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A must for any sports fan. Finer details emerge such as: Berry pioneering contact lenses when he played, Berry's scouting and use of game films which are a staple today and weren't back then, a teenage photographer waits and gets the moment the Horse, Alan Ameche crashes through the line and into the end zone, are all in Bowden's book. The build up to the game and the aftermath on the viewing audience set the 1958 game apart from any that were ever played. Bowden's book puts the spotlight on wide receiver, Raymond Berry as the unsung hero of the 1958 Championship. Bowden tackles a wide range of subjects from a military operation that goes bad in "Black Hawk Down" to a junkie that finds more than a million dollars in "Finders Keepers." This book not only shows his range, but his talent as a writer. As a former sports reporter and forever Baltimore Colts fan (there are no Colts anymore since they left Baltimore.). The book is more than about the game or the weeks leading up to the game that transformed football into America's number one pastime. I relate and love the job that Bowden did with this book.
Well," we'd think, "Raymond Berry played in the 1958 championship game, and he later coached the New England Patriots. I wasn't alive when the game was played, and didn't have a rooting interest when I picked up the book. Bostonians like me are as parochial as sports fans get. Maybe I'll read it."The beauty of Bowden's treatment of the game - of course debatable as to its superlative (American publishing marketing working overtime) - is that it allows the football purist to read all the way through cheering for neither side in particular, but for the game and the sport itself. I just wanted a good read on a favored topic, and got just that. In fact, we're sometimes downright myopic. "Who cares about the Giants and Colts.
I still love the book as written but, as spoken. While not a BIG deal, this does take away some of the enjoyment in listening to the book. If I were the author, such a reading would be a real disappointment. The audio makes mention that the ball carrier on the current play being described is stopped by KAT' ka vige.
However, I have to provide a negative comment about the audio version of this book. Why can't all readers research their books before recording; seems only right to get it right. Other reviewers have written the many positives of this book. I echo those sentiments. A simple call to either the Giants or Colts offices or to some older sports writers(or, even, the book's author) could have very simply confirmed how to pronounce the players mentioned in the book. it happens.
Not so much. Immediately, I tighten my grip on the steering wheel as I struggle to keep the car on the road. I then start to wonder if the Colt's QB is going to be mentioned as Johnny "un E tas" or some other odd pronunciation. It is distracting. Names like Katcavage (read as KAT'ka vige)and Marchetti (the "ch" read as the ch in cheddar)were major stars in this era. Some may feel this is picky but, I've listened to this book three times (I love the period and there's not much on audio to satisfy my interest) and I still react to the audio in this way. I love this "golden age" of the NFL and the book captures this period very well.
I then realize (once again) that the book is going to have these audio references for the rest of the book and I start anticipating them. But, every time I start to listen to this book in the car, I immediately get into the book and then. While the reader's voice is clear and he adds attempted accents and voice inflections to make the listening even more pleasurable, he really falls short with the pronunciation of some of the game's stars. Hard to imagine getting these names wrong.
fascinating, funny, touching, makes you wish you'd seen it and knew the men that played it. Bowden brings the setting and the game alive in a thrilling account of the game that launched modern football. Enough detail for a rabid football fan but enough human drama for a Sunday afternoon viewer.
For a football fan this is certainly an enjoyable book and provides some insight into the game and the players, particularly Raymond Berry who gets the most coverage. As most who follow football closely know, this game is considered the launching point of the modern NFL because it occurred in the early years of television and at least the last part of the game was seen by an estimated 30 million people. It does a less stellar job of building the drama of the game, maybe because we already know the outcome. This book tells the story of the game mostly from the players' perspective, focusing somewhat more on the Baltimore Colts, particularly Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, who both had phenomenal performances in this game.
The Best Game Ever is a fairly good account of what is probably the most famous game in NFL history - the 1958 NFL Championship game where the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in the NFL's first sudden death overtime game. While I wouldn't classify this as The Best Football Book Ever, it is well done and worth reading. But overall it completely documents the game and the key turning points that lead to the eventual outcome, including Frank Gifford not making a first down on third and short that would have allowed the Giants to run out the clock to win the game, and the Unitas to Barry connection on an improvised play for a first down on the final drive in regulation to tie the game. The game pitted some of the greatest players of all time against one another such as Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry of the Colts, and Frank Gifford and Sam Huff of the Giants.
But it also tells the story of other key players on both sides of the ball to greater or lesser degrees. The game also sported three legendary coaches, Vince Lombardi on offense for the Giants, Tom Landry on defense for the Giants, and Weeb Ewbank, head coach of Baltimore who went on to win another seminal NFL Championship when his New York Jets upset his former team, the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. After this game the popularity of professional football took off, particularly because the action is well suited for television viewing.
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