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What: “Sacred Records”

Editor: Greg Echlin

Publisher: Addax, $10.95

With Mark McGwire’s dismantling of the single-season home run record and the Denver Broncos’ run at a perfect season fresh in sports fans’ memories, Greg Echlin has put together various perspectives on what he says are the 12 most significant records in sports.

While determining what are the 12 most significant records is itself debatable, Echlin’s approach in putting these perspectives together is an effective one.

He takes two viewpoints for each record, one from someone close to the record or the person who achieved it, the other from a more distant observer’s view. For example, Nick Buoniconti, a linebacker on the 1972 Dolphins, the only undefeated team in the history of the NFL, tries to justify his team’s claim as the greatest ever (which most people don’t). What I remember from his piece most of all, however, is his almost disdain toward any team that approaches an undefeated season.

He describes how he almost became ill as the ’85 Chicago Bears and last year’s Broncos got close, and how elated he was when they lost.

Then there is the view of Clay Latimer, a writer for the Rocky Mountain News who covers the Broncos. He says not only are the ’72 Dolphins not the best team in NFL history, they’re not the best team of the ‘70s. He also goes through numerous factors that he says makes going undefeated today much tougher than it was 27 years ago.

And the contradictions continue throughout most of the viewpoints.

Those contrasting viewpoints are the book’s best qualities.

For many of the records, one of the viewpoints is by a writer, the other by an athlete or someone close to the record. On the one hand, it is much easier to follow the writers, who convey their thoughts with fluidness and conciseness.

But while Mark McGwire might not be a writer, how can you argue with anything the man who hit 70 home runs has to say about the significance of his record?

Had this been one person’s opinion of what records are most significant, it would be a candidate to gather dust. But “Sacred Records’ ” unique approach makes it worth reading.