Product Description

Sportswriter John Feinstein returns to the arena of his most successful book, "A Season on the Brink", taking readers inside college basketball's Atlantic Coast Conference--a group of nine colleges renowned for its championship teams, as well as for the pros it has produced of photos Targeted print ads. Radio satellite tours (Sports)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1579312 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

Amazon.com Review
In terms of work ethic, John Feinstein is the sports equivalent of Stephen King: he's tireless, prolific, and multifaceted. With a past-performance line that includes A Season on the Brink, A Good Walk Spoiled, and A Civil War, he's regularly in the running for his genre's MVP. A March to Madness, which chronicles the 1996-97 Atlantic Coast Conference's ineluctable journey to March Madness, continues his string. Exhaustively reported, and penned with as much poignancy as panache, it's the story of the most competitive college basketball conference in the U.S., filtered through the eyes--and complex lives--of its head coaches. Coaching young in-your-faces is never easy; it's even harder in a pressure cooker such as the ACC, where expectations are enormous, winning is essential, and an NCAA tournament bid is requisite for survival. Feinstein had remarkable access to his high-profile, high-strung subjects, such as Dean Smith, Bobby Cremins, and Mike Krzyzewski, and the drama he records is every bit as fast-paced and stunning as a close Duke-North Carolina game with the final seconds ticking off the clock.

From Library Journal
The list of great sports books about anything but baseball is limited, but Feinstein (A Civil War, LJ 10/1/96) has increased it by one with this tour-de-force. Similar to his book about Indiana University Coach Bob Knight, A Season on the Brink (S. & S.,1988), Feinstein's latest covers one year with all of the teams in the perennially powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. After introducing each of the schools, their teams, their coaches, and their expectations for the 1996/97 basketball season, the book describes their progress week by week, culminating with Dean Smith's run to the NCAA Final Four. Such a detailed accounting of a sports season could seem interminable to readers, but Feinstein has again produced a narrative that is not only interesting but often exciting. He conveys the exhiliration of a road conference win and the gloom of a home loss. This book should appeal to all readers, not just to sports fans. Highly recommended for all libraries.?William O. Scheeren, Hempfield Area H.S. Lib., Greensburg, Pa.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
After writing about football (A Civil War, 1996) and golf (A Good Walk Spoiled, 1995), bestselling author Feinstein returns to his true love, college basketball in the ACC. With such perennial superpowers as Duke and North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference is the place to go for particularly dramatic and hard-fought hoops glory. Last season's ACC, the subject of Feinstein's book, had no shortage of drama, with Duke's head coach Mike Krzyzewski coming back from a year of surgery and burnout, UNC legend Dean Smith aiming for the record as winningest basketball coach in college history, and Wake Forest senior star Tim Duncan eschewing an early exit to the pros. Feinstein was given unprecedented access: Seven of the league's nine head coaches allowed him to attend all practices, locker-room sessions, and staff meetings, and two others permitted him unusually lengthy interviews. As he has proven repeatedly, this writer knows how to use such access to great advantage, finding the telling moment or detail, reading the mindset of participating athletes and coaches with uncommon astuteness. This volume is no exception. Moreover, he pulls off the difficult feat of keeping nine narratives moving relatively seamlessly. The coaches are the primary focus here, and Feinstein is particularly good at conveying the exhausting pressures of a high-profile coaching job in which everything one does is subjected to endless media scrutiny and public comment. Regrettably, one wishes that he had devoted more attention to the sociology of big-college sports. By avoiding some of the political and social ramifications, Feinstein ends up with a volume that feels a bit thinner than his best work. On the other hand, since Smith's surprising retirement announcement in October, the book does take on the added luster of recounting the final season of a remarkable career. Whatever this book's shortcomings, Feinstein still has a great shooting touch, and this one is a three-pointer from downtown. Swish! (For a look at Hoosier high-school hoops, see William Gildea's Where the Game Matters Most, p. 1685.) (Book-of- the-Month Club selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Hidden Bias Laces Otherwise Great Book
If you can get past obvious Duke bias (and overall ACC bias), you can get a good basketball fix from this one. Feinstein (a Duke graduate) constantly laces read between the lines jabs at North Carolina and NC State. You'll read comments such as "No other ACC coach seems to like Dean Smith, but that's probably because he wins so much" scattered throughout. He refers to the ACC tournament play-in game as "The Les Robinson Game" about 20 times - an obvious shot at the previous NC State coach. Also, the first time I read about UNC having a "wine and cheese" crowd I laughed, but by the 4th time it was annoying. Now, I don't mind a jab here or there, but the lack of similar jabs and critical comments against the other coaches (*especially* Duke) really wore on me after awhile. Is it coincidence that the two teams that refused Feinstein direct locker room access come across the worst? The Duke bias is clearly evident (You'll think Steve Wojo is the second best player in the league after Tim Duncan if you don't know better). Feinstein also spends the first 95% of the book gushing about how wonderful the ACC is, but spends the last 5% apologizing for the league's general collapse in the NCAA Tournament. Snaps at other conferences (like the Big East) really aren't necessary. It would be nice if he gave the rest of college basketball a little credit. I mean, in retrospect, many observers felt that the PAC10 was the best conference that year. Anyways, despite the flaws, I wanted a college basketball fix - and this book gave me one.

Maybe the best sports book I've ever read
...and certainly the best book on basketball I've read. Better for me than A Season On the Brink - better written, and the central characters are more sympathetic than Bobby Knight. But I'm a long-time ACC fan.

The book gives you great perspective on life as a basketball coach: how hard it is to climb the ladder, how uncertain the job is, how coaches' success depends on recruiting great players. The best parts of this book are the portraits of the coaches and how they got where they are today. Stories about Bob Kennedy and Gary Williams getting into a screaming match at the scorers table as assistant coaches; Jim Valvano and Rick Pitino at basketball camps in the off-season; and so on. Really compelling stories about the basketball life, including comments on the toll it takes on coaches' marriages.

The book has some drawbacks. For one, you almost need to be an ACC fan. I was already familiar with and interested in most of the characters in the book, but fans in other parts of the country may not be. Also, as time goes by and people move on out of the ACC, the book may become less and less relevent. All the players from that season are gone; many of the coaches too. I think only Herb Sendek, Dave Odom, Gary Williams, Mike Krz. are still coaching at those schools: gone are Rick Barnes, Pat Kennedy, Bobby Cremins, Jeff Jones, and of course El Deano. And the book really doesn't focus on the players at all: it's almost entirely about the coaches.

But some of the criticisms made by other reviewers don't seem valid to me: (1) Duke - I thought Feinstein bent over backwards NOT to show a Duke bias. But Duke finished first in the league that year, Duke has been one of the dominant programs in the game, plus Feinstein had some compelling stuff about Duke. Of course they took a prominent position in the book. (2) Dean - I thought Feinstein painted a great and fair portrait of Dean Smith. You get a real feel for the competitive old gentleman, who drinks scotch and beats the pants off you, but is the only ACC coach who doesn't swear ("My parents would never speak to me again."). Opinions of and reactions to Smith permeate the league (of course), so a lot of what other people say about Smith contains little jabs and digs. Feinstein reports on the long-running feuds between Smith and the other colorful coaches in the league, like Lefty Dreisell. But I think Feinstein's attitude is completely respectful. See the introduction, where a fan suggests the game may have passed Smith by, and Feinstein rattles off "Fourteen straight wins, another Final Four appearance..." etc. Feinstein doesn't get as CLOSE to Dean as he does to the other players, but that's not too surprising. (3) The "Les Robinson Game" - Feinstein reports that's what the league COACHES call it, not a nickname he made up. (4) Carolina-Duke - Well, this game is one of the centerpieces of the college basketball season, especially when it's played in Cameron. The league just announced its new TV schedule, and the headline was when the 2 Carolina-Duke games were and what national broadcasters are going to carry them. Of course Feinstein spends a chapter on it. No book on the ACC would be complete without... etc.

So some of the criticisms don't make sense to me. But we all seem to agree this is an excellent book. If you have ANY interest in college basketball, this is one bok you have to read.

If you don't love ACC basketball now...
you will after reading this book. I read the "Madness" in my first year of college at UVA- the year after it was published- and a love affair began. Whereas I used to not care less about basketball, this book signed over my life to the ACC. The soap opera-like stories, play-by-play excitement, and obvious love for the game captured me, and ever since I have been a virtual hermit during March. The biases are there, but that's part of the charm. In the ACC you love your team, but you love the game even more.