The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL

by Mark Bowden

book data

54 ratings, 3.81 average rating, 19 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		18%
4		48%
3		29%
2		3%
1		0%

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published

May 5th 2008 by Atlantic Monthly Press

binding

Hardcover, 240 pages

isbn

087113988X (isbn13: 9780871139887)

description

<DIV>On December 28, 1958, the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts met under the lights of Yankee Stadium for the NFL Championship game. Footbal...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 87)

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09/03/08

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: audio-book, read-in-2008

Read in September, 2008

The 1958 NFL championship game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts is one of those games that sports legends are built around. Billed as "the best game ever," it was the moment when a multitude of factors came together to give birth to the most popular sport in the world, the NFL.

Unfortunately, footage of the game is lost to the ravages of time.

That only makes Mark Bowden's account of the game more compelling and extraordinary. Bowden interv...more

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12/30/08

Rick rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction, sports

Read in December, 2008

Bowden, a one-time beat reporter covering the Eagles in Philadelphia and the author of Black Hawk Down, has written a trim and entertaining account of this classic championship game in the days before the Super Bowl, before color TV, before big salaries (rookie professional athletes making less than public school teachers?), and before the nation was pro-football crazy. It was the first pro game to reach “sudden death” overtime—indeed, many of the hall of famers in the game thought the gam...more Bowden, a one-time beat reporter covering the Eagles in Philadelphia and the author of Black Hawk Down, has written a trim and entertaining account of this classic championship game in the days before the Super Bowl, before color TV, before big salaries (rookie professional athletes making less than public school teachers?), and before the nation was pro-football crazy. It was the first pro game to reach “sudden death” overtime—indeed, many of the hall of famers in the game thought the game ended as a tie when the clock ran out in the fourth quarter. (Someone please apologize to Donovan McNabb for not knowing that games could end in a tie if no one scored in regular season overtime.)

Bowden also points out that TV was then like any other spectator at the game, meaning if they cut away to commercial they were no different than a fan going to a concession stand or a bathroom, the play continued without them. The game was played on a bleak winter field. Its action captured for posterity in black and white photography and film. (With just a bit of garish red here and there it could be a Frank Miller film come to life.) It made Johnny Unitas a super star, Raymond Berry a legend, Frank Gifford a whiner (they spotted the ball on his 3rd and short rush wrong; he made the first down which would have allowed the Giants to run out the clock with a three point lead in regulation), and started the cash registers of TV and football convulsing with serial ca-chings! (Players who in 1958 were making between 7-15,000 dollars would be making 200, 300, even 400 grand in less than ten years. The networks began a bidding war that continues today to present live NFL games.) Two of the Giants assistant coaches went on to become legendary head coaches in their own right (Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.) Several of the personnel from this game also had a role in the next biggest NFL game every played, Super Bowl III, the Jets upset victory over the Colts. Weeb Ewbank coached the Colts in 1958 and the Jets in 1969. Don Maynard and Johnny Sample were role players in the 1958 game but key contributors to the Jets upset in the later game. And the 1958 game’s star, Johnny Unitas, was brought off the bench a decade later in a desperate, near successful attempt at rescuing the heavily favored Colts.

In 1958, the Colts won an heroic match with lots of drama and several reversals of momentum. Bowden describes all of this very well, mixing in anecdotes, background color, and transcripts from the radio broadcast of the game. It’s a great read for any football fan, particularly for any Colts and Giants fans.(less)

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04/30/09

Ken Bronsil rated it:

Read in April, 2009

The 1958 NFL Championship game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts had many features that would make it an historic event, even if the game itself wasn’t very exciting. The two teams were a study in contrasts. Seventeen future Hall of Famers took part. It was the first NFL game to be decided in sudden-death overtime.

On top of all that, though, the game had everything you would ever want in a football game—big plays, lead changes, star performances, and goal-l...more

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03/09/09

Michael rated it:

Read in March, 2009

I read this in a day - not a very heavy reading experience.

This one game had already had at least one book written about it some years ago and on the library new books' shelf there was a newish book about this game by Frank Gifford, who played in it. (I'm not going to read Gifford's book but one wonders what he would say since (a) the Giants lost, and (b) Gifford fumbled three or four times.)

In addition to focusing on the drama of the particular game, Bowden describes what m...more

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03/09/09

Neal rated it:

Mark Bowden provides a detailed account of the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts. Often viewed as the game that thrust professional football into the mainstream, this book outlines the key players on each team and takes you through a play-by-play analysis of the game. I doubt that this book would have much appeal to anyone who is not a hardcore football fan or a fan of the Giants or Baltimore Colts, but it's well researched and well written. As a Balt...more

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01/07/09

Nate rated it:

Read in January, 2009

I think I would have liked professional football much better back then. All you need to know: many of the Baltimore Colts worked offseason shifts at Bethlehem Steel to make ends meet. This particular game was played outdoors, the sun set half way through, it was freezing, the only way for fans to stay warm was to keep passing the flask, it was almost medieval - this game would have appeared in black and white even on a color television set. If for no other reason, this book is fascinating bec...more

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10/14/08

Joshua rated it:

bookshelves: read-in-08

Read in October, 2008

Nearly FIVE stars and I am very stingy w/ my FIVE stars! What held it back was it was a little short--I thought more profiles of some of the players/coaches would have made the book fuller. Still, a very good addition to the Mark Bowden canon. They guy knows how to write long form non-fiction journalism.

I was a huge Baltimore Colt fan as a kid and rooted for them until they moved to Indy in the middle of the night. Bert Jones was my hero in the 1970s. A big part of following them even...more

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09/14/08

Steve rated it:

Mark Bowden can certainly tell a story.

Subtitled “Giants Vs Colts, 1958, and the birth of the Modern NFL,” this book is all that and then some. Like his previous effort Black Hawk Down, Bowden pulls together a number of different but related threads and weaves a cliffhanger.

Even though the outcome is known, Bowden does a fabulous job of showing the interplay of ideas and personalities that would shape this championship game and the league from that point on.

...more Mark Bowden can certainly tell a story.

Subtitled “Giants Vs Colts, 1958, and the birth of the Modern NFL,” this book is all that and then some. Like his previous effort Black Hawk Down, Bowden pulls together a number of different but related threads and weaves a cliffhanger.

Even though the outcome is known, Bowden does a fabulous job of showing the interplay of ideas and personalities that would shape this championship game and the league from that point on.

Just the names involved is enough to turn heads: Unitas, Berry, Lombardi, Grier, Grifford (yes, the same one), Landry, Ameche, Ewbank, Summeral, Donavan, Shaw, Huff, Howell, Marchetti. It’s often forgotten that Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry were once coaches on the same team (New York Giants) at the same time before they went off to create dynasties.

It was a clash of two teams at their best from opposite sides of the economic and cultural divide with legendary rosters and classic coaching. It was the first prime time televised night game, the first game to ever go into sudden death overtime (some players didn’t now what it was and began leaving the field) and the first one to create superstars out of players.

For me, the most revealing passages are those where Bowden describes the game at the beginning of the third quarter. The lights are on but only on the field; the crowd is in the dark. Parts of the field are beginning to ice over. The players on both sidelines are wrapped in hooded robes, their breath visible in the light and looking like something out of the middle ages rather than the mid-twentieth century. You can almost see it.

Bowden reveals the little things (a coach hitting an opposing team’s player for a tackle that was too rough, the TV broadcast going down at a critical time and the NBC staffer who decided to act drunk running around on the field to delay the game until the techs could fix the problem) that make the game real and the players people you might have known.

As a postscript, in a recent issue of The Atlantic, Bowden shows the film of the game to Andy Reid, the current head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, to get his take. In 1958, professional football players had to hold down real jobs (the sport was just that; a part-time hobby) and were not conditioned from birth to specialized positions. They were well-rounded athletes that would have been pounded by the physical mass of today’s players.

And, in 1958, TV was a spectator. Nowadays, coaches and players use commercial breaks as times to regroup. Back then, formations were done fast and the best players called the plays while in the game and not the coaches.

Reid said that few of the players then could have survived today, but they were good at figuring out the other team on the field and this ability to think for themselves is what made the game great. The unexpected change-ups and strategic shifts made a great impression on the modern coach.

Though I did play in high school, I confess to not being a major football fan. However, I know enough of the game to get the brilliance that unfolded in 1958. Even if you’re not a fan, the writing will sweep you off to Yankee Stadium on a cold December night.

(less)

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01/12/09

Catherine rated it:

Read in January, 2009

I had seen old NFL film clips of the game, but really knew nothing about the players and the effect that the game had on the NFL and football in the US. The author chose to focus on a handful of players from both the Giants and the Colts and interviewed those that were still living. Raymond Berry is a great example of a person succeeding with a strong work and study ethic.

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01/09/09

Bob rated it:

This book had much meaning for me. I grew up in Baltimore during the 50s and 60s, with the story of the 1958 championship game and the Colts before they moved to Indiana; a great time! I worked for Johnny Unitas (briefly) at his restaurant, and knew some of the kids of the players mentioned in the book. Really enjoyed it!

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02/18/09

Jihae rated it:

The best thing about this book is the title "The Best Game Ever" - no qualifiers.
Mark Bowden is a compelling writer but trying to convince the reader that football game being described is heartstoppingly exciting is just very hard to do. Better done as a YouTube video with 80's jock rock.

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01/12/09

Annette rated it:

Mark Bowden signed and gave me a pre-published copy when i randomly bumped into him leaving a publishing meeting at la dolce vita downtown last year, so though i know little about football history i have to like it.

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12/17/08

AuthorsOnTourLive! rated it:

Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the game, this remarkable story of the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Colts and the Giants-considered by many to be the greatest football game ever played-delivers a brilliant narrative on the game itself, the story behind the key players in that game, and the effect the contest had on the modern game of football and today's NFL.

We met Mark Bowden when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to him t...more

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06/22/09

Jeff rated it:

Read in June, 2009

Almost overnight, the NFL went from a casual pasttime to a national obsession -- played on grass fields, in the rain and snow, featuring superstars who played for the love of the game.

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11/26/08

Tim rated it:

Interesting, well-written story about a truly great game.

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10/29/08

Jason rated it:

Read in October, 2008

recommended to Jason by: Dolli, the greatest mother-in-law in the world!
recommends it for: Football people

I enjoyed this book, just not as much as I had hoped, to be honest with you. If you're into football, it is a great look into why the game is what it is today. I thought the background into the key players really made the story of the actual game come alive. If you're a football person, pick it up for a relatively quick read. If you're not really into the game, the book wouldn't be worth your time.

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11/03/08

Jim rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in January, 2009

A good book, because I learned a lot about the game that I did not know. But, it was laced with over-used anecdotes. My standard in this genre is "When Pride Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi" by David Marannis I also loved "Johnny U" by Callahan. This book doesn't stack up to either standard.

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