And Sam Shields Jersey so, mercifully, it comes to an end. Christmas Sports Books Week wraps up with my two final recommendations.

But let me make something clear: I am not http://www.packersnflofficial.com/Nike-Julius-Peppers-Jersey.html saying these are the 10 greatest sports books. I have never said that. I am simply suggesting 10 sports books that might work well as gifts this year. Nothing more, nothing less.

First, a quick recap of the choices so far:League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions, and the Battle for Truth, by Mark Fainaru Wada and Steve Fainaru;Orr: My Story, by Bobby Orr;The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach;The Game of Our Lives, by Peter Gzowski;Out of My League, by Dirk Hayhurst; Where Men Win Glory, by Jon Krakauer;The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association, by the Province Sports columnist Ed Willes; and Facing Ali, by Stephen Brunt.

Which takes me to the final two picks of the week. And it tough to recommend just two more, because there are many more I really should recommend. Like Dave Bidini The Best Game You Can Name. A new one by Vancouver radio show host Grant Lawrence called The Lonely End of the Rink. John Feinstein college basketball book The Last Amateurs, just one of several excellent Feinstein choices. George Plimpton The Curious Case of Sidd Finch, his true story of a pitcher who could throw 168 mph. David Halberstam Summer of Nicholas Dawidoff The Catcher Was a Spy.

Instead, my final two picks will be hockey books. One an old one, which recently released its 30th anniversary edition. The Mason Crosby Jersey other one is brand new, and deserves a place on the hockey fan coffee table.

First, the old one. Thirty years later, Ken Dryden is still writing, as he often weighs in on concussions or fighting or other key issues surrounding hockey in the pages of The Globe Mail. But 30 years ago, he made a huge splash with The Game. Dryden was always a bright guy, having spent a few years at Ivy League Cornell, then taking a year off in the middle of his career with the Montreal Canadiens to get his law degree. You know, typical hockey player. In fact, he might be too bright, on some levels, as it seemed hard to connect with him when he ran for the leadership of the federal Liberal Party several years ago.

But his writing? So good. Like when, in The Game, he explains how he was really influenced to play goalie by his older brother Dave, who had his own successful career in the WHA and NHL.

To catch a puck or a ball it was the great joy of being a goalie. Like a young ballplayer, too young to hit for much enjoyment but old enough to catch and throw, it was something I could do before I was big enough to do the rest. But mostly it was the feeling it gave me. Even now, watching TV or reading a newspaper, I like to have a ball in my hands, fingering its laces, its seams, its nubby surface, until my fingertips are so alive and alert that the ball and I seem drawn to each other. I like to spin it, bounce it, flip it from hand to hand, throw it against a wall or a ceiling, and catch it over and over again. There is something quite magical about a hand that can follow a ball and find it so crisply and tidily every time, something solid and wonderfully reassuring about its muscular certainty and control. So, if it was because of Dave that I became a goalie, it was the feeling of catching a puck or a ball that kept me one. The irony, of course, would be that later, when I finally became a real goalie instead of a kid with a good glove hand, when I learned to use the other parts of a goaltender equipment skates, pads, blocker, stick it could only be at the expense of what had been until then my greatest joy as a goalie.

OK, I promised that the other book would be perfect for the coffee table, and here one that delivers perfectly: Book of Players. It from the Hockey Hall of Fame, and so it all about the players who are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Don yawn. This book is beautifully done, with no two pages looking the same (well, for the most part). For instance, there are four gorgeous pages devoted to Bobby Hull. One of the pages has three photos of the stick he played with in the 1971 72 season. One of the pages has various tidbits of Hull trivia including the fact that he the only member of the Hockey Hall of Fame who played in the WHA all seven years it existed plus a story about how he changed hockey in various ways. A third page is, quite simply, a gorgeous page of Hull related graphics. And the fourth is a beautiful photo of a Blackhawks jersey Hull wore in the mid 1960s. And, really, the whole book is like that. The Hockey Hall Sam Shields Womens Jersey of Fame has published books in the past; this might be the best one yet.

CAN ONE BILLION TURN OUT ONE MAJOR CHAMPION?

Greg Norman is the www.packersnflofficial.com/Nike-Morgan-Burnett-Jersey.html coach to China national golf team. Intriguing. He been doing it since last March, and hopes China can get players qualified for the 2016 Olympics.

There no doubt Norman, who will start spending a lot of time in China in the coming year, is excited about the challenge of growing the game in China. But he also got a great take on one of the greatest challenges facing the Chinese: sustainable golf courses. There talk of building 10 to 15 thousand golf courses in China, and that a huge undertaking. It like a drop in the bucket for them, but they have to build these courses in a sustainable fashion that allows the grassroots access, not just the wealthy, but the not so wealthy. That the hardest part for them to understand. The elitist image is absolutely damaging. OVER THE HILL, TANNEHILL!

Looking for a solid NFL weekend preview? Greg Bedard of the Monday Morning Quarterback delivers one. And his opening salvo is directed at the Miami Dolphins: Now is the time to step up, to beat the injury depleted New England Patriots and take one huge step closer to an AFC wild card spot.

POOR AV CAN ESCAPE THE BLOODY GOALTENDING CONTROVERSIES

When did you ever think you read this?

Tortorella was the beneficiary of elite goaltending almost every night of his tour of duty behind the Blueshirts bench that papered over many of the holes in his teams. Alain Vigneault has not been so fortunate. That can only be the New York Post Larry Brooks talking about New York Rangers superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was yanked from a game Thursday night after giving up three goals in 13 shots. This isn the first time recently that Brooks has questioned the Rangers No. 1, but it cooled off when Lundqvist was awarded a sweet multi year contract.

WHIRLY BLADES VS. STICK BLADES. Interior, apparently nearly killing the guys playing hockey on the lake. Now, we not quite sure how close they came to serious injury or death; in fact, as Mooney reports, the whole thing was staged and staged carefully. Read the above link for the full story, as well as the video that explains how it all came together, and here the Mason Crosby Kids Jersey finished product below: