Rating: 
Summary: This is what college football should be
Review: After reading this book, I will never miss another Army-Navy game. The book gave me a great appreciation for the kids who play in these games, the rivalry and all the tradition that goes with it. It's filled with great stories that give you a good look at what it's like to be a student at one of these acadamies, and to play for these football teams. These are not a bunch of pampered jocks who are going to school so they can go play at the next level. The schools are not in the sports business to make a lot of money. This is what college sports should be: No grades or money under the table, no BCS nonsense, no scandals, no agents. Next time you pick up the sports section of a newspaper and read about another player who's been arrested for rape, assault or whatever, put down the paper and pick up this book. No matter how you feel about West Point or the Naval Academy now, you'll gain a lot of respect for the institutions and especially for the kids who go there.I picked up the book, thinking it would be a history of the rivalry, but instead found that it looks at one season, ending with the Army-Navy game at the end of that season. Of course, you get a little bit of the history of the game, but the closer look at this one contest is much more interesting.
Rating:
Summary: This is what college football should be
Review: After reading this book, I will never miss another Army-Navy game. The book gave me a great appreciation for the kids who play in these games, the rivalry and all the tradition that goes with it. It's filled with great stories that give you a good look at what it's like to be a student at one of these acadamies, and to play for these football teams. These are not a bunch of pampered jocks who are going to school so they can go play at the next level. The schools are not in the sports business to make a lot of money. This is what college sports should be: No grades or money under the table, no BCS nonsense, no scandals, no agents. Next time you pick up the sports section of a newspaper and read about another player who's been arrested for rape, assault or whatever, put down the paper and pick up this book. No matter how you feel about West Point or the Naval Academy now, you'll gain a lot of respect for the institutions and especially for the kids who go there. I picked up the book, thinking it would be a history of the rivalry, but instead found that it looks at one season, ending with the Army-Navy game at the end of that season. Of course, you get a little bit of the history of the game, but the closer look at this one contest is much more interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Read - Very Inspiring
Review: As a former Division I-AA player who played against Army, I was always in awe of the effort the Cadets gave, leaving everything they had on the field. I could not put this book down. It explains the inner workings of the service academies, not just in a football context, and the incredible hardships players at these schools must endure just to get on the field. This book has inspired me to rethink many of my philosophies on hard work and perseverence, because compared to these guys, most of us have it easy.
Rating:
Summary: A treat-- a thriller--loved it-- and I hate football!!!
Review: As a kid, I fell in love with Joe Bellino and the Naval Academy. As a boomer, I travel often to Annapolis to pick up, drop off, visit my mids-- class of '96 and '00. Although my sons play(ed)Navy baseball, I felt intimately familiar with the players on the '95 football team as my eldest was a classmate and friend of many of them. What a thrill to read about the trials, tribulations and sucesses of the kids who serve out of our academies. Feinstein eloquently describes the heartbreak and exuberance felt by the kids who play the game as well as those who never set foot on the field, but live and die for their school with every game. A fond memory for me, as described in the book, is Shaun Stephenson on graduation day, May 24, 1996, lofting his diploma skyward in honor and memory of his brother, Dion, a Persian Gulf casualty. This is a must read for anyone who has lost faith in the integrity of college football and for anyone wondering what has happened to "old fas! ! hioned" kids..... They are still out there. BEAT ARMY!!!
Rating:
Summary: Feinstein hit the nail on the head
Review: As a Navy grad (80), I can tell you with certainty that Feinsteins story very accurately captures much of the essence of Academy life. While I did not play football, the student bodies live and die based on the football season, and the season lives and dies on that one game. Any plebe, from induction day on, can on any day tell you how many days there are 'till the next Army-Navy game. The amount of pressure on the players to win is awesome. Feinstein does an excellent job of capturing the intensity.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring...
Review: Forget Tennessee, FSU, Nebraska and Florida...forget the Orange, the Sugar, and the rest of the BCS. This game is the one game that I look forward to year in and year out. Feinstein captures the the essence of football's greatest rivalry. He takes you from the historic grounds of West Point and Annapolis to the emotionally explosive huddle on the field at the Vet. This is a must read to fully appreciate what this game means to our country and those who have fought and died protecting her.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring...
Review: Forget Tennessee, FSU, Nebraska and Florida...forget the Orange, the Sugar, and the rest of the BCS. This game is the one game that I look forward to year in and year out. Feinstein captures the the essence of football's greatest rivalry. He takes you from the historic grounds of West Point and Annapolis to the emotionally explosive huddle on the field at the Vet. This is a must read to fully appreciate what this game means to our country and those who have fought and died protecting her.
Rating:
Summary: True sport
Review: Fresh air in the current realm of criminal sports -- should be required reading for all high school jocks and coaches, as law.
Rating: 
Summary: Something missing
Review: Good book,you find yourself rooting for the coaches and, to a lesser extent, the cadets and middies. There is something off about the description of the players and their interactions with their classmates. USMA and USNA are hallowed institutions with a venerable history and well defined mission. That mission being the production of professional military officers. The whole of the enrollees existence, at least for the non-atheletes, is geared to that. While the author makes clear that these football players are doing far more in the classroom and having far more interaction with the "civilians" that occurs at a Florida, Florida State or even, to be fair, a real school like N'western or Michigan. The students profiled seem to be concerned and wrapped up in football and, traditionally, they either aren't, or, if they are, there has been a change in the ethos at these places. The author doesn't really tell us which it is. Reading this book, you get the feeling that there is strong social segregation from the rest of the students. Part of this is understandable. Reviewing the academic accomplishments and route to the academies taken by most of the profiled players, they are vastly different from thos of the usual cadet. Heck, read the "essay" from the commendable WR whose brother was KIA in a "friendly fire" (I and the essay writer despise that positively Orwellian term.) incident. The points raised are valid and this young man's social history is compelling. But, the writing in this "analytical" piece barely rises to the level of a Jr. high "Why the lunchroom should have pizza" column. One other minor gripe about Feinstein. He is one of my guilty pleasures, I read everything he publishes and always come away ticked about something. He usually will take cheap knocks at people by belittling their foibles without explanation of the reason for his disdain. My guess is not giving him access. You will note that the above critiques are somewhat inchoate, however, Lou Holtz is mocked sneeringly for refering to "the University of Navel Academy". Of course that's goofy. But he then refers to the players as recieving "scholarships" to the academies. USNA is a university and the players, and everyone else gets a scholarship, but, they are called appointments and everyone there knows it. I don't know, maybe this use of language highlights the segegation between the athletes and the rest of the students. Lastly, I hope Jack Nicholson ordered Dr. Carter to give a Code Red to Ryan Bucchianeri. Not reviewed for typos, solecisms are likely intentional.
Rating: 
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK DESPITE MAJOR FLAW
Review: Having served active duty in the Navy for five years and in the reserves for over four years, I was anxious to read John Feinstein's book. The book offers a terrific in-depth look behind the gates of the two service academies. It highlights and explains the extra duties football players go through while trying to maintain their academic and athletic challenges. Despite the overall excellent I gave the book, Feinstein committed a major blunder toward the end of the book while discussing the Air Force Academy. Feinstein references the movie, "Top Gun" and what a terrific tool the movie was for Air Force recruiting. However, "Top Gun" is based on Navy fighter pilots; not Air Force. Overall, great book.
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