Review of "Pitino"

Basketball played as big a role in my holiday weekend as football did.  I went to an NBA game on Black Friday (my favorite pro team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, defeated the Brooklyn Nets) and also read this book in which Rick Pitino gave his side of the story behind the scandals that plagued him at Louisville.  It was a very quick read as I finished it in one day.  Here is my review of the book.

Title/Author:

“Pitino: My Story” by Rick Pitino with Seth Kaufman

Tags:

Basketball, college, professional, memoir, Kentucky, Louisville, Providence, Knicks, Celtics, coaching

Publish date:

September 4, 2018

Length:

280 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

When Rick Pitino was fired as the coach of the Louisville Cardinals in 2017, it was considered to be just the beginning of the exposure of a major scandal involving shoe companies and college basketball. Add this problem to Pitino’s earlier scandal involving one of his staff members allegedly hiring prostitutes to engage in sex with potential recruits and it is easy to dismiss Pitino as a scandal-ridden coach despite his excellent record and national titles at both Kentucky and Louisville.  Pitino tells his side of the story and more about his coaching career in this captivating memoir.

While the book starts off about with discussion of his firing, it follows Pitino’s coaching career from an assistant coach with the NBA’s New York Knicks and continuing through head coaching jobs in college in Providence, Kentucky and Louisville with stops in New York (again) and Boston to coach those professional teams.  With the Celtics, he was also the general manager, a move he regretted as he believed he couldn’t have done both jobs properly.

No matter the stop, Pitino shares his coaching stories with reverence for players and staff at each one.  It seems like he had regrets any time he left a job for another one, with the possible exception of the Celtics.  His success, however, in every place (except, of course, Boston), is well known as well.  Pitino seems to be most proud of what he accomplished at Providence, where he took a program with very little success to the Final Four in 1987 out of the powerful Big East conference. He also talks about a player whom he made work to earn his way to the starting lineup, Billy Donovan. Donovan not only became a star on that Providence team but coached the University of Florida to consecutive national titles.

Of course, Pitino talks about the scandals and also gives the reader a good explanation of how shoe company money has infiltrated basketball.  This is true not only at the college level, but also in the grassroots/amateur level as money is paid to coaches, teams and schools for player to exclusively wear their brand of shoes and gear. Pitino admits to taking this money at Louisville, but in the context that all schools do this to some degree and that the money eventually DOES help the schools.  While plausible, this explanation can leave the reader asking just what he is trying to say about this issue.  Pitino also spends much time questioning the investigation process done by the Department of Justice, often repeating a phrase that an investigator used by calling himself and the Louisville athletic director “collateral damage.”

One other aspect of this investigation and his subsequent firing from Louisville that is interesting is his claims of a partisan board of directors at Louisville did not dismiss him fairly.  While he implicates the governor of Kentucky in this because he made the appointments for this board, the partisanship is not Democrat versus Republican, but instead the University of Kentucky versus Louisville University. Because Pitino claims that the board was loaded with either graduates or partisans toward Kentucky, he didn’t stand a chance because of the fierce rivalry between the two schools.  While it makes for great reading and one can be swayed by the persuasiveness of the writing, it does have an air of unbelievability.

The other major scandal that affected Pitino was one that was the topic of a book in which a woman claimed a staff member on Pitino’s staff was luring recruits by offering sex by prostitutes, some of whom were underage. On this topic, his beliefs about what really happened seem to contradict.  On the one hand, he questioned the woman’s allegations, could not possibly believe his employee could engage in such illegal behavior and provided many other people who said that this activity never took place at the dormitory where these parties allegedly took place. Then, later in the book, he took responsibility for hiring this employee and that if this did happen, he has to take some of the responsibility.  This took me by surprise because if it did happen, and he provides plenty of information that would seem to make the whole story a fabrication, why would he take a fall for this?

Because this book presents only Pitino’s side of the story, the context has to be taken into account as unbalanced.  It is refreshing to hear this side as there has been plenty written about the accusations and investigation.  In the end, this book will probably not sway the reader one way or the other if his or her mind has already been made up.  But if a reader wants to read this side of the story or just learn more about Pitino’s coaching career, then this is a good book to pick up as it is a quick and mostly entertaining read.

I wish to thank Diversion Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Pitino-My-Story-Rick/dp/1635765625/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1543191358&sr=8-1

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pitino-rick-pitino/1129201118?ean=9781635765625#/

Review of "The Perfect Pass"

The last book I read on our recent vacation was appropriate for the time, as I started it on Super Bowl Sunday and finished it on the train ride home, two days after watching one of the most exciting football games, let alone Super Bowls, I have ever seen.  Of course there were a lot of passes thrown in the Patriots' win over the Falcons - this book is a terrific one on the history of the passing game and one coach who saw the benefits to a pass-first offense.  Here is my review of "The Perfect Pass."

Title/Author:

“The Perfect Pass: American Genius and the Reinvention of Football” by S.W. Gwynne

Tags:

Football (American), college, coaching, history, biography, Kentucky

Publish date:

September 20, 2016

Length:

304 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

No matter what level of football a fan follows, it has become very clear that the forward pass is now an integral part of the game. To many, this has made the game more exciting and to others, it simply brings more variation to the offense than the smash-mouth type of game that was espoused by coaches and players alike for the first several decades the game was played.

However, it wasn’t an easy time to get the game to where it is today as many who wanted to make passing a bigger part of the game were rebuffed time and time again.  One of those coaches who saw the benefits of a pass-first offense was Hal Mumme, a college football coach whose life was pretty much like any other coach – always working, wondering when the next pink slip would come and trying to convince players and athletic directors that this way would work.

Mumme’s offense, dubbed the “Air Raid”, was given the opportunity to be put into effect at a tiny school in the Midwest, Iowa Wesleyan, that had been a losing program for years. Along with assistant coach Mike Leach (who developed his own air game and is the subject of the excellent first chapter of the book), Mumme turned the program around and not only brought winning football to the campus, but an entire new atmosphere.

It is here where there is some fuzziness in the book, as Gwynne never gives a reason as to why Mumme was asked to leave Iowa Wesleyan, but that doesn’t stop him.  Eventually landing in Kentucky, Mumme does the same thing to a football program at a basketball-first university.  The Air Raid becomes a hit in Lexington, enough so that the Wildcats did the unthinkable at the time – they defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Equal parts biography and history, “The Perfect Pass” is a terrific book that all football fans should read to gain a better understanding of the history of the forward pass in the game and how the innovation of one relatively obscure coach help change the game for good.

I wish to thank Scribner for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Pass-American-Reinvention-Football/dp/1501116193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486929416&sr=8-1&keywords=a+perfect+pass

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-perfect-pass-s-c-gwynne/1122858642?ean=9781501116193

Review of "The Baron and The Bear"

Sometimes a book that promises to challenge a long-held belief or show another side of a historic moment can fall short of that promise.  This book about the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship does not do that - it is a terrific book mainly on the two coaches of that historic game and will make the reader think a little differently about the two men.  Here is my review of "The Baron & The Bear."

Title/Author:

“The Baron and the Bear: Rupp’s Runts, Haskins’s Miners and the Season that Changed Basketball Forever” by David Kingsley Snell

Tags:

Basketball, college, race, Kentucky, Western Texas

Publish date:

December 1, 2016

Length:

312 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (Outstanding)

Review:

The championship game for college basketball in 1966 was a watershed moment, not only for the sport, but also for the civil rights movement of the time. Texas Western University (now the University of Texas-El Paso) faced Kentucky in that game. It was significant because Texas Western, coached by Don Haskins, started five black players while Kentucky, coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp, not only started five white players, but did not have a single black player at all. Texas Western won the game and in doing so, started a transformation in the game that still affects the sport today.

David Kingsley Snell paints a masterful picture of the two coaches in this book that not only chronicles the season for the two teams, it sets aside some of the hyperbole surrounding the game and lets readers judge for themselves how much race played a factor in the coaches’ recruitment and handling of his respective teams.

There were more similarities than differences between the coaches, a point that Snell makes clear throughout the book. While the players may have been different, the coaches both used drills repeatedly throughout practice to make their teams fundamentally sound and well-conditioned. Through interviews with surviving players from both teams, the reader will come to view both coaches as driven men who want to win all the time and will do whatever it takes during practice to make sure the players are ready come game time.  In fact, many players many that the games were the easy part of the season and that practice was the time to dread.

It isn’t often the that epilogue of a book will be the most thought-provoking section, but that is the case here.  After the game, and even to this day, the popular belief is that Rupp was a racist because he refused to recruit black players and allegedly made racist remarks to reporters and his team. Those are refuted by players, Rupp’s staff members and other members of the press as part of the epilogue in the book. Most of these charges were published in Sports Illustrated, at the time one of the most influential publications in sports and therefore were common beliefs.  Snell does a good job showing that coach Rupp may not be the vile person some thought he was. It is also noted that Rupp tried to recruit a black player (Wes Unseld) prior to the 1965-66 season but was rebuffed by many at the school as well as by the “gentleman’s agreement” in place at the time that Southeast Conference schools will not recruit black players.

In the same token, Haskins is not portrayed as a champion of civil rights but simply as a coach driven to win and to do so, he will put his best players on the floor, regardless of their race. The team gelled during the season, was brought down to earth when an inferior team defeated them and then went on an incredible run to win the championship, much like any other team has done regardless of its racial makeup.

“The Baron & The Bear” is an excellent account of not only the teams but an in-depth look at what made these two coaches tick. They will be forever linked together by this historic game and they are linked together here as well. Basketball fans will enjoy reading about the coaches and should make this one part of 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:

Hardcover

Buying links:

https://www.amazon.com/Baron-Bear-Haskinss-Changed-Basketball/dp/0803288557/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480254556&sr=1-1&keywords=baron+and+the+bear

http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Baron-and-the-Bear,677281.aspx

Review of "Still Running"

When I saw this book on sale for a great price for the Nook, I jumped on it as I had never heard of Nate Northington or his role in college football history.  While he may not have been a star player, I found it impressive that he was able to be the first African-American player in a conference that was among the last to integrate.  His autobiography is a decent read.  Here is my review of "Still Running." 

Title/Author:

“Still Running” by Nathaniel Northington

Tags:

Football (American), College, Kentucky, autobiography, memoir

Publish date:

September 30, 2014

Length:

258 pages

Rating: 

3 1/2 of 5 stars (good)

Review:

Many African-American players who broke color barriers for their particular sport or team are well known to many sports fans.  Nate Northington was one of these pioneers, becoming the first African-American football player in the Southeast Conference.  He and his friend Greg Page were recruited by Kentucky at the same time and on September 30, 1967, Northington became the first African-American player to appear in a Southeast Conference game.  It was very bittersweet for him, however, because Page died the previous night due to complications from a neck injury suffered 36 days earlier in practice.

Northington writes about his friend with a lot of compassion. It is readily apparent to the reader that he has never fully gotten over this tragedy in his life.  He never forgets his friend – taking it to the extent that when he is honored by Kentucky for this achievement, he would not accept the accolades unless Page was recognized as well.  He doesn’t go into details about Page’s injury or death because he did not witness the accident in practice.

Despite this tragedy and his subsequent departure from Kentucky because he felt the school wasn’t doing enough to continue integrating the program, Northington tells his story in a refreshing upbeat manner.  He never holds grudges or complains about his treatment as an African-American in the 1950’s and 1960’s.  He instead concentrates on the good fortune he had in that the integrated teams and neighborhood in which he played and lived were harmonious.

That, along with his faith, is the continual theme of Norhington as he takes the reader through his athletic career in high school, where he was a three sport star (football, basketball, baseball) as well as Kentucky and Western Kentucky.  He doesn’t talk much about his personal life after college, but enough to see that he lived a fulfilling life after football.  While the book is very typical of most sports autobiographies in format and content, it is an interesting one that readers who want to learn about this pioneer of integration in college football will want to pick up.  

Did I skim?

No

Pace of the book: 

It moves along quite well, with Northington not spending too much time on any one topic.  That was good for me while reading the book as I was able to follow his story quite well.  The only topic in which he spent a great deal of time was understandably the death of Greg Page.

Do I recommend? 

I believe that readers will enjoy this book as I found it different than other books, whether biographical or historical, on the integration of a sport or team.  Norhthington’s positive outlook made it a good read.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Nook)

Buying links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/still-running-nathaniel-northington/1120565121?ean=9781491745939

http://www.amazon.com/Still-Running-Autobiography-Northington-Southeastern/dp/1491745932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434244040&sr=8-1&keywords=still+running+nate+northington&pebp=1434244065194&perid=D1B3611E0EDD4ED8AC6C