Rating: Summary: A truly amazing saga of truly amazing men. Review: This is, by far, my favorite book of all time. I am 19 and have never played football before, but I enjoy watching the sport and love the Naval Academy. My family has not read the book and they do not need to--I have read almost every passage to them. The ones that made me laugh (the Fat Men?!), the ones that made me cry (Andrew Thompson 'taking' Joe Speed on the field by exchanging mouth pieces), and the parts that moved me (Ryan Buchiannieri--'nuf said.). It is a complete account of the hottest, best, and unmatched rivalry in college football during a roller coaster of a season. I am so thrilled that I have this opportunity to recommend this book and only wish I had read it sooner. Congratulations, Mr. Feinstein. This is an instant classic for one of the nation's finest schools. I thank you for writing it, and admire each individual whose story I was honored to share
Rating: Summary: an excellent book about a subject in which I have no interes Review: This will be very short. I am a 49 year-old, female, English teacher with NO interest in sports! I began this book because there was nothing else to read. After the first few pages I was completely taken in. I could not put it down. Yes, it was about football, but it was more a study in determination, in the hopes of youth, in the foolishness of old men and in heartbreak. Friends and relatives were constantly surprised that I was not only reading this book, but enjoying it so much! Couch potatoes, get a work-out without leaving your chair! Read this book!
Rating: Summary: Written by a man who cares about the story being told. Review: Thoroughly researched, and concisely written with care and accuracy. It's been years since I read a book I couldn't put down. This is one of those books. Even knowing the outcome of the games, I found myself in suspense as I read about those eleven games of 1995. Feinstein tells this story with the same emotion with which the games are played. I loved it.
Rating: Summary: One of the best sports books ever Review: Typical Feinstein: Thorough, insightful, touching and engrossing. Even if you've never seen an Army-Navy game or know nothing about the rivalry, he'll draw you in with a touch that not only sports writers, but writers in general, should envy. Follow the season to its thrilling conclusion as America's most dedicated football players put it all on the line
Rating: Summary: The essence of what "playing for glory" is all about. Review: Want to know what big-time college football "should be" all
about? John Feinstein captures in a few hundred pages what
many cannot hope to learn in a lifetime - that playing for
the sheer thrill of winning is the purest form of athletic
achievement; where dedication and self-sacrifice are the norm, not the exception; where glory is the ultimate prize; and where sportsmanship and competition are much, much more
than hackneyed, overused cliches but are, instead, a way of life. His depiction of Academy life is not only accurate, but provides the only appropriate framework within which
to describe how an Army or Navy player's phyche is
developed. And unlike many other novels which take their
readers on an emotional rollercoaster of defeat and victory,
the story in this one is absolutely real. You'll carry the
ball for a four yard gain, punctuated by a helmet-rattling
tackle. You'll leap into the air in the end-zone, the ball
grazing your fingertips, but falling to the ground as an incomplete pass. You'll feel the anguish of missing the game-winning field goal, and the adrenalin rush of making a game-saving tackle. It's a story worth every penny, and fifty extra points of blood pressure to boot. And even
though I am a West Point graduate, I almost found myself pulling for Navy to win....almost....
Rating: Summary: A link to the past Review: Well, I am a cadet, and a starter on the football team. I first read the book when I was at the prep school a few years ago. This is an excellent book for more than just good writing. It is a good book because it is a great link to the past I met JD otherwise know as Joel Davis at the prep school. He is huge. I talk to Ed Stover every now and then as well. My roomate, also a ball player came here because of his relationship with Ron Leshinski. I have met one of the other players wives interviewed in the book. The 1995 season is so pivitol to me because it is a large part of the reason that I came to the point. I saw the Notre Dame game when I was on JV for my HS and all I could think was how great it would be to play for a school like that. Seeing the cadets rushing out of the stands to do pushups on every score and the foot from glory Leshinski suffered is forever etched in my mind. This book puts me in their shoes for a while. It is a must read.
Rating: Summary: Great Read Review: What a wonderful book. As the son of a USMA '59 grad, I've been to quite a few A/N games. I vivdly remember the season Army had that year, even reading the book 2 years after the events took place. He captures the essence of the game so well, but with such great detail. I wish he could cover the A/N game every year, since what he wrote about is by no means unique. the stories like those he tells are there EVERY YEAR. John does such a wonderful job, I can't wait for his next book on the Patriot League Basketball season. One last thing...Go ARMY!! Beat Navy!!
Rating: Summary: Great Read Review: What a wonderful book. As the son of a USMA '59 grad, I've been to quite a few A/N games. I vivdly remember the season Army had that year, even reading the book 2 years after the events took place. He captures the essence of the game so well, but with such great detail. I wish he could cover the A/N game every year, since what he wrote about is by no means unique. the stories like those he tells are there EVERY YEAR. John does such a wonderful job, I can't wait for his next book on the Patriot League Basketball season. One last thing... Go ARMY!! Beat Navy!!
Rating: Summary: I loved this book. Review: While I am not a big fan of Feinstein, primarily based on the way he has written about the ACC over the past several years, I was enthralled with his book about the Army and Navy football programs. I read it in one sitting. I don't think I have ever read an account of a football game quite as good as what Feinstein wrote in the book's chapter describing the 1995 Army-Navy game. While I had always been impressed with the quality of the young men and women who attend our nation's military academies, I came away from this book with even more admiration for the student-athletes who manage to juggle football and academics in an environment that is as a tough as any for people their age. While it is easy to be disappointed and frustrated with the antics of so much of the teenage and young adult population in today's society, it is heartening to know that there still are young people such as those depicted in the book who are not at all afraid of discipline and hard work. I can only hope that we as a nation will have the good sense to turn to them as leaders in the 21st century.
Rating: Summary: Good but out of subject Review: With this book,I expect to have a complete coverage of the games between Army & Navy in the last hundred years.In place I have the complete story of both colleges with some highlights of Army-Navy games.The book is divise in two part,one chapter on Army story the next on Navy story.You have one chapter about Army-Navy games and the two or three next chapters talk about games against Notre Dame or Boston college or the problems with players discipline at West Point,etc.That a very good book,I recomend it to everyone who want to learn about Army or Navy story but if like me you want a complete coverage of Army-Navy games tradition it's better for you to look somewhere else.I don't give only three stars cause the book is bad,that a very good book but they pass too much time to talk about things that have nothing to see with Army-Navy games.
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