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30th out of 72 books
—
44 voters
When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball
by
Seth Davis
The dramatic story of how two legendary players burst on the scene in an NCAA championship that gave birth to modern basketball
Thirty years ago, college basketball was not the sport we know today. Few games were televised nationally and the NCAA tournament had just expanded from thirty-two to forty teams. Into this world came two exceptional players: Earvin "Magic" Johnson...more
Thirty years ago, college basketball was not the sport we know today. Few games were televised nationally and the NCAA tournament had just expanded from thirty-two to forty teams. Into this world came two exceptional players: Earvin "Magic" Johnson...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
March 3rd 2009
by Times Books
(first published February 17th 2009)
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Apr 09, 2010
Mahlon
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Basketball Fans
Recommended to Mahlon by:
ESPN
In When March Went Mad, Seth Davis offers a narrative account of the 1979 College Basketball season through the eyes of it's two greatest players, Larry Bird of the Indiana State Sycamores, and Magic Johnson of the Michigan State Spartans, whose teams eventually met in the finals of the NCAA Tournament, with Michigan State winning 75-64. Davis argues that this is the greatest basketball game ever played, both for it's effect on televised college Basketball, and later on the NBA, since both Magic...more
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In 1979 Indiana State with Larry Bird met Michigan State and magic Johnson in a game that caught the imagination of the country and started what has become March Madness. Bird was shy and unsophisticaed. Magic was outgoing and ready for prime time. Both were great players and the rivalry of 1979 would be carried into the pros. The 1979 tournament included Penn which beat UNC to get into the final four coached by Bob Weinhauer who was my high school coach. I remember him slamming me into the blea...more
When March Went Mad by Seth Davis is a compelling story of two basketball players Erving "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird who transformed the game of college basketball. College basketball wasn't nearly the same sport back in the late 70's as it is today. Bird a huge talent out of French Lick, Indiana became the leader of the Indiana State Sycamores from day one. On the other side was Erving "Magic" Johnson who had a winners mentality and his play for the Michigan State Spartans showed that he was...more
Davis is not much of a writer. I'm not sure what qualifies him to be an in-studio analyst, other than he wears a suit well. There's some interesting stuff to be told about the games Magic and Bird played in before their historic (and sadly underwhelming) run-in in the NCAA tournament, as well as a sociological/technological analysis of TV Sports culture, but Davis misses out because he's too busy constructing an extremely simple narrative.
It's very clear his influence is John Feinstein, whose TH...more
It's very clear his influence is John Feinstein, whose TH...more
The 1979 NCAA Basketball Championship was arguably the most important event in college basketball history. Its success spurred the growth of ESPN and excited sports fans all over the country (1/4 of the nation's televisions were tuned to the final game). But more than anything, this is a story of two men who captured the nation with their incredible play and became the new face of basketball. Before they were millionaires in the NBA, Magic and Bird were college rivals, with completely different...more
I started following professional basketball when Michael Jordan was transcending the game with his dominating talent. But he only inherited an NBA already defined by the rivalry of two personalities, Magic and Bird. The games of these two superstars where they go head to head, especially in the NBA Finals are legendary. This started when they both were college basketball stars, in the 1979 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game.
The book details the events that lead to the 1979 Final Four and th...more
The book details the events that lead to the 1979 Final Four and th...more
This book succeeds and fails at the same time. First, Davis does an exceptional job of recreating the 1979 NCAA Championship game and the build up to that game. The reader really gets a feel for the players and coaches of the two seemingly unlikely teams: the Michigan State University Spartans and the Indiana State University Sycamores. Further, he does an excellent job of highlighting the superstars from that season and that game: Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson. As someone whose familiar...more
If you enjoy college basketball and wonder why March Madness is such a huge event, then this book will provide a bit of context. It is the story of the famous match-up between Magic Johnson's (and the high-flying Greg Kelser's) Michigan State Spartans and Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores in the 1979 NCAA basketball championship. The game still has the highest television rating in NCAA basketball history. There are some good reasons for this and Seth Davis explains them well.
As a long-time fa...more
As a long-time fa...more
Davis argues the 1979 NCAA championship game ushered in a new era in college and professional basketball in the United States. Before the era of 24/7 cable sports coverage, before wall-to-wall internet coverage the final game was watched by more people who had ever watched a basketball game before and since.
The author employs a pretty typical journalistic style to tell this story. Chapters or sections of chapters alternate back and forth between the lives of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the su...more
The author employs a pretty typical journalistic style to tell this story. Chapters or sections of chapters alternate back and forth between the lives of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the su...more
So good! I was eagerly anticipating this book, and so to get an ARC of it was really fantastic. I don't know that much about NCAA basketball, but I do enjoy reading about basketball, and I love when basketball books are accessible enough that someone who only knows the basics can understand them. I'd say this fits the bill. [return][return]I watched a lot of basketball as a youngster (growing up in Chicago in the Jordan era mandated that), so I watched Bird and Johnson, and knew about their NBA...more
This is one of the very best sports books that I've read. Davis does a masterful job of weaving the story of the 1979 NCAA championship in men's basketball with the changes that it prompted in television sports coverage, college basketball, and the NBA. Along the way, the reader gets the requisite inside stories on Magic and Bird and their respective backgrounds. To his credit, though, Davis goes beyond that to connect the personalities, backgrounds, and stories of nearly everyone associated wit...more
a very good sports book that chronicled the 1979 NCAA season for the Michigan State Spartans and the Indiana State Sycamores as they eventually met in the final game that was the most watched basketball game ever. Seth Davis did a great job of paralleling the stories of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as they played toward the collision point of this final game. With great research and cooperation from former players, coaches and other people associated with this time Davis really gets you on the i...more
Bird and Magic... You Can't Go Wrong
It might just be impossible to have a book with two better characters: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Two of the greatest, if not the two greatest basketball players of all time. This book does a truly remarkable job of chronicling the 1979 season of the Indiana State Sycamores and the Michigan State Spartans. A lot of attention is paid to the teams, the coaches, the teammates, and the communities that were directly (and sometimes indirectly) affected by their...more
It might just be impossible to have a book with two better characters: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Two of the greatest, if not the two greatest basketball players of all time. This book does a truly remarkable job of chronicling the 1979 season of the Indiana State Sycamores and the Michigan State Spartans. A lot of attention is paid to the teams, the coaches, the teammates, and the communities that were directly (and sometimes indirectly) affected by their...more
March 1979 - College Basketball was turned on its ear and it's never been the same since. That was the year Magic Johnson and Larry Bird faced on in the NCAA College Basketball Championship. Both Magic and Bird were both once in a generation players. Davis takes the reader through the 1978 - 79 season as Michigan State (Magic) and Indiana St (Bird) collide towards a post season showdown. [return][return]Davis captures the magic of college basketball well. He takes the reader back 30 yrs like it...more
Sep 21, 2009
Sherrie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
sports fans, especially NCAA or NBA
Recommended to Sherrie by:
a review
For me personally, this book is a 5 star, and anyone who knows me will understand. I read it in one day. Davis did a great job of re-creating the season itself, especially the two main protagonists. Where he fell short was in his analysis of exactly why this game was what changed college basketball forever--you got the feeling he'd reached his maximum number of pages and just wanted to wrap things up quickly. I could live with that, but other people, not so familiar with that era, will be left p...more
When March Went Mad:
The game that transformed basketball
By Seth Davis
Publisher: Times Books
Published In: New York , New York
Date: 2009
Pgs: 323
Summary:
The story of the rise of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird, their early basketball experiences and the people who influenced them, and the dream season when they reinvigorated college basketball and gave all of us a vision of what the NBA might someday look like. This follows the Michigan State Spartans through their 25-6 season and juxtapose...more
The game that transformed basketball
By Seth Davis
Publisher: Times Books
Published In: New York , New York
Date: 2009
Pgs: 323
Summary:
The story of the rise of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird, their early basketball experiences and the people who influenced them, and the dream season when they reinvigorated college basketball and gave all of us a vision of what the NBA might someday look like. This follows the Michigan State Spartans through their 25-6 season and juxtapose...more
This was an interesting read about the 1979 NCAA basketball championship game between Michigan State and Indiana State. More importantly, it was the first time Earvin "Magic" Johnson of the Spartans went up against Larry Bird of the Sycamores. The two great players would go head-to-head many times in the NBA, and in a way, they also saved that league. But if that's what you want to read about, I suggest you pick up the new Jackie McMullen book, When the Game was Ours. This book focuses primarily...more
Feb 15, 2010
Bruce
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
basketball fans, sports journalism readers
This is a short 4-star book that drops to 3 stars if you bother to read much past about page 250 or so. Davis treats novelistically the 1979 NCAA championship game between Magic Johnson's/Greg Kelser's Michigan State Spartans and Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores taking readers through each team's entire season, playing up major and minor competition, characters, and side-stories. It's sort of a book version of "Hoosiers," really terrific stuff, heavy on back-and-forth action in make-or-break...more
Anyone who likes March madness can appreciate this book, but it helps a lot if you are a Michigan State fan. Or an Indiana State fan but there probably aren't a lot of those around. The author did a good job of presenting the behind the scenes action (recruiting, coaching styles, involvement of the university/community) that contributed to assembling the two teams. He also discusses Bird and Johnson years later but not in great detail. Maybe it would be too fluffy for a real stats afficinado but...more
An excellent behind the scenes story of the 1979 seasons of Larry LEgend and Magic Johnson. The book brought back many memories for me I lived in Southern Indiana for 8 years and saw Larry Bird play as a High Schooler, made many a trip to French Lick Indiana, and saw Larry as a folk hero and as a All American To top it off my roomie was a alum of Michigan State so I guess I was totally immersed in the rivalry and the game. If nothing else the book brought back many fond memories of those years.
a really exceptional telling of the story of the 1979 ncaa basketball final. but, because davis puts it into the context of the rise of cable television and how these two marquee players went on to save (and transform) the nba, we see a much more compelling story.
well-written, well-edited, well-researched, well-done. i don't know if non-basketball fans will appreciate it, but i certainly did.
well-written, well-edited, well-researched, well-done. i don't know if non-basketball fans will appreciate it, but i certainly did.
My review doesn't matter as much as my grandmother-in-law's: She was visiting in March and couldn't put this book down. Granted, she lives in Indiana and likes to read about Larry Bird, but she found this book fascinating.
It may very well apply to everyone, even if you don't like basketball. Consider it a perfect time capsule to 1979.
It may very well apply to everyone, even if you don't like basketball. Consider it a perfect time capsule to 1979.
This was a very good look into the teams and superstars involved in the NCAA Championship game between Michigan St. vs. Indiana St. It outlined the different roads that Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took to get to this game and the different roads these two programs took after it. This is a must read for College Basketball junkies...
May 27, 2009
Christopher Mezzetta
added it
Rare opportunity when I was left alone Sunday to sit on the porch and read. Light reading, walking through the forces converging for a game that drew the top tv rating for any basketball game ever. Fun to read about what a punk Larry Bird was and how hard he took the loss to Michigan State. Read a bit more like journalism.
Good story. Learned some great things about sports history. I appreciated that he didn't tell who won the final game until he got to that point; I didn't know, so I was glad he didn't give it away.
Not the best writing in the world, which made it slower reading. But still very fascinating.
Not the best writing in the world, which made it slower reading. But still very fascinating.
Well-written account of the game "that changed college basketball" between Michigan State (and Magic Johnson) and Indiana State (and Larry Bird). Actually it is more than about "just the game," but all the events at both schools and both players that led to that historical moment.
This is one of those books (I feel) that will be enjoyed much more by someone who lived through the time of the story. That said, it is an interesting book any way you cut it, especially if you like sports. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a basketball aficionado.
Being an alumni of both Springs Valley, and Indiana State I was defintiely biased in favor of the book. The conclusion was poorly written with way to much falling action. However, getting glimpses into the character of Magic and Bird was worth 4 stars.
Aug 10, 2011
Chandler
added it
Great synopsis of the lead up to the historically pivotal 1979 NCAA Championship game between Indiana St and Michigan St. It really makes you wonder what college basketball and NBA would be like today if this game would not have been played.
It was fun to read about the epic match between Magic and Larry in the NCAA national championship game. It is nice to get some of the back story of the Indiana St, and Michigan St. basketball programs. I would recommend this book to basketball fans.
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