Customer Reviews

The Punch - One Night, Two Lives, And The Fight That Changed Basketball Forever

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2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

John Feinstein, author of THE PUNCH, is renowned for the fresh insight he shines on the cliché bound world of sports. Yet he has written a frustratingly lazy book about an event that deserves better. The book's subject --- a harrowing haymaker thrown by Kermit Washington that nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich in a 1977 NBA game --- raises issues that transcend the sporting event in which it happened. But Feinstein shrinks to the challenge, never approaching matters of race, rage, class and family in a way that rounds out the story.

Feinstein begins the book with a description of the punch, an act so barbaric that it dislodged Tomjanovich's skull, causing spinal fluid to leak into his body. It took five surgeries to try to undo the damage from a single punch. In so doing, Feinstein introduces Washington as a mindless brute, ready to fight at any provocation. In this sense, the reader is pitted against Washington from the outset. No amount of "good guy" testimonials on Washington's behalf --- and there are many --- can shake the awful imagery. Moreover, Washington's bizarre behavior immediately after the punch --- he is remorseless and, incredibly, ready to go after Tomjanovich again, near the locker rooms --- doesn't help. It was not until Washington left the arena that he finally understood he had done something very wrong. But even then, he understood not because of his common sense and not because of what he saw on the court, described by one teammate as "just so much blood. I kept thinking, 'How can there be so much blood from one punch? Something is wrong here.'" What registered with Washington were the words of the parking lot attendant: "Kermit, you're in a lot of trouble. Big trouble."

Feinstein fails to pursue basic, important facts. For example, how did Washington's wife react to the punch? We don't know. Pre-punch, Pat Washington had grave concerns about her husband's notorious temper on the court. But Feinstein never explains her reaction to the punch, nor does he get any reaction from the Washington and Tomjanovich children. Washington's divorce is similarly unresolved. In a book that provides intricate detail on arcane, irrelevant NBA trades, salaries and management, the reader gets less than one page on the break up of a twenty-five-year marriage.

Compounding these problems is Feinstein's penchant for repetition, the withering repetition. A quote on page thirty-two re-emerges on page 171. A quote on page 154 reappears twenty-four pages later. Did you miss Brent Musburger's quote on page 21? No worries, it's there on page 194. Facts are recycled with great dexterity. On no fewer than four occasions, the reader is treated to the fact that the city of Houston is hot in the summer. Imagine that. Houston. Hot. Two of the four occasions are, naturally, the same quote.

Feinstein does a nice job describing the great friendship between Tomjanovich and his former teammate, Calvin Murphy. He skillfully reports on Tomjanovich's successful battle with alcoholism, offering a bare bones, unsentimental view of the ordeal. In fact, many biographical details are well researched and presented in a way that advances our understanding of the men, especially Washington, not as superstar athletes but as real people. Washington is a supremely hard working, thoughtful person. He achieved great things against long odds and, as a young person, looked to have a limitless future on and off the court. The punch changed things, and Feinstein provides sad details of a life gone off course, including an attempt to extort five million dollars from the NBA, and the taking of a polygraph test to prove he was not the instigator in the events immediately preceding the punch.

Feinstein reveals similarities between Tomjanovich and Washington that, perhaps, go beyond coincidence. Both men were raised in tough neighborhoods by emotionally distant parents. Both attended universities close to home, where they excelled in basketball and in academics. They have had close friendships with members of the opposite race throughout their entire lives. The same man drafted them into the NBA. Both are 6"8, and have sons named Trey. Although it may be a fanciful leap to look for cosmic meaning in an NBA fight, it is folly to dismiss Washington's belief that "Under different circumstances, I believe we would have been the best of friends. Everything I've seen or heard about (Tomjanovich) tells me that." Tomjanovich expresses similar feelings about Washington, indicating that in some sense they have been "married" ever since they were joined by the punch. And although they have not met or spoken at length since 1977, Tomjanovich characterizes Washington as his "brother."

Had Feinstein kept his gaze trained tightly on the major players --- and if his editor cut out the repetition and about fifty pages of irrelevant detail --- THE PUNCH would have made a bolder statement. As it is, however, the book fails to make good on its promise to fully explore "the fight that changed basketball forever."

--- Reviewed by Andrew Musicus

First I'll begin with the book's flaws. For one thing, Feinstein was frequently redundant in mentioning the details of the incident over more than one chapter. More editing in that area would have made the book stronger. Also, I would have liked Feinstein to have done a more in-depth exploration on the way race played into this incident instead of merely mentioning that Washington received racist death threats in the aftermath of the incident and the fact that the NBA at that time was regarded as being "too black." By whom? The media or the fans? (Personally I believe it was both but I will save this for another discussion.)

Now on to the book's strengths: for one thing, Feinstein described Tomjanovich's injuries and the scene at the Forum and the hospital with vivid detail. When I first read what he meant by "dislocated skull" (after having heard Feinstein discuss the book on the Jim Rome Show), I gasped rather loudly at the bookstore and I actually felt a bit nauseated. Feinstein also did a good job describing the remainder of that evening for the two principals, showing how Washington already felt horrible about what he had done and how Tomjanovich, long portrayed as the harmless, gentle victim, actually asked the doctor working on him to allow him to go back to the Forum to get back at Washington, after they had nearly gone at it near the Laker locker room. I also had never known that Tomjanovich HAD been in a fistfight in an NBA game, in the 1971-72 season (his second season) against an Atlanta Hawk player, nor had I known about his post-incident anxiety attacks and drinking problem for which he finally got help a few years ago. Meanwhile, it was compelling to see how Washington had to deal with being viewed as sinister (and this is where, in my opinion, we could have used some insight from Feinstein on how race entered into public perceptions of the two men) and had trouble keeping a long-term job of any kind because, inevitably, his employers did not want to have to deal with the trouble of associationg with such a controversial figure.

Despite its flaws, this is a compelling read and is evocative of the darkest moment in NBA history, how it affected two men and their families, friends, teammates, coaches, and their sport, and how time has eventually helped to heal the wounds suffered by both Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich and also helped them to have a better relationship with each other. Ultimately uplifting.

In the introduction, Feinstein tells us how compelling he found this subject and how he pursued Tomjanovich and Washington rather than writing a book on golf. Then he inexplicably rushes through the book without apparent editing or proofreading. As many of the other reviewers point out, the repetition is extremely distracting. Of course, Feinstein's work never really qualifies as fine literature, but he's usually a very good sports journalist. This plainly is not his best work, which is too bad because he was right -- there was an interesting story here.
Regarding that story, the author's presentation was reasonable but could have been more comprehensive. In particular, he presents the punch and it's aftermath as an unfortunate incident -- almost an accident. Although he mentions in passing that Tomjanovich came close to dying, he never explores just what that would have meant, both to Washington and to professional sports. Instead, he recounts both players' careers and alternates between sympathetic and pathetic portrayals of Washington. He seems to want us to choose sides and then tells us that there are no sides.
As for Washington, it's unfortunate that this one event has overshadowed all of the good things that he has done inside and outside of basketball. But I have to agree with John Lucas that Washington has never owned up and taken responsibility for his actions. He refers to events using the passive voice. He childishly blames someone else for starting the fight. Heck, Tomjanovich takes more responsibility for what happened than Washington does. And if we use the measure that bad people are people who do bad things, for one moment at least Kermit Washington was a bad person.

Having read and admired several of Feinstein's earlier works (notably A Good Walk Spoiled, A Season on the Brink, and The Majors), I was eager to read this account of an event which occurred on December 9, 1977, when Kermit Washington threw a punch at Rudy Tomjanovich during an otherwise forgettable NBA game. I seriously doubt if that incident "changed basketball forever" but it certainly had a great impact (no pun intended) on Washington and Tomjanovich. In my opinion, Feinstein's greatest challenge was to provide an analysis of that incident within the historical context of the almost 25 years since "the punch" was thrown. He had several options. Here are three: Focus primarily on the two principals; or focus primarily on what he views as the larger significance of violence in competitive sports; or focus on the society within which such violence is tolerated, if not admired. For whatever reasons, he seems to have elected all three and the results are disappointing.

The narrative is excessively redundant, the coverage is generally superficial, and worst of all, Feinstein (if only by implication) suggests to this reader a number of questions which are worthy of thoughtful responses. Why, for example, are the NFL and NHL now imposing more serious penalties (fines and/or suspensions without pay) on athletes for what are viewed as acts of violence? How does the behavior of certain athletes reflect their socio-economic background? And what about the violent behavior of fans (even those attending their children's games) who attack officials as well as each other? During a recent college football game, an assistant coach was arrested on the field after allegedly injuring a fan. What's going on? What does it all mean?

Given the opinions I have just shared, my rating is explained by the fact that I think Feinstein has at least refocused attention on a distant event which invites thoughtful analysis in books yet to be written. That alone is worth an additional Star. My hope is that someone else (John Updike? George Will?) will come forth with a book which Feinstein could have and should have written.

I read the book today and found it to be a pretty good story of the events surrounding the punch. But I was surprised and disappointed not to see more information on the medical aspects of the punch. I think the book would have been much more interesting if some facial x-rays or photos of Rudy T's face or even more medical description of the actual damage was included.

I think the book would have been more meaningful if the doctors involved had been interviewed about their recollections of the actual medical treatment. And a psychologist or two could have been used to describe the psychology of the throwing of that punch, such as description of the "fight or flight" syndrome of human evolution. I believe that Kermit Washington's reaction was a instantary and involuntary response to a perceived threat that appeared instantly in his field of view.

I grew up in Houston and always loved Rudy T., and especially loved watching him bank shots off the backboard from the wing. He was a wonderful basketball player and I did love the way the book described his reactions to the doctors, his wife, his daughters, etc.

I believe that Kermit Washington was a victim in a very real way of this tragedy, but and his victimhood may very well have been ultimately more profound than that of Rudy Tomjanovich.

I am glad the situation is nearing resolution, and it would be great if Kermit could finally get a job within the league and make a decent living after his livelihood was virtually destroyed by what happened in 1977.

Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA

John Feinstein is one of the keenest observers and commentators of the general sports scene around today. His previous books have been uniformly excellent and serve to demonstrate his tremendous talent as a journalist as we as his incredible range of play, covering professional tennis and golf, college basketball, and so on.

In The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever we see Feinstein at both his best-and his worst. Overall the book is great. No one can render an athletic event and the emotions and feelings surrounding it better than feinstein. In this book, Feinstein does a masterful job of painting the whole picture-particularly the culture within the NBA of the time that fostered the environment wherein this event took place. Feinstein also does a masterful job of thoroughly conveying the aspects-in terms of personality, history, temperament and relative stature-of the participants. By the time The Punch is thrown, we feel like we are there reliving the event-no small accomplishment given that the only visual rendering available is a horribly unfocused, grainy black and white photo on the book cover.

Where the book breaks down-and where Feinstein generally has problems-is when Feinstein starts to track the consequences of The Punch. Those parts dealing with the players professional careers are fine. It's when we get to "social" issues that things break down. I have a hard time believing that Washington's later financial problems or Tomjanovitch's drinking problems can all be laid at the feet of the event in questions. Rudy drank before The Punch, and Washington's problems seem to founder more on bad choices in investment advisors rather than any deep seeded psychological problems.

Nevertheless, this was an epochal event in terms of both the future of the NBA as well as the future of these two players, and while I wish Jon would leave the psychoanalysis to psychologists, the book on the whole is a truly great rendering of the effects extreme violence can have on a sport and it's participants.

A must read for sports fans in general and pro basketball fans in particular.

I read this book concurrently with "You Cannot Be Serious" by John McEnroe.

One of these books is about a star who admits his foibles and, without attempting to justify them, explains why he acted the way he did, and the consequences of same. Put more simply
1. He did it
2. He accepts reponsibility for it.

The other is a hagiographic account of how one young basketball player almost killed another player with a single blow. The victim eventually recovered and went on to moderately great heights in the NBA. The other carped and whined his way through life, and despite all the spin this well-regarded sports journalist put on the story, two inescapable facts come out in the book.
1. He did it.
2. He doesn't accept responsibility for it.

It's certainly disappointing what happened, not least for Rudy Tomjanovich, the victim. But get a life already. There was only one victim that night, but Kermit Washington has spent the rest of his life attempting to pursuade anyone who will listen that there were two.

As other online reviewers have noted, "The Punch" is comprehensive, but suffers from a serious lack of editing. The same phrases and even sentences are repeated in the book 4 or 5 times. It's as if Feinstein believes that his readers are so stupid that they need to be told the same thing over and over again -- or that his publisher asked him to pad this book to its 350-page length.

Also curious is Feinstein's repeated referrals to basketball as it was in the late 1970s vs. 2001-2002 when he wrote the book. I assume that the primary audience for the book are people like me -- sports fans of 40-plus who remember the Punch when it happened. We also know what the NBA was like pre-Magic, pre-Bird, pre-Jordan. So don't belabor the point.

Still, the book has done us all a nice service by summing up the events leading up to and post-dating the Punch. And it does a very nice job of giving a more rounded perspective than Kermit Washington has portrayed for the past 20 years. Kevin Kunnert in particular must be pleased.

I remember when the "punch" happened. At the time it was fortunate that our modern media was not in place, because we would have been subject to replays for weeks on end. Even so, what I felt as a young person seeing the impact of the blow, and more importantly, what I felt towards Kermit Washington, stuck with me all these years and came back as I opened and started reading this book.

This book details the lives of the two people; both before and after the event itself. One of the more powerful elements of the story is how fast life can change. Kermit Washington is a man that should be admired for his work ethic, his tenacity in overcoming a tough childhood, and his charity work throughout the world. Unlike many of the NBA players today who get involved in drugs, crime, and are some of the most self-centered people imaginable, Kermit is none of those things. Despite this fact, he also appears to be a bitter man who cannot get beyond the effects of these events. The book explores the fact that Kermit Washington is far more than a man defined by this one moment.

Throughout the book I saw myself as one of those who viewed this man in a negative light for nearly 30 years and realized that I represent what Kermit Washington cannot let go of. That the book has the purpose and result of illuminating that life is not always what it seems makes it a remarkable gift.

The other side of the story depicts the saga of Rudy Tomjanovich. The scars of the damage go well beyond the physical features of Rudy, although he has gone on to much success in his career as a player and a coach. It was fascinating to read about the reactions of his teammates, and how close to death Rudy came.

One valid criticism of this book is the editing. The content is excellent, and the author has provided some great insights into an event that took place nearly three decades ago. However, the story does take a bit of work to get through at times because of the way the editing results in what seems to be a lack of continuity in how the information is depicted. One often gets the feeling that they are reading the same thing over and over.

Overall, if you also experienced this event I would recommend this book despite some of the editing opportunities. If you, like me, have had a view of these two people as a result of the "punch", then a full view of the people involved is invaluable. I changed my long held opinions as a result of reading this book. The story is compelling and well worth the effort.

I have read several of John Feinstein's previous books and enjoyed them a lot. I read The Punch in three quick days, and both the author's clean writing style and the accessibility of the material moved the story along well. However, I have to admit that I did not feel "satisfied" when I finished the book. The story of Rudy T. and Kermit Washington is told well, and both men's personalities are explored succinctly. But I think there is more to the story, and perhaps the intrigue lies in the fact that Feinstein could not quite find it. Washington is clearly holding on to a version of the events of the Punch that does not correspond with other's versions, and he remains bitter and confused about why, at least at the present time, he cannot find work in the NBA. I think it might have been useful for Feinstein to spend a little time exploring the latter with his NBA contacts, including current General Managers and coaches, even if they wanted to remain anonymous. Or perhaps a meeting between the two men could have been arranged and been more illustrative of their different lives at this time. My final thought is that perhaps, in the end, there really wasn't enough "there there" to make this story book-worthy. If you are interested in finding out for yourself, I recommend checking this book out of the library rather than spending [money] or more to buy it.