Glory Days: The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever

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A rollicking guided tour of one extraordinary summer, when some of the most pivotal and freakishly coincidental stories all collided and changed the way we think about modern sports

The summer of 1984 was a watershed moment in the birth of modern sportswhen the nation watched Michael Jordan grow from college basketball player to professional athlete and star. That summer also saw ESPNs rise to media dominanceas the countrys premier sports networkand the first modern, commercialized, profitable Olympics.Magic Johnson and Larry Birds rivalry raged, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe reigned in tennis, and Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon made pro wrestling a business, while Donald Trump pierced the national consciousness as a pro football team owner. It was an awakening in the sports world, a moment when sports began to morph into the market-savvy, sensationalized, moneyed, controversial, and wildly popular arena we know today.

In the tradition of Bill Brysons One Summer: America, 1927,L. Jon Wertheim captures these 90 seminal daysagainst the backdrop of the nostalgia-soaked 1980s, to show that this was the year we collectively traded in ourratty Converses for a pair of sleek, heavily branded, ingeniously marketed Nikes.This was the year that sports went big-time.

Reviews

Glory Daysis a fascinating and entertaining look back at an epic summer that had such a huge impact on my life. Jon Wertheims knowledge and perspective on sport and itsinfluence on pop culture is second to none." Ralph Macchio 1984. The Orwell novel we all read in high school Well, yeah. But as it turns out, and as Jon Wertheim lays out, 1984 was a pivotal year in the history of sports, with many of the major trends and enduring figures emerging and converging. Bob Costas For me, 1984 was the year I made a fool of myself at Jackie Zisblatts Bat Mitzvah and sprouted my first whitehead. But thanks to Jon Wertheims terrificGlory Days,I can now mentally replace said awfulness with images of Jordan and Magic, Mary Lou and the Great Gretzky. Who knew1984 was pretty outstanding after all! Jeff Pearlman, author ofThree-Ring Circus "We talk about key moments in sports; but the summer of 1984 was a key momentforsports. Jon's book is nostalgic, informative, and most of all, a lot of fun."Chris Evert Fascinating . . . Glory Days is part sports history, part cultural analysis, part business book, and its certain to draw attention far beyond the sports pages. Booklist "Best read of the summer so far." Mike Vaccaro, New York Post

Author Bio

L. JON WERTHEIM is the executive editor of Sports Illustrated and a senior writer at the magazine, as well as a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes. He is the author or coauthor of ten books, including, most recently, the New York Times bestsellers Scorecasting and You Can't Make This Up. Wertheim was thirteen years old in the summer of 1984. He and his family live in New York City.