The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Book Review: Something here for everyone...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big Michael Lewis fan. I read Moneyball and loved it, but I figured that's because baseball is my favorite sport. So when a colleague got me a copy of Lewis latest book, The Blind Side, I figured I'd read it but not right away; after all football is #3 or #4 on my list of must-watch sports, so what's the rush?
I finally started reading it recently and finished it last night. Now I wish I would have started sooner. It's every bit as good as Moneyball but from a completely different perspective. The Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher, an extremely poor individual from Memphis who is an incredible physical specimen. It's his physical abilities that get everyone's attention, including the NCAA. In fact, if you're looking for a book to show you just how incompetent and silly the NCAA can be, well, you've found the winner with The Blind Side.
Besides the story of Oher, Lewis also uses this book to document the left tackle's meteoric rise in importance and pay scale in the NFL. The book is filled with interesting behind-the-scenes observations from coaches and players alike. For example, I don't think I've ever read so much about Lawrence Taylor's career-ending hit on Joe Theismann.
All in all, this is an excellent summary of a position and a player who is currently still in college but should soon be making his mark in the NFL. It's also an inspiring story of a family who took him in and gave him a chance. In short, there's something in this for everyone regardless of whether you're a big time football fan.
Book Review: Interesting character analysis, what's with the misspellings?
Summary: 4 Stars
I am currently reading this book for the second time. I enjoy the uniqueness of Michael Oher's personality, especially in the context of his personal environment. However, while reading this again I've come across at least four misspelled names without searching them out. Included are misspellings of Matt Leinart (Leinert), Adrian Peterson (Petersen), Patrick Ramsay (Ramsey), and Bob Stoops (Stoopes). I guess I will never understand this amount of errors in a major release. Book Review: Excellent, easy reading for all sports fans.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is simply a great story, with lots of great football intertwined in it. I enjoyed every minute of reading it, and will probably read it again sometime. Highly recommend this book. Book Review: Great look into a life, and the evolution of the left tackle
Summary: 5 Stars
Before reading this book, I figured this would be like 'Moneyball', but more towards football. it is in a way, but this has a lot more info on the life of Michael Oher, and less on the evolution on the left tackle in the game of football. However, that is not to say this is a bad thing. By looking at the life of Oher, and everything about him, from his upbringing, to his recruitment by the biggest names in college football, Michael Lewis tells a great story about not only a person, but about the game of football. This book gives great insight about where the game of football is going, as well as how it has changed in the past couple of decades. Great read, and highly recommended for all football fans. Book Review: Pity the Inner-City Child with the Skills to be a Mortgage Broker or Financier
Summary: 4 Stars
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis continues the discussion started in Moneyball about assessing the value of athletes. This story begins by discussing the role of passing vs. running, the way that a one or two gifted linebackers could put a passing game in jeopardy, and - therefore - the need for even more gifted offensive linemen to stop those linebackers. Since the most vulnerable line of approach for the quarterback is from the right linebacker, then the left offensive tackle is now exceptionally valuable. The title The Blind Spot refers to the, usually right-handed, quarterback's blind spot to his left as he prepares to pass.
However, in a very real sense, this book is really about our inability to see the inherent value in the people who are around us every day. Michael Oher - pronounced like oar - is the left tackle profiled in the book. Through a series of unlikely events Mr Oher goes from being a gentle giant of a teenager with no family, no education, and no future except, perhaps, as a bodyguard to a functional college student with tremendous potential as a professional athlete and/or businessman. This is the real story of The Blind Side.
The real question that must be asked after reading this book is how much human talent and capital is being wasted because we simply can not see it in front of us. If we could only find and develop that talent, how much richer, healthier, and free would we be as a country? The answer is not clear.
Nor is the story of Mr Oher completely finished yet. At the risk of passing a judgement that I'm not qualified to give, Mr Oher seems to have had some sort of mild autism, which ironically protected him from some of the more unsavory elements in his environment. Even so, the hardest challenges may be yet ahead of him. Many gifted athletes from Jim Thorpe to Mike Tyson have allowed fame and wealth to destroy them.
This is a thought provoking book that can be read on many levels. Strongly recommended.