Basketball and everything in between

So the other day I was attempting to think of some original things that I could add to my blog to make it stand out and be original.  I thought that a good thing could be doing a review of all of my basketball books every so often.  I have heaps of basketball books (I counted 40 the other day but I am sure that some of my dodgey friends have some!!) and am constantly re reading them and trying to get some cheap new ones. 

The other day I finished reading my latest re read of the entire Harry Potter series and was looking at my book shelf for a book to read.  I decided to read this awesome novel by my favourite basketball and sports author of all time – John Feinstein  For a complete listing of his works please go to this link and check out what is avaliable.   It is well worth it!

The Last Amateurs emphasizes the efforts of the true scholar-athletes at the highly respected institutions that make up the league, where academics come first, and athletes play for love of the game rather than as a farm team for the NBA.  The story is about the Patriot League   The motto for the Patriot League is ‘Today’s Scholar Athletes, Tommorrow’s Leaders’ and this story emphasises the journey that the players take and the battles that they face.  The 7 teams in the Patriot League at the time the book was written were Bucknell, Army, Navy, Lehigh, Lafayette, Holy Cross, and Colgate. American University has subsequently joined the league. 

One of the most interesting parts of this book is the differences that these students face as compared to other players in their conference.  The players who are at the Navy and Army face huge challenges both academically and socially.  At the end of the season there is a 11-1 tie between Navy and Lafayette and Navy.  A tie break system had to take place to negotiate who would host the final and Lafayette had a better RPI index.

The book outlines some of the unsung heroes of the league.  Each team was only guarnteed one NCAA spot, so the championship game for the league is a huge deal.  Tournament MVP Stefan Ciosici from Lafayette is one of these heroes.  He missed out on the championship game from the previous season due to a knee injury and was unable to celebrate with his team.  He was determined to get the job done and battled with his knee throughout the season.  He was able to celebrate with his teammates and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I can’t remember where I got it from.  I think it was from a bookstore in New York on my first visit to the USA.  If you are keen for a good read, get it!  You won’t regret it. You won’t know any of the players.  Only one player from the Patriot League has gone to the NBA is Adonel Floyd from Colgate.  He was recruited by Duke but decided to go to Colgate. 

Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did!