Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Insightful View of the Rise and Fall of an NFL Dynasty, September 19, 2000
This review is from: Glenn Dickey's 49ers: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the NFL's Greatest Dynasty (Hardcover)
In this book, Glenn Dickey provides an insightful and objective view of the 49ers' history during the ownership of Eddie DeBartolo. In the process, he revealed information about DeBartolo, other team executives, and players that was generally known only to insiders and reporters but not the public. Dickey has never been one to pull punches in his opinions - anybody who read his book "Just Win Baby, Al Davis and his Raiders" would know that Dickey writes about sports figures' character flaws as well as their virtues. This book is full of praise for players, coaches, and executives who deserve it, but it also contains many criticisms of the same people. Consequently, this book is likely to anger obsessed 49er fans who still think that Steve Young should have been traded in order to keep Joe Montana or that all would be well with the 49ers today if Eddie DeBartolo remained the owner. In my opinion, the real strength of the book is that it takes a critical view of the 49ers and isn't written like a marketing brochure or a team press release. Among other things, this book recalls just how badly Eddie DeBartolo blundered during the initial stages of his ownership, especially by hiring the mercurial former Colts general manager Joe Thomas (at the recommendation of Al Davis). Thomas badly mismanaged the drafts and trades. The only thing he managed well was alienating everyone including the players, the media, the fans, former 49er players, SF politicians, and the entire SF community. Had Thomas remained more than two years, he would have surpassed Davis and Charlie Finley as the most despised sports executive in Bay Area history. Dickey showed how DeBartolo wised up and hired Bill Walsh, effectively rescuing the franchise. 49er fans knew of DeBartolo's generosity in terms of paying high player salaries. Few knew, as this book reveals, that DeBartolo had a penchant for excessive drinking, gambling, and womanizing and that it took a combination of his father, Edward DeBartolo Sr., and Carmen Policy to effectively babysit Eddie and rein in his behavior. The fans and the community might not have been so charitable had they known of DeBartolo's behavior as well as the fact that during several alcohol-induced rages he ordered Bill Walsh fired only to have Policy "forget" until he sobered up. Dickey wasn't shy about criticizing other flaws in the organization such as head coach George Seifert's meddling in the offense even though he knew little about offense or Vinnie Cerrato's poor judgement with the 49er drafts in the post-Walsh era. Dickey also stated that Steve Young was superior to Joe Montana by 1992 when 49er fans were calling for Montana to start despite not playing for two years. Even Walsh does not escape criticism since his personnel decisions since returning as GM have been less than stellar. There is an obvious implication that Walsh's time as a top NFL executive has passed. The book is not without some errors. In one instance, Dickey referred to Vikings WR Chris Carter as having a great game in Minnesota's win over SF in the 1987 playoffs. That, of course, was Anthony Carter; Cris (without an 'h') still plays for the Vikings. He also referred to Chris Bahr as having kicked the winning FG in the NY Giants 15-13 playoff win over SF in January, 1991 - actually, it was Chris' brother Matt. Chris kicked for the Raiders and had retired by then. Those are minor though and this book makes excellent reading for fans who are not mere cheerleaders for the 49ers.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A must-read for San Francisco 49er fans, September 29, 2000
This review is from: Glenn Dickey's 49ers: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the NFL's Greatest Dynasty (Hardcover)
Glenn Dickey, sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is the writer that many fans "love to hate." Mostly, this because he is never afraid to present perspectives that are highly critical of hometown teams and personalities. In taking this iconoclastic perspective, occasionally he has committed memorable gaffes--for example, his suggestion years ago that Joe Montana and his wife should have foreseen that Jennifer's January due date for giving birth would be a distraction for Joe during the playoffs. Such displays of poor judgment aside, however, Dickey remains a highly insightful and skillful writer whose column is practically always a good read. Aside from writing columns, Dickey has written fifteen books, including works on the Raiders and the 49ers. *Glenn Dickey's 49ers* is an all-too-short but still highly valuable recent history of the Bay Area's most successful franchise, and I recommend it to all fans of the red and gold. Over the years, Dickey has spent time one-on-one with many of the principal personalities involved with the "rise, fall, and rebirth of the NFL's greatest dynasty," and consequently has had access to insights and information that make for fascinating reading in this book. Although Dickey has a reputation for being harsh in his judgments and appraisal of people, he actually is careful here to present both the strengths and weaknesses of the "heavies" in 49ers history, including Walsh, DeBartolo, Policy, Seifert, etc. Only that jerk of legendary proportions, Joe Thomas, is portrayed in an unrelentingly negative light. On the basis of reading this book, fans will come to realize that Eddie Debartolo's ultimate self-destruction as an owner and as a person was almost inevitable from the start and, in fact, reflected the flip side of the very human qualities that made him such an endearing and generous team owner. Dickey is also careful to point out that the recent downfall of the team was really inevitable, and should not be blamed on any particular decisions by anyone, including former team President Carmen Policy. Overall, then, Dickey presents a balanced and realistic view of the team's recent history, one that all fans of the franchise should enjoy. The book is flawed, however, in being a bit on the brief side--by expanding somewhat on the book's 262 pages, Dickey could easily have presented more highlights and information about the team's past twenty years. Perhaps more important, however, is his inexplicable inclusion of numerous silly factual errors, errors that careful editing or even proofreading should have caught and eliminated. A previous reviewer has presented some of these mistakes. Others include identifying Roger Craig as the Most Valuable Player of the Superbowl played in January 1985 (it was actually Joe Montana), and the misspelling of the name of 49er defensive lineman Kevin Fagan as "Fagen." He also misquotes Eddie DeBartolo's memorable exclamation at the news conference anouncing George Seifert's resignation and Steve Mariucci's hiring as head coach. When asked about the fate of then offensive coordinator Marc Trestman, DeBartolo blurted out, "He's gone!" Dickey writes that DeBartolo said, "He's toast!" These are small errors, to be sure, but cumulatively they leave the reader with an impression of carelessness that detracts from the overall impact of what otherwise is a fine book about the San Francisco 49ers.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well-informed tour, September 18, 2000
This review is from: Glenn Dickey's 49ers: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the NFL's Greatest Dynasty (Hardcover)
Glenn Dickey serves as a well-informed tour director as he guides you through two decades of intense, magical, and sometimes crazy 49ER history. His ability to draw upon a vast reservoir of knowledge and information enables him to provide his readers with the feeling that they are observing the inner working s of the 49ER dynasty from the position of an insider. The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Forty Niners will prove to be interesting reading to any sports fan or student of organizational psychology.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
