Customer Reviews

The Impossible Team: The Worst to First Patriots' Super Bowl Season

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

 

 

If you want to relive the magical 2001 season, spend your money on Pepper Johnson's "Won for All" or the Herald's recap of the season, or the "Patriots United" coffee-table book.

Nick Cafardo, a Boston Globe sportswriter, has never shown much talent as a columnist, and his lack of ability is amplified in a work the length of a book. Even worse, in a book that's supposed to be about the 2001 team's march to the title, he couldn't help but continue carrying water for two of his favorites -- Terry Glenn and Drew Bledsoe, constantly making excuses for them. For example, out of nowhere and out of context, he inserts a laughable screed against anyone who dares to criticize Bledsoe. It's bizarre! It's as if he had this whole rant built up and couldn't figure out where to put it and then couldn't contain it anymore and had to stick it wherever he happened to be in the book.

Save your money and go elsewhere. Or if you do feel compelled to read it, use a library.

The book has dozens of interesting tidbits, such as the source of the Faulk pass to Brady. It has some great quotes from both Patriots and their opponents. Unfortunately, much of it is lost in a writing style worthy of a sixth grade essay. It almost seems like Nick Cafardo read conversations into a tape recorder and then just wrote them out verbatim. He also has the odd habit of disecting individual games during the Patriots' run backwards. He will discuss second half tactics first, and then go onto the first half. Disconcerting to say the least.
In my opinion, this book was poorly put together and then rushed out the door so it would be out while the Patriots Superbowl win was still fresh on New Englander's minds and they would pick up the book. Well, they got me. Don't let them get you.

Who let Cafardo write this book

To truly understand how magical the Pats title was...one would have had to believe.

Cafardo didn't

Heck, as much as I hate The Curly Haired Boyfriend Dan Shaugnessey....he would have given this team it's proper poetic justice

The least the publisher could do was put a subtitle on the cover that says that this is a poorly structured book of strung together game reports one could find in the archive of the Boston Globe.

Sheesh. If a fifth grader handed this manuscript in, he would get a D. One sentence paragraphs, factual errors repeated throughout the book (i.e. Pats were in Superbowl XXXI, not XXX; Jets beat the Raiders to get the Pats first round bye - not Bills beat Jets, etc.), disconcerting game reviews where the second half is reviewed before the first half, cliches, etc.

The Pats' championship season deserved a lot better than this.

Ok, so people are still thinking that the Patriots run to the Super Bowl was a fluke. Well, in The Impossible Team it proves that with teamwork, and effort, the Patriots were certainly not a fluke. With the intro by Troy Brown and the afterword by Adam Vinatieri, its a great book to know what happened behind the scenes. Written in a newspaper format, it starts with the Super Bowl and then evaluates every game, including inside stories on Bledsoe and Glenn. Its a great book and Nick Cafardo is a well known journalist that Pats fans love! I strongly suggest getting the book, its a great read!

High quality pictures, very much a collectible. Literature okay at best. Buy it for memorabilia not for content

The book just brought everything back to me. It's written in an easy, logical order. It has great insights on some of the big moments, great anecdotes on the season. Mr. Cafardo has long been one of my favorite sports writers. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in reading a heart-warming sports story.

The 2001 Patriots may have been the greatet TEAM of all time and were led by the coaching equivalent to Einstein. Unlike the 2001 Rams the patriots worked as a colllective whole not as individuals. This book shows how the Patriots overcame the challenges that they encountered and tells the world that no one person in equal to the power of a team. The prolouge and epilouge show how unselfish even the best players on the team were and how they gave up all the glamour to win a title. In a world that is obsessed with the color green, the patriots showed the true spirit of the post 9-11 U.S. by chosing unity over anything else. In the way entire world looked upon the colonies struggle against England in 1775, the media gave the Patriots no chance of hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy. The Patriots shocked the whole world with Vinitiari's kick and almost caused the Superdome to crumble with celebration. Belichick devised a game plan comparable to the D-Day invasion or Hannibal' Battle of Cannae. It may have been the greatest footballl gameplan of all time.

Cafardo portrays the Patriots excellently but make several mistakes on certain inforamtion. But the mistakes can be easily ignored when the reader reflects on the entire story.

The Cinderella season of the patriots is captured magnificently in this book. "The Impossible Team" takes you back to the glorious season that shocked the NFL. Nick Cafardo's great storytelling coupled with the key interviews and comments from all involved makes this a can't pass up book if your a new england sports fan.