Review by Martha Robson -- The Greatest Game Ever Played...
-
Martha Robson
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 14 Apr 2021, 13:20
- Currently Reading: The Secret Talker
- Bookshelf Size: 10
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-martha-robson.html
- Latest Review: Confessions of a Llama by Patrick Ntsime
- Reading Device: B00IKPYKWG
Review by Martha Robson -- The Greatest Game Ever Played...
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe" by Otto L. Wheeler.]
I grew up in the shadow of Death Valley. If you understand the significance of that statement, you will probably enjoy The Greatest Game Ever Played ... Maybe by Otto Wheeler. If you think I’m talking about a desert in California, then maybe not so much.
This is the story of a fictional championship game between two junior college football teams: the Houma (LA) Pirates and the Mobile (AL) Cougars, presented as feeder schools for their respective state universities. The book focuses on the players, broadcasters, officials and coaches, and it reflects the football-loving culture of the Deep South. The SEC is the elephant in the room, but the region’s small colleges, community colleges, junior colleges, and high schools are every bit as passionate, as competitive, and often as talented as their bigger brothers. It is easy to see parallels between the junior college coaches and their real-life counterparts, although Nick Saban and Coach O are both much smarter and much wilier than their fictional portrayals. The personalities of the broadcasters and officials are well-drawn, and the players can trash-talk with the best of them. There is profanity, as well as a few passing references to female body parts, but there are no explicit sexual situations, and no violence beyond what would be expected from a hard-fought football game. Religion receives only a few perfunctory mentions as part of the characters’ personalities.
Wheeler begins by explaining the background, perspective, and function of the major characters. He supplies a great deal of useful information that many fans may not know, especially regarding the work of the officials. However, it feels a bit like tuning in to the Super Bowl five hours early to watch all of the pre-game features. C’mon man, let’s play ball! The bulk of the book is a play-by-play description of the game itself. Fans who listen to games on the radio will have no trouble picturing the action on the field, and it is easy to get caught up in the drama. Wheeler is faithful in his creation of a full-length game, with strategy, play descriptions, results, and statistics all consistent, accurate, and true to broadcast media. This is not an easy writing assignment – I give Wheeler a lot of credit for keeping it on point and interesting. The commentators focus almost exclusively on the game; I would have liked more booth chatter, anecdotes, reminiscences, trivia, etc. There are funny scenes and short sub-plots, but they stand out by their infrequence. Providing a richer context would make it a smoother and more enjoyable read.
Wheeler’s understanding of the people he is portraying is not as deep. For example, when a player is injured, he is simply removed from the field with no response from his teammates or the fans. In reality, he would have been surrounded by his entire team and many of his opponents, all on their knees praying for him while the trainers do their work. His departure would have been accompanied by a standing ovation, acknowledging his contribution to the game. To miss this ritual is to miss both the bond uniting the team community and the respect opponents owe each other.
The author seems to enjoy playing with the non-traditional names of southern African-Americans. I will admit that they can be creative, and confusing. However, the proportion is off: about three-quarters of the players have non-traditional names instead of the French (Alphonse) and Catholic (Aloysius) names expected from Houma, or the southern (Junior or Leroy) and biblical (Elijah) names from Mobile. It might have been intended to be funny, but it feels culturally insensitive.
Wheeler also misses much of the color and excitement of a championship game: there are no bands, cheerleaders, or fans, and the stadium seems oddly silent. Small-town Southerners are fanatically loyal to their teams. They will happily fill school buses and drive eight hours to support their boys in a championship game, only to get back on the buses and drive eight hours home again, win or lose. Their presence, enthusiasm and commitment matter to the players, and they motivate the athletes to go beyond peak performance. They deserve to be included in the story of the game: without them, it feels like COVID football.
I rate this book two out of four. Wheeler’s knowledge and love of football are deep, and he communicates clearly the intricacy of the game. More to the point, he tells a good story. I downgraded it because of grammatical and stylistic errors, over-writing in the early chapters, and cultural incongruities such as those mentioned above. The book does not appear to have been professionally edited.
******
The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I grew up in the shadow of Death Valley. If you understand the significance of that statement, you will probably enjoy The Greatest Game Ever Played ... Maybe by Otto Wheeler. If you think I’m talking about a desert in California, then maybe not so much.
This is the story of a fictional championship game between two junior college football teams: the Houma (LA) Pirates and the Mobile (AL) Cougars, presented as feeder schools for their respective state universities. The book focuses on the players, broadcasters, officials and coaches, and it reflects the football-loving culture of the Deep South. The SEC is the elephant in the room, but the region’s small colleges, community colleges, junior colleges, and high schools are every bit as passionate, as competitive, and often as talented as their bigger brothers. It is easy to see parallels between the junior college coaches and their real-life counterparts, although Nick Saban and Coach O are both much smarter and much wilier than their fictional portrayals. The personalities of the broadcasters and officials are well-drawn, and the players can trash-talk with the best of them. There is profanity, as well as a few passing references to female body parts, but there are no explicit sexual situations, and no violence beyond what would be expected from a hard-fought football game. Religion receives only a few perfunctory mentions as part of the characters’ personalities.
Wheeler begins by explaining the background, perspective, and function of the major characters. He supplies a great deal of useful information that many fans may not know, especially regarding the work of the officials. However, it feels a bit like tuning in to the Super Bowl five hours early to watch all of the pre-game features. C’mon man, let’s play ball! The bulk of the book is a play-by-play description of the game itself. Fans who listen to games on the radio will have no trouble picturing the action on the field, and it is easy to get caught up in the drama. Wheeler is faithful in his creation of a full-length game, with strategy, play descriptions, results, and statistics all consistent, accurate, and true to broadcast media. This is not an easy writing assignment – I give Wheeler a lot of credit for keeping it on point and interesting. The commentators focus almost exclusively on the game; I would have liked more booth chatter, anecdotes, reminiscences, trivia, etc. There are funny scenes and short sub-plots, but they stand out by their infrequence. Providing a richer context would make it a smoother and more enjoyable read.
Wheeler’s understanding of the people he is portraying is not as deep. For example, when a player is injured, he is simply removed from the field with no response from his teammates or the fans. In reality, he would have been surrounded by his entire team and many of his opponents, all on their knees praying for him while the trainers do their work. His departure would have been accompanied by a standing ovation, acknowledging his contribution to the game. To miss this ritual is to miss both the bond uniting the team community and the respect opponents owe each other.
The author seems to enjoy playing with the non-traditional names of southern African-Americans. I will admit that they can be creative, and confusing. However, the proportion is off: about three-quarters of the players have non-traditional names instead of the French (Alphonse) and Catholic (Aloysius) names expected from Houma, or the southern (Junior or Leroy) and biblical (Elijah) names from Mobile. It might have been intended to be funny, but it feels culturally insensitive.
Wheeler also misses much of the color and excitement of a championship game: there are no bands, cheerleaders, or fans, and the stadium seems oddly silent. Small-town Southerners are fanatically loyal to their teams. They will happily fill school buses and drive eight hours to support their boys in a championship game, only to get back on the buses and drive eight hours home again, win or lose. Their presence, enthusiasm and commitment matter to the players, and they motivate the athletes to go beyond peak performance. They deserve to be included in the story of the game: without them, it feels like COVID football.
I rate this book two out of four. Wheeler’s knowledge and love of football are deep, and he communicates clearly the intricacy of the game. More to the point, he tells a good story. I downgraded it because of grammatical and stylistic errors, over-writing in the early chapters, and cultural incongruities such as those mentioned above. The book does not appear to have been professionally edited.
******
The Greatest Game Ever Played...Maybe
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Confessions of a Llama by Patrick Ntsime
