5 comments about Education of a Coach, The.

1. 
   I'm not sure what the book's intention was, but be prepared to read more about life events instead of football related events. I read this after the Tony Dungy book, and I would recommend that over this book.



2. I read this book several years ago, and reread it recently after reflecting on the "Spygate" drama of the past year. I found the book very insightful the second time around. David Halberstam was an incrediably gifted writer who was able to truly get into the mind of his subjects, and this book is a great example of that. He starts by offering insights into Belichick the boy, and how his formative years, watching his father working for Navy, helped mold the man who heads the New England Patriots today. It offers interesting insights into Belichick's mindset when he participates in his always vague press conferences, his secretive manner, and why he is both respect and hated by his players and his peers. Fascinating read.



3. Halberstam set a very high standard for himself -- in his sports books as well as in his political books. The "Summer of 1949", for instance, was particularly well researched and written.
   
   This book lacks the depth of "1949." There is little digging into player reactions. Instead of demonstrating character through anecdotes and understatement, Halberstam keeps hitting us over the head with his point about how great Belichick is about "breaking down film" & etc. What in the heck does that really mean? There is very little detail here.
   
   Of course, Halberstam's worst effort would count as someone else's best work. Halberstam is at his best in describing the Parcells/Belichick relationship; the character of the great Giants' teams; any why Brady was the superior quarterback to Bledsoe. Belichick's coaching genius does come through in the description of his approach to all the super bowls. And Belechick's notion of team, building interchangeable parts, and working with the salary cap are explained quite well.
   
   On the whole, though, we are continually told how great Belichick is without really giving much insight into his soul as a man or even as a coach.



4. I've read several of his books (although this was my first sports book of his) and I highly enjoyed them. Maybe it's because the subject is just not a very interesting person, but this book is just terrible. He tells us material that contributes nothing; who cares about about his grandparents and his wife family? He also gushes about the subject and his family. Is everything really so great? It's as if he chose an average person at random and wrote a biography about him. The average person doesn't lead a particularly fascinating life and the resulting biography would be dull. Just because he is a success as a coach doesn't necessarily make him a good candidate for a biography.



5. I hate to pile on a fine author when the time has passed when he can redeem himself but I concur with all the negative reviews with one exception--I don't think the book's lack of appeal can be written off as due to the fact that Belichik is a boring oaf. He is that on the outside, but there's a lot more than that inside and the author just did not dig that out. The problem with the book is that there is minimal "inside" information - a little more detail about Tom Brady's development than maybe you know, and a good explanation of just how feared a player Marshall Faulk was, but that's about it. The title suggests that the subject matter is limited to the sort of background biographical stuff so maybe we should have seen this coming, but this is really little more than an expansion of the bio you might find on the Patriots website.

2 comments about 3rd Down and Forever: Joe Don Looney and the Rise and Fall of an American Hero.

1. In contrast to the reviewer who wrote "Still Searching for the Real Joe Don", I found Clark's treatment sympathetic to the values which guided Looney's travels & travails. Yet, to the author's credit, this end was accomplished without the wholesale denigration of the larger society's beliefs as embodied by Looney's parents, Bud Wilkinson and the U.S. Government. In walking this fine line Clark allows the reader to draw his own conclusion as to the worth or viability of bucking the system. I suspect the previous reviewer knew Looney personally. It is likely that no biograper could give a satisfactory account of the many traits and nuances which coalesce in an individual psyche, when that individual was our own colleague. I believe criticism is due Publisher's Weekly for smugly labeling Looney's life a "seemingly unworthy topic". In fact, Looney is a fascinating, legendary character whose life can be appreciated on multiple levels: 1) As pure, unscripted entertainment--no Hollywood production could match Looney's emotional turbulence, humorous pranks & quips, gridiron exploits, drug involvement and esoteric philosophy--which leads me to ask in amazement why his life hasn't already been made into a movie 2) As a sociological study in the conflict of individual expression with the ethos of consumption in post-war Texas suburbia during the "era of plenty" 3) Looney can be identified as the prototype of the modern football athlete with his emphasis on nutrition and seminal status as a weightlifter 4) Last but not least, Looney's experience is a tale of soul-searching which led him to discard the excess of inherited baggage in the pursuit of a happiness that was custom tailored to his own needs. In conclusion, Clark's rendering of the last few years of Looney's life suggests that Joe Don was a comparatively happy man. I would have been curious to see, had Looney lived longer, whether he could have orchestrated a more complete reconciliation with his parents and daughter. That finale would have proved Joe Don's nirvanna. At this late date, I am suprised that "3rd Down and Forever" has failed to garner greater recognition as it appears to me to have broad appeal.



2. Oh, yeah, J. Brent, you are some smooth talker; it's a pity, however, with all your smooth talk you missed out on what Joe Don was all about; even a cursory look at the video Larry Merchant aired after Joe's death would have showed you more of the man than your predone perspective on him -- he had truly declared peace with the world; he left the gridiron to find what mattered -- and your and everyone else's criteria of what constitutes a "successful life" just doesn't cut it; Joe was after a first-hand recognition of God inside himself; and I think he found it; the pity is that you didn't; you wrote a sports book and a book of a man who, in Kipling's phrase, "went too native." Joe did nothing of the kind; he threw off the expectations of parents and coaches; he left behind the failure of traditional Western notions of the heroic; he quit the tired Sunday go to meeting gestures; and he found, in Eliot's words, a "tremor of bliss." The shame of what you've done lies in your unwillingness or inability to see that; hell, I think you should try writing the damn book all over again. Talk to more people -- sit down with yourself and get a taste of the transcendent peace Joe grew into.

No comments about Goin' Deep: The Life and Times of a CFL Quarterback.

No comments about Beyond XS and OS: My Thirty Years in the NFL.

5 comments about A Man and His Mother: An Adopted Son's Search.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe it provides a rare and intimate look into the heart of a male adoptee. Not much is written for male adoptees, or those who love them. Therefore, I applaud Tim's courage and admire his journey. It would be a great resource for an all-adoptee male support group!



2. Tim Green is a wonderful writer who details, with earnest passion, the search for his birth mother. This book is a must read for all birth mothers and all adopted children.



3. It's a tragedy that when an adopted person speaks, so many people insist he is wrong - even when he is recounting his own experiences.
   
   Thanks to Mr. Green people may now obtain a better understanding of what it is like for a human being to be separated from mother in infancy and grow up in an environment devoid of any true family members. This is very timely information with all the infertility businesses pushing sperm "donation", embryo donation, egg "donation" and surrogacy. And sadly, there is a continued push to get newborn babies for adoption customers, babies from naive and pressured parents and families that have never been proven to be unfit in any way.



4. Real parents? A parent is the person who raises you and influences the person you are today. You are not a Real parent b/c you conceived the child...that person has significant value as a birth parent. I was adopted and have also adopted children and the real parent is the one who has been there, invested...



5. When is someone going to say, "The folks who raised me are wonderful, but they are not my real parents." What a shame--even Tim is caught up in the lies. Everyone has only two real parents. To lose them, especially so soon after birth, is devastating. Ask any mother who has list her child.

3 comments about Bear The Legendary Life of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.

1. Paul "Bear" Bryant begins with Bryant's death and then flashes back to his early life growing up as a poor farm boy in Arkansas. We are presented with stories that establish Bryant's toughness, his willingness to work hard and his drive to become a winner, including the story of how he earned the nickname "Bear".
   
   The book confirms that Bryant was a manipulative SOB who loved his Chesterfield cigarettes and whiskey, but above all loved winning. It presents him as a man who would accept nothing but the best from his players and himself. He was hard when he had to be but taught that hard work was that which made champions. The book doesn't shy away from the more controversial aspects of his coaching career, such as his tenure at Texas A&M where in his first year he drove away all of the players he considered slackers.
   
   
   
   Fans will enjoy the book's take on college football as it evolved throughout Bryant's career, particularly the section on Texas A&M's NCAA probation for paying players. Bryant's complaint was that everyone else was doing the same, but only the Aggies were being persecuted for it. The book portrays the 'Bear' as a humble man, denying his greatness even when he surpassed Pop Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg in all-time wins. Some of the stories about Bryant's antics will have you laughing out loud.
   
   
   
   The only negative aspect of the book is the confusion that results when it jumps from one point in Bryant's life to the next without warning. Since it's written in a story-like style instead of a documentary format like most biographies, it's a very enjoyable read. It's understandable why the legend of Bear Bryant is very much alive and continues to grow because by the end of the book, you can't help but admire Bryant and feel much closer to him as a person.



2. Award-wining newswriter Don Keith presents The Bear: The Legendary Life of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, a most unusual biography of charismatic football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. The Bear is based upon a screenplay by Al Browning, Jr. and reads like a fluid novel, yet firmly grounded in actual events and corrects common inaccuracies or misperceptions held about Paul Bryant to this day. A handful of black-and-white photographic plates illustrate this true tale of the vivacious man who turned around a struggling football program in Alabama, led the record in career victories for a college football coach, with 323 major-college wins and had the loyalty and steadfast determination to resist a $1.7 million offer to coach for the Miami Dolphins. Enthusiastically recommended reading especially for football fans.



3. If you are an Alabama fan you will love this book. It is a quick read and very interesting.

2 comments about Earle: A Coach's Life.

1. Earle Bruce had the difficult task of following a legend, Woody Hayes. His first season resulted in 11 wins and everyone thought the Buckeyes would become the dynasty of the 1980s. However, parity in college football became more and more of a factor and OSU didn't achieve the heights that many people thought. Still, Bruce was a very successful coach and proved he could at least beat Michigan more often than not. The only disappointment with the book was the fact that it couldn't go more into depth about Bruce's firing. I realize that must be because of legal ramifications but I think Buckeye fans would still love to know the complete story.



2. Fantastic writing with great stories and an insite into college football. Buckeye stories as well as player stories provide perspective to a coaches life.

   Great read... can't put it down.

5 comments about In Control: The Rebirth of an NFL Legend.

1. Thomas Henderson tells it straight up . If you want to know how a man can right himself after falling from grace then you need to read this book . From the top of the mountain , fame , money , prestige , all pro line backer with the Cowboys to a destitute , strung out crack head . Want to learn how this man dealt with his demons ? He takes one day at a time , just like the rest of us . But Thomas makes a pledge to take one day at a time " sober " . It's an option , you gotta suit up every day !
   
   God bless you Thomas . Keep fighting the good fight



2. I Really enjoyed reading In Control, Years ago I read Thomas's other book Out of Control and while I enjoyed it also. This one is different -- his first one told how he got sober, but this new one tells HOW TO STAY SOBER!!! While he tells us how to stay sober he also entertains the heck out of the reader. It is a book I am going to find myself rereading every couple years or so, and there are not very many books that are like that for me.



3. This book really made me re-think about my sobriety.Thomas Henderson helped me understand better about the 12-steps.About being able to better my life while dealing with my addictions.I really recommend this book for anybody who is going through a recovery process or knows somebody who is,to help them understand what that person is going through in their head.



4. I just spent the weekend reading this book and couldn't put it down.
   
   Thomas Henderson has written a book about addiction and recovery, but his message is actually a universal statement of how to identify challenges, find solutions, produce results and to live a more meaningful life. I think its message has meaning to everyone.
   
   If you (or a family member, friend, or associate) is challenged by addiction, you will learn and find inspiration.
   
   If you are concerned about public policy issues and the burdens of our criminal justice system, you should read this book to understand more about addiction as a foundational problem that produces crime and recidivism.
   
   If you are the leader of a company, of your household, of your kids, or of your peers, this book has important messages that can help you look at problems differently, consider new solutions, and to make better decisions.
   
   While the narrative involves the recovery of Thomas Henderson, reading this book will help you be a more effective CEO, a better parent, or a more enlightened leader. Every thinking adult should read this book.
   



5. This book is the straightforward, easy to read, incredible story of one mans trip to hell and back. Cowboy fans and anyone interested in reading a testimony to the human spirit will enjoy In Control. It is also an excellent heads-up to anyone thinking of dabbling in the world of alcohol and drugs. For those who can identify with Thomases plight, it is an excellent companion to the Big Book of A.A. For those who cant, let it serve as a warning to any who think addiction is a problem "other people" have to worry about.

No comments about The Saints, the Superdome, and the Scandal.

No comments about Running for My Life: My Journey in the Game of Football and Beyond.