Full Court Press [Paperback]

Mike Lupica (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2002

A three-ring circus ensues when a woman plays in the NBA for the first time-and for the worst team in the league.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A hilarious satire of the NBA. (Orlando Sentinel) Drop-dead hilarious. (New York Daily News) Sportswriter Mike Lupica takes you on a wild, witty ride. (Lexington Herald Leader)

About the Author

Mike Lupica is the author of five novels and several works of nonfiction, including Summer of '98 and Mad as Hell. His columns for the New York Daily News are syndicated nationwide, and he is a regular on ESPN's The Sports Reporters. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Jove (October 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515133647
• ISBN-13: 978-0515133646
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,244,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Lupica is one of the most prominent sports writers in America. His longevity at the top of his field is based on his experience and insider's knowledge, coupled with a provocative presentation that takes an uncompromising look at the tumultuous world of professional sports. Today he is a syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News, which includes his popular "Shooting from the Lip" column, which appears every Sunday. He began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post at age 23. He became the youngest columnist ever at a New York paper with the New York Daily News, which he joined in 1977. For more than 30 years, Lupica has added magazines, novels, sports biographies, other non-fiction books on sports, as well as television to his professional resume. For the past fifteen years, he has been a TV anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He also hosted his own program, The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2. In 1987, Lupica launched "The Sporting Life" column in Esquire magazine. He has published articles in other magazines, including Sport, World Tennis, Tennis, Golf Digest, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, Men's Journal and Parade. He has received numerous honors, including the 2003 Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation. Mike Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells, collaborated with noted author and screenwriter, William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year, and wrote The Summer of '98, Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away from the Fans and How We Get It Back and Shooting From the Lip, a collection of columns. In addition, he has written a number of novels, including Dead Air, Extra Credits, Limited Partner, Jump, Full Court Press, Red Zone, Too Far and national bestsellers Wild Pitch and Bump and Run. Dead Air was nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Mystery and became a CBS television move, "Money, Power, Murder" to which Lupica contributed the teleplay. Over the years he has been a regular on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. On the radio, he has made frequent appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s. His previous young adult novels, Travel Team, Heat, Miracle on 49th Street, and the summer hit for 2007, Summer Ball, have shot up the New York Times bestseller list. Lupica is also what he describes as a "serial Little League coach," a youth basketball coach, and a soccer coach for his four children, three sons and a daughter. He and his family live in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great storytelling, November 11, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Full Court Press (Hardcover)

In New York winning is everything. Professional sports die without championships or at least a temporary draw until the victories return. The New York Knights have neither so the attendance is down. Owner Michael De la Cruz informs scout Eddie Holtz that he better come up with a superstar or find work overseas. In Europe, Eddie checks out former NBA great Earthwind, but feels raptures watching the point guard, a D. Gerard pull a series of magic acts. After the game ends, Eddie meets Gerard whose first initial stands for Dee, a female.

Eddie calls his boss, who sees an opportunity to fill a few seats with a wiggle and jiggle. However, the other owners and many of the players make it clear that the NBA stands for no babes allowed. Talented enough to compete, will Dee obtain the opportunity to break the gender line?

FULL COURT PRESS is a fast breaking sports novel that genre fans will either love or hate depending on the reaction to the basic premise that a woman is capable of playing in the NBA. The story line is fun as Dee seems genuine (wonder if she is modeled after a WNBA guard like Stacey or Stiles?) and the reactions to her seem humorous and ludicrous at the same time. Mike Lupica provides a slam dunk tale that will entertain readers even as many wonder how they would look one on one with Leslie or Dydek (beside feeling short).

Harriet Klausner

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hindenberg?, March 20, 2002

By 

spike (Chicago, Il) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Court Press (Hardcover)

As a working sportswriter, like myself, the author should know that there is not a single player in today's NBA who would knock an opponent to the court, then utter the words: "You went down harder than the Hindenberg!" I doubt whether there is a single active pro basketball player that could even identify the Hindenberg, let alone use it as a taunt. (Who edited this novel?)

That sort of preposterous dialog -- and the hackneyed romance between Dee and her coach -- made it difficult to fully to enjoy Lupica's well-intentioned little fantasy.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great banter, fun characters, but..., March 2, 2002

By 

"curtcow" (Short Hills, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Court Press (Audio Cassette)

Lupica's got a great ear for the banter of the game and the City. He needed every bit of it to penetrate the blanket of intense namedropping, a syncophantic suck-up to Imus (Mo Jiggy in an Imus ranch hat) and overreaching for similes and metaphors (how does Earthwind snort the GNP of a city, Mike, and what is a "Gulfstream ex"?). I had it at 4 stars most of the way, but the last third really bogged down.

Eddie Holtz, jock with a blown out knee now scouting for the NY Knights (how many times has that set up been used?) discovers Dee Girard at a charity game in Monaco. She's the ultra cool 32-year-old daughter NY playground legend Cecil "Cool Daddy" Cody and the beautiful Swedish dancer Cool Daddy hooked up with in the late 60s. Eddie thinks she's as good as any point guard in the NBA, and Knights owner Michael De la Cruz sees headlines and ticket sales.

Some great characters: Knights Coach Bobby Carlino is a blatant composite of Rick Pitino and PJ Carlessimo complete with a bad boy player shoving his whistle down his throat when the coach lets his team rough Dee up. Eddie brings in Mo Jiggy, rap star turned sports agent from "Bump and Run", and the partnership of two super bright street-smart kids from the hood is born.

The last 40% or so isn't really a plot but a bunch of games, name dropping and trivia (like the female AAU phenom from the 50s who drops in on Dee in Minneapolis). The real story of Cool Daddy comes out. So what if he's more of a hustler than a hoopster, but bringing him back from the dead was a little much.

It had some great dialogue, fun characters but a little too much junk in between to make it a top tier story.