Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life
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Book Reviews of Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life
Book Review: Don't Buy This (But Not For The Obvious Reason)
Summary: 3 Stars
How in the world could I give "Coach" a three star rating but suggest, "don't buy it?"
It's a fun, quick read with a few nuggets -- definitely worth a read.
But... you can finish it in 20 minutes. Of the 93 pages, at least 12 are photos. (I've read longer newspaper columns.)
I suggest you go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and buy a medium coffee. Before your coffee gets cold, you'll be done with this book.
Then if you really like Lewis' writing, purchase, "Moneyball." It's a tremendous look at the business side of baseball.
Book Review: Short Inspirational Read
Summary: 4 Stars
I believe this was a nice, short read. I wasn't expecting miracles from this tiny book but I do believe it was a nice, heart-warming story with some good life "reminders" in it.Book Review: Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing
Summary: 2 Stars
As a coach myself, I was interested in Michael Lewis's thoughts and feelings about his former youth baseball coach, Coach Fitz. Was Fitz a positive impact on his life? Michael says so, but I struggled to understand why. Here was a coach who apparently believed in him by putting him in the game to pitch in a crucial situation. Or maybe the only reason he entered the game was because Fitz accidentally visited the star pitcher twice in the same inning and so was compelled to take the star out and put Michael in.
Fitz was an intense coach and apparently was able to convince his team (at least back in the 70's) that hard work could pay off. I guess this was one of the "Lessons on the Game of Life". Coach Fitz said he cared about the kids but it wasn't clear from any of the stories that any of the kids thought the coach cared about them.
Maybe the truth is that Coach Fitz was most concerned about winning. The author remembers most clearly all the things Fitz broke in the locker room after losses. Coach Fitz would walk home after losses to punish himself for the players sins. The players were not allowed to wash their jerseys until they won. I guess they weren't being the best they could be until they scored more runs than their opponent. Winning was also more important to Coach Fitz than following the rules, as he apparently encouraged the author to throw illegal "spitballs".
For coaches looking for coaching models, I recommend NFHS Coaches' Quarterly.
Book Review: Should've Been Marketed As An Essay
Summary: 2 Stars
This one got way too much attention from NPR. I loved the interview there with the author, but, quite frankly, his entire story was told in that very sitting. This "book" is really an "essay" that doesn't deserve all the paper it's printed on; I would've been much more appreciative of this author's sentiments had it been marketed more appropriately.Book Review: Good idea didn't translate into a book
Summary: 1 Stars
I like the idea that Michael Lewis wrote this book/article to defend a man whose coaching techniques are clearly out of style in todays world of my child this and my child that. Having said that I did not like this book:
1) the writing was chopping and hard to follow at times. i had to re-read many sentences to understand lewis' point.
2) the story lacked the depth of lewis' other wonderful books - where's the who/why/what that lewis used to moneyball (and others) educational - i wanted the story behind the story.
3) who were all the pictures of? i found them distracting...
i'll continue to read lewis' books bu thope the next one is better