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sarahanne8382's review against another edition
4.0
At times I wanted to be angry at the typical female stereotype this book is built on: While some women may be football fans, they simply don't grow up learning the intricacies of the game like men do, and many of them grow up learning next to nothing about the game. Overall, though, I found this a wonderfully accessible introduction to the intricacies of professional football.
While I wanted to be offended at the assumption that women just don't know the details of football, I have to admit that I don't really either. As a kid who grew up watching football on Sunday afternoons & Monday nights and has become an increasingly rabid fan of Hawkeye football, I can definitely follow the main action in a game. However, I couldn't tell what a nickel back was, the advantages of running a West Coast offense, or even what a West Coast offense was, for that matter, so I guess I fit the stereotype. But Holly doesn't apologize for women being so dumb when it comes to football. Instead, she seems to have decided that as a good NFL quarterback's wife (her husband is Rodney Peete), she simply needs to help us women catch up.
The book starts with the assumption that women will pick it up with varying levels of football knowledge, some with a fairly solid base like me, but others who know nearly nothing about the game & simply want to find some way to understand their man's Sunday afternoon obsession. I was disappointed with how much time Peete had to spend with the very basics of the game for less knowledgable readers, but I understand why it was necessary to the book. It also helped that little blurbsexplaining some of the most significant historical developments in the game were scattered throughout the book , breaking up some of the more tedious information. After each chapter there was also a top ten list of a significant aspect of the NFL (key players, coaches, Super Bowls, etc.) Peete's somewhat informal tone also kept the book from getting too dry & boring while remaining clear enough when explaining the important details that I was dying to learn.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading this book straight through, at least not the last chapter (it's simply a list of NFL teams & important items from their histories), but that's because it makes a great go-to guide for those times when something comes up during a game that you don't understand. While I wish she could have gone into more depth about different offensive and defensive formations, I still appreciate the way this book filled in the gaps in my basic football knowledge. And while the book ended much to quickly for me, Peete leaves her readers with the tools to continue to increase their football knowledge.
While I wanted to be offended at the assumption that women just don't know the details of football, I have to admit that I don't really either. As a kid who grew up watching football on Sunday afternoons & Monday nights and has become an increasingly rabid fan of Hawkeye football, I can definitely follow the main action in a game. However, I couldn't tell what a nickel back was, the advantages of running a West Coast offense, or even what a West Coast offense was, for that matter, so I guess I fit the stereotype. But Holly doesn't apologize for women being so dumb when it comes to football. Instead, she seems to have decided that as a good NFL quarterback's wife (her husband is Rodney Peete), she simply needs to help us women catch up.
The book starts with the assumption that women will pick it up with varying levels of football knowledge, some with a fairly solid base like me, but others who know nearly nothing about the game & simply want to find some way to understand their man's Sunday afternoon obsession. I was disappointed with how much time Peete had to spend with the very basics of the game for less knowledgable readers, but I understand why it was necessary to the book. It also helped that little blurbsexplaining some of the most significant historical developments in the game were scattered throughout the book , breaking up some of the more tedious information. After each chapter there was also a top ten list of a significant aspect of the NFL (key players, coaches, Super Bowls, etc.) Peete's somewhat informal tone also kept the book from getting too dry & boring while remaining clear enough when explaining the important details that I was dying to learn.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading this book straight through, at least not the last chapter (it's simply a list of NFL teams & important items from their histories), but that's because it makes a great go-to guide for those times when something comes up during a game that you don't understand. While I wish she could have gone into more depth about different offensive and defensive formations, I still appreciate the way this book filled in the gaps in my basic football knowledge. And while the book ended much to quickly for me, Peete leaves her readers with the tools to continue to increase their football knowledge.
drshakespeare's review against another edition
4.0
Because I read this book, I can compellingly sound like I know things about football.
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