i was expecting something a little different. i don't know why. i guess i expected more ballet and less "center stage" type plot . . . then again, i wi was expecting something a little different. i don't know why. i guess i expected more ballet and less "center stage" type plot . . . then again, i watched "pointe blank" this summer and loved it. i danced for 15 years. i liked hannah. i just felt like i knew this story already. easy to read, likeable enough, good debut. ...more
the only thing i wish that this book would have had was an updated epilogue. i want to know where the pairs are now! especially the chinese . . .
ANYWthe only thing i wish that this book would have had was an updated epilogue. i want to know where the pairs are now! especially the chinese . . .
ANYWAY.
this is the story of the 2002 olympic pairs competition. (now that i've read this, i want to watch all the performances again.)
it's not just the story of the games, which is nice. there's background on how all the teams got to that point in 2002. i fell in love with the russians, and still love the canadians, and hope that the chinese are doing okay. the difference between the state system and the free-market system, the preference of the former soviet judges vs. the north american ones - it's kind of fascinating.
the book also addresses the judges, the CRAZY federation rules, and the insanity of the ISU. i also wonder what would have happened if the games were somewhere outside of north america - would the media have stuck so hard on the story? would a double gold have been given?
i honestly will never look at figure skating the same way again. it IS a giant popularity contest! i mean, yeah, it's totally a sport, but the judging is soooo subjective with that second mark (the artistic). i also feel really badly for kids who want this to be their life. and the way shen xie can't eat . . . it breaks my heart.
oh, and guess what? THERE MIGHT BE A RUSSIAN MOB CONNECTION TO THE WHOLE VOTING SCANDAL. HAH. (no, seriously.) ...more
more about gymnasts than figure skaters, i read the version that included the 2000 epilogue. which is great, because the first version was written in more about gymnasts than figure skaters, i read the version that included the 2000 epilogue. which is great, because the first version was written in 1995, before the americans won gold in atlanta. i'd still like to read a more recent book on gymnastics/ice-skating, but wonder if the fact that the country has had more success in the olympic arena has pushed down the urge to write about it.
there's a lot of heart-break in this book. girls who died as a result of bad vaults, or extreme eating disorders. competing broken and battered at the age of 15. thinking your life is over at 17.
in a way, i never thought of after, that they do retard their body growth so much that they never turn into physical adults. and when your career is over at 18, 22, and you have bone problems and hurt all over, what do you do? when you are done with gymnastics, or gymnastics is done with you - what options do you have? i mean, we know shannon miller won heaps of medals, but what is her life like now?
anyway, this is a really good, incisive, non-apologetic look at the sports and the risks and things that we don't want to hear about. i think the most shocking chapters were about the parents, who either made the problem worse or refused to see anything - who still can't give up the dream, and the coaches.
i will never look at bela karolyi the same way. i think that's good, but it makes me a little sad that he isn't the big bear hugging personality he seems to be. but it makes me more sad to think how many little girls are sent to his gym because their parents see him that way too, and then their girls are torn apart. ...more
it was a good look inside the world of gymnastics, and showed both the good and the bad. it's heartbreaking to read about how worried jen was about geit was a good look inside the world of gymnastics, and showed both the good and the bad. it's heartbreaking to read about how worried jen was about getting older, knowing that the clock was ticking.
jennifer sey was the 1986 national champion.
the way weight and puberty become so ingrained in you - how you actually want to retard your growth because growing in any way changes the way you can move through the air.
it's a good look inside in the world of young gymnastics. the way it sucks up lives, destroys families, etc. and the coaches . . . i really hope that it isn't that way still. but of course you worry about it - the weight pressure, the smallness, and the repeated injuries, the pounding over and over again.
i kind of feel guilty for still enjoying the sport. i mean, it is a sport, and i don't feel bad watching football, but. these are little kids. weight of the world on eight year old shoulders.
i don't even want to know what it's like in china.
good, insightful, and i like the fact that it was actually someone in the world telling her story. it was also fascinating to see how competitiveness can spiral out of control, how you can get tunnel vision so easily, and how even when you're smart and responsible and "grown up" you fall prey to the same things as so many others. ...more
i think this book would have been stronger if she had chosen three teams from the same division (though it's still unclear to me if Southern would havi think this book would have been stronger if she had chosen three teams from the same division (though it's still unclear to me if Southern would have competed against SFA). while i enjoyed seeing the differences in the squads, i wanted more comparison. i also wished there was a companion dvd so i could see the stunts and the team perform, even though the author does a fairly good job of describing some of the stunts.
i liked that it took cheerleading to the level of a NCAA sport, all the while talking about why it isn't a "sport" and how it's looked down on. i swear, my heart stopped when sierra fell from her basket toss, and the dedication - you really get a sense of how this is an addiction for them.
the endings of the three schools were bitter-sweet - or just bitter, and that's probably why i can't give it four stars. it left me sad. i know this is sports, i know this is real life, but part of me did want the "bring it on" movie aspect to it. and oh, how i FELT for the girls that fumbled their routines!
(i also think james brown is a total jack-ass and wished someone had said something to that effect.)
perhaps it would have been better if she had just focused on one school . . . you would have felt more of an attachment. i felt badly for all the girls who were called "another SFA girl" or whatever school after she names two of them. it was well-written, but i think, perhaps, a little over-ambitious. ...more
and i am so understanding why. this is a story about football, and a story about a school that is a family (literally), and i swea(five stars from a.)
and i am so understanding why. this is a story about football, and a story about a school that is a family (literally), and i swear, i want to pack up and move to jefferson parish and teach at john curtis christian school.
this is also a story of katrina, and the devastation, and the horror and the continued trauma that the region experienced.
i cried. i admit it, i read the entire thing in one sitting while waiting for the babysitting family to come home, and i cried. i cried a lot, actually. (then i thanked god that while i've lived through multiple earthquakes and terrorist attacks, i haven't had hurricanes or tornadoes, which have warning periods.)
i can't recommend it enough. it's told so straight-forward and subtly and carefully that you know these kids and teachers and parents and you are struggling with them. and the horror that you know is coming when they first mention the beginnings of warnings, the sheer incompetence of the federal government (bush FLEW over and said "looks pretty bad down there"?! WTF?), and the tenacity and hard work of so many people who just want to get back on their feet. it also reinforced the importance of routine for people in trauma situations - giving kids school work to do, a team to play on, a sense that this isn't over - that they haven't taken everything.
and then the sports. i am getting this as a present for quite a few people in my family, and major thanks to a. for pointing this one out. broke my heart, built it up again, and made me think about what's important in life.
all in the name of a story about a football team in louisiana. ...more
oh, billy beane. how i love my billy beane. bringing math into baseball so hardcore - who thought i would be so into that? if i understood sabermetricoh, billy beane. how i love my billy beane. bringing math into baseball so hardcore - who thought i would be so into that? if i understood sabermetrics more, i would try to get my kids interested in it.
sadly, heavy catcher jeremy is still not in the majors. however, other products of the billy beane formula have proven true. and little theo epstein over at boston . . . and now there's a dude in los angeles (sick dodgers).
excellent book, excellent reading, excellent team to follow. ...more
i think this is possibly the best book i read on my own in all of 2006. it's fucking genius. he starts out wanting to tell a story about baseball, buti think this is possibly the best book i read on my own in all of 2006. it's fucking genius. he starts out wanting to tell a story about baseball, but then it turns into a story of the city, with what's happening in the bronx almost magically mirroring what's happening outside the ball park.
for those who need a little prodding: 1977 was the year that billy martin officially came to the yankees, that reggie jackson turned into mr. october, that the city mayoral race featured ed koch, mario cuomo, AND bella abzung, the blackout and the ensuing riots, it was Summer of Sam, the list goes on and on. it's fairly amazing to think so much happened in one single year.
but seriously, this has it all: baseball, serial killers, politics in all forms. it's for anyone and everyone that has been to new york, that has loved new york, that loves baseball, that wants to know a little more about things that we know but don't really know.
and it's written so engagingly - i seriously couldn't put it down. and then, as soon as i finished, i ordered copies of it for three people for christmas, and then sat down to read it again. hoenstly one of the best books of the year, bar none. ...more
