No Medals for Trying: A Week in the Life of a Pro Football Team

Book info: No Medals for Trying: A Week in the Life of a Pro Football Team (Hardcover, 273 pages) – Macmillan Pub Co, 1990. Language: English.

A veteran sports columnist follows the New York Giants behind the scenes for one eventful week in December 1989, highlighting the team's key personnel and chronicling their preparations for a crucial game against the Eagles Editorial Reviews From Library Journal Izenberg, who has covered the New York Giants for some 30 years, reports on a week that he spent with the team. The week in question began on November 27, 1989, after the Giants lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the game where both Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor were injured, and culminates on December 4, after a sloppy loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Because of Taylor's injury, much of the book reads like a paean to the linebacker. Izenberg gives no real insights into the workings of a professional football team, and there's nothing here about the Giants that readers couldn't get from the New York Post. Izenberg does a fine job of introducing the players, coaches, trainers, and office personnel, but then he gets bogged down in team history and personal anecdotes and never really gets behind the scenes--unless all pros sit around between Sundays eating pizza and donuts, watching videos, etc. Most sports collections can skip.
- John Turner, New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.