A worthwhile read!!! | A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy a Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry

A great read about two fascinating schools. | A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy a Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry | John Feinstein

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	• A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy a Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry John Feinstein Back Bay Books, 1997 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 41 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

What's right with sports

I picked up this book at a library sale, and I was prepared to dislike it because John Feinstein is such a pretentious boob. I've tried to fight my way through his tedious basketball books about Duke Univ., Bobby Knight, etc., and I figured this was more of the same. I realize that Feinstein has a special ability to get sports figures to share off-field stories about their histories, hopes and dreams. Most sports figures are self-absorbed fools, and they wouldn't be worth spending the day with. Feinstein somehow brings out the best of what they have to offer. Yet, usually the people are so despicable that you don't care anyway.

This book is different. The anecdotes shine because the people are really challenged in multiple arenas -- on the field, in the classroom, and perhaps someday in battle. The fate that they face gives this book a gravitas that's absent from Feinstein's books about guys with hoop dreams or golf visions.

Be warned, however, that the book is repetitive, as if Feinstein thinks that his readers are too stupid to remember something he wrote earlier in the book.

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A worthwhile read!!!

Whether you're a football fan or not, John Feinstein's story about the 1995 season and the history and tradition of the Army and Navy rivalry is a good one. After reading it, I could not help but feel a sense of pride and respect for all the fine men and women who serve our country. Having been to an Airforce/Army game, I can vouch for the excitement of watching the Black Knights play at West Point. During the game, I had a chance to chat with an Army football fan. I vividly remember him telling me that "If you think this is exciting, you should see this place during an Army/Navy game! Thanks to this book, I now have a better sense of understanding and newfound appreciation for the importance of this particular game. I will definitely be tuned in for this year's broadcasting of the event. As for this book, it is a definite must-read!

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A great read about two fascinating schools.

This book takes its place as one of John Feinsten's best books, along with a book about basketball in the Patriot League (The Last Amateurs) and two golfing books (A Good Walk Spoiled and The Majors). In all of these books, he takes the reader through a season with the athletes, giving fascinating insights into "their world". Feinsten seems to have empathy for athletes who are not in big-time programs, and it shows in his writing.

I found the descriptions of life and academics in the service academies to be fascinating. It is amazing how the regular students and the players live and practice, compared to students and athletes at most other colleges. And when they're done, they serve in the military for 4 or 5 more years. When you see what these players go through for the chance to play I-A football, it makes the argument for paying major college players - besides providing them a free education, meals, housing, and tutoring - seem lame.

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A fun journey

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a magnificant journey through the 1995 season with 2 of the most prestigious football programs in the country. We get a first hand view of what it is like to go to a military school first of all, but to also play football while at that military school. We also get a glimpse of what it was like when the 2 programs were in their hayday and people actually wanted to play at these schools. There was once a time where they dominated and all of the great players went to the military academies. Today, with high salaries and mandatory service, it is unlikely for an all american to attend one of these schools. The cadets know that the end of their football career comes with the end of their college schooling, and that makes the losses hurt that much more. Follow the players through their push through the season against some of the nation's powerhouses. You won't be sorry.

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A Great Topic

Army-Navy is certainly an under-appreciated game. At least it has been by me. I love college football. Not only that, I have an uncle who went to West Point and another uncle who went to Annapolis and I *still* didn't care about this game!

It is because I just didn't know.

I am not a big John Feinstein fan in general. I like his writing best when he is just covering facts. If he tries to think, he gets in trouble. He is sometimes not a particularly sharp guy: "Tom Cruise in Top Gun was the greatest recruiter Air Force had. Come to Air Force, fly superfast jets, and hang out with Kelly McGillis when you're on the ground"

Then he further alienates those hands that fed him as he did the book with the moronic and trite "John Graves got the most oxymoronic assignment the army can offer: miltary intelligence"

Turn-offs, to be sure, but not material to the subject at hand. I also respect the chances Feinstein takes when he commits to following a team, knowing that at the end of the day (or the season) it's possible that nothing "magical" actually happens.

In this case, the magic is throughout, and the whole endeavor adds up to one big inspiration. I can't wait to see the Army-Navy game this fall.

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Celebrating college footballs fiercest rivalry as it enters its second centurya new edition of the bestselling book in which John Feinstein does for college football what he did for professional golf in The Majors and A Good Walk Spoiled. This book also includes 6 pages of b/w photos.