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Rating: 
Summary: A firsthand look at the Old Man
Review: Any football fan, no matter what his favorite team, will wear this book out. Seen through the eyes of a generation of players during practices, games, and off the field, a remarkably consistent picture of Woody emerges. He was clearly not the tyrant that he was sometimes described to be, but rather an old-school coach, tough, honest to a fault, intensely competitive, and highly entertaining. Natali's book captures the atmosphere inside a collegiate team's locker room walls that fans always wish they could see. If you want to immerse yourself vicariously in the world of big time college football, don't miss this book.
Rating:
Summary: A firsthand look at the Old Man
Review: Any football fan, no matter what his favorite team, will wear this book out. Seen through the eyes of a generation of players during practices, games, and off the field, a remarkably consistent picture of Woody emerges. He was clearly not the tyrant that he was sometimes described to be, but rather an old-school coach, tough, honest to a fault, intensely competitive, and highly entertaining. Natali's book captures the atmosphere inside a collegiate team's locker room walls that fans always wish they could see. If you want to immerse yourself vicariously in the world of big time college football, don't miss this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Promising Subject -Slopper Execution
Review: As a alumnus and a lifelong Buckeye fan I was thrilled when I saw this title. After reading the book however I was greatly disgusted with the gross factual and editorial errors which detracted from what should have been a great oral history of the Woody Hayes of Ohio State football. If Alan Natali is a former player and/or fan of the game you wouldn't know it by this effort. It appears that he knew his subject not at all before undertaking to interview the great players in this book and thus missed a great opportunity to create a classic sports history that a more accomplished write would have produced (Terry Pluto's fine oral histories come to mind). Natali did not do his homework and his unfamiliartiy with both the history and tradition of Ohio State football is patently obvious. As an example, Natali's ignorance of the games played by these men let's them put spin and state incorect data that the author never catches even in editorial comment. He lets both Champ Henson and Pete Johnson prattle on at length about the famous 1974 Michigan State loss without once clarifying for the reader the big picture and controversy of that game. Unless one were intimately familiar with that game the words mean nothing and the author does nothing to rememdy the situation. One can also see that the subjects were not pressed on details because the author did not know the details. There is a great differance between being a writer and just pushing the "record" button on a tape machine and then transcibing the words. Oh, he also puts Iowa State in the Big Ten. Unforgiveable, that's what this whole book is, unforgiveable. It gets two stars only because it lets the reader hear the words of these now annonymous men.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read for Ohio State fans.
Review: This book is a series of narratives on the subject of one Coach Woody Hayes. These narratives are culled from interviews with famous names from Ohio State's football program, mostly those of some of the great players to have donned the scarlet and gray. This collection of anecdotal accounts is assembled in chronological order of the time of the person's appearance at Ohio State, so it was easy to see through the different eyes that viewed the coach as time went on.The writing itself has a conversational tone, making for a smooth, quick read. Each person's story has its own distinctive voice, giving the reader the impression of listening to each of these people go around in a circle and tell their particular part of the tale. Some loved him, some hated him, but all had their opinion about the coach that went so far in defining Ohio State football. Since I am an Ohio State fan, a college football fan and someone fascinated by the history of both, I found this to be a fantastic read. Anybody who shares at least one of those interests and wants to read a very honest account of Woody Hayes would be well advised to pick up this book.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read for Ohio State fans.
Review: This book is a series of narratives on the subject of one Coach Woody Hayes. These narratives are culled from interviews with famous names from Ohio State's football program, mostly those of some of the great players to have donned the scarlet and gray. This collection of anecdotal accounts is assembled in chronological order of the time of the person's appearance at Ohio State, so it was easy to see through the different eyes that viewed the coach as time went on. The writing itself has a conversational tone, making for a smooth, quick read. Each person's story has its own distinctive voice, giving the reader the impression of listening to each of these people go around in a circle and tell their particular part of the tale. Some loved him, some hated him, but all had their opinion about the coach that went so far in defining Ohio State football. Since I am an Ohio State fan, a college football fan and someone fascinated by the history of both, I found this to be a fantastic read. Anybody who shares at least one of those interests and wants to read a very honest account of Woody Hayes would be well advised to pick up this book.
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