Customer Reviews

The Sweet Season: A Sportswriter Rediscovers Football, Family, and a Bit of Faith at Minnesota's St. John's University

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I had a football coach my senior year in high school who set our priorities for us at the beginning of the season. They are listed here in decending order:
1. God
2. Family
3. School
4. Football
This book explores all these priorities and does it with a hilarious but insightful twist. Reading the stories, learning about the people and being privy to what make St. Johns so "Sweet", makes me believe my high school football coach had it right all along. Murphy must be exceptionally well paid to go back to what he describes takes place in the big leagues on a consistent basis. This book restores my faith in the game. The negative sports news we hear so much about, the throat slashing antics, the war dances are all performed by a very small percentage of bafoons who drag sports down to their level. I would like to believe the majority of people who play this game are like the folks at St. Johns. It is fantastic that Murphy spoke out for those who have been seeing the game deteriorate over the years. This book props up the sport of college football, puts God and family at the top of the heap and is a great advertisement for what sounds like a neat place to go to school.

I don't know where to start on this book. I just finished it and was blown away. Austin Murphy is truly an excellent writer. At times poetic in his descriptions -- one point talking about how the coach of the college had lost a dear friend and had put up walls to protect himself -- and many other times funny. The whole book has one-liners all over.

But the purpose for Murphy isn't to be funny, it's to describe the world of Division III football at the nation's most successful college program, under an ecclectic coach with unorthodox methods. Murphy leaves behind big-time college and pro football reporting for a fall and rediscovers not just the game, but himself and his family. The way he ties football in with the rest of his life is amazing.

Murphy gets close to the players, coaches and fans of the program, and becomes involved heavily in the community of the town, getting to know the monks at the college and local fans. He rediscovers his wife and family, an area he admits neglecting for the past few years.

Perhaps the best part of the book is Murphy's transparency. He's not afraid to admit his faults. He's often the Homer Simpson of parenting: he loves his children deeply but stumbles along in raising them -- letting them stay out to midnight, having them eat junk food and taking toddlers on scary amusement rides made for adults. He's a man of contradiction, admitting he can't help but go with NFL players to strip clubs -- Sports Illustrated ought to put an end to this real soon; what kind of comments is he going to get at such a place, cat calls? -- but feels he is compromising his journalistic integrity by hanging out too much with the St. John's players. Strange logic indeed, but at least Murphy is candid enough to put his faults out there.

It's inspirational, moving, funny and very well written. Anyone who is interested in humanity -- not just football -- and getting back to one's roots, should read this book.

This is a "must-read" for all football fans sick of the egomaniac coaches and players so prevalent in big-time football of today. Murphy's book chronicles, with exceptional wit and wisdom,the travails and joys of the players and legendary coach of Division III St. John's University of Minnesota during a recent "Sweet Season." It is also the story of a young football writer for a national sports magazine who, in returning to college football as it used to be played before it bacame a major industry, rejuvenates his marriage and gets to know his kids - and himself.
The story introduces the readers to a lot of "down home" Minnesotans who love St. John's, the monks, and most especially the Johnnies, their team of undersized athletes who don't realize they are not supposed to be winners, but are shown the way by a coach who is one of the greatest of all time.

If you're as tired as I am of the NFL schlock, of having to take the time to remind the high school kids you coach every season that taunting and trash talking are not a part of the game, then you will absolutely love this book. Mr. Murphy is funny-- so funny, in fact, that several times I laughed so hard I couldn't even read the passage in question out loud to my wife and had to hand her the book. Mr. Murphy is also jaded, tired of spending his life on the road dealing with the overlarge head of professional and big college Div-1A athletes.

You won't find jerks like Randy Moss or Brian Bosworth in the pages of this book, unless they are mentions solely as a stark contrast to the genuinely respectful and worthy athletes of St. Johns. Reading this book reminded me of the potential of all athletics to reap great good from the hearts and minds of youth, and also reminded me that, as a coach, it's my responsibility to sow those seeds.

The book can be enjoyed on several levels-- as humor, as a description of a sporting season, and above all, as a triumph of what football is supposed to be-- fun for everyone involved, ESPECIALLY the players.

I hope you enjoy it.

This book is a joy to read. It reminds those of us sports junkies that there are still places where the "student" in "student-athlete" truly comes first. Murphy has written a jewel of a book, the kind that any fan will devour and at the same time savor. Stories about the legendary Coach Gagliardi are recounted with the same reverance that one might give, say, Vince Lombardi. And Gagliardi deserves it.
This is an amazing book, written in the style of John Feinstein and told with the emotion one might hear when listening to Bob Costas. Read it now . . . once you stop, you'll want to get yourself to Minnesota and experience the magic that is St. John's for yourself.

Austin Murphy is a gold-medal decathlon winner among authors. He has finished in the money in each of these writerly categories with his book "The Sweet Season":

1) He displayed a craftsman's use of language: Murphy's subtle alliterations and "bordering-on-erudite" vocabulary (sending me to the dictionary at least a dozen times over the course of the book) were highly effective.
2) He wielded a crafty (and crackly dry) sense of humor: Even (or especially) if you're not a retired Irish Catholic from the Rust Belt, this book is, at times, "pee-in-your-pants" funny.
3) He dug deep for his facts, particularly about the background of St. John's monastery and university.
4) He was sensitive without being maudlin when discussing the things that really matter in life -- family, faith, and (not) football.
5) He nailed the human interest angle: The stand-up, wise-acre QB, the quirky but lovable Gags, the beer-drinking, cigar-puffing, down-to-earth monks, Saint Frosty Westering.
6) His use of dialogue rocked.
7) He captured the physical and emotional setting of St. John's with ease.
8) He gracefully inserted just enough bathroom humor and (at least dreaming about) sex to keep my primitive forebrain interested in the storyline.
9) He skillfully wove together disparate elements into an eminently satisfying whole.
10) Did I mention yet that the whole damn thing was "fall-down" funny? Oh, I did? But I wrote "pee-in-your-pants" funny? Uff da! Sorry for the profane use of "pee".

Signed,

A 1983 graduate of St. John's, fellow author, and the 1978 long-snapper for dear old Hastings (Minnesota) High, the 2001 Class AAAAA Minnesota state champions.

This was an excellent read! Not only was it a refreshing take on true student athletes today, the author spoke beautifully on reconnecting with his family and his spiritual sense of purpose. This is not only for sports fans, but for all of us who have wanted to drop our jobs and get "away" from it all.

I encourage everyone (even if you aren't "into" football) to read this book. It is much more than a story about "THE GAME". For those of you that have read Murphy in Sports Illustrated, you are familiar with his very dry wit -- for those of you that have not, you have a treat in store. This is an exceptional book from an exceptional author.

If a Tommy says you should read this book about the Johnnies, then you should. It is Great. Thanks a great book Mr. Murphy.

I read this book after reading Mr. Murphy's "How Tough Could It B?" and loving it. Although I'm not much for football I thought I'd give this book a try because I enjoyed his writing. It was terrific - a great commentary on St. John's and its coach as well as another look at Mr. Murphy's refreshingly real family (well, perhaps they are not real but they sure are like my husband and children). I'm waiting for another book please!