jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
(4.5) Probably doesn't make a lot of sense to start a football book review by discussing a baseball one but what made Moneyball so great (and what makes this one so damn good) is NOT the talk about how Billy Beane was a genius among fools, rather it was how the underfunded, understaffed Athletics exploited a badly inequitable system for gain. Beane saw abilities that were underutilized in players and he pounced because Oakland did not have the money to compete with the big boys.
This book gets that spirit. It's not a hagiography on Hal Mumme or a tale about how he is so much smarter than his coaching contemporaries. It's how he was willing to take risks and build a system that would allow teams with less talent and few resources to compete where they had no business. Along the way, the reader learns a good lesson about the evolution of the forward pass and how football offenses aren't always as complex as they are made out to be.
But more than anything, as a sports fan, I enjoy reading about people who fight the Old Man Logic of "This is how it's always been done." Hal Mumme did that his whole career and S.C. Gwynne recounts how in a way that is entertaining and enlightening. Without a doubt, one of the best football books I've ever read and maybe a top 10 sports book for me as well. If you like football, particularly football strategy, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
This book gets that spirit. It's not a hagiography on Hal Mumme or a tale about how he is so much smarter than his coaching contemporaries. It's how he was willing to take risks and build a system that would allow teams with less talent and few resources to compete where they had no business. Along the way, the reader learns a good lesson about the evolution of the forward pass and how football offenses aren't always as complex as they are made out to be.
But more than anything, as a sports fan, I enjoy reading about people who fight the Old Man Logic of "This is how it's always been done." Hal Mumme did that his whole career and S.C. Gwynne recounts how in a way that is entertaining and enlightening. Without a doubt, one of the best football books I've ever read and maybe a top 10 sports book for me as well. If you like football, particularly football strategy, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
vincent520's review against another edition
5.0
Great book about a man who changed the way Football is played forever!! The Air Raid offense changed the game!! Great book about how the Air Raid offense came to be!!
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