Next Man Up

[ragnorok99]

Has anyone else read Next Man Up by John Feinstein? I just finished it and immensely enjoyed it.

Feinstein basically followed the Ravens during the 2004 season to write a book on the highs and lows (of which there were many in 04) of an NFL team. He's a pretty well-respected writer and, in my opinion, did a great job with this. The Ravens organization gave him unprecedented access--he sat in on meetings, was in the locker room constantly, and was basically close enough to give an unparalleled account of a team's season. I'm glad he chose to do it with the Ravens, who were in turn very accomodating.

Though some technical, gameplanning stuff is covered, the book is also about the personalities and relationships between players, coaches, and personnel and how they react to different events. I found the information on the Ozzie-Billick-Bisciotti triangle very interesting, and it also sheds some light on why Bisciotti has continued faith in Billick. The stuff on the draft was especially cool as well.

Anyway, if anyone else has read it, I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. And if not, then I highly reccomend checking it out.

[Raven07]

i'll have to check it out and see how it is..sounds like a good one. but its all about the individual person reading the book and how they feel about it

[JonM229]

I bought that book for my brother when it came out...a hundred years ago!

[theFRANCHISE]

I wanted to buy it when it first came out, but I was still in high school with no job, soooo...yea...LOL

I'll have to track it down at Borders or something this weekend, though...

[ragnorok99]

I bought that book for my brother when it came out...a hundred years ago!

The Ravens must be older than I thought

[Drkraven]

I read it as soon as it came out, it was one of those books you could not put down. A lot of insight as to how things are done at 1 Winning Way.

[JonM229]

The Ravens must be older than I thought

They're so old, their first contracts were written in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[theFRANCHISE]

I am sooooo buying this book this weekend...I don't care what I have to do to track it down, I MUST know what it was like to have Deion Sanders in the same locker room as Ray Lewis...they were REALLY ENTERTAINING to watch together on-camera, so I'm curious...

[Raven07]

plus i think it will give the fans a look/insight of how the coaches play/look at the game and evaluate different options and what not, therefore we can get a overall better understanding of it all.

[Guest Birdfan]

Good books are still interesting even years after they first come out. This is a GOOOOOOD one. I felt like a real insider after reading it.

[ragnorok99]

I am sooooo buying this book this weekend...I don't care what I have to do to track it down, I MUST know what it was like to have Deion Sanders in the same locker room as Ray Lewis...they were REALLY ENTERTAINING to watch together on-camera, so I'm curious...

Yep yep, there's lots of good stuff regarding the Lewis-Sanders tandem.