The book "I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It" by Charles Barkley was a very good book. In this book Charles Barkley explains a lot of his aspects on life. He states" I just wish when reporters would write or talk about this they would get the whole story and get it accurately." (pg.65). This shows a lot of thee altercations and reporters that have not gotten the whole story or changed the story up a little bit. He also talks about growing up in Alabama. At the time when he grew up there was a lot of discrimination there. Taking all of that aside, his best friend was white, knowing the outgoing personality Charles has he managed to make a lot of friends. While playing in the NBA for the 76ers, Suns, and Rockets he was one of the best players in the NBA. Even though he was one of the best, the reporters still mixed up stories. Charles talked a lot about his NBA experience. There were a few quotes from the book that really stood out to me. One of them being, "Howard, people have this role model thing completely screwed up. Is a role Model just a celebrity that parents turn their kids over to" (pg.124). This quote means a lot because it explains Charles Barkley's concept of 'I am not a role model'. I t shows a role model should be someone to learn from, who can help you, not some famous person who you think is really cool. That was one powerful quote from the book. There is a solution to all the problems in this book. For one thing, for the role model, make sure there are responsible people in the neighborhood and your parents are around and there to help and care for you. As for the media, you can and have them listen to the whole story, whether they are going to change it or not in your power, but you can still try. You could also sue people who screw up stories or who mix them up. Although that's not the best idea It's better than doing nothing. That's how we can change some of the ideas Charles Barkley states in the book.
Charles Barkley gives his opinion on his life in the NBA, life before NBA, and his retirement from NBA. He tackles social issues around sports and life in general.You gotta love his way of saying out loud what many are afraid to say.On being a role model:Athletes shouldn't be a role model: ''... a role model should be among the people who can influence your direction in a real-life way....''On college basketball:low graduations percentage and very few that make it to the pros.: ''..they're not graduating. they're not graduating at all, and the ones who don't make the pros- which is most of them- are screwed. we're sending a bunch of dummies out into the real world with no education, with no real way to make themselves attractive candidates for employment, and they're screwed.''On toughness and body pain for a professional NBA player: when he played against the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys: .''...when I would drive to the basket against the the Bad Boys I would say to myself, just close your eyes and let the ball go because you gonna get hammered...''On Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods:''there is really only one thing wrong with Phil Mickelson: he was born at the wrong time. That's it. He was born too close to Tiger. Same thing happened to me, to Ewing, Stockton, Malone, Reggie Miller, a whole bunch of guys. The guys who dominated at the championship level when I played were Magic, Bird and Jordan. They won 14 championships in 19 seasons. They played in 20 NBA finals between them. If you want to say those guys were better than me. I'm going to agree with you. Is there any shame in that? On making money and championships: ''about 6 to 7 teams in the NBA really want to win championships, the other teams are businesses and their only goal is make money...
Do You like book I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It (2003)?
Много готин, открит стил на писане. Лесно се чете. Много директно говори за проблемите, които засяга. Обръща внимание на това кои хора му помагат в живота, говори за расизма като нещо реално същетвуващо в Щатите. Говори много за успелите хора и за това какъв ангажимент имат те към обществото, след като се откажат от активната си кариера. Говори за това как трябва да уважаваш играта, живота. Разисква и проблеми, свързани с това с какво се сблъсква човек, когато се опитва да успее в различните сфери от живота. Много истинско четиво, много живо само по себе си. Хубава книга.
—Trayan Sarafov
Overall, this book was a good read. I do not know how to categorize it other than it is a sports book. It is not an autobiography although there are some pages about Charles Barkley's upbringing. It is more about Charles' opinion on a wide range of topics which include race, politics, and of course basketball. Chuck has always been an outspoken individual and this book tries to capitalize on that. It does so to an extent. It always interesting to get his view on things but after a while, I wanted to know more about is background and his battles on the court. I am not trying to diminish his right to his views on other topics, but I find him to be more interesting as a underrated basketball player than a social commentator.
—Rick Marcello
Not meant to be funny, illuminating essays, some provocative...First, this is not a book about basketball -- nor is it meant to be a collage of funny stories. Rather, if it has a theme, it is that Barkley wants people to discuss truly important issues; topics like race and discrimination that need conversation rather than political correctness. His goal with this collection of 25 "essays", running about ten pages each, is to get people out of the comfort zone and table subjects often pushed to the side by polite society.While we think Michael Wilbon {in his foreword} went a little overboard in citing some of the ideas as "in-your-face" provocative and occasionally profane, Barkley tries hard in at least half the articles to stir somebody's pot. Current events like the Augusta National Golf Club issue with women (and Tiger Woods), child abuse at the hands of priests, and September 11th get his thoughts, alternating with fairly folksy chit chat about his Dad, his Grandma, the Dream Team, and so on.Barkley seemed at his best to us in three segments: (1) discussing religion and why it is totally irrelevant to sports -- the title says it all: "God doesn't have a favorite team!"; (2) debunking the myth that only players on championship teams can be truly great; (3) and that "Making a Difference" is his (and should be everybody's) calling having "made it" -- indeed, the last stanza is entitled "If the Playing Is All You're Going to Do, You've Missed the Boat".Don't read this cover to cover in one two-hour session. Read a few, let it sink in, then read a few more. Then TALK about it; otherwise, as Sir Charles says, you've missed the boat !
—Jerry
