Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Fans of Yale-Harvard--or, for that matter, of Tennessee State-Grambling--may disagree with sports author John Feinstein's subtitle, but this look inside the Cadet-Midshipmen wars backs up the idea of the annual Army-Navy game as a purer expression of the ideal of college athletics than your basic Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl. Feinstein focuses on the defensive captains from each 1995 squad, young men whose football careers end with the final gun of the big game. In a year when the service academies are enjoying their biggest gridiron success in many seasons, Feinstein's ruminations on the game seem particularly timely.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
A worthwhile read!!!
Customer Rating:
Whether you're a football fan or not, John Feinstein's story about the 1995 season and the history and tradition of the Army and Navy rivalry is a good one. After reading it, I could not help but feel a sense of pride and respect for all the fine men and women who serve our country. Having been to an Airforce/Army game, I can vouch for the excitement of watching the Black Knights play at West Point. During the game, I had a chance to chat with an Army football fan. I vividly remember him telling me that "If you think this is exciting, you should see this place during an Army/Navy game! Thanks to this book, I now have a better sense of understanding and newfound appreciation for the importance of this particular game. I will definitely be tuned in for this year's broadcasting of the event. As for this book, it is a definite must-read!
A Great Topic
Customer Rating:
Army-Navy is certainly an under-appreciated game. At least it has been by me. I love college football. Not only that, I have an uncle who went to West Point and another uncle who went to Annapolis and I *still* didn't care about this game!
It is because I just didn't know.
I am not a big John Feinstein fan in general. I like his writing best when he is just covering facts. If he tries to think, he gets in trouble. He is sometimes not a particularly sharp guy: "Tom Cruise in Top Gun was the greatest recruiter Air Force had. Come to Air Force, fly superfast jets, and hang out with Kelly McGillis when you're on the ground"
Then he further alienates those hands that fed him as he did the book with the moronic and trite "John Graves got the most oxymoronic assignment the army can offer: miltary intelligence"
Turn-offs, to be sure, but not material to the subject at hand. I also respect the chances Feinstein takes when he commits to following a team, knowing that at the end of the day (or the season) it's possible that nothing "magical" actually happens.
In this case, the magic is throughout, and the whole endeavor adds up to one big inspiration. I can't wait to see the Army-Navy game this fall.
A great read about two fascinating schools.
Customer Rating:
This book takes its place as one of John Feinsten's best books, along with a book about basketball in the Patriot League (The Last Amateurs) and two golfing books (A Good Walk Spoiled and The Majors). In all of these books, he takes the reader through a season with the athletes, giving fascinating insights into "their world". Feinsten seems to have empathy for athletes who are not in big-time programs, and it shows in his writing.
I found the descriptions of life and academics in the service academies to be fascinating. It is amazing how the regular students and the players live and practice, compared to students and athletes at most other colleges. And when they're done, they serve in the military for 4 or 5 more years. When you see what these players go through for the chance to play I-A football, it makes the argument for paying major college players - besides providing them a free education, meals, housing, and tutoring - seem lame.
What's right with sports
Customer Rating:
I picked up this book at a library sale, and I was prepared to dislike it because John Feinstein is such a pretentious boob. I've tried to fight my way through his tedious basketball books about Duke Univ., Bobby Knight, etc., and I figured this was more of the same. I realize that Feinstein has a special ability to get sports figures to share off-field stories about their histories, hopes and dreams. Most sports figures are self-absorbed fools, and they wouldn't be worth spending the day with. Feinstein somehow brings out the best of what they have to offer. Yet, usually the people are so despicable that you don't care anyway.
This book is different. The anecdotes shine because the people are really challenged in multiple arenas -- on the field, in the classroom, and perhaps someday in battle. The fate that they face gives this book a gravitas that's absent from Feinstein's books about guys with hoop dreams or golf visions.
Be warned, however, that the book is repetitive, as if Feinstein thinks that his readers are too stupid to remember something he wrote earlier in the book.
A fun journey
Customer Rating:
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a magnificant journey through the 1995 season with 2 of the most prestigious football programs in the country. We get a first hand view of what it is like to go to a military school first of all, but to also play football while at that military school. We also get a glimpse of what it was like when the 2 programs were in their hayday and people actually wanted to play at these schools. There was once a time where they dominated and all of the great players went to the military academies. Today, with high salaries and mandatory service, it is unlikely for an all american to attend one of these schools. The cadets know that the end of their football career comes with the end of their college schooling, and that makes the losses hurt that much more. Follow the players through their push through the season against some of the nation's powerhouses. You won't be sorry.
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