The Chicago Sports Barroom Analyst: For the Ultimate Fanatic

Although aimed primarily at Chicago fans, this entertaining book by a Chicago Tribune sportswriter is worth reading by those who live outside the Windy City. Logan covers the major sportsbaseball, football, basketball and hockeywith profiles of Chicago heroes like Bears' player Walter Payton, Ernie Banks of the Cubs and hockey's Bobby Hull, ``characters'' like sportscaster Harry Caray and football coach George Halas, and those the sports fraternity dubs flakes. He selects Chicago's 10 best teams, among them the 1985 Super Bowl Bears and the 1919 White Sox, and the 10 worst teams, including the disgraced 1919 White Sox and the 1969 Cubs, whose demise at the end of the season enabled the Mets to call themselves ``Amazin'.'' There are accounts of 10 unforgettable games and 10 forgettable ones, analyses of Chicago fans, arguably the most long-suffering in the land, and the playing sites. The book ends, fittingly, with random anecdotes that add lots of color. There is no index, however, a sore lack in a compendium such as this. Photos not seen by PW. (June)