Customer Reviews

It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium: Football and the Game of Life

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This is the autobiography of a young man named John Ed Bradley who lettered in football for four years at Louisiana State University. (LSU) Despite the fact that the only position more impressive in Louisiana than playing football for LSU would be Governor, this is oh so much more than a sports story!

John Ed's football career at LSU culminated on December 22, 1979 with a 34-10 victory over Wake Forest in the Tangerine Bowl. At that point John Ed decided to put his entire lifetime football experience behind him, including any contact with any of his teammates or coaches. Though at first blush, the reader might feel, like John Ed did, that this was just a step in the maturation of a child putting aside childhood toys, but twenty-seven years later, John Ed agonizingly realized with excruciating sadness, that his choice reverberated with echoing emptiness in the deepest chambers of his heart and soul.

The writing style of John Ed is akin to romantic poetry, instead of the "click-click-click" staccato you would expect from your everyday sports section in your local newspaper. The reader, with just a little imagination can become ensconced, as if you're involved in a youthful breakup with a lover, that you walked away from a quarter of a century ago, and though you've refused to look back on whether you did the right thing or not so many years ago, an alignment of your life's planets has forced you to re-examine with fresh eyes and heart, the scene you left frozen in another time.

John Ed was asked by teachers, "What was it like?".... He was asked by bankers, "What was it like?"... He was asked by women, "What was it like?" He was asked by students, "What was it like?" "TO PLAY FOOTBALL AT LSU!?"

HE SAID: "WE WALKED BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS. THAT PRETTY WELL DESCRIBES HOW WE THOUGHT ABOUT OURSELVES. NOTHING COULD TOUCH US, INCLUDING THE RAIN. AND OF COURSE IT WAS AMAZING HOW PEOPLE TREATED YOU OUT IN PUBLIC!"

And then twenty-seven years later, it hit John Ed like a million tons of raindrops, and he poetically wrote: "I miss football so much. I miss it like you can't believe. I miss the things I didn't value or pay much attention to when I had them. I don't miss the games so much, the people in the stadium. I miss being a part of something. I only have myself to worry about now, and it's about worn me out. The weird thing is I've even started to miss the guys I didn't much care for when I was playing. And I miss August and the way the grass used to smell when we went out to start two-a-days." "I guess I never saw my time running out. I thought I'd have it forever. And now if I could have anything back, it would be that-the feeling that came around every August when everything was new and anything could happen because the season was about to start."

As I said; this exquisitely written book, isn't really about sports. It's about the parent you stopped talking to years ago, and now it's too late. It's about the lover you walked away from and never looked back. It's about the best friend whose friendship ended so long ago, and only now in hindsight do you look back. The author uses words like Picasso used colors!

Anyone who has played organized sports and has been fortunate to experience success needs to read this book. Often we feel that there are events we experience early in our lives that we will never eclipse. Mr. Bradley accurately captures in this great book the essence and the burden of this thought.

He explores the mystique of playing football in the great state of Louisiana - especially at LSU. He also very artfully explores life after playing football at LSU and what it's like to live up or live down an era in one's life. I'm absolutely sure this exists in ever part of the country regardless of the fact that this is set in Louisiana. There are hometown heroes everywhere that either run from the past or try and re-live it, trying to be great once again.

Never before has a former player, who excelled, so eloquently encapsulated the internal struggles that come from being great at one time in their lives. Once you've had a taste, you're just not normal again. John Ed ran from that for a long time. And, I believe that this book is meant to set that right with both himself and his former teammates and coaches.

Read this book, then relive some of it, or the old days, with an old buddy that you've put off calling for way too long. You'll be happy that you did both.

This book was one of the best things that I have ever read. I also attended LSU, and can almost see John Ed Bradley sitting in the Quad, or walking to Allen Hall. He not only makes you realize a new respect for the game, but also makes you feel like you are a part of it. You start to understand that you are not the only one that is missing a part of themselves, and it helps you to realize that you, too, can get past the things that haunt you in your dreams.

This book is so well written that you come away from it with the feeling that you have been reliving your past, not someone else's. It takes a minute for it to sink in that regardless of whose life you are thinking of, we all share one thing: the desire to be great.

I feel like I know John Ed too well now. It's almost as if I went through his medicine chest when I was at a party at his home.

The book gives the best insight into college football (and LSU in particular) that any outsider will probably ever get.

I will still enjoy my Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium, but I will look at those men on the field with new respect.

You won't regret the purchase.

A great read for all college football fans ... Bradley's 1st hand experiences give an accurate view of the world of a college football player and his transition into reality. A must read.

Liek most boys growing up in south Louisiana some of earliest recolections are set in that concrete coliseum on the Mississippi River's bank. It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium, is a story that goes beyond the rah-rah ballads that typify your generic sports "back in the day" manifesto; rather it transcends sport and describes emotions we can all realte to: glory, loss, disapointment, letting go, and moving on.

For some of us this may be the glory days of high school or the frat house in college, but for Bradley his moment was on the field in tiger stadium. Where 80,000 people literally bow to you in harmony to the beat of "Tiger Rag".

What could possibly follow this?

One of the better sports books I've read this year I devoured this thing in a day and a half. If you're looking for a winter read to keep you occupied for weeks this probably isn't it. But then I'm a speed read.

I think I enjoyed this almost as much as I liked Ball Four. Or, my favorite sports book of the year, Playbig for Pizza. Playing For Pizza: A Novel

One Moment Changes Everything: The All-America Tragedy of Don Rogers

I love books and stories about sports and tradition and family. The best writing combines compelling tales of lessons learned, and losses and wins incurred, ideally, together with your loved ones. A great read for sports fans and non-sports fans alike.

The cons.. First. The book jumps back and forth in time sequence which disrupts the flow a little. It happens too often for my reading taste. I got very frustrated with the author and wanted him to shake his demons and live!

I graduated from LSU in 1987. I grew up idolizing the 1979 game against USC. LSU did outplay USC and did make a name for LSU and Tiger stadium. However, Bengy Thibodeaux did get Paul McDonald's face mask. The game was not stolen. The book puts great emphasis on that game. We should be proud for how it turned out and not blame a call on the outcome.

The pros... Well written book with great details and insight into a world LSU alums/fans have no point of reference. I liked the stories of the relationships. I loved the end of the book. I wanted more. I could have read a chapter for every reunion with every place the author chose. The book makes me prouder of LSU than I was going in. It also makes me realize that life is to be enjoyed and not canned for future consumption.

I highly recommend this book.

If you are a fan of college football, this if a must read book! If you want much more than a football story, THIS IS THE ONE!

I could not put this book down, it literally gave me goose bumps. If you ever played football you will find this book chilling. This is a absolute must read for Tiger fans and all fans of football. This book is so well written and depicts what goes on before, during and after a football career. Don't miss this book!