Customer Reviews

The Game of Their Lives

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I felt the book was good and it showed how guys with desire and determination can win even though the odds are against them. Also, the fact that 5 of the starting players on the team were from St Louis, Missouri, and knew each other helped bring together a winning combination. Walter Bahr and Ed McElvinney played together for the Philadelphia Nationals, as well as John Souza and Ed Souza who played together in Falls River,Massachusetts. In previous years, many of us have played against each other. The 1950 game was a most memorable experience for me as goalie for the USA team.

In the 1950 World Cup, the United States fielded a team of scrappy immigrants' sons which the world refused to take seriously. Three games later, respect had been gained. The U.S. had defeated England, the land where soccer was born, in the most shocking upset in World Cup history, 1 goal to none.

Far beyond a story of a sporting journey to Brazil in 1950, The Game of Their Lives offers a glimpse into the lives of eleven elegantly simple Americans. Centering on 50's St. Louis, then the soccer capital of the U.S., these men recount life growing up as a first-generation American. This inspiring tale is a humbling read in the face of the millions pro athletes make today. There was a time when the sheer thrill of victory and the honor of playing for your country was pay enough.

Douglas recaptures an inspiration created 47 years ago and immortalizes it for all in the pages of this book. A must-read for any U.S. soccer fan.

I grew up watching soccer. I enjoyed playing soccer with friends and then later for my high school team. In this country soccer is considered to be mostly enjoyed by kids. It is growing in popularity; it just has not crossed that threshold or the tipping point to take it into the mainstream. After watching the U.S. Soccer team's great run in the Confederation Cup this past summer culminating in the loss to Brazil, the most feared team of this time, I was inspired to find a book written about the game of soccer. I came across a book titled The Game of their Lives authored by Geoffrey Douglas and this is the subject of this review.

The setting of the book is about a famous soccer match between the United States and England, the most feared team of that time, in the 1950 World Cup. Although at times in the beginning of the story the detailed play by play account of the soccer match can seem to be tedious reading, the author does convey the beauty of the game of soccer in a concise manner and also providing some history throughout the book. The author provides some of the best descriptions of the game of soccer in small doses throughout the book. At one point in the beginning of the book, the author goes on a smooth ride describing the gorgeous game of soccer. The following is an example from the book comparing the sport of soccer to other sports:

"The rhythms of most sports rely on stop-and-start devisements: four downs, nine innings, eighteen holes-and play is halted, breaths are caught, adrenaline depletes. In soccer, where play is continuous-there are no huddles, inning changes, set pieces, or lulls between tackles or points-the rhythms determine themselves."

Throughout the book the author appropriately conveys the reason why soccer is an exciting game. Having stated that, this book is not only about soccer, it's about the lives of the players that were on that famous 1950 US soccer national team. The book gives a glimpse about how it was like growing up in America during the depression of the 1930's. Furthermore it's also about the life of immigrant families during that time and also the family life. As the author indicates he was sharing the living history of these soccer players. Living history........yeah I think that's what a good historian does. I thought that at times the back and forth transitions between the soccer match and the history of the players on the team seemed to not flow smoothly and also diminished the building suspense of the soccer match, I think with some patient reading Douglas does communicate this living history. It is a challenging task to merge two different aspects, such as a description of the game of soccer with a history of the players; in this case I thought it was a valiant effort and with some patient reading Douglas does communicate this living history.

I would recommend this book for those young soccer players, and also for those that are interested in the account of this 1950 United States vs England World Cup Match. This is an apt book to consider reading ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Also, this would be an interesting reading for those that are interested in history, particular the history of immigrant families in the United States. The book gives a nice perspective on the life of immigrant families.

(Check out my webiste: Excitement of Reading Books)

Rather than investigating the events surrounding the team from an academic or even journalistic perspective, Douglas basically records the recollections of the surviving members, with more emphasis on their idyllic childhoods than anything that happened at or after the World Cup. There was much more material to be had here had the book had a wider scope or more comprehensive research. As an example, Walter Bahr is one of the seminal figures of American soccer, but the descriptions of him in the book are limited to sepia-toned recollections of his youth in "simpler times." Still and all, it is nice to read about a team that history has not accorded its due, and if one can accept the book for what it is rather than wishing it were something more, the short time it takes to read it is worthwhile.

Although the movie may be missing pieces here and there or not go deep enough into character development, it's still a good heartwarming story. Any person with a true love for the sport will connect with it in some way.

I would recommend this book a US soccer fan that may only know the final score for this historic game. This book does describe the state of US soccer in the 50's. For example, some people may not be aware that there is a national club championship open to all US teams (the National Challenge Cup, today this cup tournament is called the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup). This team was made up of players that came from some of the teams that won the cup such as Simpkins-Ford (1948 & 1950 with Gino Pariano, Charlie Colombo, Frank Borghi, and Frank Wallace) or New York Brookhattan (1945 Joe Gaetjens team). For the die hard soccer fan this book needs more details on how this team won its spot in the World Cup. Also, there really is not enough detail on the game itself, which may be a result of the dearth of information even at the time (still there is enough there to get your hear pounding and help the reader imagine the excitement of the game). Considering how the English team felt humiliated by result they sure did not want to discuss the game and the US press could hardly care any less. Also, it would be nice to have the perspective of the English players; however, that was not the writer's purpose. This is a story about the men who played the game because they loved it. There needs to be a more detailed treatment of these men and specifically Joseph "Joe" Gaetjens. That being said there is not much out there on the subject and this is still an enjoyable story of perseverance. I hope this book and the upcoming movie bring more people to examine this

I can understand those who want more about the soccer than the team members. But consider that this book isn't just about the upset, it's about the people who made it happen. It's as much about the social history of the team as anything else. Could the author have spent more time following up reserves and scouring the globe for accounts of the game? Probably.

But I think the story would suffer for that. Could someone write a focused, technical account of the game and the 1950 World Cup? Probably. But the social and personal contexts enrich the story. It could stand to be a little longer, and perhaps fleshing out the other team members would help in that regard. But what there is of this book is more interesting because we're given background.

The book weaves together a description of the game with the lives of the five surving members (out of eleven) who took the field that day. And thus, is truly a human interest story - we get to know the lives of these five men and what shaped them before and after in detail.

That said, I must note the limited scope of the book. Its small size (only 145 pages, no index and a few photos)and its lack of detail regarding the deceased members, the substitute players and the rest of the tournament leave an opening for someone to write, perhaps, a companion book to this. Certainly, the comprehensive version of this story has yet to be written.

Ne Video. excellent condition. love th movie being from St Louis and having seen several of these players play in thier prime.

Got this book for my son but read it myself. Very well written when describing the game. But while the background of the players is interesting, the book takes too much time in these areas and gets somewhat bogged down. Both my son and I enjoyed the book, but skipped through several of these parts.It's amazing to realize what these players accomplished and how liitle known their feat is.