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The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets, and Knicks Made Sports HIstory and Uplifted a City and the Country
 
 
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The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets, and Knicks Made Sports HIstory and Uplifted a City and the Country [Hardcover]

Art Shamsky (Author), Barry Zeman (Author), Bob Costas (Author), Joe Namath (Author), Tom Seaver (Author), Bill Bradley (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)


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Book Description

October 21, 2004
The remarkable story of the season when the New York Jets, Mets, and Knicks all won championships, recounted by the players who made it happen and the fans who experienced it

In 1969 three underdog New York sports teams won World Championships. It was an unprecedented feat in the history of sports, and it helped bring the nation's largest city---and much of the country---euphoria to balance the lingering political despair of 1969. And here, in The Magnificent Seasons, is that story---a re-creation of one of the most magical periods in sports history.

In reflecting on these events, what they meant then and what they still mean today, Art Shamsky, a 1969 "Miracle Met," introduces the thoughts of members of every team. Highlights include comments from Joe Namath, Tom Seaver, Bill Bradley, Yogi Berra, Emerson Boozer, Jerry Koosman, and many more. But as important as these wins were to the players and coaches who made them happen, their victories meant just as much to the city and the people who celebrated them, and Shamsky includes their perspectives through such personalities as Bob Costas, David Halberstam, Rudy Giuliani, and many other fans of the city and its sports.

Together, the words and pictures within make a wonderful keepsake---a book that lets fans relive three championship runs and gives a true sense of what these sports victories meant to a country suffering through a turbulent period in its history. The words and memories of the players, their fans, and their opponents carry a tremendous emotional charge, and The Magnificent Seasons takes readers back with all the heart-stopping thrill of the time when three teams captivated the country, and when New York City ruled the sporting world.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1968–1970, New York fans were treated to an amazing, extended sports season, as the football Jets, baseball Mets and basketball Knicks all won championships during one glorious "harmonic convergence." Only the Knicks had enjoyed anything close to previous glory; the Mets were reliable failures, and the Jets were similarly mediocre. Shamsky, who played for the Mets during their "Amazin' " year, goes beyond the normal jocular jock anecdotes, reminding readers of the lift this trio of wins meant to a New York beleaguered by political upheaval and financial difficulties and grappling with the larger issues of racial unrest and the Vietnam War. He pins a hero to each team, explaining how, for example, Jets legend Joe Namath's swagger and swinging style made waves. The Knicks had a proud but battered leader, Willis Reed, who played with badly aching knees to propel the team into the NBA finals. Then there were the Mets. The lovable losers became cult favorites thanks to their penchant for poor play. But after Gil Hodges, a former Brooklyn Dodger star, took over as manager, they surprised everyone and took the championship. Although Shamsky's prose is clumsy at times, it accurately portrays the sense of what these teams, and those seasons, meant to New York.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

While this book won't win any awards for literary style or lack of cliche, Shamsky, who was himself a player with the Miracle Mets of 1969, has pulled together narrative, interview, and personal anecdote to describe the championship seasons, 1969-70, of New York's football Jets, basketball Knicks, and the baseball Mets. What Shamsky and coauthor Zeman do really well is set these sports victories in the context of that wild and terrible time. Vietnam, the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., riots, social unrest, and Stonewall meant that those sweet sports triumphs glowed with a fierce luster. We needed a break from real life and proof that regular guys working hard could do what needed to be done. Mario Cuomo called it "the American tale." Yogi said, "the 1969 Mets will be talked about forever. Yeah, and the other two teams, too." GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (October 21, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312333587
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312333584
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,739,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Average Customer Review
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5.0 out of 5 stars BO, February 21, 2011
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This review is from: The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets, and Knicks Made Sports HIstory and Uplifted a City and the Country (Hardcover)
really enjoyed this book as it brought back highlights from a very important year
in my life. i was 11, and the upset wins by mets and jets really encouraged me
to apply myself in life to improving my limited athletic abilities, and to learn
about the games, and follow sports for the rest of my life. these sports lessons
carried-over to effort in real life and later successes(not athletic, though).

it also pictured that remarkable year ( 1969, mets/jets/knicks/moon landing/woodstock) within the frame-work of the horrible events of 1968. the political instability, vietnam war, and worsening economy weighed heavily even on my young mind, and having things so positive happen really helped.
i haven't even mentioned that the beatles were still together, am radio
was fantastic, and laugh-in helped teach me political humor.

i realize this review is more about me that the book , but that is the influence
that 1969 had on me, and how this book brought back those memories.
these underdog triumphs of real life are better than the sappy, made-up hollywood endings.

i am not a writer , as is obvious by this review, and won't/can't discuss this on
it's literary merits. i'll just re-iterate it's underdogs winning and remembrances
of a special year as the reasons i give 5 stars
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3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the copy editor when you need one?, July 30, 2010
I became a New York sports fan just after the Mets won the World Series, and just in time to be captivated by the Knicks and their championship season. So this book was already a winner with me.

Much of the stuff here I'd heard already, but it was still fun to revisit. And while the book's promise to examine the three New York championships against the backdrop of what was going on in the rest of the nation and world at the time doesn't draw any deep conclusions (most everybody says the same thing--it was good for the people), overall it is a fun read.

What's not so good is that the book is in bad need of a copy editor. Some of a copy editor's job is to question statements that don't make sense or are missing information, and to eliminate redundant information. For example, in recounting the second playoff game against the Braves, we learn that the final score was 11-6, but we're not told who won. Twice we're told that Ron Taylor never got the recognition he deserved. Gaul Papelian is identified as Red Holzman's daughter several times, when once would have been enough. And a famous story about Frank Robinson calling Rod Gaspar "Ron Stupid" is mis-told and incomplete.

What I also found annoying is the propensity to put words in quotation marks to emphasize them; "the whole shootin' match; "magnificent seasons"; "threesome." Such folksiness is unnecessary and stops the reader dead in his tracks.

I think this is a good book; with proper copy editing, it could have been that much better.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Many professional teams have won championships in their sport. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
jet locker room, magnificent seasons, lovable losers, terrific team, franchise record
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, World Series, Super Bowl, National League, Joe Namath, Shea Stadium, Willis Reed, Gil Hodges, Coach Ewbank, Tom Seaver, Cleon Jones, Donn Clendenon, Los Angeles, Matt Snell, John Lindsay, Clyde Frazier, Don Maynard, Jerry Koosman, Phil Jackson, Dick Barnett, Frank Robinson, Johnny Sample, Ron Swoboda, Jim Turner, Tommie Agee
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