Product Details
- Author: John Ed Bradley
|
- Binding: Hardcover
|
- Dewey Decimal Number: 796.33263092
|
- EAN: 9781933060330
|
- ISBN: 1933060336
|
- Label: ESPN
|
- Manufacturer: ESPN
|
- Number of Items: 1
|
- Number of Pages: 304
|
- Product Group: Book
|
- Publication Date: 2007-09-04
|
- Publisher: ESPN
|
- Release Date: 2007-09-04
|
- Studio: ESPN
|
- Title: It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium: Football and the Game of Life
|
Avg Customer Rating: 
Product Description: "It was the biggest high you could have. No drugs could match it. The way it felt to run out there with the crowd yelling for you. I wish every kid could experience that." Such was the charmed life of 21-year-old John Ed Bradley, All-SEC center for the Louisiana State University Tigers. But after his final football game, a 34-10 Tiger romp over Wake Forest in the 1979 Tangerine Bowl, he firmly closed the door to his locker and to his past. He moved on, seemingly untouched by the game, to become a successful journalist and novelist. But Bradley couldnt help looking back, and soon that past was right in front of him. After the deaths of his old coach, Charles McClendon, and a fellow lineman, Bradley could no longer fight off his Tiger memories. Twenty-three years later, he still knew the names, weights, and jersey numbers of the teammates he had called brothers, and whom he had been neglecting ever since. It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium is inspired by Bradleys classic essay "The Best Years of His Life," which appears in Sports Illustrated: Fifty Years of Great Writing. It chronicles his rediscovery of the team that he had long forsaken but never forgotten, and his search for forgiveness from teammates who had never forgotten him.
|
Customer Reviews
If You Don't Cry, You're Not a Football Fan
Bradley has written a thoughtful, somber, and poetic memoir that reads as the flip-side to Jason Peter's drug-fueled Hero of the Underground. Every page is brimming with emotion, whether it's love or hate of the game of football. While the cover prominently features an LSU logo and colors, don't be fooled--this book is for all college football fans, not just LSU fans.
As some other reviewers have commented, there's not much action here, so it's not a rip-roaring read--it doesn't ever fully grip the reader in its clutches. This is partially due to the non-linear format. The chapters aren't ordered like a plot, and some readers may lose interest because of that. Could Bradley be too good of a writer for football fans to handle? I hope not.
The fact that the book is still so good in spite of its relative calm is a testament to its sharp writing. Bradley didn't win a Superbowl or a college National Championship; in fact, he never even tried out for the NFL. In the end, it doesn't matter: "It Never Rains..." is one of the best football books that I've ever read. Instead of a football player who happens to write, John Ed Bradley is a writer who happened to play football.
|
Disappointment
This book has its moments, but too few of them. The author, a former LSU football player shares his experiences of playing at LSU and afterwards as he tries to put his days in Baton Rouge behind him and become a writer.
I found it most interesting when he was sharing his experiences as a player. The rest of it is kind of ho hum. I never was too clear on just how much he wanted to stop being an LSU Tiger and how much he wanted to be a writer. He protesth a bit much. He included some really unrelated personal relationship stuff that was not unlike eveyone's experiences. At the end he lapsed into sort of a "what ever happenned to" treatment of former teammates. In the acknowledgements section the author admits that some of the content of the book was taken from earlier articles. It shows.
|
Wonderful!
A great read for LSU fans or college football fans in general. Great insight and also very well written. As close as most of us will ever get to Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
|
Nothing like LSU Football
I could not put this book down! The way he moved back in forth in his life keep me on the edge of my seat to see what was coming next. Thank you Mr. Bradley for this wonderfull book.
|
The best reading material for any Tiger fan!
This book contains several stories within the book about former tiger football player, John Ed Bradley along with his teamates and Coach, Charlie McClendon. It was interesting to hear a player's perspective on tiger stadium and LSU football. Bradley shares other stories within his own about teamates and life experiences that are interesting enough to make you want to re-read the book as soon as you finish it the first time! This book is everything and more that I imagined it would be! I highly recommend it. ***GEAUX TIGERS***
|
|