I would not have heard of this book if the publisher - Set Shot Press - hadn't purchased an advertisement through Blogads on Corn Nation. The Thin Thirty tells the story of the 1962 Kentucky Wildcats football team. The subtitle states "The Untold Story of Brutality, Scandal and Redemption for Charlie Bradshaw's 1962 Kentucky Football team." (the entirety of which won't fit in the title area on our sites).
The gist of the story: Kentucky football is set to do very well under Blanton Collier when the powers that be decide he isn't good enough and hire Paul Bear Bryant assistant coach Charlie Bradshaw. Bradshaw comes to Kentucky where there are 88 players, and so brutalizes them in his first year that there are only 30 left when the next season begins.
The players are treated to a level of brutality that would have made Bryant wince. I won't mention specifics so as to not steal from the book but a telling comment comes from one of the Kentucky players:
....Cheatam would later serve in Vietnam and rise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. Twenty years after the events, he remarked that "I guess I could say that nothing I have seen in training (in the military) compared to those terrible practices at U.K.", adding "if the services had pulled anything like that someone would be put in jail."
Brutality is only one part of the story. The scandal includes a couple of homosexual predators who persuade some of the young football players to have sex with them through the use of lavish parties, alcohol and money. One of those predators is the actor Rock Hudson. Another scandal (although certainly not as juicy) is that the football players who quit the team are conned out of their scholarships.
The story is excellent. A reign of terror, hidden lust, and forbidden desire, all the right ingredients for a miniseries. Or in this day, a full television series that doesn't know how to end. The author does a very good job of placing the story into the historical context of the times. The racial tensions that would engulf the South and the level of poverty and living conditions experienced by several of the players add to the story without detracting from the overall theme.
There are several problems with the book. One of them isn't in the detail in terms of getting the facts straight. The book is well-researched, nearly to a fault. Approximately the first 100 pages contain the stories of the football players before Bradshaw's arrival. It nearly kills the book, not so much due to the detail, but by the time Bradshaw arrives on campus there have been too many warnings about bad times to come, or that the players had no idea of what was about to happen to them. You keep expecting the book to jump into the meat and yet you get another story about another player.
Unfortunately, the writing is substandard. There are a fair amount of grammatical errors and a lot of redundancy, i.e. the author saying what's just been said and then in the next sentence saying it again. The author many times fails in letting the subject carry the weight of the story or let the reader draw their own conclusions about the level of brutality and sadism that the players experienced.
Another problem - author Ragland devotes an entire chapter to the 1962 Kentucky - Xavier game. It was a huge loss by Kentucky, but Ragland is emphatic that the game was fixed. Unfortunately there isn't a single quote or legitimate source that provides any proof that the game was fixed. Here's what Ragland concludes:
It is known the game was fixed. Who fixed it? It will never be known and it's not important to know.
What the.....? I came to the conclusion that saying it was fixed is an easy way to explain away a horrible loss against an opponent Kentucky should have destroyed. Given the level of research done for the rest of this story, this chapter should have been removed as it damages the credibility of the rest of the book.
Despite problems with the writing the story is compelling and I finished the book because I wanted to know what happened with Bradshaw and his players. The last part of the book is an epilogue regarding the Kentucky players and what became of their lives. It's a nice touch that you don't see too often - most authors are content to let a story end without a follow up.
The Thin Thirty contains a story of brutality that deserves to be told. If you can handle the grammatical errors and the author's writing it's a very good book as you'd be hard-pressed to find a story this unique. If nothing else, the author has served the men who played for Kentucky during Bradshaw's first year very well as their story is finally told. Perhaps with that knowledge some of their demons can be put to rest.
'Bo's Lasting Lessons' isn't an autobiography, nor it is about how to be a great football coach. Instead it reveals legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler's personal philosophies on how to be a good leader.
I reviewed the audio version of the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Actor John H. Mayer's gravelly voice reminded me of Schembechler, not in so much that it's an exact impersonation, but it conveyed Schembechler's blunt persona so that you feel like you're listening to Bo himself. Mayer provides a stern and uncomprising voice to the book, something I'm sure the coach would have appreciated.
Schembechler's lessons aren't revolutionary nor complicated, but instead reinforce the age-old principles that made him successful. All those things your father to you about things like about integrity, honesty, and hard work were true, but the beauty of them coming from the coach is that he's got of gob of stories to go along with each lesson. Ideas like being a good listener, treating everyone equal, communicating your rules and then following up with enforcement can sometimes be hollow, but when they're coming from someone as experienced and successful as Schembechler they carry a lot of weight.
A few of the stories stick out - Schembechler talks about Jeff George's narcissistic, spoiled attitude without ever referring to him by name but by "the Golden Arm"; dealing with Chris Spielman during his recruiting process; a freshman showing up at a team meeting wearing a Notre Dame shirt annd Bo's reaction; and "discovering" all-time Michigan rushing leader Jamie Morris.
The lessons I found particularly interesting are his insight on how to deal with the different levels of players on a team, whether they be star athletes, middle-tier players or walk-ons. He emphasizes that you must make sure your middle and lower-tier members are contributing to the team, ideas that were obviously missing from last year's Husker team.
Some might be tempted to think that the lessons are from a different era and don't apply now. However, human nature hasn't changed since Schembechler walked the Wolverine sideline nor it is about to any time soon. His directive that you need to recruit for character first is just as relevant now as it was 30 years ago and will be in another 30 years.
The audio version contains an interview with author John Bacon who knew Schembechler personally, spending a great deal of time around him. Bacon provides some insight as to Bo's the characters and what he was like in private. Consider it a bonus.
Anyone in a leadership position can benefit from the lessons in this book. Whether you're a 'Michigan Man' or not is irrelevant. The lessons are relevant whether you're coaching youth in a paid or volunteer position or in a management position at work. If you're about to spend some money on the next "how to be a great manager" book or "Leadership for Dummies", save your money and get Bo's Lasting Lessons instead.
I find myself wondering why there aren't more audio versions available of college football books. Given as much time as we spend in our cars, or in using an ipod, you'd think that more would be available. It's understandable why books from such publishers as Nebraska's 'Bison Books' would not be on audio as they don't sell enough copies to justify the cost (although excellent books just the same). Still, you'd think that the production cost would be lower than in the past and open the book up to a much wider audience.
If you're an editor, publisher, or involved in audio producing, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
Lyons Press sent me a pre-release of Ted Kluck's Paper Tiger before the start of the 2007 season. I started it, and it remained at the bottom of my book pile for a while. It's nothing new for me, my latest iPod is buried in there some where, despite my best attempts to find it. Maybe it's my lack of organization or maybe I'm just losing my memory due to my advanced age. :)
Ted Kluck's "Paper Tiger" is named in honor of George Plimpton's "Paper Lion". In the mid-60's, Plimpton became one of the first journalists to engage in "participatory journalism" when he wrote about spending a month with the Detroit Lions, participating in their practices and trying to make the team. Kluck is a freelance writer whose work includes ESPN.com, the books "Facing Tyson" and "Inside College Football" from Lyons Press.
'Paper Tiger' is Kluck's shot at participatory journalism as he tries one more try at playing semipro football at age 30 for the Battle Creek Crunch of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League. Kluck stays with the team for the full 2006 season, but loses his job as a long snapper after the second game. He plays only sparingly and watches as the team members aren't paid, scramble for equipment, wonder where the owner is, deal with 12 hour bus rides and deal with the vagaries of playing for now-defunct team.
Cornhusker fans may ask themselves why Eric Crouch is still trying to make it in football, recently becoming the #2 draft in the new AAFL. Kluck seeks the same answer as he questions his own sanity several times (as he should). Kluck is very honest in his writing, including his reasons for wanting to try playing semipro football, how bad he feels after games, and in how he deals with his wife and family.
I empathized with Kluck's story. I never played football in college (and certainly not semi-pro or anything close to it), but there is only one reason I would ever wish to be sixteen again, and that would be to dawn the pads and try again. It sure as hell wouldn't be for all other crap involved with being sixteen. Anyway, as the closing of the book approaches, it's clear that this is Kluck's last harrah, which gives Paper Tiger a certain sadness.
Paper Tiger is a good read. The story is interesting and contains a fair amount of the craziness found in Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market".
It's not the typical college football book that I typically review, but it's certainly interesting. Great book for an airport or if you happen to be one of those guys who wonders what it's like for others who just can't give up on a dream.
The first coverage of Jonathan Crowl's "The Nebraska Way" came out in the Daily Nebraskan last October. The article quotes Doak Ostergard instead of author Jonathan Crowl about the purpose behind the book:
Ostergard said the main purpose of the book was to educate people on the qualities of the football program and speak on the way "business has been done recently."
"We need to try and define what that Nebraska way really was," Ostergard said in an interview with the Daily Nebraskan. "From the outside, people can't understand it, and from the inside, people can't explain it."
It was an awkward article that gave the impression the self-published book was nothing more than a disgruntled ex-employee taking a shot at his former employer. The DN article also included some titillating information about how then coach Bill Callahan viewed Tom Osborne and Husker fans.
In one instance, Ostergard recalled a meeting with Callahan where the coach voiced his frustration over an article printed in a local newspaper.
"F-ing people need to get a life," Ostergard quoted Callahan as saying in the book.
In the book, Ostergard continues to quote Callahan:
"Why don't they go read a book or get lost in the Sandhills? I'm going to get me a real newspaper. I'm going to read The New York Times."
Callahan also grew impatient with former coach Osborne, Ostergard told Crowl.
After a phone conversation with the former coach, who was serving in Washington as a congressman, Ostergard said Callahan referred to Osborne as "a crusty old f-."
Titillating, but is it a fair representation of the book? Or were the reporters at the DN just trying to make waves?
"The Nebraska Way" starts with a foreword by Doak Ostergard, reviewing how he came to be at Nebraska and a quick review of the accomplishments of Husker football over the past (roughly) 40 years. It then starts with Ostergard's firing by Bill Callahan after which we begin a reflection of how things had been done under Osborne.
The first half of the book takes us through the Devaney, Osborne and Solich years. The journey provides a decent review of that piece of Husker history with an impressive number of quotes and anecdotes from former Cornhusker players. At times it's a little gooey, but that's to be expected when reliving glory days
The underlying theme of the review provides a background against which Steve Pederson's reign as athletic director is compared. The result is not a pretty painting. For example, below is the case of Jan Eby, employed by the athletic department for 31 years, but who was fired by Pederson shortly after he became athletic director:
“I was called on December 29, and I was sitting down to a belated Christmas dinner with my family,” Eby said. “I was told my services were no longer required.… I said I really needed the job and asked if there were any other opportunities, and I was told no.” Eby, an employee with the athletic department since Devaney’s days as head coach, was told by a messenger to have her desk cleaned out before employees returned to the office
from their holiday break. She later learned her experience was shared by numerous other employees not only at Nebraska, but also at Pitt.
“It was the same pattern,” Eby recalled.
Author Crowl doesn't pull any punches in his disdain for Pederson, painting him as gutless, arrogant, and insecure. There are several instances of his poor handling of personnel affairs, such as not giving reasons for termination, ducking meetings (including not responding to Tommie Frazier before he took the coaching job at Doane), and constant micro-management.
Bill Callahan doesn't come off nearly as bad in the book as depicted by the Daily Nebraskan article quoted above. It's clear from the book that Callahan had issues with how the team was performing, but he's represented as a man who was being manipulated by Pederson more than being evil of his own accord.
"The Nebraska Way" is unique in it's coverage of the Steve Pederson/Bill Callahan era at Nebraska. Crowl's writing is good, more journalistic than storytelling. If you'd like to learn more about what was happening inside the athletic department at that time, then this is the book you need to read.
My biggest complaint about the book is that too much centers around Doak Ostergard. It would have been better had there been more references or more comments from other athletic department personnel. There are a few, but not enough. Given that Pederson was still running the athletic department at the time the book was written and released perhaps that's understandable.
Normally, I do a book review and then perhaps a follow-up interview with the author. In the case of "The Nebraska Way", I had some problems with the book and wanted to address them immediately. Following this review will be an interview with author Jonathan Crowl.
'Meat Market' is an excellent book, a must-read if you have any interest in college recruiting. I decided to follow-up with Feldman and ask him a few questions about the aftermath of 'Meat Market' as the book has been on the market for a few months and we're getting into the prime time of the recruiting season:
- CN: How did it happen that you ended up using Ed Orgeron and Ole Miss? Were they your preferred choice or were there other schools under consideration before you chose Ole Miss?
BF: I was looking for two vital elements to pull this off: I wanted a coach who had had a lot of success as a recruiter, and obviously having been the recruiting coordinator at USC (and having also worked under Jimmy Johnson) Orgeron was ideal from that standpoint. I’d also felt that in order to drive this book to really become a story, it needed to have a very interesting and dynamic central figure, which Orgeron certainly is. He is this high-energy, rough around the edges guy who is a recovering alcoholic and has essentially traded in one addiction (alcohol) for another (recruiting). On top of that, he would not only be going through this emotional roller coaster ride to signing day but also doing so, not selling a powerhouse program like USC, but rather an underdog where he was competing against the likes of Florida, LSU, Georgia, Notre Dame and even USC. It was a very ripe situation for such a book.
- CN: 'Meat Market' presents a contrast of craziness between Oregon and his staff and the recruiting process. Was this how you envisioned the book before you started?
BF: I had some ideas on what I thought I might see and hear, but I never expected there to be as much drama as there was as the year unfolded. There are just so many highs and lows. I was really amazed at just how many soap operas played out there. One of his assistants, Hugh Freeze, had like four of them himself, and observing him while he’s on the phone with these kids was fascinating.
And, from a character standpoint, it felt like almost every stone I overturned had some fantastic—and perhaps heart-breaking -- back story. By the time I was about half-way through my reporting, I’d realized that no matter how many books Meat Market sold, the experience was really worth it for me.
- CN: What was Orgeron's reaction to the book?
BF: The book actually came out the week of their season opener so he never had a chance to read it right away. I think his wife and some of his office staff did though, and I guess they told him it was fair, and he was OK with it.
I had really wondered how he was going to react given that he had been very open with me about a lot of things, and you never know how someone is going to respond when you write about them. He’d also never given me parameters about what and where I could be or what was off-limits. Sometimes I wondered if he or his assistants would read something in Meat Market and get angry that something made it into print. I’d heard there were a few things coaches weren’t thrilled about (things they’d said about other staffs or about a recruit) but no one ever said they were misquoted.
- CN: Were you surprised by Orgeron's firing this year?
BF: A little, but I knew he had a bad relationship with the AD there and that wasn’t helping when you have a win-loss record as bad as they did. I was surprised though given that he only got three years, and while I know they went 3-9 this season, he’d won 10 games in his first three years at Ole Miss, which is more than Slyvester Croom did at Mississippi State. Then in year four, Croom’s team breaks through. It took Greg Schiano a lot longer before he got Rutgers moving. I just don’t think you can expect a first-time head coach to come out and make a significant impact in his first three seasons. They’re gonna make a lot of mistakes. It’s different when a Dennis Erickson takes over a program. The staff he has at ASU is pretty much the same guys he worked with at other coaching stops. The first-timer really has to learn on the fly. If MSU had fired Croom last year, people would’ve wrote that he was a nice guy but the experiment failed. No one was predicting them to go 7-5 this year. But it worked out great.
People can point to some bad moves Orgeron made, and of course, they were bad and it cost him, but lots of coaches make bad moves. I would’ve liked to have seen what he could’ve done in Year 4 when he had Jevan Snead at QB, but that won’t happen. I do think he left the program better than when he got it in terms of the talent.
- CN: Are there any reader reactions to the book that stand out that you'd care to relate (including any recruiting stories)?
BF: I’ve done readings in a few places around the country where I’ve had a bunch of kids from a high school football team show up saying how their coach says they have to read Meat Market. I’ve had mothers come to book signings to say they can’t get their kids to read, but they’d finished my book in a week.
One of the coolest things I had was when a buddy who covers college hoops e-mailed me and goes "Tom Crean, the Marquette basketball coach, can’t stop raving about your book. Here’s his cell number. He wants you to call him." So I did, and Crean couldn’t have been nicer. He said how he learned so much from the book and bought it for all of his staff. He also said that his brother-in-law is Jim Harbaugh and he told him he’s gotta read Meat Market and he’s gonna tell all his friends they have to read it. And then, sure enough, I got some emails from college basketball coaches about the book.
- CN: Even though you focused on Ole Miss, 'Meat Market' includes quite a cross-section of young athletes and the programs they're interested in. Do you believe that 'Meat Market' is a fair representation of the recruiting process as it exists at most schools or it is easy for readers to dismiss the mania as isolated to Ole Miss and Ed Orgeron?
I do think it’s very representative of the recruiting process because the process and the parameters all college staffs worked under is the same so that’s why I think it works across the board. It’s really more of a recruiting book than anything else, about how coaches evaluate and chase players. Regardless of the program, they all go out on the road in the spring to evaluate juniors. They all conduct summer camps to get a clearer picture of how good—and how coachable—these prospects are. They all try and woo these kids and their families and coaches right up to signing day. Now, do cockfights take place on all home visits? Probably not.
- CN: Is there anything you'd change to make the college recruiting process less insane or is chaos a natural state when it comes to big-time college recruiting? In other words, should we just accept the process for what it is, or can it be fixed somehow for the benefit of everyone involved?
It’s hard to tweak the process because there is so much stuff that realistically can’t be regulated. Too many things are open to interpretation and too many people who can factor into the recruiting process in one manner or another, aren’t under the NCAA rules umbrella. The one thing I would like to see the NCAA do is not restrict players who would like to transfer in the wake of a coaching change. It’s nice to think players pick a school because of the school itself, but really the system is the key for many of them, and when you’re talking about the impact on their careers, it’s tough to force their hands.
- CN: Any next-book projects you'd like to tell us about at this time?
BF: Honestly, I’ve been so burned out from Meat Market and the subsequent marketing of the book, I’m not ready to jump into anything right away.
Along with Stewart Mandel's 'Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls', 'Meat 'Market' was one of the best books I read this past season. Thanks to Bruce for his time and wish him the best on his future endeavors.
We reviewed the book "Diary of a Husker" by David Kolowski last March. Since that time, author David Kolowski has been hard at work, not just promoting the book, but working to make it better. Given that the Christmas season is upon us, we contacted David for an update as to what he's been up to lately, and what's happening with his book.
The bold emphasis below is mine. It is important to remember that all these guys, including anyone who played this past season, is always a Husker. Enough from me, here's an update from David:
Since the book first came out, I've formed my own publishing company called Big Red Press and republished the book. It's now much better than the initial version with an easier-to-read format, less total pages, color pictures, and the price is down considerably.
I have the plans to put out an audio version of the book, read by myself, in mp3 format and available only from my website. This will include any extra stories that pop in my head as well as addressing some of the most common questions that people ask me. The audio version can be pre-ordered from the web site for $19.95. If it's not done and sent to people by Christmas, people can get half of their money back.
( CN: As someone who reads a lot of college football books, I'd love to see more of them in audio form. We spend a lot of time in our cars these days, so it makes for an easy way to enjoy a book. Beats that talk radio stuff, eh? )
I've heard from hundreds of Husker fans who have loved the book. I've heard lots of comments on the openness and honest angle from which I wrote. They can tell that it's written by a college-aged man in the thick of the action, occasionally sidetracked by desires for a better social life or just a full night of sleep. It's also not the most positive review of Husker life, but then again it's written while in the midst of the turmoil and uncertainty of the Solich Years.
I've been able to interact with several former Huskers from all different eras because of my book. One of the biggest revelations that I had in doing so was that these guys don't care about the problems that happened and the eventual win-loss total. Every year of Nebraska football had it's share of problems, even the best years. All that mattered to these guys was that I was on the team, I did my job as best I could and I got my letter.
That may sound pretty simple, but it was profound for me and my fellow teammates. We felt responsible for the decline of the program. We were seniors when so many records fell and the guilt and frustration that followed made many of my teammates put football as far out of their minds as possible when we were done. It was such a relief to hear that we were still accepted into the brotherhood of lettermen even though our years didn't go as we had hoped.
I think that's an important message to take to the current team. These last five years have been even worse, but these guys have still done all that has been asked of them and we know they tried. They don't need a national championship ring to be accepted by the rest of us. That letter speaks enough.
Now, because of the relief that this revelation has caused, I can see how a lot of sports memoirs are written with a glossy, everything-is-wonderful attitude. As much as I would love to re-write my book from a glowing point of view, I feel that so much raw emotion and uncertainty would be lost. It's impossible to go back and write from the mindset of a 19 year old with all the hopes, dreams, hormones and immaturity that accompany those years. I guess I'll just have to let it speak for itself.
I hope that someone else will be able to match what I have done and keep track of these next five years of Husker life. Until then, my book remains one of the most detailed accounts of Husker football around.
This thing is a behemoth. Over 1300 pages and a lot of it is in small type. So, what is 50 Years of College Football? Authors Bob Boyles have compiled something that has to be the most inclusive review of the last 50 years of college football available. It just as easily could have been called "The College Football Dictionary" as that's what it resembles.
It provides a review of 70 teams over the years 1953 to 2006. Each review contains basic school information, and career, season, and game statistical leaders - typical of stuff you'd find in a school's media guide. The reviews include won-loss records, coaching records, and bowl records, the scores of all games - stuff that isn't hard to find if you're a powerhouse school, but may be difficult if you're trying to find information on someone lesser known. The season's starting lineups and statistical leaders are also included - that is information that can be very hard to find, especially if you're interested in going back all the way to 1953.
The yearly reviews start with an entertaining and informative overview of each year, highlighting events on and off the field. As an example, the 1961 review relates how the Ohio State faculty voted down a Rose Bowl bid, resulting in the Columbus Dispatch printing each voting faculty member's name, address, and amount of reimbursed out-of-state travel they'd had over the past year. We're told that Woody Hayes was pivotal in quelling potential student riots. (Ah, the good old days!)
The preseason rankings are provided, and a recap of games played between ranked teams and many rivals are reviewed, which comes to more than 7,500 game recaps total. These don't include every game ever played, but obviously a huge number of them, including a "Game of the Year" for each season. .Each year concludes with a listing of conference standings, bowl game reviews, All-America teams, Heisman Trophy voting along with other major award winners. As if that weren't enough (but wait, there's more!), you also get the first eight rounds of each season's NFL draft.
There is a freakish amount of information in 50 Years of College Football, almost too much. At a cost under $20 (see the Amazon price above), it's pretty affordable as a historical reference. It's handy for bloggers like me to go back and find something interesting to write about and it should be in the hands of any college fans that likes to "one-up" their friends. Hmmmm.... wouldn't that be just about all of us?
The legend of early college football goes as follows: In 1905, there were many injuries and several deaths heavily related to the use of the flying wedge. Teddy Roosevelt stepped in and told the football powers that be to clean up the game and change it to eliminate the violence or it would be discontinued. Thus began the NCAA as a vehicle with which to tame the sport.
It's a legend that wraps the early game into a nice, neat easy to sell package. However, the facts are much more elaborate (as are the facts behind any legend) and they are heavily covered in the book "College Football: History - Spectacle - Controversy" by John Sayle Watterson. The book is published by John Hopkins press, and written in an academic style.
"College Football: History - Spectacle - Controversy" does not focus on games, teams, or coaches, but on the history of the game itself. The book starts with the origins of football, covering the years 1876 to 1894, and then covers early controversies - the violence of the game - which was a public concern as early as 1893.
There have been many stories about the Old West, the rough, tough days of taming Western America. This book is comparable - a sport has taken hold of the public, but there are few rules to govern it. As the Old West was tamed, so was college football. In the early days, complete lawlessness. As time went on, the law showed it's hand and started to take control. Such is the story of college football as portrayed by Watterson.
Controversies and scandals are covered throughout the years. The early years exposed the sport for what it was - extremely violent and uncontrolled. What I found most interesting about the book was the ongoing expose' of 'subsidies', the idea that athletes were brought into schools without any regard to the idea that they were 'student-athletes'. There were no requirements for the players in the early years - some schools outright paid grown men to play football for them and required little else.
The influence of television is heavily covered and very interesting. If you're one of those people who think the NCAA is the bogeyman in control of everything, you will find this area of interest. Coverage of the SMU "Death Penalty" is second to none.
The book has been updated since it's original release in 2002, so if you're buying a used book, you might miss the excellent critique Watterson provides of the new NCAA facilities in Indianapolis. He is very cranky about the fact that they continue to use the "legend" as noted above as their reference for the origins of the NCAA, and rightfully so. I won't spoil his argument, if you have interest, buy the book.
The book isn't for the casual college football fan, i.e. those who want romantic stories of the olden days. It's for those who have a heavy interest in both history and college football. It is a heavy read. You won't finish it for a while, mostly because you cannot digest that much information so quickly. But if you're a diehard college football fan and you love history (like I do), this book is it.
I like reading coach's books. If you're reading a coach's autobiography you can be sure that he was successful. Reading stories about successful people won't make you successful in itself, but you certainly can learn a lot from them.
Some coach's stories, like Mack Brown's "One Heartbeat II" are smarmy, folksy stories about the coach's life philosophy containing stories about overcoming adversity or getting a team to come together to experience that championship season.
A lot of coach's stories wind up in those business-motivational books, but I don't typically read those. Normally the messages they're delivering gets thinned out to the point that they become a manager's catch phrase. Executives buy them, then put them on the bookshelf in their office. Makes them look well-read. I've worked with a lot of executives. I usually make the point of pulling a book or two off out of their library and open it. 90% of them make that cracking sound a hardcover book makes the first time you open it. But I digress.
Coach's stories tend to fall prey to a fair amount of sugar-coating. Not so with "Don't Flinch - Barry Alvarez: The Autobiography". The book starts (after forewards by Lou Holtz and author James Patterson) with Wisconsin's 2006 Capital One Bowl against Auburn. Going into the game, no one gave Wisconsin a chance to win. Alvarez starts by talking about how he would have rather played Alabama. Alvarez played for Nebraska when Alabama beat the Cornhuskers in the 1966 Orange Bowl, 39-28, and relates how Paul "Bear" Bryant arrogantly humiliated the Huskers later at an awards banquet. Alvarez makes it clear that this isn't how he's spent his career. Beating people is one thing. Rubbing their noses in it is another thing entirely, and something that Alvarez doesn't condone. He then goes on to talk about how he handled his underdog status and coached Wisconsin to a win.
That initial story sets the tone for the book. Author Mike Lucas takes us through Alvarez' life, using his Western Pennsylvania background to set the stage for Barry's brand of football - conservative, hard-nosed, and physical. Alvarez played college football at Nebraska under legendary coach Bob Devaney. His first head coaching position was in Lexington, Nebraska where he chose to move instead of taking a job with the FBI. He later moved to Mason City, Iowa in a head coaching position. After being successful there, he went to the University of Iowa as an assistant under Hayden Fry. Later he joined Lou Holtz' staff at Notre Dame, serving as the defensive coordinator on the 1988 Fighting Irish National Championship team.
Along the journey you're treated to the reasons as to why he was successful in each position, and what he learned from the people around him, particularly coaches. All the while his goal remains clear - to be a head college football coach. There are times he strikes you as incredibly stubborn and/or arrogant but completely capable of listening to other people giving good advice.
He notes that during the 1990 1-10 season, there were times at which he would close his office doors and curl up on his couch in a fetal position. He had gotten so used to winning that his body ached from losing. There aren't a whole lot of big-name coaches that would admit that so freely in their autobiography. His wife Cindy plays a prominent role in the book making it clear, supporting him through rough times and sometimes bringing him back down to earth. As his coaching career is nearing it's end Alvarez makes an honest assessment of himself and concludes that it's time to move on, becoming Wisconsin's athletic director.
I liked Barry Alvarez before I read his story. Now I like him even more. The line "Don't Flinch" remains a constant theme throughout the book as Alvarez points out how to respond when the game (football or life) is on the line. Certainly Wisconsin fans should be interested in this book, but I'd recommend Barry's autobiography to anyone who's interested in reading those water-down business motivational books as well. The stories are much more interesting and just as insightful. On top of that, you'd probably finish this book. How many of those motivational books have you finished?
For other Corn Nation Book Reviews, click on the "Reviews" Section at the upper left, or on the "Reviews" tag at the bottom of this story.
I reviewed the book "The Marshall Story" several months ago. The book tells the story of Marshall football, including the 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people, including the football team, coaching staff and several prominent boosters.
The movie "We Are Marshall" was recently released on DVD, with Matthew McConaughey playing the part of coach Jack Lengyel, Matthew Fox as coach Red Dawson, Anthony Mackie as football player Nate Ruffin, and David Straitham as Marshall President Donald Dedmon.
"We Are Marshall" in an excellent movie. It is not a "football" movie, but the story of a great tragedy that befell a community and how they managed to pull themselves back together. I’d recommend it to anyone.
After watching the movie, I did a follow-up interview with Rick Nolte, one of the authors of "The Marshall Story". I’d recommend you see the movie before reading the interview. We talked about some of the events portrayed in the movie as well as characters. I’d hate to ruin a movie for you.
Click on the 'Full Story' link to read the interview.
If you've followed Corn Nation much, you'd know that I don't follow recruiting very closely. I don't have a lot of faith in recruiting service rankings and there are too many things that can happen to a recruit before he becomes a true asset to your team. Still, you can't help but notice the names that are committing to your school and look at their rankings.
Prior to reading Tom Lemming's story, "Football's Second Season - Scouting High School Game Breakers", my impression of Lemings was that of a snake-oil salesman. I always thought he was one of those guys who looked at high school prospects, then arbitrarily gave them a rank based on what school was recruiting them rather than anything based on reality.
Given my ignorance, it's a good thing Lemming decided to tell his story. In "Football's Second Season" Lemming details his life story, including the process he uses for evaluating high school prospects as part of the college football recruiting process. We learn the hows and whys of how Lemming got into recruiting. He does his damnedest to distance himself from the online recruiting services like Scout.com and Rivals.com by making it clear he outworks them. In 2005-2006, he totalled 55,000 miles and met with over 1,200 recruits. He continually evaluates film, working with college and high school football coaches.
Lemming offers chapters of advice to recruits, high school football coaches, and parents of recruits. If you're in one of those positions, it would be worth your while to read the book. Lemming also spends some time talking about his Christian faith and its relationship to his work as a recruiting analyst, although he doesn't present it as a personal crusade. You do get the idea that Lemming cares about the kids, and he responds to critics who complain that he favors specific schools. After reading the book I have a great deal more respect for Tom Lemming, although it didn't cure my skepticism about the recruiting process.
The book isn't as entertaining as Feldman's, but the two together make for interesting perspectives on college recruiting. As Lemming is part of the process, his insight is more bubbly than the damning tones found in "Meat Market". As an example, he fairly discusses Jimmy Clausen's Hollywood-style announcement to attend Notre Dame, and then concludes:
It was a stroke of genius for whoever thought of it - Weis, Clausen, his father. In the wake of Clausen's announcement, Notre Dame got four or five commitments in the next two weeks. All of them said they loved the attention and atmosphere that Clausen brought to Notre Dame with the ESPN cameras. You can't penalize kids who love the exposure in newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet, and do a good job with it.
Fact is, you can penalize them, as the book includes a key point about how these recruits are handled by the media:
Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times wrote:
"Sportswriters and fans have been given the green light, and they're going to treat [Clausen] as they would any high-profile college or pro athlete. That means every mistake is open to ridicule and every decision made on or off the field is fair game for scrutiny."
Such is Lemmings' book - presents a fair picture of recruiting even if you and I think it's plain wacky most of the times.
Both books reveal that there is a seedy underside to recruiting that we'd rather not know about or admit. Lemmings reveals he's aware of several programs that will do anything to get a recruit, including systems in place where alumni are paying players with the coaches aware of what's happening.
Other problems contained in both books:
The arbitrary nature by which recruiting sites rank the prospects, including Feldman's revelation that a recruit lied about his stats after a high school football game.
While there are restrictions on coach's contacts, there are no such limits to Internet recruiting services. Feldman points out that these services call players day and night.
Text messaging was eliminated by the NCAA this season. Feldman points out that a recruit's text messaging and phone bill ran up to $268 per month when he was being recruited.
Both books contain numerous references to recruits who switch commitments at the last minute or simply lie about where they're going. Some are having fun. Some crave publicity. Lemming tries to point out that these are just kids, but warns about them making good decisions during the recruiting process.
"Football's Second Season - Scouting High School Game Breakers" isn't about pure entertainment - it's about Tom Lemming telling his side of the recruiting story. It won't get as much publicity as "Meat Market", but it's still worth reading if you want to learn more about the recruiting process.
The further along the book you go, the more you realize that Ed Orgeron is a stand-up guy. He represents what is good about college football coaches. He sets academic plans for his recruits. He tells his coaches that they are not to break any rules, even though tempted. He works with his compliance officer, and the number of times he states "We can't take a kid like that" make it clear that Orgeron, for all his bluster, has a fairly high standard for doing the right thing by his recruits.
For all of the nuttiness that's happened throughout the recruiting process (simply too much to name here) you think it can't get much worse. Then you get to Signing Day and you realize that the rest of the book is just a warm-up for complete madness.
At first I wondered why Feldman would have chosen such a nutball of a coach to follow through the recruiting process, but by the time you get through the entire book, you find yourself wondering whether Orgeron might well be the sanest part of it. The contradictions between the craziness of the coaches, the process, and the recruits why the book is worth reading, and a great read it is. I'd strongly recommend this book to any college football fan (with the possible exception of those who put complete faith in recruiting sites, maybe you're better off in your delusions).
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