As the holiday season nears, men’s thoughts turn to . . . sports. Of course, for some guys any occasion will do: “Is it Groundhog Day again? Hmm, I wonder what’s on ESPN.” This time of year, though, a happy convergence occurs with the publication of handsome gift books, the tradition of giving and the need for much of male America to recover from a morning of riotous unwrapping by lying on a couch and looking at pictures of athletes pounding on each other. And who knows? You may have a sister or aunt with similar taste; just lock her in the attic with these three coffee-table volumes, and she won’t bother you until spring.

A whirlwind review of gridiron greats In Pro Football’s Heroes of the Hall (Sporting News, $29.95, 399 pages, ISBN 0892047127), Ron Smith honors each member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a concise writeup, in language that notes the most critical facts with minimal gushiness. If these sketches are too much to digest, highlighted quotes boil every entry down to one or two sentences, like flash cards. Then there’s the photography and there’s plenty of it from dusty old black-and-white portraits to high-drama, full-color snaps of some especially memorable collisions and sprints.

Still, the most provocative moment occurs before this parade begins, in the “overview.” Here, Smith traces a thread from the Hall of Fame’s first, modest admission ceremony to the 11-day annual bacchanal that’s taken its place, complete with “a queen pageant, a fashion show, a golf tournament, hot air balloons,” and other hoopla that seems to distract from rather than honor the history and essence of the game.

Big finishes and a bonus DVD Time to split hairs: some of the moments noted in Not Till the Fat Lady Sings: The Most Dramatic Sports Finishes of All Time didn’t take place exactly at the finish, such as the famous “long count” of 1927, which transpired three rounds before boxing champion Gene Tunney rallied to beat Jack Dempsey. But who cares? Each episode recalled here by primary author Les Krantz and other contributors recalls the kind of high, human drama that converts otherwise normal people into sports fans.

A vast chronology unfolds throughout these pages, going back to the famous “Merkle blunder” of 1908 and continuing all the way up to 2003. Many may argue over this inclusion or that omission, and that’s good, because this is supposed to happen when sports fans get together. The visuals are splashy, and the bound-in DVD is a big plus, proving that at least in this genre, moving pictures can beat even the most gripping printed material.

A boxing giant’s endless appeal Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years (Miramax, $45, 288 pages, ISBN 140135193X) stands out in this crowd on several counts. First, it focuses entirely on one person. Second, almost all of its photos are black and white. Finally, the text-to-picture balance is just about even. As a result, a less sensational, more reflective tone emerges, as well as a more focused sense of time and drama. From the opening shot, a breathtaking look at the young Cassius Clay holding a pose in profile and under water, the imagery restricts itself to his glory years, when his looks were as potent as his punches and as dazzling as his footwork. And in capturing him in gritty gyms, or in some quaint neighborhood with his mother, and of course in the ring against opponents both hapless and deadly, the storyline unfolds on the power of image alone.

It’s the text, though, that completes these pictures. Authors Felix Dennis and Don Atyeo meet the challenge of finding angles that haven’t already been explored a hundred times, such as the struggle for allegiance at the early stages of his career between Cassius Clay Sr. and Officer Joe Martin, the young fighter’s first coach. It takes a little work to find these insights, but in the end the story proves so compelling that it’s hardly work at all. Robert L. Doerschuk is the former editor of Musician magazine.

As the holiday season nears, men’s thoughts turn to . . . sports. Of course, for some guys any occasion will do: “Is it Groundhog Day again? Hmm, I wonder what’s on ESPN.” This time of year, though, a happy convergence occurs with the publication of handsome gift books, the tradition of giving and the need for much of male America to recover from a morning of riotous unwrapping by lying on a couch and looking at pictures of athletes pounding on each other. And who knows? You may have a sister or aunt with similar taste; just lock her in the attic with these three coffee-table volumes, and she won’t bother you until spring.

A whirlwind review of gridiron greats In Pro Football’s Heroes of the Hall, Ron Smith honors each member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a concise writeup, in language that notes the most critical facts with minimal gushiness. If these sketches are too much to digest, highlighted quotes boil every entry down to one or two sentences, like flash cards. Then there’s the photography and there’s plenty of it from dusty old black-and-white portraits to high-drama, full-color snaps of some especially memorable collisions and sprints.

Still, the most provocative moment occurs before this parade begins, in the “overview.” Here, Smith traces a thread from the Hall of Fame’s first, modest admission ceremony to the 11-day annual bacchanal that’s taken its place, complete with “a queen pageant, a fashion show, a golf tournament, hot air balloons,” and other hoopla that seems to distract from rather than honor the history and essence of the game.

Big finishes and a bonus DVD Time to split hairs: some of the moments noted in Not Till the Fat Lady Sings: The Most Dramatic Sports Finishes of All Time (Triumph, $29.95, 148 pages, ISBN 1572435585) didn’t take place exactly at the finish, such as the famous “long count” of 1927, which transpired three rounds before boxing champion Gene Tunney rallied to beat Jack Dempsey. But who cares? Each episode recalled here by primary author Les Krantz and other contributors recalls the kind of high, human drama that converts otherwise normal people into sports fans.

A vast chronology unfolds throughout these pages, going back to the famous “Merkle blunder” of 1908 and continuing all the way up to 2003. Many may argue over this inclusion or that omission, and that’s good, because this is supposed to happen when sports fans get together. The visuals are splashy, and the bound-in DVD is a big plus, proving that at least in this genre, moving pictures can beat even the most gripping printed material.

A boxing giant’s endless appeal Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years (Miramax, $45, 288 pages, ISBN 140135193X) stands out in this crowd on several counts. First, it focuses entirely on one person. Second, almost all of its photos are black and white. Finally, the text-to-picture balance is just about even. As a result, a less sensational, more reflective tone emerges, as well as a more focused sense of time and drama. From the opening shot, a breathtaking look at the young Cassius Clay holding a pose in profile and under water, the imagery restricts itself to his glory years, when his looks were as potent as his punches and as dazzling as his footwork. And in capturing him in gritty gyms, or in some quaint neighborhood with his mother, and of course in the ring against opponents both hapless and deadly, the storyline unfolds on the power of image alone.

It’s the text, though, that completes these pictures. Authors Felix Dennis and Don Atyeo meet the challenge of finding angles that haven’t already been explored a hundred times, such as the struggle for allegiance at the early stages of his career between Cassius Clay Sr. and Officer Joe Martin, the young fighter’s first coach. It takes a little work to find these insights, but in the end the story proves so compelling that it’s hardly work at all. Robert L. Doerschuk is the former editor of Musician magazine.

Here’s a book that will be absolutely, positively loved in one state and hated and reviled in an adjoining state. Then again, Joe Menzer probably wasn’t counting on his book about Ohio State’s football history, Buckeye Madness: The Glorious, Tumultuous, Behind-the-Scenes Story of Ohio State Football, to be a bestseller in Michigan. No matter. This nicely written book serves as a fine recap of one of college football’s most successful programs.

Menzer made several good decisions in the course of writing this book. The first was to spend more than half of it reviewing Woody Hayes’ time as Ohio State’s head coach. Hayes took over the program in 1951, won a long list of championships and bowl games, and left in disgrace after punching an opposing player on the field in 1978. He was one of those legendary coaches who left no one he encountered without an opinion. He could punch one of his players in the stomach during practice at one point, and hours later quietly pay for the medical care of someone he didn’t even know. That Hayes won a ton of games justified his methods to some, but not all, who watched.

Ohio State football has been a little less dramatic since Hayes left, but the program still has been generally successful. Its biggest moment in recent years came in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, when it stunned unbeaten Miami (Fla.) to win the national championship. In reviewing more than a half-century of play, Menzer generally sticks to remembering memorable players (Archie Griffin, Chris Spielman, Keith Byers) rather than reciting scores of games that don’t matter much any more.

The exception to that last rule, of course, is when Michigan is involved. The two universities might have the most rabid, durable interstate rivalry in college football, and the big wins and tough losses are thoroughly and wisely reviewed here. A book like this is designed to satisfy the thousands who pack Ohio State’s stadium every autumn or who follow the team from a longer distance. It does that, but it’s done well enough so that other college football fans will like it, too. Except, of course, for those in Michigan. Budd Bailey works in the sports department of the Buffalo News.

Many golfers have their favorite regular playing fields, but who hasn’t dreamed of taking on the world’s exclusive and historic venues? Stoking this sense of unbridled wish fulfillment is 1001 Golf Holes You Must Play Before You Die, which offers a hearty tour of the game’s most glorious (and notorious) individual holes. Besides overseeing the assemblage of gorgeous color photos, general editor Jeff Barr supervised a team of writers who passionately describe each hole’s beauty, as well as the challenge it poses to the ambitious golfer. Coverage is international U.S., U.K., Australia, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Thailand, etc. with various courses represented a lot more than once. For example, Pebble Beach, Augusta National and Royal Troon (Old Course) each have five memorable holes featured. Arrangement is by hole number (1-18) and, within that, by par (3-4-5); handy indexes spur easy navigation within sections. This is simply a stunner of a book, which will sit nicely on a coffee table that is, when it’s not being thumbed eagerly by a dreamy duffer.

Golf, an entry in DK’s Eyewitness Companions series, is a must-have volume for both casual and committed fans. It’s an elegant, compact handbook that glistens with sparkling color photos and offers astute coverage of every aspect of the game. Seven stylishly organized chapters discuss the history of the sport, modern-day equipment, basics for newcomers, rules, shot analysis, a rundown of the major tournaments and a guided tour of some of the world’s best courses. It looks a tad pricey, but this book, chock-full of essential facts and figures, should become a treasured addition to anyone’s sports shelf.

Golf’s Golden Age: Robert T. Jones, Jr. and the Legendary Players of the ’10s, ’20s and ’30s is a fascinating volume that blends archival photos and informative text to shine light on the less-heralded players of the game’s formative, early modern era. Rand Jerris, director of the United States Golf Association Museum and Archives, oversaw the compilation of the amazing black-and-white portraits, which were snapped by the late, great George Pietzcker (1885-1971) and came to the USGA by way of a 1980 donation from the estate of the legendary Bobby Jones. Each of the 52 photos Chick Evans, Johnny McDermott, Tommy Armour, Leo Diegel, et al. is accompanied by a biographical sketch. In addition, David Normoyle contributes an extended essay on Jones and his heroic 1930 achievement of golf’s Grand Slam.

At the turn of the 20th century, Brits ruled the game, amateurism held high status and few actually pursued golf for a living. Walter Hagen, a talented dandy from Rochester, New York, changed all that in the 1910s and ’20s. Tom Clavin’s bio, Sir Walter: Walter Hagen and the Invention of Professional Golf, offers salient details on the man’s humble origins and occasionally stormy personal life, yet also effectively relates how Hagen’s indomitable golf skills and flamboyant personal style propelled him into the public arena. Winning 11 major tournaments (including an unparalleled streak of four consecutive PGA Championships), Hagen was the Babe Ruth of his sport. I never wanted to be a millionaire, I just wanted to live like one, he once said. Hagen avidly took his game on the road, often overseas, and played innumerable paid exhibition matches, which, when combined with his official winnings, showed how excellence and showmanship could be parlayed into a big-money, full-time occupation.

At the 2004 Masters, fan favorite Phil Mickelson won the green jacket while finally capturing his first (and long-overdue) major tournament. In One Magical Sunday (But Winning Isn’t Everything), Mickelson teams up with veteran journalist Donald T. Phillips to provide a chatty hole-by-hole analysis of his unforgettable final round. Interspersed throughout are anecdotes confirming Mickelson’s wholesome, all-American persona, in addition to warm testimonials from family and friends. A nice selection of photos follows the trail of Mickelson’s life, from birth through early success as a young golf champion, into marriage and fatherhood, and on to national acclaim.

Held annually in April at Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club, the Masters is a hallowed sporting event. But Curt Sampson’s The Lost Masters: Grace and Disgrace in ’68 chronicles one of the most controversial of Masters outings. In 1968, with national racial tensions running high in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Masters convened with no African-American competitors, and everyone expecting Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus to win the Green Jacket. Instead, blue-collar Illinoisan Bob Goalby and dapper Argentinean Roberto De Vicenzo, two respected if not spectacular golfers, matched each other shot for shot to finish in a tie after 72 holes. With a playoff looming, it came to light that De Vicenzo had incorrectly scored his final round, and he lost the title on a technicality, thus focusing negative attention on seemingly stodgy Masters officials and bringing unwarranted grief upon poor Goalby, who had played the game of his life. Sampson’s journalism goes well beyond mere reportage of tournament play, covering in equal measure the fascinating personalities involved in the furor, their lives both before and after the tournament and the general tenor of those turbulent times.

Perhaps for the first time in its centuries-long history, golf has become, well, sexy. The recent exploits of Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam have brought the subtly challenging, grand old game into broader focus for American sports fans. Woods’ otherworldly abilities on the green, along with his celebrity status, have boosted golf’s TV ratings. Small wonder, then, that spring and summer have brought with them a bounty of new books offering insight into the culture and development of this fascinating pastime. Whether you play the sport or prefer to observe it from the sidelines, tee-up with one of the following titles and get a new angle on the game.

On the course World-class sportswriter John Feinstein delivers the book with the broadest social scope, with his Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black (Little, Brown, $25.95, 416 pages, ISBN 0316170038), a wide-ranging account of the 2002 U. S. Open. Focusing on the efforts to bring this prestigious event, for the first time in its history, to a municipal golf course, Feinstein probes the personalities of a small but dedicated group who had long sought to transform Long Island’s Bethpage public facility into a showplace for one of golf’s signature tournaments. The 7,214-yard course was known to be an athletic challenge, but it took years to ready it for the Open, not only for the big-name players who would compete but also for the thousands of fans who would attend. From a security standpoint, these tasks were made even more difficult since the 2002 Open was the first to take place after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks in nearby New York City. With characteristic insight and knowledge, Feinstein covers the various trails that lead his diverse cast of characters United States Golf Association executives, TV broadcasters, course officials, politicians to Bethpage, with interesting side trips to regional qualifiers and into the lives of the pros who would eventually endure what turned out to be a rain-plagued but ultimately successful Open. (Tiger won, by the way, and Bethpage is scheduled to host the tourney again in 2009.) Next up is Rick Reilly’s Who’s Your Caddy? Looping for the Great, Near Great, and Reprobates of Golf (Doubleday, $24.95, 272 pages, ISBN 0385488858). Reilly, one of Sports Illustrated’s most popular writers, plays a pretty good round of golf. For journalistic purposes, he decided to take on the challenge of serving as caddy for a distinctly varied cross-section of the golf community. Experiencing more success as a note-taking writer than as bag-humping aide-de-camp, Reilly accompanies the very best (Jack Nicklaus), the occasionally very good (John Daly, David Duval) and the very female (statuesque, blond and sexy LPGA pro Jill McGill). He also “loops” for thoroughly nonprofessional players such as Donald Trump (who’s actually pretty competent should we be surprised?), New Age sufi Deepak Chopra (who isn’t see “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Double Bogey”) and endearing comedian Bob Newhart. Reilly takes the time to delve into personalities here, but the discussion always humorously and lovingly comes back to golf. His tidbits on “caddy-speak” are also wryly amusing. A terrific book for both casual and serious fans.

Serious play A super volume for the devoted amateur is David Owen’s Hit &and Hope: How the Rest of Us Play Golf (Simon &and Schuster, $22, 208 pages, ISBN 0743222377). Owen writes for The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly and is a contributing editor to Golf Digest. Not surprisingly, he adroitly blends both sober and tongue-in-cheek personal observations in this thoroughly readable collection of essays, recounting golf course travails and successes through his many years as a passionate weekend duffer. He also discusses the betting strategies employed among the members of his usual foursomes, tips from his favorite club pros, the vicissitudes of getting older, golf attire, equipment controversies and more. One particularly interesting chapter, “The Greenkeeper’s Tale,” profiles Bob Witkoski, the longtime course superintendent at the author’s home club, whose esoteric but dedicated approach to his job has made him a legendary local figure. (Ol’ Bob also holds the course record an eight-under-par 63.) Most of the individual pieces in the book are just a few pages long, perfect for reading in short bites.

Master mentoring For the golfer looking to improve his game, nothing could be better than John Andrisani’s The Nicklaus Way: An Analysis of the Unique Techniques and Strategies of Golf’s Leading Major Championship Winner (HarperResource, $19.95, 144 pages, ISBN 0060088850). Veteran golf journalist Andrisani has been a pretty good amateur player in his own right, yet long has he wondered about the great Nicklaus’ uncanny winning style. This volume, replete with photos and drawings of the master at work, is bulwarked by detailed evaluations of Nicklaus’ preparation, club selection, mechanics and shot-making, and incredible mental toughness. Nicklaus, according to Andrisani, is, until proven otherwise, the finest player who ever teed it up. As added proof, the author offers a chapter describing some of Nicklaus’ most amazing shots in competition, how they were achieved, and how the reader might try to get the same sublime results.

For future pros Finally, with an eye toward golfers his own age, 13-year-old Drew Murray nephew of comedy great and avid golfer Bill Murray gives us Caddywhack! A Kid’s-Eye View of Golf. Murray’s peer-group focus aside, this lighthearted approach to the game provides legit information for all ages on golf basics such as rules, course etiquette, equipment and terminology. Silliness abounds here, but beginners will learn just enough about the game to leave them wanting to know more and hence move into more serious reading on the subject. Jeremy Sterling’s “kiddie-style” drawings add to the fun. Martin Brady writes from Nashville.