Customer Reviews

Wicked Good Year: How the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics Turned the Hub of the Universe into the Capital of Sports

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

 

 

I picked this up at the recommendation of a friend. I was a little hesitant since I'm a complete sports-dummy. Despite the awkwardly long sub-title Wicked Good Year is far more than a sports book! Buckley takes the 2007 season and follows it through three very uniqe fans: an obsessive autograph collector who survived a deadly car crash as a child, a trio of little old ladies from Nantucket and a boy-band celebrity obsessed with basketball (you couldnt make this up!). Anybody can spit back dry stats, but through these characters Buckley provides the sort of context that makes sports personal and interesting for the layperson.

In the end Buckely explores the cultural identity of a city through the lens of sporting history and personal narratives. He leads the reader through time to some of the greatest, the worst, and the most fascinating moments of Boston sports. He does so with a voice that is technical enough for seasoned fans, but easy enough for the sports dummy (like me)to follow.

A great read for sports fans in general. An absolute must-read for Bostonians - especially the non sports-fans - I finally understand just why the city went crazy in 2007.

A basic test of pretty much any non-fiction book: you know from the start how it's going to end but still can't stop reading to see how it gets there. That's the frankly addictive quality of WICKED GOOD YEAR -- we already know the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots had amazing, overlapping seasons, we already know their high-profile stars. What we don't know are the unexpectedly touching stories of some of the fans, vendors, front-office secretaries, everyone who composes the tapestry of Boston pro sports.

Buckley does a skillful job of weaving the stories of an eclectic cast of characters -- and trust me, they're all characters. He's affectionate without being gushing, insightful without the usual tedious overload of arcane stats. The games are the threads that hold it all together but it's the behind-the-scenes stuff in the lockerrooms, on the road with the traveling circus of pro sports teams, and in the homes of the fans themselves that, for me, sets it apart enough to sit down and write an Amazon review recommending it.

I liked the book, and it covered a period of time when I was in Iraq and getting a release from the day-to-day grind of war by finding out that all of my favorite sports teams from my beloved Boston were doing so well really helped my morale.

Buckley does a pretty good job capturing the runs of the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots. The Bruins are briefly mentioned as well, although they didn't enjoy the same level of success, and don't have a dedicated focus.

I wasn't crazy about the segue into the different fans of the Sox, Patriots and Celtics in the context of the events of the time but to each his own. Wasn't a fan of Donnie Wahlberg at all when he was with the New Kids on the Block back in the 80's but he's a good actor who's grown on me over time. Still, the Nantucket ladies and Andrew Urban the autograph collector didn't do much for me. But, I credit Buckley for trying a slightly different approach beyond the simple re-hash of the sports teams and events.

I've not always agreed with Buckley's comments, but this isn't a bad book for someone like me who couldn't be there to experience the events in person and in Boston where they occurred. Enjoyable light read.

I do enjoy Steve Buckley and think he is both a very good writer as well as commentator. That is why I was so distressed to read that he wrote such a boring book that offers no great insights into the 2007/2008 sports year. He was beaten to the punch about the Celtics run by Peter May whose book is far better. Michael Holley and others have written much better books about the recent Red Sox success. He could have focused more on the Patriots even though they lost the Super Bowl but really glossed over that.

Sadly, this is a book that tries to be all things to all people and ends up being lukewarm and really offers no great insight to the knowledgeable Boston sports fan. I doubt this will find its way to many Christmas trees.

I confess that I was "betting on the come" when I bought this book. I was taking a chance on a book by an author I had never heard of. After about 50 pages I realized I had made a mistake. Into the used book bin it went. This book is written for 7th graders, more specifically 7th graders who tune into sports radio talk shows. The prose is juvenile and simplistic. There is nothing in the first 50 pages to spark interest in the rest of the book. If you want to read some great sports books, read David Halberstam and Bill Simmons.