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Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team That Changed the Game by Maya Washington
vietmom's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
I was looking forward to reading this because I am a Michigan State alum, but I had a hard time with this one. It would jump around a lot so it was hard for me to stay focused and I wished it focused more on Gene's time at MSU. It covered a lot of topics but I wished it went more in some type of order.
storyphoria's review against another edition
2.0
Overall, it’s an interesting look at just how different everything was for players back then. An interesting insight into a Father/Daughter bond that had me thinking about my relationship with my own Dad as well as with my kids.
But mostly it left me wanting MORE about Gene Washington’ s actual football and sports career, stories about the team referenced in the title of the book, or even a deeper look at the beautiful and slightly sad Father/Daughter bond between Maya and Gene.
Instead, what we get which is a disjointed mix of the general history of the civil rights movement with a smattering of actual sports/football stories and a bit of extra talk about the nature of the relationship between Gene and Maya as his whole career in football happened largely before she was even born.
I found myself wishing that the book would have just picked a focus and went all in on it.
If it was to be about his career and that team, then go ALL IN on those stories and details.
If instead it was to be about the events happening in society during the Civil Rights Movement, fantastic, write the book about that and skip the Gene Washington and the team that changed the game parts.
But because it doesn’t commit to any of them, it feels like they are all kind of short changed for attention in the book.
Very unfortunate as I think any one of those topics, had they been the only focus of the book, would have been very interesting to read and the author does a nice job writing and bringing us along on the journey.
I’m sure there will be some who feel “I’m missing the point of this book because it’s a powerful look at the immense struggle based around race that players faced in that time.” Believe me, I absolutely understand, and would have LOVED if the book would have focused on that to better share those struggles. What these players faced in those days was insane, what they accomplished in the face of that is incredible.
But this book only lightly scratches the surface of telling us about it.
As always, the full review can be found at the AIC Stories website here:
https://aicpod.com/2021/12/15/through-the-banks-of-the-red-cedar-my-father-and-the-team-that-changed-the-game-by-maya-washington/
But mostly it left me wanting MORE about Gene Washington’ s actual football and sports career, stories about the team referenced in the title of the book, or even a deeper look at the beautiful and slightly sad Father/Daughter bond between Maya and Gene.
Instead, what we get which is a disjointed mix of the general history of the civil rights movement with a smattering of actual sports/football stories and a bit of extra talk about the nature of the relationship between Gene and Maya as his whole career in football happened largely before she was even born.
I found myself wishing that the book would have just picked a focus and went all in on it.
If it was to be about his career and that team, then go ALL IN on those stories and details.
If instead it was to be about the events happening in society during the Civil Rights Movement, fantastic, write the book about that and skip the Gene Washington and the team that changed the game parts.
But because it doesn’t commit to any of them, it feels like they are all kind of short changed for attention in the book.
Very unfortunate as I think any one of those topics, had they been the only focus of the book, would have been very interesting to read and the author does a nice job writing and bringing us along on the journey.
I’m sure there will be some who feel “I’m missing the point of this book because it’s a powerful look at the immense struggle based around race that players faced in that time.” Believe me, I absolutely understand, and would have LOVED if the book would have focused on that to better share those struggles. What these players faced in those days was insane, what they accomplished in the face of that is incredible.
But this book only lightly scratches the surface of telling us about it.
As always, the full review can be found at the AIC Stories website here:
https://aicpod.com/2021/12/15/through-the-banks-of-the-red-cedar-my-father-and-the-team-that-changed-the-game-by-maya-washington/
joshborden's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
karend's review against another edition
3.5
As an alum of Michigan State and a person who's watched a fair few Minnesota Vikings games, I appreciated this biography of a man who played football in both places so I could learn some of the history I hadn't been exposed to before. Also as an alum of MSU, I wish the title had been "On the Banks of the Red Cedar" because I have a deep groove in my brain from singing that opening line to the fight song so many times as a student. I'd like to track down the documentary film that covers this same ground.
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