The 80-Yard Run
A Twenty-Week, Coast-to-Coast Quest for the Heart of High School Football
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The 80-Yard Run
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Bowlby
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By:
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Theron Hopkins
About this listen
Traveling to 20 towns in 20 weeks, author Theron Hopkins examines the magic of high school football in America. He finds that, in a world of spectacle and drama, the Friday night lights are not the most important part of what makes high school football so loved by those who play it, coach it, and watch it.
©2008 Theron Hopkins (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Theron Hopkins travels to 20 towns in 20 weeks from the start of practice in August through the Texas 5A Division II championship in late December to explore the state of high school football in America. Hopkins encounters a range of attitudes toward the game, from obsession to indifference, and narrator Stephen Bowlby wonderfully expresses Hopkins' observations, giving subtle emphasis to significant details.
Although Hopkins writes about all the people he encounters with empathy, he pays special attention to the coaches with whom he spends most of his time. Bowlby finds the individuality in these characters and his thoughtful approach will have listeners remembering their own beloved father figures.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
John Eisenberg's That First Season is the seldom-studied prequel to a phenomenal football career for Vince Lombardi and the Packers, drawing on exhaustive new research and interviews to tell an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader. The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator should refund his fee
- By Brian W. Barton on 08-20-18
By: John Eisenberg
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Slow Getting Up
- A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile
- By: Nate Jackson
- Narrated by: Nate Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 252
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 255
Nate Jackson’s Slow Getting Up is an unvarnished and uncensored memoir of everyday life in the most popular sports league in America - and the most damaging to its players - the National Football League. After playing college ball at a tiny Division III school, Jackson, a receiver, signed as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers, before moving to the Denver Broncos. For six seasons in the NFL as a Bronco, he alternated between the practice squad and the active roster, eventually winning a starting spot - a short, tenuous career emblematic of the average pro player.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Almost unlistenable...AND I'M A DENVER DIEHARD!
- By JROD2133 on 07-02-14
By: Nate Jackson
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Badasses
- The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
- By: Peter Richmond
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
A book that explores the enduring legends of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders, Badasses is the definitive biography of arguably the last team to play old-fashioned tough-guy football. Peter Richmond, co-author of the New York Times best seller The Glory Game, offers a fascinating look at the 1970s Oakland Raiders, led by colorful greats from another era.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good story, slightly obnoxious author and reader
- By Harry Seaward on 01-06-19
By: Peter Richmond
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QB 1
- By: Mike Lupica
- Narrated by: Nicolas Tecosky
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 257
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 206
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
Jake Cullen is a freshman quarterback playing high school football in the high-pressure land of Friday Night Lights (Texas). He is also the brother of Wyatt Cullen, who quarterbacked his team to the Texas State Championship last season - not to mention the son of former NFL quarterback and local legend, Troy Cullen. To be a Cullen in Texas is to be royalty…and a quarterback. All of which leaves 14-year-old Jake in a Texas-sized shadow, a tall order for any boy, especially one who's merely a freshman.
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4 out of 5 stars
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good
- By Candy on 02-07-20
By: Mike Lupica
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The Best Game Ever
- Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
On December 28, 1958, the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts met under the lights of Yankee Stadium for that season's NFL Championship game. Football was still greatly over-shadowed by the country's favored pastime - baseball - but the 1958 championship proved to be the turning point for pro football.
On the field and roaming the sidelines were 17 future Hall of Famers, including Colts stars Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, and Gino Marchetti, and Giants greats Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, and assistant coaches Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.
The Best Game Ever is a brilliant portrait of how a single game changed the history of American sports.
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2 out of 5 stars
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What about the other team?
- By Smalls on 11-29-08
By: Mark Bowden
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Play Their Hearts Out
- A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine
- By: George Dohrmann
- Narrated by: Emily Rose Speer
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
The NBA has returned to prominence on the backs of phenoms like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett. The media promotes them, the shoe companies pay them, and America applauds. But how exactly do such players reach the pros? What do they give up to get there? And what happens to those who fall short?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book, fantastic narration.
- By Randy on 11-03-10
By: George Dohrmann
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Backfield Boys
- A Football Mystery in Black and White
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Freshman footballers Jason Roddin and Tom Jefferson are a perfect pair: Jason is a blazing-fast wide-receiver, while his best friend Tom has all the skills a standout quarterback needs. After summer football camp at an elite sports-focused boarding school, the boys are thrilled to be invited back with full-ride scholarships. But on day one of practice, they're shocked when the team's coaching staff makes Tom, a black kid, a receiver and Jason, a white kid, a quarterback.
By: John Feinstein
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Gym Candy
- By: Carl Deuker
- Narrated by: Kyle McCarley
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 212
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 181
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 185
Running back Mick Johnson has dreams: dreams of cutting back, finding the hole, breaking in to the open, and running free with nothing but green grass ahead. He has dreams of winning and of being the best. But football is a cruel sport. It requires power, grace, speed, quickness, and knowledge of the game. It takes luck, too. One crazy bounce can turn a likely victory into sudden defeat. What elite athlete wouldn’t look for an edge? A way to make him bigger, stronger, faster?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great message, great story
- By C. Murphy on 07-14-21
By: Carl Deuker
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Instant Replay
- The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer
- By: Jerry Kramer, Dick Schaap
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 121
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Story5 out of 5 stars 109
This classic sports book takes listeners inside the 1967 season of the Green Bay Packers, following that storied team from training camp to their dramatic victory in Super Bowl II. Candid and often amusing, Jerry Kramer describes from a player's perspective a bygone era of sports, filled with blood, grit, and tears. No game better exemplifies this period than the classic "Ice Bowl" conference championship game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which Kramer, who made the crucial block in the climactic play, describes in thrilling detail.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Time capsule
- By Michael Ingarra on 01-21-24
By: Jerry Kramer, and others
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The Last Folk Hero
- The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 411
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 369
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 369
From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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If you are a sports fan and over 35 years old, you have to listen/read this. Awesome!
- By betty sammons on 06-29-23
By: Jeff Pearlman
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A Season on the Brink
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 396
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 344
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 343
A Season on the Brink chronicles the basketball season that John Feinstein spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach, Bob Knight. Knight granted Feinstein an unprecedented inside look at college basketball - with complete access to every moment of the season. Feinstein saw and heard it all - practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and mid-game huddles - during Knight's struggle to avoid a losing season.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Sports Journalism
- By Robert on 04-18-13
By: John Feinstein
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Paper Lion
- Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
- By: George Plimpton, Nicholas Dawidoff - foreword
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
George Plimpton was perhaps best known for Paper Lion, the book that set the bar for participatory sports journalism. With his characteristic wit, Plimpton recounts his experiences in talking his way into training camp with the Detroit Lions, practicing with the team, and taking snaps behind center. His breezy style captures the pressures and tensions rookies confront, the hijinks that pervade when 60 high-strung guys live together in close quarters, and a host of football rites and rituals.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Still great, after all these years!
- By D. Lichtenstein on 06-15-17
By: George Plimpton, and others
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Dr. J Unabridged
- The Autobiography
- By: Julius Erving, Karl Taro Greenfeld
- Narrated by: Julius Erving
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 120
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
With his flights of improvisation around the basket and his towering afro, Julius Erving became one of the most charismatic (and revolutionary) players basketball has ever known. But while the public has long revered this cultural icon, few have ever known of the double life of Julius Erving. Dr. J traces the inner lives of the nearly perfect player and the imperfect man - and how he has come to terms with both.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I may overrate it, but I’m a hoops junkie!
- By @JWTheBlueprint on 01-29-14
By: Julius Erving, and others
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Monsters
- The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Tom Taylorson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 361
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 318
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 319
For Rich Cohen and millions of other fans, the 1985 Chicago Bears were more than a football team: they were the greatest football team ever - a gang of colorful nuts, dancing and pounding their way to victory. They won a Super Bowl and saved a city. It was not just that the Monsters of the Midway won but how they did it....
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5 out of 5 stars
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For any Bears fans
- By Frank S. Saltiel on 11-18-21
By: Rich Cohen
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The Underdogs
- By: Mike Lupica
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Will Tyler can fly on a football field. He may not be the biggest running back around, but no one can touch him when it comes to hitting the hole and finding the end zone. And no one can match his love of the game. When Will has a football in hand, he may as well be flying for real because life can't touch him - his dad isn't so defeated, his town isn't so poor, and everyone has something to cheer for. All of which does him no good if the football season is canceled.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good
- By Ryan Sosa on 05-24-17
By: Mike Lupica
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Sweetness
- The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 242
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 242
At five feet ten inches tall, running back Walter Payton was not the largest player in the NFL, but he developed a larger-than-life reputation for his strength, speed, and grit. Nicknamed “Sweetness” during his college football days, he became the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing and all-purpose yards, capturing the hearts of fans in his adopted Chicago.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Honest Accounting Of A Fascinating Life
- By RevInTampa on 08-19-15
By: Jeff Pearlman
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One Shot at Forever
- A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season
- By: Chris Ballard
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to become the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. There, sporting long hair, and warming up to "Jesus Christ Superstar", the Ironmen would play a dramatic game that would change their lives forever.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding.
- By Cartman18 on 08-02-13
By: Chris Ballard
What listeners say about The 80-Yard Run
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-27-18
great book about HS football
I coach HS football. This book gets that experience perfectly. highly recommend for HS coaches
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- steve finkelstein
- 02-01-21
Awful
Sounds like a King Of The Hill cartoon with everyone saying “I’ll tell you what.”
The chapter involving the Reno school is repeated.
It also would have been nice to know how each school did
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