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9th out of 72 books
—
44 voters
The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever
With unerring insight into the deeper truths of professional sports, John Feinstein explores in riveting detail what happened one night in December 1977 when, as a fistfight broke out on the court between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers, Kermit Washington delivered a punch that nearly killed All-Star Rudy Tomjanovich. The punch-now legendary in the annals of...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
November 4th 2003
by Back Bay Books
(first published November 5th 2002)
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I'm a sucker for good sports writing, so I feel like The Punch kind of sucker punched me. Obviously my expectations were too high. I guess you can't have The Perfect Mile every time.
During a game in 1977 between the Lakers and the Rockets, Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tomjanovich. The punch nearly killed Rudy T. Both men were affected by the event. That's it. That's the story. I thought Feinstein would build on it, writing about violence in basketball, or that he would expand the scope of the...more
During a game in 1977 between the Lakers and the Rockets, Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tomjanovich. The punch nearly killed Rudy T. Both men were affected by the event. That's it. That's the story. I thought Feinstein would build on it, writing about violence in basketball, or that he would expand the scope of the...more
Although "The Punch" is an entertaining and interesting read, it doesn't measure up against some of Feinstein's earlier works such as the outstanding "A Season on the Brink".
"Brink's" power was derived from the incredible, behind-the-scenes reporting of one man over the course of only six months. As a reader, you were given full access to Bob Knight's daily life, and lived the ups and downs of the 86 basketball season along with the players.
On the other hand, "The Punch" is essentially a biograp...more
"Brink's" power was derived from the incredible, behind-the-scenes reporting of one man over the course of only six months. As a reader, you were given full access to Bob Knight's daily life, and lived the ups and downs of the 86 basketball season along with the players.
On the other hand, "The Punch" is essentially a biograp...more
In 1977, Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington became entwined in a single punch that would change not only their lives, but how professional basketball is played today. Because the punch dislodged Tomjanovich's skull and nearly destroyed both men's careers, the scuffle never settled as a dusty bit of NBA trivia. Instead, it nearly superseded both men's notable achievements. The history of that punch (it could not, by any standards, be considered a fight) and the fate of the two men are the sub...more
"Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and hoping the other guy gets sick."
That was basketball legend Rudy Tomjanovich learned on one of the darkest nights in NBA history.
The Houston Rockets were playing the L.A. Lakers. Kermit Washington, an L.A. Laker hired largely as an on-court enforcer/bodyguard for Kareem Abdul Jabar, gets in a fight with the Rocket's center. Tomjanovich, an upstanding though possibly naive superstar, runs to help the player Washington has floored. Washington, the forme...more
That was basketball legend Rudy Tomjanovich learned on one of the darkest nights in NBA history.
The Houston Rockets were playing the L.A. Lakers. Kermit Washington, an L.A. Laker hired largely as an on-court enforcer/bodyguard for Kareem Abdul Jabar, gets in a fight with the Rocket's center. Tomjanovich, an upstanding though possibly naive superstar, runs to help the player Washington has floored. Washington, the forme...more
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I read The Punch, by John Feinstein. This true story tells the story of a single play that changed the game of basketball forever. This moment also changed the lives of both participants during the play drastically. The book gives a detailed insight into the lives of these men before, during, and after the punch. It alternates between the 2 men frequently, allowing the reader to keep a timeline in their head of what happened when.
Personally, I enjoyed reading this novel, as I am a big sports fa...more
Personally, I enjoyed reading this novel, as I am a big sports fa...more
the best and only sports-oriented book i've ever read. so, with that in mind, i would highly recommend this engrossing book. good read for a sociologist, historian, social justice oriented mind. the timing of this historical event is very relevant to the story, but it's also about two very good basketball players and one moment that changed both their lives for good.
This book was recommended to me by a coworker who thought the lessons of the life-long impact of an incident, and how they dealt with it, on two different people would be applicable to some of my own life events. The recommendation was a solid one, and I appreciated learning about (I can't say more because I never knew about "the punch" until I read the book) "the punch" and how Tomjanovich and Washington dealt with not only the physical aftermath of the incident, but also the emotional and ment...more
I really liked this book. Like most other who hear the names Kermit Washington and Rudy T. "the punch" immediately comes to mind despite the fact basketball wouldn't appear on my radar for probably 5-7 years after the event. (Thanks to the media and now the web I've probably viewed replays of the punch 100+ times.) It is amazing how one split second reaction have defined two men who have done everything in their power to distance themselves fromt the event. The accounts of the post punch struggl...more
The book covers not only the incident (Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich on the court during an NBA game in Dec 1977) and its impact on the NBA, but also its impact on the lives of the players involved and their friends and families.
The writing is a bit hokey at times, but I still couldn't put the book down. I think I read it in about a week, which, even with my long commutes, almost never happens. Feinstein is a good writer and an unbelievable researcher. He talks to so many people in...more
The writing is a bit hokey at times, but I still couldn't put the book down. I think I read it in about a week, which, even with my long commutes, almost never happens. Feinstein is a good writer and an unbelievable researcher. He talks to so many people in...more
Feb 11, 2009
Slone
added it
I'm no jock, I don't read the sports section of the paper, and basketball is very low on my list of interests (right about at the level of Japanese beetles), but this was a great book. The author was very even-handed with his portrayal of two lives ripped by one thoughtless moment, and the way the game changed because of it. There are no heroes, no villains, just two people on either side of a fist and circumstance.
I love reading books like this; it makes me feel as though my understanding of a...more
I love reading books like this; it makes me feel as though my understanding of a...more
This book needed a much stronger editor. Entire passages repeated throughout the book, it was oddly sequenced, and two of the most interesting aspects were ignored. He did not go into great detail about the actual injury to Tomjanovich, which was gory and different than one would have expected; nor did he provide needed details about the court case stemming from the fight. I understand that other authors have spent time on these subjects, but if this was to be the definitive book on this subject...more
I thought I knew the story behind "The Punch" - that thug Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tomjanovich in a cheap shot and nearly killed him. As it turns out, both are good men (though not wholesome; Tomjanovich battled alcoholism, Washington destroyed his marriage by cheating on his wife that had been loyal to him) who have had to accept they will be forever defined by those 5 seconds on Dec. 9, 1977. I loved this book and couldn't stop reading it and wished there was more (it was written 2002, I...more
John Feinstein is as good as they come in sports writing. His retelling of the punch that changed the careers of Rudy T. and Kermit Washington makes you feel like it happened just yesterday, while re-living the 1970/80s NBA (before Magic, Larry, and Michael) is well worth the trip.The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever
I grew up watching Rudy T hammer home that 45 degree angle off the backboard jumper, and I remember this like it was yesterday. Still among the most horrific acts of violence in a professional sports contest. Feinstein's books are often on my list, but by the time this one came out, I had wearied of his formulaic approach. Fortunately, this incident didn't lend itself to the Feinstein canned model. As a result, yes you can write an entire book that is worth reading about an incident that took ab...more
This book was in desperate need of better editing. John Feinstein made parts of the book very interesting and compelling, but "The Punch" repeats itself in many places, retelling the same anecdotes at various points, and the narrative lacks any sort of a cohesive order. It's not chronological, it's seemingly not a deliberative retelling of the story from various perspectives, it's just a mishmash.
With good editing, it could have been a five star (shorter) book, but as it is, the best I can give...more
With good editing, it could have been a five star (shorter) book, but as it is, the best I can give...more
I'm not a huge basketball fan. But this story sounded interesting enough, and I always like reading about how professional sports were played in earlier times. John Feinstein is such a good storyteller. This book could have been a newspaper or magazine article, but John does what he does best, and digs in to get the full story. In fact, we're told the story of the punch three times. The first time on fast speed, without a lot of background. Then he goes through the story a bit slower, with lots...more
Although I love sports in general, basketball is one that really leaves me cold. Freakishly talented and physically imposing as these athletes are, I can't get motivated to follow the game, especially the NBA
However Feinstein is a very good writer and spins out the tale of the infamous punching of Rudy Tomjanovich by Kermit Washington into over 300 pages. He does this with a lightness of touch that keeps the ready engaged in the story, although it is a tad overlong for me.
Of particular interest...more
However Feinstein is a very good writer and spins out the tale of the infamous punching of Rudy Tomjanovich by Kermit Washington into over 300 pages. He does this with a lightness of touch that keeps the ready engaged in the story, although it is a tad overlong for me.
Of particular interest...more
Apr 18, 2008
Chelsea
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Chelsea by:
Book Lust
A well-written and engrossing look at one moment that changed the lives not only of the two men involved, but as the title suggests, the entire sport of basketball.
Feinstein did a great job of looking at the context of the punch, not just the one moment that gets shown every time there's a particularly violent act in professional sports. He told the life stories of both Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington, giving them both more depth than they get as a shorthand reference in today's sports cu...more
Feinstein did a great job of looking at the context of the punch, not just the one moment that gets shown every time there's a particularly violent act in professional sports. He told the life stories of both Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington, giving them both more depth than they get as a shorthand reference in today's sports cu...more
Such a good book. I read this a while ago, but basically this book is about the worst fight ever in NBA history, in 1977, in a game between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA was rampant with fights and drugs at the time, and this was kind of the culmination of the escalation of this period.
Rudy Tomjanovich, a star forward for the Rockets was entangled with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the star for the Lakers. Kevin Kunnert, an enforcer/forward with the Rockets set out to break it up a...more
Rudy Tomjanovich, a star forward for the Rockets was entangled with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the star for the Lakers. Kevin Kunnert, an enforcer/forward with the Rockets set out to break it up a...more
On 12/9/77 in a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, an altercation began Kermit Washington and Kevin Kunnert, as was quite common during that era. While running in the direction of the altercation, Rudy Tomjanovich was struck with a punch by Kermit Washington. This punch was so forceful that Tomjanovich later said that it felt like the scoreboard had fallen on him. Indeed, Tomjanovich was nearly killed. This book is about those few seconds, but it is really about much mo...more
Until the more recent Sprewell and Artest shenanigans, the Kermit Washington-Rudy Tomjanovich fight was the most infamous bout of violence in NBA history. It might seem strange to devote an entire book to a single twenty-second incident, but Feinstein does a pretty good job. Of particular interest are the first and third acts of the book, in which Feinstein painstakingly describes Tomjanovich's and Washington's lives leading up to the infamous punch, and in which he describes the aftermath of th...more
I loved this book. I think the author did a fine job of presenting both perspectives while showing the requisite sympathy for Rudy T.
My main complaint...when describing Kermit Washington's restaurant LeSlam he said it was located "in a suburb of Portland".
Excuse me?! Vancouver, WA is NOT a suburb of Portland. Not even the same state. And LeSlam was in Orchards for crying out loud!
I feel like siccing Royce Pollard on this joker. Maybe he could crack a coffee mug over his head and knock some sens...more
My main complaint...when describing Kermit Washington's restaurant LeSlam he said it was located "in a suburb of Portland".
Excuse me?! Vancouver, WA is NOT a suburb of Portland. Not even the same state. And LeSlam was in Orchards for crying out loud!
I feel like siccing Royce Pollard on this joker. Maybe he could crack a coffee mug over his head and knock some sens...more
Stephen King recommended. Stephen King says: "In 1977, an NBA player (Kermit Washington) almost killed another (Rudy Tomjanovich) with one punch. Feinstein has done a great job of showing the consequences that can result when athletes in peak condition start swinging. First published in 2002 and never more current than now, given the recent Pacers-Pistons basketbrawl."
As a life long fan of the Houston Rockets and the championships of the mid 1990s I came to this book out of obligation. When I finished The Punch I was a fan of Feinstein. He is a true writer who happens to focus on sports. It's a delight to catch him on Jim Rome's radio show where I have learned of his insight into all sports. Happy Reading!
This book was a good insight into how that one awful incident in an otherwise ordinary pro basketball game changed two lives forever. My only beef is that I felt the author went too far in trying to evoke sympathy for Kermit Washington. The truth was told...no need to tell more just to make him sound better. Otherwise good book.
I had become familiar with this story when the author was a guest on a national sportstalk radio show and became intrigued by what details he shared on the show. The book did not disappoint. It's a very interesting story stemming from one punch thrown during an NBA game and how lives to this day seem affected by it.
I've always heard references to this event but never really knew all the facts. Washington was also a radio host back when I was living in Portland and I found him to be an articulate thoughtful personality. This book isn't for everyone but if you have an interest in sports it is a good read.
Non-fiction about the punch that Kermit Washington threw at Rudy Tomjonavich in an NBA game in 1977. Interesting information about the punch itself (Rudy T almost died), and the night it happened. Less interesting parallel biographies of the two men. A little repetitive at times.
i was looking forward to reading this book, but ended up being disappointed over all. not because of the story, but rather, it seemed as though it was 100 pages too muchtalk about mailing it in. often, it felt as though a lot of information was repeated just to make the book longer.
Great book. The two main characters are hard people to dislike. You really feel for both of them...Kermit made a mistake that became the perfect storm. Rudy's injuries were horrific, and mentally damaging as well. If you like sports books, Feinstein never disappoints.
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John Feinstein is one of the nation’s most successful and prolific sports authors who has written 24 books to date. His most recent work Are You Kidding Me? , written with Rocco Mediate, was released on May 18, 2009, and is presently on the shelf at bookstores everywhere. In addition, he is an award-winning columnist and regular contributor in both radio and television.
His works include the two t...more
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