Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read even if you don't follow basketball
Review: The event that inspires this book, and affected forever the lives of a handful of people, took one second. I guess you could also say the same thing about the hundreds of shootings that take place throughout the world every day. What this incident has in common with those is that all are violent acts, in this case the title "Punch" of one professional basketball player to another about 25 years ago. But few of the shootings that happen every day have been broadcast thousands of time to the entire world. Thus, fodder for a full-length book. Fans of sports should like this book very much. Both players, Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjonovich, were both prominent players in the NBA. If you are a sports fan, you know of the incident, and will find the details leading up to and following it extremely interesting. Especially since Tomjonovich, thanks to Michael Jordan's first retirement, managed to coach a few championships with the Houston Rockets back in the 90's. If you are not a sports fan, though, I'm not so sure. I am somewhat of a sports fan, and saw the Saturday Night Live spoof of the incident "live", the one that introduced it to the non-sporting public. But will it hold the interest of the average person? I'm not quite sure. You get your standard story of two athletes, who worked very, very hard to get where they were. You see how they become players in the NBA. You see the scenarios leading up to the infamous game, how the NBA was already having a reputation as being too violent. They were almost waiting for an incident like this to prove their point of cracking down on violence. Well, they got one, and it was a nasty one. Tomjonovich saw a fight at the other end of the court involving Washington. Washington, hearing footsteps, turned and blindly punched him without really even looking. The punch, just by sheer luck landed so squarely that it literally caved in Tomjonovich's face. A few millimeters one way and it's just a broken nose. But a few the other way, and it could have been death. As they discuss the incident over and over again, this is giving away nothing. The aftermath is reported in great detail, leading all the way to 2002. It's true that it was a very unfortunate thing, and Washington probably did not intend for what happened to happen. But it did, and there is something called responsibility. Considering that some people have done jail time for less violent acts, a six-month suspension could be considered fair. You be the judge. The book hints that misfortunes that happened to both of them can be pointed back to the big incident. However, I'm not sure I really buy it. You see the background of both players, and can see that these misfortunes are things that just happen in life. That Washington can't seem to get a GREAT job after his retirement is probably the situation that many ex-athletes with no other skills face. And Tomjonovich's behavior was probably applauded by many, and could have potentially killed someone had it been allowed to continue. Interesting stuff, but maybe only to a select audience.
Rating:
Summary: Redundant as All Get Out
Review: The first 40 pages of "The Punch" will have you racing to the next page- It's a great opener to a great story about the most infamous fight in basketball history. Feinstein has a great oportunity to tell the story of Rudy Tomjonavich and Kermit Washington before and after the punch, and for the most part, the book is fairly interesting. The problem is that he describes the incident and the immediate effects brilliantly in the first 40 pages, so for the next 250 pages there is a strong redundancy. At times I was amazed that I was reading the exact same paragraphs I had already read previously in the book. The book would be exceptional if the author had the trust in the reader to know that they would remember the events of the books beginning and thus cut all the re-telling. Still- I enjoyed this book because it shed a lot of insight not just into these two players lives, but also the NBA and basketball as a sport. It is definatly worth the read but be prepared to skim-
Rating:
Summary: Redundant as All Get Out
Review: The first 40 pages of "The Punch" will have you racing to the next page- It's a great opener to a great story about the most infamous fight in basketball history. Feinstein has a great oportunity to tell the story of Rudy Tomjonavich and Kermit Washington before and after the punch, and for the most part, the book is fairly interesting. The problem is that he describes the incident and the immediate effects brilliantly in the first 40 pages, so for the next 250 pages there is a strong redundancy. At times I was amazed that I was reading the exact same paragraphs I had already read previously in the book. The book would be exceptional if the author had the trust in the reader to know that they would remember the events of the books beginning and thus cut all the re-telling. Still- I enjoyed this book because it shed a lot of insight not just into these two players lives, but also the NBA and basketball as a sport. It is definatly worth the read but be prepared to skim-
Rating:
Summary: An Incident That Just Doesn't Go Away
Review: The Punch is a book that deals with an unfortunate sports incident and how the media blows up the incident. In 1977 I was a high school student and noted how the game of basketball was changing into more of a contact sport. Each team seemed to have a big brute of a power forward whose main role was to be the intimidator and protect the star players. Fights were occuring a bit more frequently in games starting with the Darryl Dawkins/Maurice Lucas match in the previous years NBA championship. Fines and suspensions were few and far between. Commissioner Lary O'Brien then decided he was going to impose more severe penalties. This came to a head when on the fateful night of 12/9/77, Kermit Washington lost his composure in a basketball game. When Rudy Tomjanovich rushed over to break up a fight between Washington and Kevin Kunnert, he was decked by a mammoth punch by the heavilly agitated Washington. This incident led to the longest suspension of a player in the history of the league. Furthermore, this incident seems to be constantly played out whenever something similar happens in the world of the NBA. These days there seems to be more and more viscious fights in the NBA and intimdiation seems to dominate the sport. Just look at today's Portland Trailblazers with Rasheed Wallace intimidating officials. Not too mention the bench incident between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat during a playoff game. And what about the Golden State Warrior Player who was looking for an opposing player/team and looking to start a fight long after the game? Rumor has it this player was bringing his buddies from the neighborhood for a gang war. The media would like to make it out that this Punch changed basketball. In some ways it has led to the game being much more physical. However the temperment of Tomjanovich and even Washington is so much tamer than many of the players who are in the game today. In spite of this incident's effect on the game, there is way too much time given to this tragic event. Feinstein's book is repetitive indeed. Some of the effects on both mens lives afterwards are described quite well. However was it all necessary? I guess where I am intrigued by Feinstein's insight, I wonder if this book tries to stir the pot more or does it try to give closure to this unfortunate incident? Tomjanovich and Washington would like this incident to just go away. People make mistakes in life. Its time the media respected the lives of Washington and Tomjanovich and just stopped the video tape of this incident. A better solution would be to monitor violence in sports more closely.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Topic, Though Often Repeats Itself
Review: This book has a fascinating topic, and Feinstein has a talent for research and storytelling. However, I feel he did not edit the book as well as he could have. He repeats himself several times throughout the narrative.
The book is about the punch that Rudy Tomjanovich received by Kermit Washington back in 1977, that has haunted them ever since. Feinstein interviews those involved to find out what really happened.
Though often times redundant, this book is a great read, as well as a quick read. I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Sloppy, overrated, superficial
Review: This book is another example of why Feinstein is the most overrated sportswriter in America. I could barely get through A Good Walk Spoiled and vowed to never read him again, but figured how could he ruin this one? This is truly a case in which the story writes itself, but Feinstein manages to ruin that by yet another trite, sloppy effort. This one was written with the passion of a man who needs to make his mortgage payment. To the other reviewer: how can you mention Halberstam and Feinstein in the same sentence?
Rating:
Summary: The Punch: A Good Book For Sports Fans
Review: This book is the story of two men, Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich. These two were both exceptional basketball players in the 1970s but neither would be remembered for their skills. On December 9,1977 the L.A. Lakers faced the Houston Rockets. Washington played for the Lakers and Tomjanovich for the Rockets. During the game Washington got into an argument with a Rocket player. Tomjanovich ran over to separate the two but was met with a punch to the face. The hit damaged his skull and brain. Feintein then goes on to describe how each man lived after that, the criticism Washington met, and the road to recovery. Since the huge accident both men have traveled far. Washington is still haunted while Tomjanovich seems to be okay now as the head coach of the Houston Rockets. For one punch to change sports so much is amazing and how the two men have thought about this fist to face meeting everyday of their life is unbelievable. This book was pretty interesting for sports fans but is a little long. I would recommend this book to people who have time to read and enjoy sports books.
Rating:
Summary: Two Out of Three
Review: This book really doesn't deliver everything it promises. Mr. Feinstein does a good job chronicling the lives of Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington both before and after the fight they were involved in on December 9, 1977. He does an excellent job getting different points of view of what happened that night during a basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the author shortchanges the reader on the effect the fight had on the NBA and basketball. The topic isn't covered in any depth and consists of a sentence here and there. I did enjoy the description of how the NBA was in the mid-1970s, compared to today. Since I was a big basketball fan at that time, Mr. Feinstein's statements brought back a lot of memories.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad book, though overly long
Review: This is not a bad book, though it is overly long. Some of the repetition is due to Feinstein's need to describe "the punch" to establish the need to delve into the lives of the protagonists, Kermit Washington (the punch thrower) and Rudy Tomjanovich (the punch recipient). Feinstein then begins telling each of their stories through alternating chapters. By the time he gets to their meeting on 9 December 1977 the confrontation is anticlimactic, in light of the detailed analysis that opens the book. From a normative perspective, the punch and its aftermath can be summed up in three quotes from former NBA players. On Washington's culpability, as Calvin Murphy points out "Your first instinct is to protect yourself. You hear someone coming from behind, you turn and get your hands up. Then, if you need to throw a punch, you throw it. Kermit, turned, saw Rudy clearly, and threw the punch. He was angry. He wanted to hurt somebody. Not in the way he did, I know that. But this wasn't an act of self-defense. If it had been, he would have just been covering up" (page 52). On Tomjanovich's contribution, according to Wes Unseld "There is no one I respect more in the game than Rudy Tomjanovich, but he got himself into something that he was not prepared for. He made a mistake running in the way he did. That doesn't mean he deserved to the pay the price he paid - no one deserves anything like that. He was certainly the victim of something horrible. But regardless of his intentions - and I assume that they were good and peaceful - he is not blameless in what happened" (page 252). And on Washington's problematic quest for redemption, John Lucas observes, "You know what I wish? I wish [Washington] could just say, 'I'm sorry. I screwed up.' All the years, all I've heard over and over again is, 'I'm sorry but...' Sometimes in life, you make a mistake and there's no buts and no explanations....There's no peace in 'I'm sorry, but.' You can't find peace until you truly understand that the only thing to say is, 'I'm sorry,' period" (pages 343-4). Fascinating material, impressive reporting, but 300+ pages are not required to tell this story.
Rating:
Summary: A broken record of a book
Review: This was the first Feinstein sports book I've read, and I was mostly disappointed when I finished the last page.
This book is so REPETITIVE, it totally took away my connection to the author. I felt like I had been ripped off, like I was reading something put out by people who didn't care about me, the reader.
Two of the first three chapters are essentially the same. They tell and retell in shockingly similar words the events of the punch itself.
I remember at least three instances in the book where Feinstein writes that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn't like physical play against him. I remember at least four instances where he writes that Calvin Murphy was one of the NBA's toughest fighters, and that you didn't want to miss with him.
I remember several instances where Feinstein wrote the same thing twice, such as when Washington said he feared making a mistake in front of Jerry West, how it was hot in Houston in August, how Tomjanovich started drinking at age 15, how his hometown was a blue-collar town and how Murphy felt "devastated" after the punch.
The only good parts of the book are Tomjanovich's recalling of his battle with alcohol and his overall evolution as a person. And, some of the stuff about Washington and his Portland days were decent.
But at the end, aside from the incredibly sloppy repetition, I still didn't feel like I knew the real Kermit Washington, not nearly as much as I knew Rudy T. I don't think Feinstein got him to open up as much as he should have or could have.
Other reviewers were right, too: This should have been a nice long magazine piece. It wasn't worthy of a book, as Feinstein made so painfully obvious with his repetition. He had to fill the pages somehow, he must have resigned himself to thinking.
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