I will have some reviews in the next few days on the football books. In the meantime, enjoy the big game and enjoy this review of the outstanding basketball book "Stolen Glory."
Title/Author:
“Stolen
Glory: The U.S., the Soviet Union and the Olympic Basketball Game That Never
Ended” by Taps Gallagher and Mike Brewer
Tags:
Basketball,
Summer Olympics, history
Published:
July
20, 2012
Length:
243
pages
Stars:
5
of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
In
the 1972 Summer Olympics, just two days after the murder of 11 people cast a
pall on the Munich Olympics, the United States and the Soviet Union played the
gold medal game in men’s basketball that had a very bizarre ending and resulted
in the first basketball loss for a United States team when the Soviet Union
scored at the buzzer for a 51-50 win on its third attempt after two free throws
put the U.S. ahead.
This
book, published on the fortieth anniversary of one of the most controversial
basketball games in Olympic history, is a great recap of not only that game,
but also of how both the American and Russian teams were put together and their
journeys to get to this game. The
personal stories are very good, especially those of American players such as
Doug Collins, the player who made the two free throws to put the US up 50-49
with three seconds left.
The
authors also write about the background of the two nation’s basketball
programs, the coaches and their styles and also some history as well. There is also a good chapter on the tragedy
of the attack on the Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village. I felt that was just as important a chapter
to the book as it set the mood and tone of the arena during the gold medal
game.
The
controversial ending, which resulted in the Soviet Union getting three chances
for the last shot, is covered in an objective manner by the authors, even
though the personal stories and recollections are from the Americans, who are
obviously very upset with the result.
The closest that the authors show any bias is when they are explaining
why the president of the international basketball federation, FIBA, is ordering
the clock to be reset. This was clearly
against the rules and the authors explained why, but some readers may believe
this is biased toward the Americans. I didn’t
believe so and this is just as objective as the rest of the book.
The
silver medals are still sitting in a vault waiting to be claimed by the
U.S. The players to a man state in the
book that they will never accept them and after reading this book, the reader
will certainly understand why they have taken this stance. This book is a fast paced excellent read that
any basketball fan will enjoy, and if an American basketball fan, will be able
to understand the anger of the players.
Ebook
(Kindle)
Buying Links:
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