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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.
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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!!!
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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.
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Summary: A fun journey
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A fun journey
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A great insight into traditional college football
Review: I really have enjoyed John Feinstein's writings, & commentaries on NPR, & this was no exception. It made me sorry I didn't go harder after a USNA appointment 30+ years ago. My only bone I must pick: I happen to be very familiar one of the teams Army played during the 1995 season, and except for my local team's quarterback, Feinstein got the first name of every player from my team wrong. Not misspelled, but flat out wrong. He also got the first name of Boston College's QB wrong. It makes me wonder, what else could he have erred on? Still, this takes me back to those "boys own" books I read when I was young, about plebes and yearlings winning the big game for the Middies or the Black Knights, and to the hours I spent pouring over my Grandfather's Naval Institute Proceedings. It makes me sorry that I've never been to a Navy-Army game, but like the hopes of these two schools, there's always next year, and damn, I wish the Middies could have held off Notre Dame this season!
Rating: 
Summary: Something missing
Review: This beook is one of the best books about one of the oldest sports rivalies in the history of sports itself. As a long time fan of Navy football and a future midshipman at the naval academy all I have to say is GO NAVY!!!!!! BEAT ARMY!!!!!!!!
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Summary: Feinstein has done it again!
Review: This book does justice to one of America's best rivalries in sport. I grew up a short distance from West Point, but I had lost interest Army sports and the Army/Navy game...until reading this. It is amazing the way Feinstein makes you feel as if you are close friends and teammates with the players. He brings the players to life and THAT is what makes sports so engaging. I found myself rooting madly for both teams. This book makes you realize how wonderful college sports can be. It shows you the hard work and dedication that go into playing them, especially at the academies. I repeatedly found myself thinking, THIS is what college football is supposed to be. The love of the game, the love of teammates, the passion for competition. It is all here and it is all very well told. Even if you don't love sports you will be caught up in drama of Army/Navy. You can bet I will be watching the game this fall!
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Summary: Top honors!
Review: This book is one of the best from a legend in sports writing. If you are interested in the military academies or are simply a fan of the traditional Army-Navy game then this book will be time well spent. Gives the reader a view of what the season is like for the servicemen during the season and building up to the big game. Not to mention the sheer emotional highs and lows hit by the teams during the year, and the heartbreaking story of Navy kicker Ryan Buccianeri whose infamous missed kick (as a plebe) cost Navy the game the previous year. Few rivalries compare with the Army-Navy game. In fact, "game" doesn't really do the event justice. Feinstein does.
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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.
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