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Lupica: SMARTEST SPORTSMEN TO EVER LIVE
Not as good as Bump & Run
Once upon a time there was a girl who had game...
Hindenberg?
Great banter, fun characters, but...

Full Court Press
Mike Lupica
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Bump and Run
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Travel Team

ASIN: 0399147896
Release Date: 2001-10-29

Book Description

This season, the coolest guy in basketball isn't a guy. From the author of the "boisterous, bawdy, sharp-witted" (The Philadelphia Inquirer) national bestseller comes another deliciously wicked tale of contemporary professional sports.

"Truly hip, uproariously funny and, my god, it might even be true," wrote Elmore Leonard. "Bump and Run places Lupica high up among the funniest guys writing fiction." And now Lupica proves it again.

This is what happens when the desperate golden-boy owner of the worst pro basketball team in the world and his equally desperate golden-boy coach do the unthinkable: sign the first woman ever to play in the NBA. Her name is Dee Gerard, the daughter of a New York playground legend and the product of God having an exceptionally good day. A star in Europe, but weary of bad arenas, she retires-until the day a scout for the hapless New York Knights calls his boss: "I found you a point guard who is perfect, except for one thing." What, no heart? "It's not a heart, exactly. But you're close."

The league doesn't want the circus. The other players don't want her. The owner wants fannies in the seats. The sportswriters just want their column inches. What she wants . . . is to play in the best game there is. How she gets there, the hilarious and sobering things that happen to her, the personal and professional entanglements that spring up everywhere, the pitfalls of remaining old-school when all about her are tattooed, self-indulgent, young millionaires-this is the smart, funny, outrageous, wonderful story of Full Court Press.

Customer Reviews:

Lupica: SMARTEST SPORTSMEN TO EVER LIVE.......2003-11-11

If you want to read a book from an extremely bright, informative, and seasoned sports journalist, read Full Court Press. Lupica is at his best in this epic basketball drama. Not only does he accuratley portray NBA life and off the court hardships, but he also portrays this from a woman's point of view. Amazingly descriptive, dramatic, and full of excitement, this book has Best Seller written all over it.

Not as good as Bump & Run.......2003-06-17

After howling in Bump and Run, I couldn't wait to listen to Full Court Press.

The first half of the book continues at a great pace with a slew of colorful characters. The last half was a let down. I enjoyed it, however, it wasn't as crisp as Bump and Run.

With that being said, I would still recommend either buying or listening to this story.

Once upon a time there was a girl who had game..........2002-05-08

Mike Lupica's "Full Court Press" is a sports fantasy in which the flamboyant owner of the worst team in the league signs the first woman to play in the NBA. Dee Gerard is the illegitimate daughter of a New York playground legend and a star in Europe who impresses a scout for the New York Knights. If you hear echoes of the real world twisted this way and that (Dr. J's daughter, Nancy Lieberman, etc.), then you realize that is part of the game here (is Dee's teammate a "nice" Dennis Rodman?). Try not to get caught up in figuring out if you are dealing with stereotypes or Frankenstein like creations composed of the parts of various real people.

Understandably Lupica has to tweak things to put Dee in a position to play in the NBA once he sets up the desperate franchise idea: she is basically a female John Stockton (sees the court, knows the game, can make the pass) with a healthy injection of Globetrotter style and flair. She is also the fastest woman ever to play basketball, which works for me as the secret ingredient. However, in terms of the story "Full Court Press" reminds me of the old Sammy Davis, Jr. joke: Sammy is on the golf course and somebody asks him "What's your handicap?" Sammy does a double-take and points out that being a one-eyed, Jewish, black man is handicap enough. Lupica saddles Dee with similar baggage: she is having an affair with her coach and sometimes she gets what is basically acute stage fright. So being a woman is, ironically, the least of her problems in this book. Fortunately she is pretty much the most level headed person in the book and so most readers will be inclined to wish her well and remember this is a sports fantasy, not a social argument (Earl Monroe says it will happen one day; anybody out there got the chops to argue with the Pearl?).

I watch ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" on a regular basis, so I have to admit that the Mike Lupica who wrote this novel does not "sound" like the same one who goes from articulate rationality to passionate diatribes at the drop of a hat (or one liner from a cohort). There are insights into the world of sports in general and professional basketball in particular (they might not know the game, but these kids today are FAST) scattered throughout the book, and I found a really good insult for somebody from a farm I would dearly love to use someday. Certainly Lupica has a feel for the game (so does the dust cover, where the basketball feels like a basketball). The resolution leaves a lot to be desired, but the journey is fun and it is a good read. "Full Court Press" can keep you occupied during the first three quarters of a NBA playoff game when nothing is happening.

Hindenberg?.......2002-03-21

As a working sportswriter, like myself, the author should know that there is not a single player in today's NBA who would knock an opponent to the court, then utter the words: "You went down harder than the Hindenberg!" I doubt whether there is a single active pro basketball player that could even identify the Hindenberg, let alone use it as a taunt. (Who edited this novel?)

That sort of preposterous dialog -- and the hackneyed romance between Dee and her coach -- made it difficult to fully to enjoy Lupica's well-intentioned little fantasy.

Great banter, fun characters, but..........2002-03-03

Lupica's got a great ear for the banter of the game and the City. He needed every bit of it to penetrate the blanket of intense namedropping, a syncophantic suck-up to Imus (Mo Jiggy in an Imus ranch hat) and overreaching for similes and metaphors (how does Earthwind snort the GNP of a city, Mike, and what is a "Gulfstream ex"?). I had it at 4 stars most of the way, but the last third really bogged down.

Eddie Holtz, jock with a blown out knee now scouting for the NY Knights (how many times has that set up been used?) discovers Dee Girard at a charity game in Monaco. She's the ultra cool 32-year-old daughter NY playground legend Cecil "Cool Daddy" Cody and the beautiful Swedish dancer Cool Daddy hooked up with in the late 60s. Eddie thinks she's as good as any point guard in the NBA, and Knights owner Michael De la Cruz sees headlines and ticket sales.

Some great characters: Knights Coach Bobby Carlino is a blatant composite of Rick Pitino and PJ Carlessimo complete with a bad boy player shoving his whistle down his throat when the coach lets his team rough Dee up. Eddie brings in Mo Jiggy, rap star turned sports agent from "Bump and Run", and the partnership of two super bright street-smart kids from the hood is born.

The last 40% or so isn't really a plot but a bunch of games, name dropping and trivia (like the female AAU phenom from the 50s who drops in on Dee in Minneapolis). The real story of Cool Daddy comes out. So what if he's more of a hustler than a hoopster, but bringing him back from the dead was a little much.

It had some great dialogue, fun characters but a little too much junk in between to make it a top tier story.

From Six-On-Six to Full Court Press: A Century of Iowa Girls' Basketball

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Jed Davis, AD/Girls' Basketball Coach jlori81@gte.net
What an enjoyable read!

From Six-On-Six to Full Court Press: A Century of Iowa Girls' Basketball
Janice A. Beran
Manufacturer: Iowa State Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Only Dance in Iowa: A History of Six-Player Girls' Basketball
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ASIN: 0813823692

Customer Reviews:

Jed Davis, AD/Girls' Basketball Coach jlori81@gte.net.......2000-11-20

Upon finishing this magnificent book, do I laugh or do I cry? Girls' high school basketball and teaching young girls to play basketball is my life. But what relevance does this book have? This is the history of girls' basketball in a state far away from mine. There are no diagrammed plays or secrets to success. Is it worth the hardcover price? To that question I answer an emphatic " yes! " There are a number of men and women in North America, who like myself, have dedicated themselves to girls' high school basketball. We can give you a dozen reasons why we love girls' basketball and why we have dedicated our lives to it. We can give you another dozen reasons why basketball is so important to the lives of our young female athletes. But still, when all has been said, words cannot adequately capture what the experience means to all those involved. Within the 200 pages of text, this book explains an American phenomenon that has its roots in Iowa and has proceeded to touch the lives of millions of girls, coaches and communities. That is why in reading six-on-six, I sometimes laughed and sometimes was swept up in emotion. This book is a comprehensive history of girls' basketball in the state of Iowa. The research is careful, thorough and disciplined. But in addition to covering the history of girls' basketball in Iowa, the book represents one of the best documentations of the history of basketball ever printed. The photos and interviews take you into the lives of the players -- how they played the game, how they overcame the obstacles of the early years in terms of facilities, equipment and transportation and most importantly, what basketball did for them personally....how they felt about the emerging game of basketball. It also covers how the game changed and why the changes were made. Iowa is unique in girls' basketball. It is the only state that since the 1920s, has continuously sanctioned interscholastic play and it does so with an independent sanctioning body that is separate from the boys. Those of us who live in the big metropolitan areas tend to think of Iowans as down-home conservative people who live a stable uncomplicated life. While their may or may not be some truth to the latter, what is perfectly clear is that Iowa is the most progressive state in the union when it comes to girls' athletics. They implemented Title IX fifty years before it became the law of the land. They appreciate, support, praise and celebrate their high school female athletes. In Iowa, the Iowa girl is queen. How did this develop? Why in Iowa? All of this is explained. But the best part of the book are the interviews that give you a glimpse into the lives of the girls, coaches, superintendents and sport writers that made all this possible.... men and women that had great vision and understood why basketball and sports is so important to the lives of teenage girls. As mentioned, the book is not about strategy or tips but through interviews, I learned some things that have helped me in my coaching. These have to do with the psychology of girls and why certain aspects of the game and experience are so important to girls. And why as a coach, I must respect the girls' wishes. If girls' basketball means a lot to you, read this book. You will be inspired by one of the great success stories of the 20th century.

What an enjoyable read!.......1998-03-19

This was such an entertaining book, especially for those of us that grew up in Iowa, and fell in love with the game the way it's played there. It brings back memories and conjures up images of many nights spent admiring those high school heroes and hoping to someday join their ranks.

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Full Court Press (Orca Young Readers)
Eric Walters
Manufacturer: Orca Book Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1551431696

Full-Court Press: Season Life Winning Basketball Team Women Who Made it Happen

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Full Court Press
If she only knew!
Better title would have been "Coach Runge's Battle."
Narrowly focused with no appreciation for the game
Great, in-depth look at the Oregon women's hoop program.

Full-Court Press: Season Life Winning Basketball Team Women Who Made it Happen
Lauren Kessler
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Show Me a Hero: A Tale of Murder, Suicide, Race, and Redemption
Show Me A Hero

ASIN: 0452274877

Amazon.com

Whether you're a rabid sports fan or flip to another channel fast, read this terrific, exhilarating story of a year in the life of a women's basketball team. At the University of Oregon--as at most schools--women's athletics drew the short straw: spartan quarters, bad practice times, low-paid coaching staff, and little respect. In 1993, ambitious new head coach Jody Runge sought to change this. A competitive player who had benefited from 1970s laws demanding equity between male and female athletics, Runge whipped her lagging team toward winning while legally pressuring the school to ante up. Full Court Press is remarkably suspenseful and dramatic as Runge and her team set out to "jump on 'em and show 'em who lives here."

Book Description

Judy Runge, a young and ambitious basketball coach, arrived at the University of Oregon in 1993 and discovered a team--the Oregon Ducks--demoralized by its worst season in almost two decades and ignored and underfunded in a male-dominated athletic department. Fighting a legal battle with the administration for equal funding and support, Runge taught the players the importance of self-esteem and commitment, instilling in them a thirst for winning. In the course of a year, she changed university policy, raised the team's motivation and morale, and exceeded all expectations but her own by leading the Ducks to a victorious season. Full Court Press is a poignant, entertaining, exuberant look at a sport that is capturing the American imagination and a moving profile of women who have learned to shatter barriers and win against the odds.
Praise from Barbara Ehrenreich, Mary Pipher, Donna Lopiano, and excellent media reviews.
The popularity of women's basketball has exploded, especially after the American women's Gold sweep at the 1996 Olympics.
Publishing coincides with the WNBA championships.

Customer Reviews:

Full Court Press.......1999-09-28

The book was great. It was detailed and easy to reada, where as it described the life of these women vividly. You felt at home with each of the women and like you knew and understood all of their problems completely. Laure Kessler does a great job!

If she only knew!.......1999-05-07

In a way I loved the book. But I also felt sorry for some of the players, for having to put up with someone like coach Runge. Arianne Boyer was a great player and still is, and for Runge to treat her like that upsets me. I go to Fort Vancouver High School and my Basketball/Volleyball coach is Arianne Boyer. Yes alot of the book is true, but I feel people didn't really get to see the real side of Arianne like my teammates and I do. She is very supportive and understanding and she cares for each one of us. I'm very glad that Runge acted the way she did, because now Arianne doesn't treat us the same way. She understands how far to push us. I'm glad that the book came out, it made me understand where my coach came from and how far she has come.

Better title would have been "Coach Runge's Battle.".......1999-01-31

I was led to believe the book would be a lot about the team and it was. However, there is an awful lot more about coach Jody Runge and her contract dilemma with the university while trying to build a winning basketball team. I can see why she may have hated this book. It is everything she isn't about. Your common fan isn't going to care so much about Title IX and men/women equity in sports. They just want to cheer for a winning team and learn about their experiences. The inside look at a women's basketball team was interesting, but it also got repetitive. Mention that a player misses her best friend once or twice and I get it. Mentioning it throughout the whole book is a bit much. The author gets too hung up on the coach's contract squabble that the team didn't even care about. Why should the reader care if the team didn't? There isn't much direct comment from the players, only their thoughts ... or is it the thoughts of the author for the players. Just about right on the season highlights ... not too much and not too little, just hitting what's important and how it affected the team.

Narrowly focused with no appreciation for the game.......1998-07-01

I am unsure whether Kessler is condecending to some percieved limitation in the intellect of sports fans or whether she herself missed the point. I have never before been so frustrated by such limited scope in what I expected to be a text with some feminist ethics. The author devotes a great deal of time to simplistic repetitive themes and shows absolutely no appreciation what so ever for the spirit and beauty of the game. (Runge wears heels and has romantic problems, the lone Black player does not fit in with her team mates, and the Blacks in LA are allowed to talk trash - how obvious, how disappointing). This parochial treatment of the story left me feeling that I had been deprived.

Perhaps I missed Kessler's point. Perhaps feminst sports fans are not part of her target audience. I for one look upon athletics as a means for girls and young women to build self esteem and respect for other women. Kessler seems to applaud its more militaristic demands for conformity and submission to authority. All of this in short choppy repetitive sentences.

I strongly recommend Corbett's Venus to the Hoop for a positive and rewarding perspective on the women's game. I also found VanDerveer's Shooting from the Outside to be a pleasant read. Corbett brings a well rounded perspective - sophisticated enough to offer an interesting contrast between urban street ball and small town girls' preps leagues. VanDerveer proves that given enough knowledge and appreciation for the game the text can work without a complete or complex perspective. Kessler proves the at least one of the two is necessary.

Great, in-depth look at the Oregon women's hoop program........1997-05-09

Journalist Kessler takes a college team with little name recognition outside the Pacific Northwest and makes the characters fascinating! From the stubborn coach of the women's basketball team to the ringers from Australia who join the team after the school year begins to the wily lawyer in Atlanta, one wants to know what will happen. I think the reader sees both sides of the picture better than Jody the coach, and this is thanks to the honest approach of the author and the access she obtained to university staff as well as players and coaches. The author looks at Title IX and Oregon's slow movement to comply with the rules, and this mirrors much that is going on in higher education throughout the country, and thus is extremely timely.

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Coach Odle's Full Court Press

Manufacturer: taylor university press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 096211877X

Toothless watchdogs: the news media, WMD and Abu Ghraib.(Full Court Press): An article from: American Journalism Review

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Toothless watchdogs: the news media, WMD and Abu Ghraib.(Full Court Press): An article from: American Journalism Review
Rem Rieder
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2004. The length of the article is 813 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Toothless watchdogs: the news media, WMD and Abu Ghraib.(Full Court Press)
Author: Rem Rieder
Publication: American Journalism Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Page: 6(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Full Court Press
Friendlich
Manufacturer: The Westminster Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JDPHTW

Sources of despair: a flurry of phantom sources, stolen material and Jayson Blair sightings.(Full Court Press)(Editorial): An article from: American Journalism Review

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Sources of despair: a flurry of phantom sources, stolen material and Jayson Blair sightings.(Full Court Press)(Editorial): An article from: American Journalism Review
Rem Rieder
Manufacturer: University of Maryland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by University of Maryland on April 1, 2004. The length of the article is 835 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sources of despair: a flurry of phantom sources, stolen material and Jayson Blair sightings.(Full Court Press)(Editorial)
Author: Rem Rieder
Publication: American Journalism Review (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2004
Publisher: University of Maryland
Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Page: 6(1)

Article Type: Editorial

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Newsweek's nightmare: a botched story, not a journalistic war crime.(FULL COURT PRESS) : An article from: American Journalism Review

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Newsweek's nightmare: a botched story, not a journalistic war crime.(FULL COURT PRESS) : An article from: American Journalism Review
Rem Rieder
Manufacturer: University of Maryland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2005. The length of the article is 833 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Newsweek's nightmare: a botched story, not a journalistic war crime.(FULL COURT PRESS)
Author: Rem Rieder
Publication: American Journalism Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Page: 6(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Asleep at the wheel: the media's perplexing performance on the Downing Street memo.(FULL COURT PRESS) : An article from: American Journalism Review

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Asleep at the wheel: the media's perplexing performance on the Downing Street memo.(FULL COURT PRESS) : An article from: American Journalism Review
Rem Rieder
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 861 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Asleep at the wheel: the media's perplexing performance on the Downing Street memo.(FULL COURT PRESS)
Author: Rem Rieder
Publication: American Journalism Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Page: 6(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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