Football Books

This is a well-written and always engaging book. John Daniell talks mostly about a year with the Montpellier team, which lingers near the bottom of the first division, and is in danger of relegation to the second divsion. In his 30's, Daniell is over the hill: this is his last year. The book describes the matches, the people and personalities, the fans, the owners, etc. If you're not familiar with rugby union, much may seem rather odd. There are the professional leagues: Montpellier is in the first division--recently promoted from the second division. At the same time, many of the best players may be called upon to play for France, etc, in more important matches--so the top teams may be missing their top pros at any given time. Everything is taken very seriously.

The book recounts the injuries. La fourchette means "eye-gouge"--effective and popular. Daniell himself has employed this trick on occasion. The main thing is not to get caught--but with only one referee and often no ubitiquous TV camera, scrums and rucks offer good opportunities. Daniell notes that good sportsmanship is known to the French as "le fairplay"--there is no native French word for the concept. Daniell describes his own injuries over the years--a dozen broken noses, dislocated collar bone, ruptured eardrum, cauliflower ears, and more--he considers himself relatively injury-free compared to many others. He says that at any given time, out of 600 professional rugby players in France (many, like himself, are non-French), about 100 are out with injuries. If you watch rugby DVDs, heavily bandaged ears--from bites, boots, elbows, etc--are common.

Daniell writes well, and has a fine sense of humor. He pulls no punches about himself. He understands that he was never a star, but rather a decent journeyman lock, and that now he's reached the end of his professional career. There are plenty of younger, stronger, fitter pros fighting for the available positions. He describes a former pro whose boss offered him a job filling ice buckets--at 5% of his professional salary. You need to understand that unlike, say, baseball, basketball, and football, you don't see many active players who are even in their late 30's--it's much more of a young man's sport. Overall, there are elements of the wonderful movie Bull Durham here. You're not going to read about an exciting race for the cup, the pennant, or whatever--like Bull Durham, it's a struggle for survival, and being able to finish with some dignity left. Daniell has enormous talent as a writer and as an observer, and this book exemplifies those talents.

The book was brand new and came in earlier than expected couldn't have asked for anything better!!!

Well I read this book and it was very informative and inspiring at the same time. But what was so sad, it that it is true. I have seen this happen first hand myself but what can a black woman do about it. Maybe someone else who reads this book can tell me because it seems like we as a race of people are doomed!

Most recent in a series of histories of Irish Rugby produced by Van Esbeck. Edmund Van Esbeck was for many years the "voice of Irish Rugby" through his well regarded column in the Irish Times. No one has a more thorough knowledge of the game in Ireland and this shines through in his books.

The English tell the story of William Webb Ellis picking up the soccer ball in Rugby School, and thereby inventing the game of Rugby. We Irish, of course, know that Ellis grew up in a British Army barracks in Tipperary, Ireland. He learnt his wayward habit of carrying the ball in the hand while watching the Irish boys play the Gaelic version of football.

So, Rugby is actually an Irish invention. And since American Football was derived from Rugby, the Irish claim to have pretty much invented Gridiron too. To set the record straight on this and many other historical facts, this is the book for you.

The indices contain detailed records of matches and results in the Irish game which is a useful treasure trove for any quizmaster.

Derrick Moore shares from his life and his heart. He loves, laughs, cries, and pours himself out to the reader. Get this book!

I love football nostaglia, and there are few books better than this. It examines the whole careers of Bobby and Jack Charlton from birth to now. Some great stories here, especially concerning Jack.
Highly recommended.

Moffett does a fine job of explaining the why and what of Japanese soccer culture. Having lived and played football in Japan since 1989, I've witnessed first-hand the change from a country where football was not even a blip on the sports radar, to a nation that made the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, and in Nakata had one of the top-five wage-earners in Italy's Serie A. The effect on the national psyche has been profound. In conjunction with the exodus of top names in baseball to the Majors, the exporting of top football talent to the European leagues has created a tier of Japanese youth who are confident, ambitious and enthusiastic about playing an international role in their chosen pursuits, be it sports or otherwise. These young people grew up watching Nakata regularly get the better of world-class names, and then appear on TV giving interviews in fluent Italian afterwards. Pardon the metaphor, but the advent of the J-League moved the goalposts in terms of life expectations for these young people in comparison with the preceding generation.

Quite how all that came about is laid out step-by-step in delicious detail by Moffett. He doesn't shy away from the unsavoury elements; the 'tough love' approach coaches have used to justify physical beatings, the misogyny of some supporters. I came away with a far better understanding of why the J-League had to happen, and happen in the way that it did.

In future editions, I'd like to see Moffett update the book to include some of these elements: (1) Why the two-stage format was dropped and then brought back again. Relatedly, why there were no draws in the initial years, with tied games going to sudden-death. (2) An explanation of why TV commentators who do not understand soccer are still used. In the early days, this made sense, as the commentator was a surrogate viewer learning the game from his 'expert' sidekick analyst. These days, however, it just seems bizarre to persist with a commentator who clearly doesn't understand the offside rule. (3) A more detailed analysis of the high-school tournament that attracts so much media attention.

This book tells you whatever you need to know about Jerry Rice.
It has some pictures and you will learn alot. You also will learn his birth and all of his held records. You will love this book.

Sorry you never kept a scrapbook of the Jets 1968 championship season and Super Bowl III win on Jan. 12,1969? No problem! This books reproduces the articles and photos of that magical season as chronicled by the NY Daily News including many "backpages" of the original newspapers. A must for every Jets fan, those who remember and those too young to have been there.

This book is written at a junior high level, but the topic and writing are captivating for adults to read as well as kids at the junior high level. Unlike other books about Jim Thorpe, this book takes the reader on a journey through what every day life could have been like for Jim Thorpe from childhood through his early adulthood. Jim Thorpe is a great role model for everyone, and this book is a great introduction to his life.