In Playing Piano in a Brothel, author Terry Frei follows up on '77: Denver, the Broncos and a Coming of Age. As he did in'77 and earlier books, Frei combines reporting, historical research, memoir, and opinion, taking readers behind the scenes of some very high-profile events and settings as he displays his abilities to observe, to explore, and, perhaps most important, to listen. 

As the son of a longtime major college and National Football League coach, Frei has a unique perspective of an observer of sports from several angles. Here, he opens with a blunt and unsparing assessment of the state of contemporary sports journalism that might cause some in his business to wince, but many to nod in emphatic agreement.

Among the topics he tackles are the Colorado and national media's handling of the University of Colorado football "controversies" during the tenure of Coach Gary Barnett, trends in sports column writing, turning the trivial into trumpeted "scoops," and the endangered status of newspaper journalism as the nurturer of writing talent among the young.         

Frei also assesses modern newspapers' responses to the onset of online technology and "new media" competition. He views it as a praiseworthy marshaling of forces and recognition of reality, but argues that it has led to newspapers giving loudmouthed fringe voices influence far out of proportion to their numbers. He also argues that newspapers too often have abdicated positions of authority and credibility -- and that it's not to late to reclaim them.

After establishing the context, Frei discusses his experiences and the diverse characters he has encountered since he was a green sportswriter during that initial Broncos season of glory in 1977. From football, those figures include 2010 Hall of Fame inductees Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith; the father-son combination of Jack and John Elway; and renowned college coaches Lou Holtz and Nick Saban. In a section that follows up on his Third Down and a War to Go, Frei tells the story of two additional World War II-era college football teams whose players met on the field, then went off to serve -- many of them in combat, many of them heroically, and one of them as a trailblazing member of the Tuskegee Airmen. 

Frei's remembrance of being caught in the 1989 World Series Earthquake, and especially the characters he encountered in San Francisco in the ensuing days of chaos, will touch readers. His visits to minor-league baseball outposts -- one, a hardscrabble mining town, the other the childhood home of one of American's renowned novelists -- also echo with a love for the sport. He also is the rare writer who has extensively covered both the NBA and NHL, and he includes his reflections and experiences while chronicling the superstars and even the controversial incidents in those leagues.

A frequent visitor to world title fights, Frei takes readers into the ring with such boxing legends as Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns. And he goes behind the scenes of several Olympic Games, where he encountered gold medallists, recreational-caliber skiers just hoping to stay on the course, and even a Catalonian woman who tended to her beloved stray cats in a famous park as the marathon passed her by.

Ultimately, Playing Piano in a Brothel is an ode to sports -- and what they still can be.

PART ONE: PLAYING PIANO IN A BROTHEL

A Pair of Twos               

We’re Supposed to Be Better Than That         

PART TWO: PREDOMINANTLY ORANGE

The Elway Effect       

Haven Moses: A Man of Courage  

“O” Linemen: Breaking the Silence  

PART THREE: COLORADO CHARACTER

Chopper, the Big Stiff, and the Nuggets

Jack Dempsey and Damon Runyon    

Dave Logan: A Man for All Seasons  

Fourth Down and a War to Go

Frank Shorter: Forty-eight Seconds before the Roar  

PART FOUR: DIAMONDS               

Earthquake!               

The Honeymooners Meet the Boys of Summer

Baseball in the Bushes     

PART FIVE: DANCING HALL OF FAMERS

Jerry Rice: Mississippi Yearning  

Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas: Hall of Fame Friendship

Michael Irvin: Getting Open               

PART SIX: COLLEGE FOOTBALL

“There Is a Place Called Nebraska . . . .”

The Team You Love . . .  or Love to Hate: Notre Dame 

First-Year Coach Case Study: Nick Saban      

PART SEVEN: PUCKS  

Rocky . . .  Really Rocky . . . Hockey

Avalanche Glory Days: Sakic, Forsberg, Roy and the Stanley Cup 

Chris Drury and Steve Moore

PART EIGHT: BOXING

Muhammad Ali and the Heavyweights

Leonard vs. Hearns vs. Hagler     

PART NINE: OLYMPIC FLAMES

San Marino, My San Marino             

An Opening Stroll       

A French Village and a Pin Trader

The Dream Team and the Marathon Route