| I’ve spent a lot of time reading the past
couple of days. It’s not because I don’t have cable, although that’s the
case. It’s just what happens when you spend a lot of time either (a) in the Detroit
airport waiting out a delayed flight or (b) in the waiting room at Midas while they fix
the brakes on your soccer-mom car.
So I feel as well-read as I have since my days as a college English major. I finished
the Ralph Ellison classic "Invisible Man" (old English majors die hard) and then
turned my attention to "Football in America: Game of the Century" by Bob Oates.
One of my favorite things about spending three years working at Pro Football Weekly,
other than the pleasure of editing Jerry Magee’s outstanding column for every issue,
has been learning more about the history of football.
That has happened in a lot of ways, most notably through my role in PFW’s Pro
Football Century series last season. Oates contributed one part of that series, and it was
a fine piece of work, as is his book.
Oates, a Los Angeles Times sportswriter who has covered football for a very long
time, is as good as anyone at explaining the technical aspects of the game in a language
the everyday fan can understand. When he talks about T-formations and the single wing, you
get what he’s talking about.
I haven’t yet finished the book — I’ll admit that I couldn’t pass
up the chance to read Frank Deford’s Sports Illustrated piece on Anna
Kournikova when I saw it lying around in the waiting room — but the 200-some-odd
pages I have gotten through so far have been extremely entertaining.
Some of the best stuff comes from interviews with players and coaches that Oates has
conducted over the years. For example, Oates spoke with Joe Namath on the eve of the
’68 season, which of course ended with the Jets’ shocking Super Bowl victory.
Oates’ praise for Namath as a play-caller and as a passer rings much truer when he
provides the reader access to Namath’s mindset.
The book, which is filled with short sections that make it easy to pick up at any time
(and for any length of time), brings the reader up close with a lot of personalities, from
George Halas to Paul Hornung to O.J. Simpson (in a 1974 story that is absolutely
compelling because it describes O.J. before he became more widely known for his murder
trial in the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman).
I’m not a book reviewer, so I can’t wax poetic about the structure or
substance of Oates’ piece. But it is very interesting, informative and easy to read.
And it made my waiting time go quickly. What else could you ask a book to do?
Editor's note: If you'd like to read an excerpt from "Football in
America: Game of the Century" and find out where you can purchase the book, click here |
