Customer Reviews

A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football: Decoding America's Favorite Game

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mark Oristano has done us a great favor in laying out and explaining the basics of an already beautiful and accessible game so that we can make it more so. What's even better is that Oristano's easy going conversational style makes the book delightful and smooth to read. His stream of consciousness is not so tight as to remind one of reading technical journals; it is lubricated by parenthetical wise cracks, the occasional pun, and a self depreciating style.

To keep the main text on track without too many tangents, Oristano has intentionally placed a lot of his best material into sidebars. One class of sidebars is labeled "Cool Thing to Say During the Game". This may or may not be directly helpful depending upon how self-confident you are. (Remember, Mark Oristano is a professional actor as well; he's far more comfortable delivering lines when he doesn't have the slightest idea of what he's actually saying than you and I would be!) But indirectly, these canned comments will prove to be very helpful to the new fan. Trust me - someone nearby will say exactly what Oristano has written. When one of these old bromides, like "They put pointy ends on the football just so it will make those funny bounces!", is passed around and it will be as familiar and comfortable to you as it is to everyone else

My favorite sidebars are the one's labeled "Time Out". This is where Oristano's sportscaster heritage really shows through. Most of them are first person accounts of some funny or poignant encounter that he's had with professional football players or their coaches. My personal favorite is the speech given to rookies every summer by Gene Stallings, long time defensive secondary coach for Tom Landry's Cowboys. I dare not say more for fear of ruining it for you. The poignant "Time Outs" typically deal with the injuries and the players' responses to them and they serve to point out to the new fan just how fast, strong and tough the players in the NFL really are.

A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football is a quick, smooth read. It will prove to be a great way to introduce latent fans to the game. As such it should enjoy a very large, but specific audience. It will prove to be a disappointment to any who buy it for any other reason. This book gives good value to the reader who wants to make the game more accessible to someone they care about and with whom they wish to enjoy the Sunday, Monday or Thursday Night game.

This is an enjoyable & quick read on what is (in my mind) the greatest game ever invented: FOOTBALL! The author is a lifelong sportscaster who has an affinity for the Dallas Cowboys & the former Houston Oilers.

The book is filled with humerous Maddenesque football anecdotes that are sure to bring a smile to your face. Oristano also clarifies some of the nuances of the game to the layman without surrendering his sense of humor.

Perhaps the biggest criticism of the book is that it may be a bit too basic for avid football fans. For a more technical look at the inner-workings of pro football, I would highly recommend Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look. I found Kirwin's book to be far more illuminating than the present one.

The perfect target-audience of Oristano's book would be wives who want to learn more about football in order that they may understand their husband's obsession with the game. Young people who know little to nothing about football will benefit a great deal from the present book as well.

That said, I would still encourage football fans of all ages & genders to give this book a read. The beauty of it is that it can be read cover-to-cover in one sitting. Hence, even if it doesn't tell you a lot of stuff that you don't already know, it still won't waste your time. Also, some of the author's stories are sure to bring a smile to your face, too. All-in-all, it's a very fun read!

I was not really sure how many stars to give this book. It is not bad if you don't know anything about football. I stress that you must have zero understanding to get anything out of this book. If that is the case you will probably enjoy this and learn a lot. But I don't think the editorial reviews tell you how basic this book is. I was hoping to increase my understanding of things like Cover 3 and the Wildcat and instead got a book that was meant for people that don't know what to call the guy who throws the ball or what 1st and Ten means. Too sum up for me this book was a one star but for my wife it is probably worth 5 if I can ever get her to read it.

Marc Oristano did a wonderful job breaking down football into terms anyone could understand. With over 30 years as being a sportscaster he has seen and heard a lot over the years. I hope he writes more books about his experiences. I love football and there were not too many new things to learn for the book, but that did not stop me from reading it. I enjoyed it. This book would make a lovely gift for anyone old foot ball pro in your house or someone just starting out.

If, like me, you never learned the fine art of armchair quarterbacking at your father's elbow, think of this spry, playful, slim book as your remedial course. Mark Oristano, who once made his living explaining games to die-hards, now turns his hand to explaining the heart of the game to us newbies. His spirited blend of rules explanations with anecdotes makes this short guide both useful and fun to read.

Oristano takes the detailed approach to his explanation that I wish my seventh grade phys-ed teacher had taken. He explains what each position does, how they contribute to the process, why some football players are huge and strong while others are wiry and quick, and even the meaning of the all-important term "prolate spheroid." (What, you don't know that one? Maybe you need this book as badly as I do!)

I might wish Oristano relaxed slightly on the dense terminology. This book will be tough to follow if you try to read straight through, which Oristano admits early. I found it much more useful to have the book in one hand, a cold one in the other, and the Fan In My Life in the next chair, explaining what I need to look up from moment to moment. Treat this book like a reference and it will reach you further.

But even that notwithstanding, I enjoyed this book. It's informative in detail, infectious in spirit, easy to savvy, and adjustable enough that you can read parts as you need without feeling lost. It won't turn you into a sportscaster or a defensive coach, but if you study, you'll be able to join the excitement at your next Super Bowl party.

If you know next to nothing about football, you will appreciate and understand it much better if you read this book. However, the true value of the book can be expressed by my impression. There was not a single thing in this book that was new to me, yet that did not diminish my enjoyment of it. I read it though in one sitting.
Oristano was a professional sports broadcaster for thirty years and he clearly understands the game of football. He breaks the fundamentals down into simple language that can be understood by anyone with a desire to learn about football. My only criticism is that there were not enough personal remembrances of his experiences. A simple, yet very poignant point is on page 110. It is 1980 and Oristano is at Lambeau field and he is standing in the very spot where Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr executed the last-second sneak to defeat the Cowboys in the famous "Ice Bowl." When Starr walks up to him he informs Starr how Starr broke his heart there in 1967. Starr just smiled, chuckled and then walked away.
Therefore, I would ask Oristano to consider writing another book containing his memories of his thirty years of broadcasting. If the quality of writing is like this, it will be a great book. He also takes the unusual and refreshing position of expressing admiration for the officials.

As a previous sportscaster, Mark Oristano wrote a book that is easy to follow for those who want to learn something about football. An easy to follow format and interesting. This is not the best book to buy for those already well engaged into the sport, they might find this book boring....but for those who want to learn from a man who spent thirty years in the professional broadcasting business on sports, this is great!

Kinda a "Football for Dummies"

Recommended

Reviewed by ami Blackwelder, author of The shifters of 2040

Mark Oristano is a veteran sportscaster and a football fan to boot, so he's the perfect person to compile a nifty little book like this one. But readers must be warned: He's a Dallas Cowboys fan. You might have to squelch or put aside your true feelings about "America's Team" in order to page through this book objectively. His is not an in-your-face partisanship. But he does throw around names like Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith, et.al, quite a bit. If you can't stomach even thinking about those guys, then you'll have to pass on this one.

And that would be a shame, because even diehard sports nuts should learn something from this slim guidebook. The author defines all of the playing positions. He tackles (!) and explains offense, defense, special teams, and officiating. Techniques, options, and strategies for common situations are covered. He includes a glossary of key terms at the end of the book. And he interjects humorous and interesting slices of life from the game in every chapter, along with cool things to say to your friends during the game. The author's easy-going narrative and nice sense of humor make this book a quick and enjoyable read.

I'm not sure that a TOTAL newcomer to the game (someone from another planet, perhaps?) would be able to follow the fast logic of some of his explanations. I think a foundation of basic football knowledge is necessary in order to understand Oristano's references. It's difficult for me to judge, in that respect. I've been watching football since the mid-1960s; and I spent four years in high school and four more in college wearing a band uniform, playing fight songs and cheering on my alma maters during every gridiron game, both home and away, of those eight seasons. Some things, you merely learn by osmosis and by watching over and over, again and again.

Yet I also picked up a few tidbits from Oristano. I'm not sure that I knew that seven is the magic number of bodies needed on the offense's edge of the line of scrimmage. I didn't know that an NFL quarterback's helmet speaker automatically turns off with 15 seconds left on the play clock. And I don't believe I've ever heard the term "clock play" to describe the quarterback's quick move to spike the ball to the ground in a hurry-up to stop crucial seconds from ticking away. Even if you know football inside and out, you soon realize here just how complex the game really is. And it can be tough to try to explain it.

The author might not spend a lot of time on the intricacies of every kind of football play imaginable -- this is not a team playbook, after all -- but he does describe the basic fouls and penalties and rule violations. Since this book was released in 2009, it does not reflect any rule changes that have taken place during the 2010 season. It seems as though we're getting new ones nearly every week.

Read "A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football" in the morning on a game day. It'll only take two hours or so. Afterward, you'll immediately want to take in a real game in order to study the offenses and defenses and to think about the key points that Oristano recommends looking for. Peruse the pages: read, enjoy, and then pass this book along to the people sitting next to you on the couch or in the skybox. They should appreciate it as well ... unless, of course, they cannot rise above their animosities for the Cowboys.

The greatest explanation of this game I've ever gotten! In all my years, no one has ever given me a logical breakdown of the game and how to watch it. NOW I AM EXCITED TO WATCH it! Worth more than it's price.

I love reading and I try to read something everyday---be it the newspaper, a magazine, or part of a book. I also love sports! So when Kathy at I Am a Reader Not a Writer blog offered me the chance to receive and review A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football I jumped on the chance! (Thanks Kathy!)

I wanted to read this book for this reason: My husband is the sports editor of our local newspaper. He loves all sports, but football is his absolute favorite. He loves to watch and talk football. I know some basic things about football, but I want to be able to understand more and to be more involved in conversations with hubby about his favorite hobby. I want to be able to understand the different positions and why hubby yells when he says there should be a pass play instead of a hand-off, etc.

In A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football, Mark Oristano uses his career as a professional sports broadcaster as a stepping stone to teach the average Joe about the game of football. He give a comprehensive guideline as to what each position player on offense is, what each player on defense is, what the goals are for a first down, second down, etc. He tells you what special teams are, and what points are awarded when (safety, touchdown, field goal, etc.). He also includes "Time-Outs," which are funny and poignant stories that he has heard from around the NFL.

As a beginning fan of the NFL, this book was a great read. I read it before the Super Bowl so that I could actually, maybe see what all the fuss was about. I will admit that I still don't understand everything that was going on in the game, but after reading A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football I understood more than I ever did while watching a game. Even my hubby was impressed when at one point I called out "that's a blitz" before the TV. announcers did! (Score 1 for me!). This book is a great read for those who want to understand more about the game. It is also a great read for the sports fan who may want a refresher course on what each position is.