JANUARY 2022 - AudioFile
The venerable sportswriter John Feinstein dives into a topical subject that draws strong opinions and whose tentacles reach across fields and courts: race and sports. Feinstein narrates his own work and has grown into a comfortable style as a narrator with his own cadence. He doesn’t imitate anyone except for the drawl of famed basketball coach Lefty Driesell, an imitation that is priceless. This is a meaty topic to be sure, and one Feinstein is up to. His reporting is solid—he did more than 100 interviews for this audiobook—and his narration is comfortable and always respectful of the topic. Those who have any opinion on Colin Kaepernick and/or the hiring (or lack thereof) of minorities in sports will learn a lot from Feinstein’s latest. M.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Absorbing…a comprehensive study of race and sports.”—The Washington Post
“A sobering, carefully written assessment of ongoing inequalities dotted with small victories." —Kirkus
-—Praise for John Feinstein
"Feinstein is the most successful sportswriter in America....He has the gift of re-creating events known to us all while infusing them with excitement, even suspense."—Jay Nordlinger, Wall Street Journal
"The best chronicler in sports journalism."—Craig Smith, Seattle Times
"Feinstein makes you care."—Bruce Fetts, Entertainment Weekly
"One of the best sportswriters alive."—Larry King, USA Today
Library Journal
06/01/2021
Drawing on multiple interviews, veteran sportswriter Feinstein highlights such issues as a lack of diversity among coaching and managerial staff, the undervaluation of Black quarterbacks, and negative responses to players who "raise a fist, take a knee" before the game to demonstrate that professional sports in America are infused with—and in fact perpetuate—racial inequality. With 75,000-copy first printing.
JANUARY 2022 - AudioFile
The venerable sportswriter John Feinstein dives into a topical subject that draws strong opinions and whose tentacles reach across fields and courts: race and sports. Feinstein narrates his own work and has grown into a comfortable style as a narrator with his own cadence. He doesn’t imitate anyone except for the drawl of famed basketball coach Lefty Driesell, an imitation that is priceless. This is a meaty topic to be sure, and one Feinstein is up to. His reporting is solid—he did more than 100 interviews for this audiobook—and his narration is comfortable and always respectful of the topic. Those who have any opinion on Colin Kaepernick and/or the hiring (or lack thereof) of minorities in sports will learn a lot from Feinstein’s latest. M.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-31
One of our most prolific sportswriters examines race and racism in sports.
Black players are prevalent in many areas of professional and college sports. Of the front office and the coaching staff, writes Feinstein, the representation is more skewed. One of the subjects of this fine book is George Raveling, the pioneering Black coach who took the helm of Washington State’s basketball program in 1972 and led it to two NCAA tournaments. “Where I grew up,” he tells Feinstein, “if you were Black, there wasn’t much chance to dream. It was all about survival.” Nonetheless, during his time at Villanova, Raveling played alongside 10 other Black students, all of whom were exemplary: All graduated in four years, half have doctorates, one earned a gold medal in the Olympics, another headed a major corporation. Given equal opportunities, executive performance by Black and White coaches is, yes, equal. However, as Feinstein notes, only one NFL coach has ever been fired after a 10-6 season, and that one was Lovie Smith, who is Black—even though he had led the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl and three playoff berths and been named Coach of the Year. Protests sometimes make a mark, but mostly not. Even with the famed case of Colin Kaepernick and the spread of his custom of taking a knee, the result has been mostly White rage. One Sunday soon after Kaepernick’s first protest, Feinstein notes, “more than two hundred NFL players either knelt or stayed in the locker room during the playing of the anthem. The issue came roaring back—which may have been what Trump wanted: make white America angry at Black America.” Racial tension is endemic and at every level of the game. As Feinstein writes near the end, only a few analysts and sportswriters are Black, and no matter what the race, all “are under what amounts to a gag order on air,” forbidden to raise thorny issues.
A sobering, carefully written assessment of ongoing inequalities dotted with small victories.
