My Life on a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams, and Coaching the Runnin' Utes [Hardcover]

Rick Majerus (Author), Gene Wojciechowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1999

Anyone ready to write off Rick Majerus as the affable fat guy on the sidelines quickly changed their tune last season when Majerus led his Utah team on an extraordinary run to the final game of the NCAA championship. Along the way, Majerus won millions of fans with his wit, candor, and obvious devotion to his players. Now Majerus tells his own story of how a chubby kid from Milwaukee found himself at the Final Four, upsetting office pools all over the country. He talks about how he roughed out his much-discussed plays on a restaurant napkin the night before the Kentucky game.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Books; 1st edition (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078686527X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786865277
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #449,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Basketball > College & University

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Catching a Wonderful Coach at an Opportune Moment, February 27, 2001

By 

Joshua C. Hall (Finleyville, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life On a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams and Coaching the Runnin' Utes (Paperback)

Sports books that attempt to cash in on the immediate popularity of the author often suffer in quality due to the desire to strike while the iron is hot. I am glad to say that My Life on a Napkin does not suffer from this flaw.

Gene Wojciechowski, contributor on this book, did an extremely good on format and finding and maintaining Majerus' voice. His previous work on Nothing But Net (Bill Walton's autobiography) has served him well.

The most interesting technique used in the book is the interjection of short anecdotes culled from Majerus' friends and family. The juxtaposition between his view and the view of his friend/family member/player is humorous at times. This is a technique I haven't seen used before in this type of book and I find that it seems to work better than simple paraphrasing would.

In short, the only reason this book doesn't deserve four stars is because it falls far short of the high standards set by autobiographies/biographies of individuals whose careers have already ended. I feel this book focuses too much on the recent to the detriment of the early years. For example, A Coach's Life by Dean Smith has an entirely different perspective because in many ways his story is finished. This allows him to devote equal time to all portions of his life and career.

Additionally, it would have been nice to have an appendix containing information on every player who had ever lettered for Coach Majerus. If we could see the tremendous legacy that he has had on the lives of all the students who have passed through his programs it would reinforce hsi commitment to his players' well-being. To me, that would be an even greater testimony to his legacy than the stories presented in the preceding chapters.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Majerus' Unique Road to the 'Bigtime', May 5, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Topeka Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life on a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams, and Coaching the Runnin' Utes (Hardcover)

Most people assume 'big time' college coaches were great players 'in their day.' Not true. Louie Carnesecca couldn't play a lick. Phog Allen didn't give Dean Smith many minutes. Roy Williams never went beyond the UNC JV (coached by Bill Guthridge at the time). Majerus never played high school ball at Marquette High in Milwaukee. Not because he didn't want to . . . man did he want to . . . he just didn't have the tools (or so the coach thought). This book shows that playing and coaching are two distinct endeavors. Wanna list the great players who flopped as coaches . . . me neither . . . it would take too long. From his earliest years Majerus was coaching, and he didn't even know it. He was putting together teams in Milwaukee so he could get a game. He was learningd how to 'put the pieces together', not to win a national championship, but to 'keep the court' for the next game . . . and the next . . . Majerus' Utes 'kept the court' for six marvelous games in 1998. It wasn't until Kentucky showed that 'sometimes the other team wins because they have better players' (al mcguire) that Majerus' Utes had to leave the court defeated. This book shows how a life's work, a life's passion, can culminate in a short span of time. It's a great read because Majerus made it happen himself. He was handed nothing. But he learned from everyone:McGuire, Raymonds, Nelson, Harris . . . probably even Butch Lee, Bo Ellis, and Lloyd Walton. Read the book. Majerus' tale is one of a kind.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The only thing bigger than his belly is his heart", April 14, 2003

By 

Randall Sidener (Plymouth, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life On a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams and Coaching the Runnin' Utes (Paperback)

Far and away the best book I have read in the past year. Coach Majerus' passion for his players will leave you mesmerized. The best part of the book are all the quotes added from former players, friends, coaches, family members,etc...Rick never was much of a great athlete, but he knew the game from an early age and was considered the epitome of a team player. Majerus' stories from his days at Marquette and Ball State to his time with Don Nelson and Del Harris make for a great read. If you like sports and admire the true work of a "team" you will love this book.