Customer Reviews

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Co-founder

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of this highly anticipated book and enjoyed every minute of it.

The life events of Bill Bowerman remind me of those in Forrest Gump, while his mind seemed to work much like Leonardo Da Vinci's. He is a descendent of a US President, a product of the Oregon Trail, an unlikely athletic star, a decorated war hero, witness to terrorism, accomplished innovator, co-founder of a fortune 500 company, humble philanthropist and mentor to some of the most amazing people you have never heard of. The pages seem to turn themselves as you anticipate the next defining event in Bill's life.

This book is not only about Bill, as the title suggests. Expect large chunks of multiple chapters to be about the people that came into Bill's life. It is especially a joy to read about Steve Prefontaine and Phil Knight.

My only caution is that those of us who are not fans of track and field may find some of the wonderfully detailed recolections of races rather tedious. None the less, Moore does a great job of keeping the reader engaged.

Nearly anyone can learn something from Bill through Moore's writing. This book is about so much more than running or the founding of Nike. Pick it up and prepare to learn more about life than you ever thought you could.

DISCLOSURE: I must admit that I am a life-long fan of Nike, a UO alum, sports nut, and admirer of Phil Knight. I may be a little biased.

EDIT: In response to a review above. The missing pages contained the forward written by Phil Knight. Legal mumbo jumbo got in the way and the forward was pulled. In a way, it's kid of cool to own a first eddition copy in the even the book goes through multiple printings.

Well-written and researched, this biography paints virtually every facet of Bill Bowerman's life and character across a canvas as broad as the Western skyline. From Bill's adventurous ancestors' settlement in Oregon, to his fatherless upbringing, to his high school sports and military successes, to his coaching, and finally to his entrepreneurial undertakings as a Nike founder, the narrative progresses in a logical, well-organized fashion. Even knowing that Kenny Moore, as one of Bill's unwavering supporters over the years, must have skewed this character study a bit toward the positive, I turned the last page convinced that Bill Bowerman was a multi-talented man of high principle and inquisitive Promethean temperament, who left the sport much better than he found it.

Moore is at his finest when describing training techniques and track performances and when discussing, from his insider's vantage point, Bill's early running shoe prototypes and his relationships with the many talented athletes who ran at Oregon. As a fourth-place Olympic finisher in the same Munich Games where Pre faltered down the home stretch, Moore also did a wonderful job of illustrating how an untimely illness, a poor race plan, or other unfortunate circumstances denied many great champions the elusive Olympic medals by which athletic success is too often measured.

Some of the material is slow-going and somewhat dense in factual detail, however, and a disciplined editor could probably have pared it down by fifty pages or more. In particular, I wished that less text was spent on Bill's ancestors and family, his involvement in World War II and the struggles with Track & Field's governing bodies. That said, I can understand why Moore might have felt compelled to err on the side of over-inclusion when taking on the weighty responsibility of memorializing the life of his beloved coach.

-Kevin Joseph, author of "The Champion Maker"

Kenny Moore has written an OUTSTANDING book about an EXTRAORDINARY man. Bill Bowerman coached the University of Oregon track and cross country teams for 25 years. He led them to National Championships in both sports. He led an extaordinary life.

He was raised by a single mother and participated in track and football as on the high school and collegiate levels. He fought in WWII in the 10th Mountain division. While at UO he help start a shoe company because his athletes could not get a decent pair of running shoes. The company became NIKE.

He coached many Olympians including Kenny Moore(4th place - marathon - Munich '72). He was the head track and field coach at the '72 games. He coached Steve Prefontaine.

Kenny Moore tells the Bowerman story with loving detail. His unique perspective of being one of Bowerman's former athletes gives the book a special glow. Moore is also an excellent writer (Sports Illustrated: "Best Efforts" is a classic). Bowerman was a great man with flaws. Moore paints the complete picture in a loving, understanding fashion. THIS AN OUTSTANDING BOOK!!!

As a former track and cross country athlete, I found this to be an interesting book. I ran for Stanford in the 1970s, so I knew who Coach Bowerman was. It made for good reading and I'll pass it along.

One of the best sportswriters/magazine writers of the last few decades is one Kenny Moore. Sports Illustrated took a serious blow when he cut back (or eliminated?) his writing for that publication. Moore is also rather obscure as his only other book, "Best Efforts," is out of print. It is a fabulous collection of shorts stories about distance running.

Though quantity may be lacking in Moore's book-writing career, he sets a world record here in his excellent biography of Bill Bowerman, his coach at the University of Oregon.

Bowerman was quite the Renaissance Man and ahead of his time, viewing coaching not from a sadistic point of view, but rather one that looks out for an athlete's best physical interests. Bowerman believed rest was as important as hard work so that an athlete may be sharp on meet day. Moore captures this well. In addition, Moore points out Bowerman's forward thinking in being the first to look at rubberized tracks in the U.S., as well as his inventing of the waffle running shoes and co-founding NIKE.

Moore's take looks deep into Bowerman's personality. At first I thought Moore was too forgiving of some of Bowerman's faults, namely his stubborness, the way he could turn on his athletes, his ritual of branding athletes in the sauna with his metal keys, and peeing on them in the shower. Moore it appears wants the reader to make his own judgements as the author's bias and admiration for Bowerman comes through. However, Moore does note that Bowerman could turn on his athletes and co-workers at NIKE rather quickly.

Excellent biographies show the entire person, warts and all. Perhaps we don't get all the warts, but Bowerman is shown as being human, not super human. His wonderful wife, Barbara, is the steadfast, logical person of the family and helps keeps things on the level. Moore also writes this well.

In addition, Moore -- an Olympic Marathoner himself (4th in Munich) -- writes of a lost time of American distance running, when the money was not there and neither were the quality shoes (thus the invention of NIKE). Moore, along with Frank Shorter, Steve Prefontaine, and many of Bowerman's athletes set the stage for today's American distance runners.

Prefontaine's death is chronicled in detail and Moore (a friend of Pre's) seems to remember that tragic time like it was yesterday. Actually, all the detail from that time is in sharp detail in this book.

Bowerman is such an interesting character that even non-track fans would find this book interesting (though some track lingo might lose the average jogger or non-runner).

A fascinating take on an intersting, dynamic charcter and the time in which he lived.

Bill Bowerman lived an extraordinary life by any standards. He was a top college track coach who won four national NCAA track titles, the Olympic track coach during the fateful Munich Olympics, a decorated officer in the mountain/ski battalion during WWII, a co-founder of Nike, and with his millions from Nike, a generous philanthroper.

Bowerman seemed destined to live a life the generated great fascinating stories. Examples: He was coach to the stormy and supremely talented Steve Prefontaine. He (Bowerman) took on the American Athletic Union and its hypocritical stand on amateurism. He was in love with a woman who love him when he was a quarterback for the University of Oregon at the same time that she also loved the quarterback for the University of Southern California--a man who eventually become president of Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. (The woman decided to marry the winner of the UO-USC football game! I won't tell you how that came out.)

As a result, this book is amazingly enjoyable at multiple levels. The stories are fascinating in their own right, but especially because Bowerman's life had as its backdrop some of the most amazing events in American history: the settling of Oregon, the Olympic movement, the running explosion that helped Nike become a multi-billion-dollar company, World War II, Viet Nam, and unrest among black athletes. The stories are skillfully written by Sports Illustrated writer and Olympic runner Kenny Moore, whom Bowerman coached. The book is also a story about character, integrity, and the winning spirit.

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon is more interesting and exciting than fiction. It's a must read for all athletes, especially runners, and it's a great read for everyone else. I highly recommend it.

This is THE book for anyone who ever ran ladders or repeat quarters (if you don't know what that means, you're still going to enjoy the story).

Had the opportunity to get my copy signed by Kenny recently. I told him that nearly lost my composure when I read the intro; if I would've had someone to tell me to slow down during training, I wouldn't have burned out at age 17.

I was bummed that he didn't include the picture of himself and Frank Shorter after the '72 Olympic Marathon; that shot has to win the award for best athletic facial hair by a duo.

The stories are woven together so masterfully, and it's hard to believe that the book covers a full century in time.

In the acknowledgements, Kenny's small note to the runners of Oregon really speaks volumes; namely, he apologizes for compressing and diluting their stories in order to fit them into the book. Anyone who has lived the life will surely understand the significance of that statement.

"Bowerman" is a collector's piece.

Being a native Oregonian, I loooved reading about the Bowerman family history. As a former runner, I enjoyed reading about the races. The book is very detailed and thorough. It's very well done. Enjoy!

I "raced" through this book and now plan to re-read in a more "paced" manner. I had read the excerpt printed in Runner's World magazine (Rodale publishes the magazine and also is the book's publisher) and looked forward to the book with high interest.

I very much enjoyed getting to know much more about Bowerman than I had previously. He was a multi-talented, caring (if somewhat imperfect) individual to whom all of us recreational runners owe a huge debt of gratitude.

I was surprised by the sections on Prefontaine, since Mr. Moore was co-author of the script for the movie "Without Limits". The movie painted a slightly darker picture of Pre than does the book. I was thrilled to hear of Pre's charitable interests and his work in bringing the Norwegians to Oregon.

Like other reviewers, I found some of the track info a bit technical for me, but enjoyed it. Also, I was a bit confused by some of the early Bowerman family chapters.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, however. It is a must read for runners of all types and anyone interested in the life story of a truly exceptional person.

Track and field is lucky to have in Kenny Moore the perfect person to write a biography of coach Bill Bowerman. Kenny not only is a fine writer, but he was coached by Bowerman and was an intimate of the great running guru. I purposely read the book in snippets to drag it out. It was like eating candy. I never wanted it to end. Bowerman came across as a most fascinating individual, not only as a track coach, but as an incredibily complex and talented man.