snowstorms and teams financed by porn producers. His journey from the CBA to a desk at Fox Sports is a one-of-a-kind basketball story-only to be believed in the words of the guy who actually lived it.
Foreword by Phil Jackson
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Portrait of the Hooper as a Young Man
Chapter 2 - Undergraduate Hits, Misses, and Turnovers
Chapter 3 - Basketball Follies in the Nearest East
Chapter 4 - Big Man With a Small Whistle and a Medium-Sized
Game
Chapter 5 - On the Road With the Woodstock Joneses
Chapter 6 - On an Off the Court With the Bard-Ons
Chapter 7 - The Crazy B-Ball Ass
Chapter 8 - On the Bench With Phil Jackson
Chapter 9 - Good Night, Bobby Knight
Chapter 10 - The Fall, Winter, and Spring of Our Discontent
Chapter 11 - Keeping My Day Job
Chapter 12 - Georgia on My Mind
Chapter 13 - King Richard and the Rockford Files
Chapter 14 - The Pacer, the D-Train, and Mister Animal
Chapter 15 - In the Jailhouse Now
Chapter 16 - Blocked Shots, Bricks, and Barbequed Baloney
Chapter 17 - Down and Eventually Out in Albany
Chapter 18 - The End of Regulation
Chapter 19 - Beyond Basketball
Overtime
The story of Charley Rosen's basketball journey, from the CBA to his role as commentator for Foxsports.com.
Charley Rosen is an NBA analyst for FOXSports.com and the author of more than a dozen books including The Pivotal Season, The Wizard of Odds, and Players and Pretenders (available in a Bison Books edition). Phil Jackson is head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and has won eleven NBA titles.
“Rosen applies a large dollop of humor, much of it self-directed,
to his recounting of [his years as a coaching the Continental
Basketball Association]. The shining star here isn’t Rosen or any
of the players, it’s the game itself. The last half-dozen pages
will bring a tear to the eye of anyone for whom the game was—or
is—a passion.”—Wes Lukowsky, Booklist starred review
“Fast-paced, fanatical, and broken up by snippets of good-natured
humor. . . . Crazy Basketball [is] a great read, for any casual
basketball lover, insight into the former crazy league, but also a
crazy coach who was a touch softened by it. For [Charley] Rosen, it
was not only the Crazy Basketball Association, but his crazy
association with basketball.”—Krystina Lucido, Press Box
“[Rosen’s] journey from the [College Basketball Association] to a
desk at Fox Sports is a one-of-a-kind basketball story—only to be
believed in the words of the guy who actually lived
it.”—Foreword
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