2024 the best game i ever played review

Price: $19.95
(as of Nov 07, 2024 02:08:13 UTC - Details)

The Best Game Ever is a revealing look at the University of North Carolina Tar Heels' 1956–57 season, one of the most storied in college basketball history. From the first day of practice, when forward Lennie Rosenbluth predicted a winning season, to the final game, a triple-overtime victory over Wilt Chamberlain's legendary Kansas team, the season developed into what many sports historians believe was the start of college basketball hysteria not only on Tobacco Road, but nationwide. The 1956–57 Tar Heels finished a perfect 32-0. The only previous team in Carolina history to achieve perfection was the 1924 team, years before the NCAA Tournament was created.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lyons Press; Reprint edition (October 18, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0762774274
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0762774272
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Reviewer: B Ardell Young
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: SUBTITLE OF BOOK COULD BE THE FRANK MCGUIRE STORY
Review: It is a very good book that will appeal to anyone who remembers the Roche era at South Carolina from 1969 to 1971. The book provides a good look at McGuire's coaching style that no longer exists in college basketball.North Carolina fans of the McGuire years will enjoy the background and current status of the national championship team, and provides details of almost every game of the NCAA championship team.Though, there are only a couple of references to McGuire career at South Carolina, the book would be interesting to anyone that remembers his South Carolina teams from 1964-1973 and how similar they were built to the North Carolina model.The best and only book, to my knowledge, covering McGuire's years at South Carolina is called "Roundball Culture" and is very good. However, it is very hard to find and the price exceeds $ 100.00. It does provide a detailed look inside McGuire's years at South Carolina giving equal attention to each the sixteen years.

Reviewer: Jim Lester
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Tar Heels vs. Jayhawks in the age of Elvis
Review: Which game was the best college basketball game ever? That's an argument that will keep tavern fans talking until last call for sure. In THE BEST GAME EVER Adam Lucas presents a good case for the 1957 triple overtime NCAA championship battle between North Carolina and Kansas. The author labors under a bit of a handicap in that there are no colorful ESPN highlights or even film of the game to compare with later games and the reader has to rely on his or her imagination. But Lucas' vivid writing offers a lot of help here.Before he gets to the actual game the author discusses the recruitment of the incomparable Wilt Chamberlain to Kansas and makes the case that with Chamberlain in the pivot the Jayhawks were regarded as the best team in the field that year even though they lost a couple of games when the other team held the ball in a stall game for most of the contest. But then Lucas tells the story of how Frank McGuire, a transplanted New Yorker, rescued the moribund North Carolina basketball program and led the Tar Heels to an undefeated season in 1956-1957. The story of how McGuire built a recruiting pipeline to New York and filled his starting lineup with players from the Big Apple is not only a fascinating tale in itself but its also an important part of the broader story of how North Carolina and other Atlantic Coast Conference teams evolved into the premier basketball conference in the country.Lucas' treatment of the championship game is interesting and detailed but he is especially strong at describing the aftermath of the game and the impact it had on the history of college basketball. College sports histories often neglect the broader historical implications of their subjects, preferring to stick to game action or jock worship. All in all, Lucas' book is a fast, fun read that will leave you asking yourself "what was the best college basketball game ever?"

Reviewer: jutta Clayton
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This should settle the arguments!
Review: It's really two games. I invited neighbors over to watch on my new TV. Most were NOT big on basketball games. We were playing Michigan State. We had professors pounding on the floor and yelling. One woman couldn't stand the three overtime tension any more and locked herself in the bathroom. When a close friend who had been out of town returned home, I said, "You missed the greatest game ever." But then we had to play Kansas and Wilt Chamberlin. Coach put his shortest player on the floor to tip-off against Wilt. The crowd roared with laughter. Psyched Wilt out of his socks. The game went to triple overtime. I always said the team ("four Irishmen and a Jew") was made up of Drama Majors. Every game in their undefeated season was a cliff hanger. This book captures the whole story, the undefeated season, the finals, the whole nine yards. Don't miss it!

Reviewer: William Stockton
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Tar Heel treasure
Review: Such a fun read. Adam Lucas provides a great look at times gone by. Most important, he allows those of us too young to have been part of that season to enjoy it as if we were there. I can see why it was the greatest game ever played.

Reviewer: David C. Waters
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Remembering the Underground Railroad
Review: Wonderful Memories

Reviewer: Mcgivern Owen L
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Pleasant Trip Down Memory Lane/Tobacco Road.
Review: "The Best Game Ever" is about the 1956-57 University of North Carolina basketball team. All 5 starters and the coach, Queens own Frank McGuire, were New York City guys-"5 Irishmen and a Jew", as the coach termed it. McGuire is the principal character here as the Tar Heels sprint to a perfect 30-0 season and the NCAA championship. The spotlight is on the '57 tournament, in which Carolina won triple overtime victories on successive night to take the college crown. Those victories came against Michigan State in the semi and the University of Kansas in the final. There is virtual play by play commentary on the Kansas game as McGuire and rival coach Dick Harp match strategies. One wonders why the Jayhawks failed to make more use of 7-1 center Wilt Chamberlain or why they let the Tar Heels back in the game by slowing the pace late in the contest. This reviewer would have appreciated a fuller epilogue: What happened to these Tar Heels, especially the colorful McGuire? Chamberlain was so distraught by the loss that he dropped out of school, not to return to the UK campus for over 40 years. There are some factual glitches: Niagara University is located in Niagara Falls, not Buffalo and the old St. Ann's Academy was run by religious brothers, not priests. Also, what "back entrances" of the old Madison Square Garden did kids sneak in? This reviewer -and all his buddies-would have loved to known about that one! Despite the nitpicking, BGE is highly recommended. It is just what it purported itself to be, a straightforward sports story of a specific and special time in college basketball. A solid 4 stars is an appropriate rating but the faithful will wish to add back that 5th Carolina blue and white star.

Reviewer: HoopsFanMI
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Greatest Gift Ever
Review: I gifted this book to my father, a former ACC player and huge college basketball fan. He started reading it the day he got it, went to bed and finsished it the next morning! Even though these games were played over 50 years ago, they are still every bit as exciting today. A MUST read for any college basketball fan.