MattyT Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 This book is by Michael Lewis who wrote Moneyball and Liar's Poker. I have only read Moneyball, but really enjoyed it. Liar's Poker is about Wall Street. The Blind Side takes an interesting angle by featuring the offensive left tackle position. Here's a review from Amazon: Starred Review. As he did so memorably for baseball in Moneyball, Lewis takes a statistical X-ray of the hidden substructure of football, outlining the invisible doings of unsung players that determine the outcome more than the showy exploits of point scorers. In his sketch of the gridiron arms race, first came the modern, meticulously choreographed passing offense, then the ferocious defensive pass rusher whose bone-crunching quarterback sacks demolished the best-laid passing game, and finally the rise of the left tackle—the offensive lineman tasked with protecting the quarterback from the pass rusher—whose presence is felt only through the game-deciding absence of said sacks. A rare creature combining 300 pounds of bulk with "the body control of a ballerina," the anonymous left tackle, Lewis notes, is now often a team's highest-paid player. Lewis fleshes this out with the colorful saga of left tackle prodigy Michael Oher. An intermittently homeless Memphis ghetto kid taken in by a rich white family and a Christian high school, Oher's preternatural size and agility soon has every college coach in the country courting him obsequiously. Combining a tour de force of sports analysis with a piquant ethnography of the South's pigskin mania, Lewis probes the fascinating question of whether football is a matter of brute force or subtle intellect. Photos. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 The Blind Side takes an interesting angle by featuring the offensive left tackle position. 801689[/snapback] I am guessing that he didn't need to visit Buffalo to do any research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted October 11, 2006 Author Share Posted October 11, 2006 I am guessing that he didn't need to visit Buffalo to do any research. 801694[/snapback] Maybe he used our Bledsoe years as a non-example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 I am guessing that he didn't need to visit Buffalo to do any research. 801694[/snapback] No. But he is now in Jacksonville doing a follow up book called "The Fat Side: An Inside Look at a RT Tackle that is all Belly and no Heart". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 He's a terrific writer. Moneyball and Liar's Poker are excellent, entertaining reads. He also wrote "The Money Culture" and "The New New Thing" about Silicon Valley, amongst others. I'm looking forward to Blindside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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