Review of “Shocktober”

 Another post-World Series book I picked up to wind down the baseball talk for the season as the off season begins. Here is my review of a book on World Series upsets, “Shocktober”. 

Title/Author:

“Shocktober: The Biggest Upsets in World Series History” by Jonathan Weeks

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (good)

Review: 

While the winner of the World Series will be considered to be the “world champions” of baseball, that does not always mean that team is necessarily the best one. Sometimes a team who performed just well enough to get to the postseason will pull off a surprise and defeat favored teams to win the World Series.  This book by Jonathan Weeks tells the story of some of these upsets.

Each chapter follows a format in which Weeks will begin by a short description of each team’s road to the World Series. This includes a short description of their season and, after 1969, the teams’ playoff victories. There are brief notes and stats on each team’s key players. Then Weeks will explain why one team was heavily favored and follows that up with summaries of each game in that World Series. Some of these summaries, including the finale of each one, will be longer than some others.

One can question whether these are the “biggest” upsets, as any book that lists the “best”, “greatest”, or “biggest” will be subjective and readers may disagree with the author’s list. These particular selections are quite accurate and while short, the explanations on why these were considered upsets are good. 

Notice the use of words like “short” and “brief” in this review. That was one takeaway from this book as for each World Series, it felt that while the explanation on being an upset made sense, it just felt like more could have been discussed about each team and season. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable and very quick read that baseball fans should enjoy.

I wish to thank Lyons Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The views expressed are strictly my own. 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1493087037/ref=x_gr_bb_amazon?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_bb_amazon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1493087037&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2 

Review of "The Greatest Upset Never Seen"

For college basketball fans, just say the school name "Chaminade" and those of a certain age (or those who know their history of the sport) will know exactly how the school became known to them - for pulling off the biggest upset in the sport's history when they defeated #1 ranked Virginia and Ralph Sampson in 1982.  A book has been written about that historic game and it was a great read.  Here is my review of "The Greatest Upset Never Seen"

Title/Author:

“The Greatest Upset Never Seen: Virginia, Chaminade, and the Game That Changed College Basketball Forever” by Jack Danilewicz

Tags:

Basketball, college, history, upsets

Publish date:

November 1, 2019

Length:

232 pages

Rating: to

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

On December 23, 1982, one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history occurred when Chaminade University, located in Honolulu, defeated the top-ranked University of Virginia 77-72.  Not only was the magnitude of the upset noteworthy, but because it didn't finish until the early hours of Christmas Eve, not many people knew about it for a few days.  The game itself as well as the two schools and several people involved in the game are the subject of this great book by Jack Danilewicz.

The game itself is covered extensively in chapter 6, and that is the only place in the book where the reader will find information on the actual game itself.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, because just that chapter alone would make a great book as the writing is well beyond that of an extended game recap.  The reader feels like he is on the benches of the two teams and even sitting on the rim with Richard Haensich of Chaminade in the post-game celebration when reading about the game. It should be noted that this wasn't a game Virginia took lightly or that they didn't play with complete intensity, as Danilewicz makes that clear throughout the chapter.  The Silverswords simply outplayed and defeated the Cavaliers.  Also noteworthy is the fact that the defeat didn't haunt Virginia for the rest of the season as they went back to their winning ways in conference play and the NCAA tourney, although they fell short of their goal of a championship as they were eliminated in the Final Four. 

The rest of the book is a wonderful portrait of both schools and some of the key personnel in the game for both teams.  Danilewicz does an excellent job of capturing the essence of the schools without a lot of fluff or unnecessary text as the reader will learn much about both schools, especially Chaminade. It should be noted that their basketball program, while successful in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) before the Virginia game, that win made it even more visible and noticed. That game proved not to be a fluke as the next two years, Chaminade defeated Louisville as well, with the 1984 Louisville team ranked #12 at the time of its defeat. The Silverswords' success led to the creation of one of the most popular college basketball tournaments, the Maui Invitational.

Profiles about some of the people involved in the game are also well written.  This is especially true for the two coaches, Virginia's Terry Holland and Chaminade's Merv Lopes.  The story of Lopes will especially warm the hearts of the readers, as will the Hawaiian adventures of Tony Randolph, who enrolled at Chaminade after no Division I school recruited him.  Randolph played against the star of the Cavaliers, Ralph Sampson, who had a nice portrait in the book as well.

Whether a reader wants to remember the game, learn what the schools were like before the historic game, or what became of them and the players afterward, this book is a very good accounting of the biggest upset in college basketball history.  Readers who like to read about the history of that sport will want to add it to their libraries.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.       

                                                            

Book Format Read:

E-book (PDF)

Buying Links:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9781496208484/

https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Upset-Never-Seen-Basketball/dp/149620848X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "The Perfect Game"

While most books I read are very good, as any avid reader knows, every now and again there will be a book that didn't live up to expectations.  This was one of those books.  I remembered watching this game and was amazed at how well Villanova played in winning one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history. When I saw there was a book about that game, I was hoping it would be as good as the game was.  Unfortunately, for me this book didn't come close.  Here is my review of "The Perfect Game."

Title/Author:

“The Perfect Game: How Villanova’s Shocking 1985 Upset of Mighty Georgetown Changed the Landscape of College Hoops Forever” by Frank Fitzpatrick

Tags:

Basketball, college, history, upsets

Publish date:

January 22, 2013

Length:

320 pages

Rating: 

2 ½  of 5 stars (fair)

Review:

It is considered one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history during a year when the sport was undergoing significant changes. 1985 was the year that the NCAA basketball tournament was expanded to 64 games and had the regional brackets that are familiar to even non-basketball fans. Several conferences experimented with a shot clock, which was to become a permanent rule the next year – it was not used during this tourney, which was important to this game.

Which game is this? It was the thrilling 66-64 win by the Villanova Wildcats over the Georgetown Hoyas in the finals of the 1985 NCAA basketball tournament.  This book by veteran Philadelphia writer Frank Fitzpatrick claims to show the reader how this one game changed the sport.  But that is misleading for several reasons and as a result I was disappointed with this book.

The first disappointment for me is that there was very little mention of the game itself, save for some short references, until page 231 when Chapter 13 was about the game day experience for the players and the historical contest.  That is a long time to wait for the main subject of the book.  The information before that chapter is also not all about the season and tournament games that led up to their mighty clash.  While there is some good basketball writing, especially in the previous chapter when the previous tourney games for the Wildcats and Hoyas are discussed, there is much more about the racial overtones of the Hoyas.

While one cannot ignore the role that race played in the sport at that time, especially centered around Georgetown, I felt that there was far too much of the book that dealt with that subject and that the author tried to force the topic to be the reason for something when there could be other factors. The author felt that race played a role in how many Americans would root for a team in this game, and that many felt Villanova was the “good” team and Georgetown was the “bad” team due to race.  While that may have had some role, it is indisputable that many sports fans love to cheer for an underdog. Because Georgetown was such a prohibitive favorite, it is very possible that many simply wanted to cheer for the underdog – a possibility not discussed in the book.

The other aspect that I felt was misleading was that this game alone “changed the landscape of college hoops forever.”  While the game was to undergo major changes that I mentioned earlier, they were going to happen regardless of the outcome of this game. It could be historic because it was the last game without the shot clock and Villanova took advantage of this, but that was already approved to add a shot clock in all NCAA games for the following season.  Teams didn’t change to mimic the Wildcats to copy their success.  While the championship game was held in a regular sized college arena (Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky), it wasn’t the last one to be held in a non-dome setting as that would not take effect until 1997, as mentioned in the book.

Those are just a few examples of how this book was a letdown for me after the title grabbed my attention.  The stories on the two schools are not even complete – for Villanova, Ed Pickney’s book on the team gives a more complete picture, while there are several books on this era of Georgetown basketball and the two main men for the Hoyas that year, Patrick Ewing and coach John Thompson.  If a reader wants to read on these two schools or this game, those are better options.

Book Format Read:

Hardcover

Buying Links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-perfect-game-frank-fitzpatrick/1111306428?ean=9781250022608

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Game-Villanovas-Georgetown-Landscape-ebook/dp/B008RLPU90/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495761271&sr=1-9&keywords=the+perfect+game

Review of "The Last Great Fight"

Great upsets in every sport are remembered over generations. Whether it was the US Olympic hockey team defeating the USSR in 1980, Chaminade defeating #1 ranked Virginia or this heavyweight boxing championship, moments like these always have more to the story. This book on the night when Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson is a great boxing book and is highly recommended.  Here is my review of "The Last Great Fight."

Title/Author:

“The Last Great Fight: The Extraordinary Tale of Two Men and How One Fight Changed Their Lives Forever” by Joe Layden

Tags:

Boxing, history, upsets

Publish date:

October 2, 2007

Length:

320 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:

It was considered to be one of the greatest upsets in the history of boxing.  On February 11, 1990, James “Buster” Douglas, a 42-1 longshot against heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, knocked out the champion in the tenth round to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. This book by Joe Layden not only captures the events and magnitude of the fight itself, but also portrays both of the fighters and the paths they took both before and after that fight.

Nearly every aspect of the actual fight is detailed well – from the opening bell when Douglas showed that Tyson would not intimidate him to the eighth round knockdown of Douglas that was later protested by Tyson’s manager Don King as a “long count”, to the devastating punch in the tenth round that made Douglas the champion, everything about the fight is covered.

However, the true beauty of the book is the writing about both fighters and important people in their lives. Layden treats controversial subjects well, such as some of Tyson’s worst moments like his 1992 rape conviction or his stormy marriage to actress Robin Givens.  Oh, yes, Tyson’s boxing career and training are also well-researched and detailed.

Douglas’s story gets equal billing, but instead of the headlines, Layden covers the personal relationships that made Douglas the man he became.  The first chapter is a brief history of his father’s boxing career and the toughness he displayed – though not all of it was passed down to his son. The relationship Douglas had with his managers, his wife and his parents are captured well here, enough to make the reader feel that he or she has known Douglas personally. 

Because of the way he writes about each fighter, the differences between them are stark and the reader will be able to note these right away.  Differences such as the even keel that Douglas tried to live his life as opposed to the extremes of Tyson. The differences in the way each man handled his money, his fame and his championships are also evident in the manner in which Layden portrayed the two men.

Not only because of the historical nature of the bout, this is a book that all boxing fans should include in their libraries because of the amount of information on the two fighters and how well each one is portrayed.  This was an excellent book that was well worth the time it took to read.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Nook)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Great-Fight-Extraordinary-Changed/dp/0312353316/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482030596&sr=1-1&keywords=the+last+great+fight

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/last-great-fight-joe-layden/1100358439?ean=9780312353315