A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: “The Great Ones,” by Jim Murray

Publisher: Los Angeles Times Books, 337 pages, $23.95.

In 37 years with The Times, Jim Murray wrote about thousands of movers and shakers in the world of sports.

This collection of extraordinary columns contains more than 100 of the biggest names Murray covered during his Pulitzer Prize-winning career.

Some of the excerpts:

On Yogi Berra: “He is ageless--and changeless. He came upon the scene so many years ago and looked so old even when he was young, there are those who think he was Columbus’ cabin boy.”

John Elway: “He could write his name with a football, make it sing ‘Dixie’ or open a bottle with one at 20 paces. He completed more passes than the Fifth Fleet on leave.”

Magic Johnson: “If I were an NBA player, the last sight in the world I would want to see is Magic Johnson coming downcourt with the basketball.

“You imagine this is the way the captain of the Titanic must have felt when he saw the iceberg.”

Michael Jordan, outplaying Magic Johnson: “It was as one-sided as a heart attack.”

Arnold Palmer: “Palmer went after the ball like a guy beating a carpet. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. . . . He attacked the game of golf like a cop busting a crap game.”

Savored a column or two at a time, this book is a comfortable bedside companion. It’s a fine gift, or present to yourself. It is available in bookstores, on the Internet at http://pyxis.nohib.com./bookstore or by calling (800) 246-4042.