Since Christmas is fast approaching, and you may be running out of ideas for gifts, I thought I would share a list of some of the sports and sports business related books from 2009 that I have enjoyed this year and found worthy of recommending.  There are in no particular order and in the case of The Blind Side, was just reissued in 2009 to tie-in with the movie (which you should go see if you haven’t).

If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson with Jackie MacMullan

Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itselff, by Michael Shapiro

Never Make the First Offer: (Except When You Should) Wisdom from a Master Dealmaker (Portfolio), by Donald Dell with John Boswell

What Were They Thinking?: The Brainless Blunders That Changed Sports History, by Kyle Garlett

The Blind Side , by Michael Lewis

Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey–and Even Iraq–Are Destined to Become the Kings of the Worlds Most Popular Sport by Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski

The Beckham Experiment by Grant Wahl