Jonesy: Put Your Head Down and Skate: The Improbable Career of Keith Jones [Paperback]

John Buccigross (Author), Keith Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2007

No one in the history of Philadelphia Sports has made a successful career off of being an average player better than Keith Jones. The improbable hockey career of Jonsey started in 1992, when he was with the Washington Capitals. After a brief stint in Colorado, Keith was traded to Philadelphia, where is hard work, dirty play and colorful personality made him one of the more popular players in recent history. Jonsey is the story of Keith s career in the league as well as all of the interesting stories he accumulated over the course of his career, playing with some of the leagues best players in the last 15 years, including Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Mark Recchi and Eric Lindros. The book will include a forward written by Hall of Fame defense-man Ray Bourque.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book, Jonesy: Put Your Head Down And Skate, is a hockey memoir by former Capital, Avalanche and Flyers player Keith Jones, now a radio personality in Philadelphia and an analyst with Versus. I've always liked Jones, on the ice as a gritty player and on the tube as a clean-cut, well-spoken broadcaster. I look forward to games with his intermission commentary because he knows what he's talking about and looks comfortable on the air. As for the book, it traces his extremely improbable rise through the lower Junior ranks (he never played Major Junior) into college at Western Michigan and then on to the Baltimore Skipjacks, a now-defunct AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The Capitals drafted Keith in 1988. As everyone knows, Jones made the Capitals squad and began a fairly lengthy NHL career from that point. In the fall of 1996, Jones was traded to the Avalanche. This, of course, was my favorite part of the book, and he provides a number of interesting little insights into his former teammates. The book is full of excellent anecdotes from Jones' improbable career, and the book really gets going once he reaches the Flyers, a few years and a serious knee injury after being traded to the Avalanche. His battle with a botched ACL surgery makes an engaging story, and you really start to empathize with him. Well, at least I do, since I had knee surgery in April and my leg is still not back to normal. I'm no professional ice hockey player, but I feel his pain. --milehighhockey blog

About the Author

After injuries cut short his career, Jonesy started work on the 610 WIP-AM morning show where he became one of the shows more like-able personalities. In addition to his job at WIP, Keith serves as the studio analyst for the Flyers post game show and on the NHL s national broadcasts on the Versus Network. He was recently named as the Flyers lead color commentator for this upcoming season. In addition to all that, Keith still finds the time to grow corn on his Shamong, NJ farm. During his career in the NHL, Keith recorded 117 goals and 141 assists for 258 points. John Buccigross started at ESPN in 1996, prior to the launch of ESPNews. John currently covers the NHL for the network, as well as anchoring SportsCenter and baseball tonight. When ESPN broadcasted the NHL, John served as the in studio host for NHL Tonight. He also writes a weekly hockey column for ESPN.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Middle Atlantic Press; 1st edition (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975441981
• ISBN-13: 978-0975441985
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #559,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great but too short!, January 10, 2008

By 

Tabe (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jonesy: Put Your Head Down and Skate: The Improbable Career of Keith Jones (Paperback)

As a WMU alum (class of '94) and hockey fan, I had the good fortune to have great seats for pretty much every home game for Jones during his junior & senior years in college. He impressed me as a player then. Given that connection, and hearing through John Buccigross' column that the proceeds for this book would go to charity, I pre-ordered this and read it immediately upon receiving it.

The life and career of Jones are told through his unique voice throughout. This makes for very easy reading - if it seems aimed at a slightly younger-than-adult audience - and the 200 or so pages, much like Keith's career, go by far too quickly.

Passages are both hilarious and touching.

Highly recommended!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jonesy + Bucci + hockey = a fantastic read!, October 25, 2007

By 

lori "media addict" (murray, ut) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jonesy: Put Your Head Down and Skate: The Improbable Career of Keith Jones (Paperback)

I have anxiously awaited the release of this book since it was first mentioned in John Buccigross's column on ESPN.com, and it absolutely did not disappoint. As an avid fan of the Avalanche and Flyers as well as Jonesy and Bucci, it comes as no surprise that I'm giving the book an enthusiastic five-star rating. Both the stories themselves and the way they are presented made this book a fascinating, entertaining, and quick read--I devoured it from cover to cover the night I received it. It was great to get personal insights and "insider information" about the NHL through the years, the brotherhood of the team atmosphere, the highlights and lowlights of rivalries, and the hockey life in general from a gritty, hardworking player who truly loves the game. Interestingly, Keith Jones may end up being more known for his hockey commentary than his on-ice skill (sorry, Jonesy! <=]); if you get a chance, be sure to check him out between periods nationally on Versus or locally in Philly. He knows the game and does a really good job of making broadcasts interesting, relatable, and fun for those who can't attend games in person.

I especially enjoyed the fact that this book had some depth to it; although there were plenty of humorous and hockey-specific anecdotes that kept me engaged (tales about former teammates like Steve Konowalchuk, Joe Sakic, Eric Lindros, and other interesting characters are liberally sprinkled throughout), there were also excerpts fraught with compassion that really showed Jonesy as a considerate, loyal, good human being. Whether you're a casual sports fan or a die-hard hockey fanatic, I think you can't help but be charmed by this book. I highly recommend it!

P.S. As another reviewer has noted, there are many typos in this book, and they are a bit distracting; however, I just chalked up my awareness of them to the fact that I'm an editor. A friend of mine who borrowed this book noted that he didn't remember seeing any problematic items, so I think most people will be more caught up in the content than the grammar and spelling...

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight to the NHL lifestyle..., October 28, 2007

By 

Hemingway - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jonesy: Put Your Head Down and Skate: The Improbable Career of Keith Jones (Paperback)

Just finished this book and I really enjoyed it. Some great stories that provide some insight into the life of an NHL player. There are a few actual laugh-out-loud moments in the book, and you have to love any book that references Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.

I have to agree with the one reviewer on here when it comes to the copyediting. The first chapter is just littered with grammatical errors. I hate to nitpick, but to see the words "to" and "too" misused in a published book is really crazy.

If you like this book, try The Game by Ken Dryden...incredibly well written account of the Canadians in their prime...