false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173223683m/260805.jpg 260805 3 If there's any doubt about John Feinstein being one of sport's true believers, <I>The Last Amateurs</I> readily dispels it. After years of smartly dissecting our games at their highest levels in bestsellers like <I>The Majors</I>, <I>A Good Walk Spoiled</I>, and <I>A Season on the Brink</I>, he returns to dissecting our games at their <I>purest</I> level, ground he first staked out quite stirringly in <I>A Civil War</I>, his chronicle of Army-Navy football. <p> In <I>The Last Amateurs</I>, he mines the 1999-2000 season of Patriot League basketball. Given the high-stakes, high-profile, and often dirty world of college hoops these days, Feinstein comes up with a remarkably refreshing place to visit, a sporting environment short on scandals, prima donnas, and sneaker contracts, but long on a pure passion for the game that complements achievement in the classroom. In the league's seven schools--Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Colgate, Holy Cross, Army, and Navy--academics come first, the hardwood second. These are campuses populated by students who happen to be athletes, not athletes stopping off on the way to lucrative careers in professional sports. Indeed, these are young athletes who have their post-college focus on the rest of their lives, not the NBA. Sports, for them, builds character, not bank accounts.<p> Still, the Patriot League is a Division I conference, with its champion earning an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. It takes the games seriously--often, as Feinstein reveals, heartbreakingly so--even if it doesn't necessarily play to ACC, SEC, Big 10, and Pac-10 standards. Feinstein's interviewing, skillful as ever, brings the players, coaches, and administrators of the colleges in this league to full form, making <I>The Last Amateurs</I> a rarity among sports books--a smart volume about smart people with their heads and priorities pointed in the right direction. Like the conference itself, it's in a league of its own. --<I>Jeff Silverman</I> 1057235 1 11 2001 The Last Amateurs: Playing for Glory and Honor in Division I College Basketball total:228|5:52|4:102|3:56|2:16|1:2| 228 870 288 21 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 19:37:51 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 12:24:46 -0700 2009
I enjoy playing and watching athletics, but I don't often get into long discussions about the greatness of one college team over another because the luster of college sports quickly wears thin once you delve past discussions centered merely around wins and losses. The ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 15 10:18:30 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 05:52:10 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 00:07:09 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 00:10:39 -0700 2009 right reasons. I mean, I'm a professor at an NAIA school for God's sake, so if I think t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Tue Jan 20 06:53:16 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 06:55:11 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 02 08:41:58 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 07:51:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Nov 16 07:56:34 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 16 08:02:33 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Tue Apr 29 13:44:51 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 13:49:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 19 19:26:54 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 11:05:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Wed Aug 29 13:16:38 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 13:18:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jul 29 20:01:43 -0700 2008 Sun Feb 01 06:56:54 -0800 2009
OK, this got boring, I got...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Thu May 08 07:57:39 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 19:47:20 -0700 2008
This book is tremendous; one of the best books about college basketball I've ever read. Typical John Feinstein formula - fully engrossed insider reporting with the passion, intensity and love for the game tha...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 25 15:31:21 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 15:32:55 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Feb 07 14:21:12 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 26 21:27:00 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Jun 16 09:51:49 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 11:47:48 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Tue Feb 05 05:41:43 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 05:42:41 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue Jul 31 19:52:33 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 19:53:47 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue May 06 08:24:50 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 25 09:18:43 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Sep 11 04:27:52 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 05 19:16:23 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 11 04:27:52 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sun Jun 10 13:00:14 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 10 13:03:32 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sun Feb 24 16:39:50 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 24 16:40:23 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=260805