Not Till the Fat Lady Sings: The Most Dramatic Sports Finishes of All Time [Hardcover]

Les Krantz (Author), Doug Flutie (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

Jim McKay's narrated DVD was specially produced just for this book, which chronicles the 50 most captivating climaxes in sports history. See what finishes made the cut and what surprises are in store. A sure-fire hit for any sports fan.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This compendium of the 50 most dramatic endings to sports events divides the great plays into first, second and third place rankings, along with honorable mentions. Krantz (Jobs Rated Almanac; etc.) recounts such moments as Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants hitting a home run during the ninth inning against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951, winning the third and final playoff game and the pennant. He also pays homage to Joe Montana's fourth-quarter comeback for the San Francisco 49ers in 1989, game five of the 1976 NBA finals (Celtics vs. Suns) and Michael Jordan's parting shot-he had "16 points, including eight free throws, a rebound, and two steals in the last 12 minutes"-during game six of the 1998 NBA finals (Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz). Many of the book's finishes concern football, baseball and basketball, with just a smattering of other sports (such as golf, tennis and hockey) thrown in. Photos accompany each entry, indifferently printed with perfunctory-looking sidebars of player standings and athletes' profiles. The supplementary DVD, narrated by Jim McKay, adds a dramatic edge to the package, with commentators relating moments with wild excitement and fans roaring. Although it lacks an index, this collection, which kicks off with an introduction from Flutie-famous for his game-saving "Hail Mary" pass during a 1984 Boston College-Miami football game-should have sports fanatics arguing for days.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The public can't get enough of highlight reels, it seems, and this book/DVD combo may just be the sweetest of them all. Krantz has put together the top 50 final moments in sports history. Sure, there will be debate over the selections, but whether you think that Havlicek's steal in Game 7 of the 1965 NBA Eastern Conference Finals should be ranked higher than Fisk's waving-it-fair homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series makes no difference. The beauty here is in having all of these moments recorded not only in print but also on DVD, narrated by Jim McKay in his familiar style. The 50 events are subdivided in groups, the last 20 being "honorable mentions." Doug Flutie (whose 1984 Hail Mary pass comes in at number 10) writes the introduction. Sports books and broadcasting are overflowing with replays of great plays--amazing catches on the warning track, punts returned for touchdowns--but nothing is as emotional as a pivotal final play. An excellent addition to any sports collection--and at a good price, considering dual media. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books; Har/DVD edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572435585
• ISBN-13: 978-1572435582
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 10.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,594,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Sports Book!, January 15, 2004

By 

Marvin Senk (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Till the Fat Lady Sings: The Most Dramatic Sports Finishes of All Time (Hardcover)

Some reviews complained about the DVD, but I found it to be the best thing
of all. As the book states, some of the sports events in the text have
similar endings, for example a homer in the bottom of the 9th, or a shot at
the buzzer. It would get repetitious and monotonous to see that time after
time on a video program. In the book, however, some games might have similar
circumstances in the end, but they are made incredibly interesting with
commentary, stats and history. And some endings were bizarre, like when the
band came on the field in the Cal-Stanford game, or a fist fight between
some autoracers. I thought the producer of the DVD picked a great,
well-rounded selection of games, some bizarre, some the classic last minute
scoring, some slow, but exciting comebacks. As whole there was a nice
variety of game endings to round out an good program to view. The book was
excellent too. Great choices, writing and photos, above all, the photos.
It's a nice gift too. I gave a copy to my father, who loved it as much as I
did.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED IT, January 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Not Till the Fat Lady Sings: The Most Dramatic Sports Finishes of All Time (Hardcover)

The book is fun, an action packed DVD comes with and there is the greatest sports legend in broadcasting, Jim McKay, who narrates the game endings, which are close calls and suspenseful endings that are unfathomable. Great sports writing and photography. Only criticism is I didn't think Don Larson's Perfect Game in 1956 was exactly a dramatic finish like the rest of the games. The other 49 definitely are.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Big Promise, Bigger Disappointment, January 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Not Till the Fat Lady Sings: The Most Dramatic Sports Finishes of All Time (Hardcover)

If you buy this for the book, you'll be okay, although it isn't great. If you wanted a DVD that shows all the plays as they happen (including original play-by-play) you will be greatly disappointed.

The book by itself is standard fare as a list of great finishes. Each "finish" (and some of the "finishes" are more like comebacks than single moments) is given a page or two with pictures (many of which do not actually include the great moment) and basic information. I guess it's nice to have that all in one volume. However, the great disappointment is the DVD. First, of the 50 finishes in the book, only 20 of them make it to the DVD, leaving 60% of the book without any filmclip. Secondly, as much as I like Jim McKay, he does a voice-over on every filmclip, and the original call is left out. This is extremely annoying. One of the great things about any exciting finish is the original call and original excitement, not a "newsreel" account of what happened. The DVD is like watching a poor version of the nightly sports report. Finally, contrary to what other reviews suggest, the DVD gives every ending away simply by the title of the clip, which is identical to the "chapters" of the book. It won't matter if you watch the DVD first when the clip title ("Laettner's Buzzer Beater", "Flutie's Hail Mary", for example) gives away what is going to happen.

All in all, the idea of the book/DVD is far greater than the actual product. If I was clearly informed of what I was buying, I wouldn't have spent the money.