Book #3

HOLY cow! Fourteen followers! I am so excited about that! yay for the blog...
So, book number 3 was The Punch by John Fienstein. I am so glad I read this book. I had no idea what is was about, who the author was, or anything. I just looked at it, and said, "I will give this one a try!" I am so glad I did. Okay so here is the scoop on this book.
Most of my readers know that Nick and I are big Blazer fans, and my husband follows basketball pretty closely. This is a basketball book. So, now with that said, most sport followers will know what this book is about. Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich THE PUNCH. Way back in the day before I was born, these two guys played pro ball. There was a game, Lakers vs Rockets... a scuffle between two players, which turned into four players, which ended with Rudy T on the floor thinking the scoreboard fell on him.
I loved this book. It was full of facts that I did not know. The author interviewed a gazillion people for this book to get the story straight and even 30 years later, no one really knows who started what. Did you know that the Utah Jazz were first the New Orleans Jazz and that the Rockets were first franchised in San Diego? We hear about Wilt Chamberlin, Bill Walton, Michael Jordan (just a smidge) Larry Bird, Marcus Lucas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone. Of course other names get a debut like Charles Barkley, Shaq, and Magic Johnson. Here's something that most people already knew but I didn't: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not his birth given name... he changed his name from Lew Alcindor! Crazy (it was his whole muslim conversion thing)
The book follows each player from the beginning to the end. We read of their upbringing, their determination, their work ethic, their wives, children and heart. Both of these men faced a horrific tragedy after the punch was thrown. Tomjanovich underwent countless surgeries, year of therapy and struggles to make it back on top, while Washington played for four teams in one season... getting traded back and forth back and forth ending his career with the good old Portland Trail Blazers. Those were the glory days, right after we won the Championship. I loved that the book referenced our team so much:) Ultimately, both these young men retired at a way early age... 30's for Tomjanovich and 20's for Washington. Who knows how the fight started, after reading this book, I couldn't even come to a conclusion. I googled the fight and it was yowsers to say the least. You can see the impact and even though the audio was from the stoneage, you can even hear the force behind the punch. Go ahead, google Washington Tomjanovich and it will come up!
So, the rating: GOTTA READ IT! If you are not a sports fan, then LOVE IT but for me, I really could not put this book down. As one can see, started this 386 page yesterday afternoon and finished this 23 chapter book at 4:15 today! LOVED IT!
Happy Reading next book to be announced tomorrow!