Customer Reviews

The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Coach Bob Hurley is an old fashioned basketball coach. He does not massage egos...he does not compromise...he demands a strong dedication to excellence...and if you don't give it...you will be asked to turn in your uniform. In other words...only hard work works. "The Miracle of St. Anthony; A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty," should be required reading for all AAU basketball coaches across the nation.

Many AAU programs do not teach the fundamentals of basketball...they showcase...and use players as trophies. Many AAU programs are also factories who spit out players regularly when other more talented players come along. Coach Hurley teaches his kids how to play as a team and sticks with them for a lifetime. He also introduces a culture of refreshing honesty and does not engage in the dark world of under the table payments to, "street agents."

Admittedly, Coach Hurley would not get away with the harsh screaming and cursing of players in most affluent suburban basketball communities. However, it appears to be the right forumla in Jersey City an inner city low-income community just across the Hudson River in the shadows of New York City. The kids who play for St. Anthony use basketball as an escape from the demons of drugs and violence on the streets. They use the academic and basketball education at St. Anthony's to get free rides to college.

Coach Hurley shows them the path. He does so by teaching them discipline...the discipline to keep your mouth shut and play ball. It is amazing that Coach Hurley's teams rarely get called for technical fouls. They play the game on the court and are prohibited to "trash talk" to opposing players, coaches or officials.

But it is hardly a piece of cake...Coach Hurley is demanding. He expects a "total," commitment. Some pages of this book are harsh. However, this is a national high school powerhouse with a long tradition of championships and it is hard to argue with the genius of Coach Hurley. Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

As a coach, I like to read about what makes a program successful. I love to look inside the pro or college programs and see what makes them tick. But books are few and far between that give you a look into a high school program. Particularly one as successful as St. Anthony's in New Jersey. As you read the book you cannot help but appreciate everything Hurley and his players must overcome to be a success. Gangs, poverty, low expectations, negative peer pressure, a school constantly on the brink of going under financially. Hurley lets you see his program warts and all. His famous temper. His battle with apathetic players. How he handles parents with unrealistic expectations. How he pushes, pleads, drives his players. It is all there for us to see and be either repelled or amazed. I've heard Hurley lecture. This let me know more about the man. I really enjoyed this book. If you are a high school coach or just a basketball fan, I think you will too.

Sub-Title: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty

I once went to a play in a Jersey City High School and I wondered how anyone could live in such a bleak, even dangerous environment. And this is a tale of not only learning, but excelling in an environment where most of us want to drive through quickly with the doors locked.

This is a story about basketball. But more than that, it is a story of depressed urban areas with all the usual problems of race, drugs, poverty, and all the other problems. At the same time it is a story of hope and fulfillment. It's also the story of extraordinary people who are willing to spend their careers helping the people in such an area to get ahead.

More than just a basketball story, this is a story of a small brick schoolhouse run by Felician nuns always at the edge of bankruptcy but somehow able to barely survive but to continue to turn out educated kids.

As a high school baseball and basketball coach, this book is a must read. I could't put the book down. It is an easy read which gives those in suburbia a glimpse of America not often seen. Bob Hurley, the man,the father, the husband, the coach is a true American hero. Coaches, parents, administrators, and athletes can learn much from this well told story. I can't wait to see the movie!

Adrian Wojnarowski must have been one the luckiest writers of 2005--his chosen subject, a basketball team coached by coaching legend Bobby Hurley in one of America's roughest cities, is composed of an incredibly talented but socially delinqent group of players, makes an amazing run and has one of the best years in the program's storied history. Not a bad premise and one that the author couldn't have imagined when he set out to write this book.
Fortunately, like John Feinstien in Season on the Brink, Wojnarowski does the subject justice with excellent reporting, great writing and a very honest and engaging style. There are a huge number of "Year in the life of..." style books now and many of them are about athletic teams or athletes and this is certainly one of the three best I've read (along with Season and Friday Night Lights). I would recommend it to anyone who likes basketball, socio-economic issues (the Jersey City backdrop and how it affects the kids and school are fascinating) and most importantly for coaches or teachers who want to know how to lead your pupils. A fantastic book that I recommend very highly.

From sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, a tantalizing glimpse into the intense world of heroic high school basketball coach Bob Hurley and his overachieving kids.

Hurley, a legendary coach whose kids have to work out at something called the White Eagle Bingo Hall because his school, St. Anthony's, doesn't even have a gym, could have made millions as a college coach. Instead, his commitment to the poor kids of Jersey City has led him to a $7,000 a year career guiding them away from drug dealers and toward college.

Hurley is a complex character -- think of a combination of Bobby Knight and St. Francis of Assisi -- who emerges in Wojnarowski's account as sometimes harsh, nasty and foul-mouthed, but completely committed to teaching kids his ideals of hard work and excellence. His teams have won 22 state championships, but for Hurley success on the court seems secondary: while basketball is all-important for Hurley, its real value lies in the lessons it teaches. For Hurley, the payoff is watching his under-advantaged kids go off to college.

While falling short of canonizing his subject, Wojnarowski does a deft job of sketching the poor kids of St. Anthony's, the heroic nuns who keep the school open against all odds, and above all the school's charismatic coach. More than just a basketball book, this is a well-crafted, hard-to-put- down account of a modern hero, and a reflection on how one dedicated person can make a difference in the lives of others.

As other readers have said, you can't put this book down. It is a must read if :
a) you coach hoops
b) you play hoops
c) you're from Jersey City
d) if you played ball in Jersey City, it's a no brainer.

I'm from that last category, and know of many of the characters in the book. For me, it was a powerful reminder of how strong and tight-knit the Jersey City community is. But it is also an amazing testament to what Hurley has done at St Anthony. What strikes me most is the ferocity with which he drives his players, and his sons, but the gentlemen he becomes outside the practice or game. Amazing. It provides a vivid display of the dedication required to play at the Division I level, particularly in Bobby's case (which isn't for everyone by the way). As Danny says, his dad is the last of his kind. Up for cannonization in my book, and makes you want to write a check to the school.

I've coached hoops for thirty years and am going to make my HS team read this book this summer. Hurley is old school, teaching the new school about class, effort, and loyalty. I wrote Coach Hurley about 10 years ago and he promptly wrote back, sending me a play I inquired about.

The book is well written and has too many life lessons and soulful anecdotes to recognize in this space, less I write a book myself. If you coach, or have a child interested in striving for some lofty goal--regardless it be in sports--this book is a bible of wisdom and textured life journeys.

This is an excellent story of the 2003-2004 high school basketball season at St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City. Its a touching story of a coach who cares about his kids and about all of them making the most of their lives. Bob Hurley gave up potentially millions of dollars to stay at home at Jersey City to keep the school alive and keep the tradition of St. Anthony's High School alive. Bob Hurley is a true hero in my eyes. This book is an absolute page turner and you will not be able to put it down. Again, I will repeat, one of the best books I have ever read.

This is an exciting and enthralling read, and it is of course inspiring. However, the author is so set on showing how wonderful Bob Hurley is that he goes overboard with the testimonials and reminders that Hurley could be a coaching billionaire instead of a poor guy with only 2 houses.

Also, and maybe this is because I am not from Hurley's generation, but I cringe when I hear about a coach who preaches discipline being restrained by his assistants after a fan taunts him. There are many, many references to Bob Hurley being violent or threatening violence when he is angered, which the author seems to think is commendable behavior.

That being said, this is a great and inspiring book. Hurley really does a good job with these kids and it is exciting to follow the parallels of the success of their season and the heart-break in most of their personal lives.