Review of The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe
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Review of The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe" by Otto L. Wheeler.]
Otto Wheeler has authored a book for young readers and adults entitled The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe. It is written as an insider’s view of a junior college football game. The book is beautifully written for young readers and does provide a glimpse into coaching styles, officiating requirements and rules interpretation, and on-the-field action. It includes some of the not-always-so-gracious trash talk on the field between players. It shows the often-overlooked officials' roles and their views of action on the field. It additionally illustrates the immediate, sometimes reactionary responses of coaches to both players and officials. It has drama that builds from the beginning right up to the last plays of the game. It has a lot of football action and draws the reader into feeling the physical nature of the blocks and tackles of both teams. The momentum flows between the offense, the defense, and the on-field play. The reader can really feel the momentum changes.
It has insight into the quarterbacks’ decision-making and the arrogance of some of the stars. It includes some trash-talk the players use to psych out opponents and insight into how the players do not always react to the trash talk.
The story portrays the on-field passion and energy the players and coaches feel as the game progresses. One can feel the tension and excitement rising in a game that is not decided until the very end. The title is quite appropriate.
It is written from the announcers’ perspective. It provides a glimpse into that off-field area which is often overlooked. Preparation for the announcers is just as critical to an exciting game as the preparation of the teams and the officials. There is friction, humor, and real-life activities. This adds a nice touch to the story.
I am a past football official, so I especially appreciated the documentaries of the planning that the officials exhibit. The pre-game discussion and review of rules and positions is true. They take place just as described, including the pre-game dinner and the review package from the conference officials. The officials are a team and must be very compatible. Each of them has specific areas of expertise and responsibility. Coaches regularly complain about officials not seeing infractions, but they do not understand the officials’ area of responsibility or the extent or intent of the rules. I thought the viewpoint of the officials especially improved the whole book.
The author takes some editorial privilege with some of the referee’s comments relative to describing penalties. As the referee, one simply explains the infraction without commentary. The referee does not try to show humor or justification for the call but just relates the infraction and enforces the penalty. There are a few other errors that are reported, such as the referee walking off a penalty – this being the responsibility of the umpire alone – but that error would be unknown by the general fan. These small errors do not detract from the book.
There are some digressions that do distract from the story, however. An unmarried official has a quick experience in a bar that is unnecessary to the theme of the tale and is carried forth through the book continuing to offer no additional value. This includes a distraction on the field that the referee tries to de-escalate. This also adds no value and would not happen. This was no doubt added for literary value but departs from the storyline. I found it to be a nuisance knowing how professional major college football officials perform. Officials who are passionate about being better officials would not perform in such a way. These distractions degrade the ease of reading and the flow of the action.
The on-field action as described by the author reflects the reason for the title. The players perform admirably and the action, though a bit predictable, is well reported.
Grammatically the book is written without distracting errors and misspelled words. Errors are small and insignificant indicating it has been professionally edited and reviewed. The author indicates the book was written with five years of research. Rewrites, edits and editorial attention show. I rate this book three stars out of five. I subtracted stars for the distractions referenced previously and for the drag not related to on-field action. For example, the actions of a drunk senator, which have nothing to do with the game or the characters, as the game progresses. The distractions are like TV commercials. They do not add any value or interest to the storyline. They dilute the quality of the story.
******
The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Otto Wheeler has authored a book for young readers and adults entitled The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe. It is written as an insider’s view of a junior college football game. The book is beautifully written for young readers and does provide a glimpse into coaching styles, officiating requirements and rules interpretation, and on-the-field action. It includes some of the not-always-so-gracious trash talk on the field between players. It shows the often-overlooked officials' roles and their views of action on the field. It additionally illustrates the immediate, sometimes reactionary responses of coaches to both players and officials. It has drama that builds from the beginning right up to the last plays of the game. It has a lot of football action and draws the reader into feeling the physical nature of the blocks and tackles of both teams. The momentum flows between the offense, the defense, and the on-field play. The reader can really feel the momentum changes.
It has insight into the quarterbacks’ decision-making and the arrogance of some of the stars. It includes some trash-talk the players use to psych out opponents and insight into how the players do not always react to the trash talk.
The story portrays the on-field passion and energy the players and coaches feel as the game progresses. One can feel the tension and excitement rising in a game that is not decided until the very end. The title is quite appropriate.
It is written from the announcers’ perspective. It provides a glimpse into that off-field area which is often overlooked. Preparation for the announcers is just as critical to an exciting game as the preparation of the teams and the officials. There is friction, humor, and real-life activities. This adds a nice touch to the story.
I am a past football official, so I especially appreciated the documentaries of the planning that the officials exhibit. The pre-game discussion and review of rules and positions is true. They take place just as described, including the pre-game dinner and the review package from the conference officials. The officials are a team and must be very compatible. Each of them has specific areas of expertise and responsibility. Coaches regularly complain about officials not seeing infractions, but they do not understand the officials’ area of responsibility or the extent or intent of the rules. I thought the viewpoint of the officials especially improved the whole book.
The author takes some editorial privilege with some of the referee’s comments relative to describing penalties. As the referee, one simply explains the infraction without commentary. The referee does not try to show humor or justification for the call but just relates the infraction and enforces the penalty. There are a few other errors that are reported, such as the referee walking off a penalty – this being the responsibility of the umpire alone – but that error would be unknown by the general fan. These small errors do not detract from the book.
There are some digressions that do distract from the story, however. An unmarried official has a quick experience in a bar that is unnecessary to the theme of the tale and is carried forth through the book continuing to offer no additional value. This includes a distraction on the field that the referee tries to de-escalate. This also adds no value and would not happen. This was no doubt added for literary value but departs from the storyline. I found it to be a nuisance knowing how professional major college football officials perform. Officials who are passionate about being better officials would not perform in such a way. These distractions degrade the ease of reading and the flow of the action.
The on-field action as described by the author reflects the reason for the title. The players perform admirably and the action, though a bit predictable, is well reported.
Grammatically the book is written without distracting errors and misspelled words. Errors are small and insignificant indicating it has been professionally edited and reviewed. The author indicates the book was written with five years of research. Rewrites, edits and editorial attention show. I rate this book three stars out of five. I subtracted stars for the distractions referenced previously and for the drag not related to on-field action. For example, the actions of a drunk senator, which have nothing to do with the game or the characters, as the game progresses. The distractions are like TV commercials. They do not add any value or interest to the storyline. They dilute the quality of the story.
******
The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Niching Up by Chris Dreyer
