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AMONG THE PLAYERS COVERED IN DEPTH ARE RAY BERRY, UNITAS AND HUFF. I FOUND THE INTERVIEW WITH SAM HUFF ONE OF HIGHLIGHTS FOR HE FELT THAT UNITAS COULD READ HIS MIND AND KNEW WHICH DEFENSE HE WOULD CALL. THIS IS A WELL WRITTEN AND ACURATE ACCOUNT OF THE 1958 NFL TITLE GAME. THEIR INSIGHT AND INFO FIT RIGHT IN WITH ACTION COVERED IN THE BOOK. I HAVE READ OTHER BOOKS ABOUT THIS GAME AND I CONSIDER THIS ONE OF THE BETTER ONES. BOTH TEAMS HAD SEVERAL HALL OF FAME PLAYERS AND COACHES. THE COLTS WON THE GAME WITH A TOUCHDOWN INSTEAD OF AN EASY FIELD GOAL BECAUSE THEIR KICKER, STEVE MYRA WAS VERY SHAKY.
THIS GAME PUT PRO FOOTBALL ON THE MAP AND HELPED CREATE A LARGER FOLLOWING. WE ARE GIVEN SOME GAME ACTION ALONG WITH SOME BITS AND STORIES ABOUT SOME OF THE BETTER KNOWN PLAYERS ON BOTH TEAMS. I ALSO FELT THE STORY ABOUT RAYMOND BERRY WAS INTERESTING AND HIS WORK ETHICS WERE AMONG THE BEST EVER. MANY OTHERS ARE MENTIONED AND INTERVIEWED SUCH AS DONOVAN, MARCHETTI AND GIFFORD. THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST NFL GAME TO EVER GO INTO OVERTIME AND SEVERAL OF THE PLAYERS DID NOT KNOW THAT THE GAME WOULD CONTINUE AFTER THE 4TH PERIOD ENDED. THE AUTHOR MARK BOWDEN DOES A GOOD JOB. VERY RECOMMENDED.
Finer details emerge such as: Berry pioneering contact lenses when he played, Berry's scouting and use of game films which are a staple today and weren't back then, a teenage photographer waits and gets the moment the Horse, Alan Ameche crashes through the line and into the end zone, are all in Bowden's book. The book is more than about the game or the weeks leading up to the game that transformed football into America's number one pastime. Bowden's book puts the spotlight on wide receiver, Raymond Berry as the unsung hero of the 1958 Championship. The build up to the game and the aftermath on the viewing audience set the 1958 game apart from any that were ever played. As a former sports reporter and forever Baltimore Colts fan (there are no Colts anymore since they left Baltimore.). I relate and love the job that Bowden did with this book. A must for any sports fan. Bowden tackles a wide range of subjects from a military operation that goes bad in "Black Hawk Down" to a junkie that finds more than a million dollars in "Finders Keepers." This book not only shows his range, but his talent as a writer.
Well," we'd think, "Raymond Berry played in the 1958 championship game, and he later coached the New England Patriots. Bostonians like me are as parochial as sports fans get. Maybe I'll read it."The beauty of Bowden's treatment of the game - of course debatable as to its superlative (American publishing marketing working overtime) - is that it allows the football purist to read all the way through cheering for neither side in particular, but for the game and the sport itself. In fact, we're sometimes downright myopic. "Who cares about the Giants and Colts. I wasn't alive when the game was played, and didn't have a rooting interest when I picked up the book. I just wanted a good read on a favored topic, and got just that.
Some may feel this is picky but, I've listened to this book three times (I love the period and there's not much on audio to satisfy my interest) and I still react to the audio in this way. I echo those sentiments. Names like Katcavage (read as KAT'ka vige)and Marchetti (the "ch" read as the ch in cheddar)were major stars in this era. Immediately, I tighten my grip on the steering wheel as I struggle to keep the car on the road. I then start to wonder if the Colt's QB is going to be mentioned as Johnny "un E tas" or some other odd pronunciation. While the reader's voice is clear and he adds attempted accents and voice inflections to make the listening even more pleasurable, he really falls short with the pronunciation of some of the game's stars. However, I have to provide a negative comment about the audio version of this book.
While not a BIG deal, this does take away some of the enjoyment in listening to the book. A simple call to either the Giants or Colts offices or to some older sports writers(or, even, the book's author) could have very simply confirmed how to pronounce the players mentioned in the book. Other reviewers have written the many positives of this book. it happens. The audio makes mention that the ball carrier on the current play being described is stopped by KAT' ka vige. I then realize (once again) that the book is going to have these audio references for the rest of the book and I start anticipating them. Why can't all readers research their books before recording; seems only right to get it right. Not so much.
I love this "golden age" of the NFL and the book captures this period very well. It is distracting. Hard to imagine getting these names wrong. But, every time I start to listen to this book in the car, I immediately get into the book and then. I still love the book as written but, as spoken. If I were the author, such a reading would be a real disappointment.
Bowden brings the setting and the game alive in a thrilling account of the game that launched modern football. Enough detail for a rabid football fan but enough human drama for a Sunday afternoon viewer. fascinating, funny, touching, makes you wish you'd seen it and knew the men that played it.
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