Customer Reviews

Roughnecks

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A Review by Justice

Travis Cody is a senior at Oil Camp High school and is a Nose guard on the Roughneck football team. The Roughnecks are ranked second in league, with only one loss.
This loss was to Pineview when Travis was flattened by a Pineview Pelican named Grooms. The day comes for the championship game and Travis will be up against Grooms for the second time. Finally Travis has a chance to prove himself, to his team, to his family, to the college scouts, and to himself.

I really liked this book. It was very realistic and understandable. Mostly, it reminded me of my experiences with football. I found that I could really relate to this book and the characters in it. Sometimes I found myself laughing about things that had also happened to me, or to things that characters say that I have heard my coaches also say. Some things that I disliked are how the main character kept having flashbacks to past events and experiences in his life. This sometimes was confusing and out of context, but it did help understand where Travis was coming from. It helped you understand about how some things mean to him. Lastly this book took placer over just one day and, despite some slow parts, was mostly interesting and flowed well.

I would recommend this book to people who like and partially understand football. A person that would love this book is someone who is playing or who has played high school football. If you don't like football and know nothing about it you may not like this book.

This book is good because it seems to bring out the the real life of high school football. The main character is just like a normal teenager. He worries like every normal teen, but never gives up. I would recommend this book to any one who has any slight interest in the game of football.

This book is a recent Virginia Young Reader's selection for the 2000-2001 school year, and has a lot to offer...the narrative is first person, like a lot of novels for teens(especially sports novels), but what I really liked was the fact that the story is told from the point of view of a lineman, not the star quarterback or running back...those guys get all the publicity, so this was a great change.

The course of the book covers 1 day in the life of Travis as he prepars fot the state championship(of course) football game against(of course)thier arch rival from Pineview.

Despite the state championship, and the arch rivals, this book will keep you on your toes, just wondering if Travis can come out on top...I just loved the ending and can picture the final score in my mind even now!

If you liked this book, try _Bull Catcher_ by Alden Carter, also a Virginia Young Reader selection for 2000-2001.

Let me just start out by telling you that anyone who wants to read a book, no matter if your a sports buff or not will really enjoy Roughnecks. Thomas Cochran truly displays his writing talents in his first ever novel. Roughnecks goes in depth with a high school senior football player who is about to play in the biggest game of his career. He portrays such a visual picture to the readers about how Travis Cody (the main character) feels, his dreams, and fears. You feel like your almost inside his head as he prepares for the biggest day of his life as knows it, the State Championship. Although the story is based on football you get a look into his life, his past experiences that tell a true story of how he has shaped as a person and background that makes the story complete. Being a peer of the character and also being a high school athlete makes this book even more powerful because I can really relate to his every thought. Even though it is just a game, to many high school athletes it means the world to them and at the time can seem like the most important thing in the world. You feel his emotions, his physical pain, the excitment building inside, and setting that is painted is incredible. The whole town of Oil Camp is going to be watching Travis go head to head with Jericho Grooms, who is a all-state linebacker in the season finale. The season is on the line and you are truly within the text of the book throughout the ride along side Travis Cody's every thought. An extrordinary book that I would recommend everyone to read and you will definitely enjoy!

This is one of those "one day in the life of" books. Gives you insight into the life of sports stars and their fans. I am neither. However, just the fact that I could make it through this book without getting bored and frustrated means a lot ! Knowledge about football is helpful, but not essential. I just sort of glossed over those parts about the plays. Lots of "football as a metaphor for life", and that sort of thing. Worth a look.

Travis has lived his entire life in the small town of Oil Camp. It used to be a booming town, and most men in town, including Travis' older brother and his father until he died years ago, work on the oil rigs. Now the oil drilling is slowing down, though, and Oil Camp senses the end of its reign on the business. What they still have, though, and will always have, is their high school football team, the Roughnecks. Football is a religion in town and every townsperson is a rabid fan of the high school's team. Travis is now in his senior year and is a football god who is approaching a championship game against the town's biggest rival, Pineview.

Earlier in the season, Travis feels like he may have cost his team a win against Pineview, so this game is especially important for him, as an opportunity to redeem himself.

It is the day of the game. Travis wakes up, goes to work at a gas station, and thinks ahead to the evening's game. As his day progresses, he thinks back on the events that have brought him to this point and he thinks about what he will need to do to bring pride to himself and his school in the evening.

I liked that this book took place just over the course of a day, yet it touched on all of the important things that led Travis to this point in time and made him think the way he did. I also liked the team spirit that the Roughnecks had; they were a very solid and supportive group.

It was sad to read about a town that was on a downward spiral, and where playing football was the only thing that could earn a student any sort of noteriety or respect. The ending was also disappointing, of course.

Football is such an obsession with the residents of Oil Camp Louisiana, that when a boy is born, he receives a miniature plastic football from the town's Touchdown Club. A collection of state championship trophies fills Oil Camp High's trophy case, and the Oil Camp Roughnecks appear to be on the threshold of adding another if they beat archrival Pineview, who defeated Oil Camp earlier in the season. Not only is this game a rematch between the schools, but also for Travis Cody, the Oil Camp center and noseguard, it is a chance to redeem himself, since he feels personally responsible for the previous loss for failing to contain Jericho Grooms, his Pineview counterpart. Even worse, he beilieves he did not go down fighting, that Grooms forced him to give up before the play was over, something he had never done before. If you are expecting a great deal of football action, you will be disappointed. However, if you want to discover how a likeable young man haunted by one mistake matures and rises to the occasion, you will love this story. It takes place in one day-the day of the state championship game. Through the skillful use of flashbacks, we become privy to Travis's thoughts and feelings about his economically dying town, widowed mom, deceased grandfather, friends, teammates, girlfriend, and future. Travis, like anyone who completely devotes himself to a sport or activity, questions whether the time and pain devoted to it are worth it. Because he loves football, his answer is, unhesitatingly, YES! Cochran has speckled the story with characters reminiscent of people we might have met in our lives. Travis's memories about his grandfather, Pawpaw, are particularly poignant. He feels guilty about pulling away from the man Pawpaw became after he had a stroke; instead he dwells on the Pawpaw who was like a father to him. The humor and kindness of Mr. Shackleford, his boss at the gas station where he works part-time, are unforgettable, as is old Mrs. Hammontree, whose declining driving skills render her a hazard to drivers and pedestrians alike. And there is Nita, the beautiful, understanding girlfriend who will go just so far, and Crews, the driving and demanding football coach, who molds a group of individuals into a team, concomitantly forcing each to realize his potential. Most of all, however, there is a young man who knows there is just so much time in life and that he better make the most of it. As with real life, the ending is uncertain, with Travis pancaking Grooms in the first play as the Roughnecks pass for a touchdown.

I started reading this for a book report a while ago. Once in a while I'd start to read but then I kept putting it down. I did this five of six times before I said to myself "I'm just gonna read all the way though it." When I started it I couln't put it down! I think this is a great book for young and old kids... Mybe some grownups might even enjoy this.

The book the Roughneck that I just got done reading was a great book. Because it had all of the little details about what football is really about, playing with your heart and sole and not just your skills. Some people think that once there down their but not with this book, in The Roughneck Travis broke his elbow, it popped out of place and he went to the hospital and got It fixed. On the way home he got into an argument with his mom, about weather or not he is going to play football anymore this season. I think that, that shows what being a true player really means, now either he's really strong with a big heart or he's crazy. I rated the book with four stars because this book really brought back the true meaning of football. There are football players out there right now arguing with their managers because they only get two million dollars a year instead of three. What happened too playing sports cause you love too, what happened to playing with your heart, and just not your skills. And that's exactly what this book is all about, playing with your heart

This book is good because it seems to bring out the real life of highschool football. It begins a litlle slowly but other than that it gets you back in the mood to play football. I would definitely recommend this to any football player or former football player. I would also recommend it to somebody who doesn't play football because it actually shows you that when the pressure is on in life you can fight through it and do well.