DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum The Blind Side: anyone read it?

Just finished this book yesterday. Has anyone else read it yet?

From Publishers Weekly
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.

This is the bio on main character:

Michael Oher
# 74
Offensive Lineman - OL
Height: 6-5 Weight: 325
Junior
Experience: 2 Letters
Previous Schools
Briarcrest
Hometown
Memphis, Tenn.

2006: Earned second team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches ... Has started 22 consecutive games over the last two seasons ... Started all 12 games at LT ... As a blocker helped BenJarvus Green-Ellis become the third 1,000-yard runner in Ole Miss history and record four 100-yard rushing games ... Earned his second letter ... vs. Memphis (9/3): As a blocker helped the Rebels run for a season-high 240 yards ... at Missouri (9/9): ... Named Rebel QB Club Trench Player of the Week for his performance ... vs. #9/10 Georgia (9/30): Started on offensive line that helped BenJarvus Green-Ellis run for a career-high 135 yards ... at Alabama (10/14): Named Rebel QB Club Trench Player of the Week for his performance ... vs. Northwestern State (11/4): Helped the Rebels roll up a season-high 401 yards of total offense ... Chosen preseason First Team All-SEC by Phipps Football Magazines and Second Team All-SEC by The Sporting News and Lindy’s.

2005: Earned First Team Freshman All-America honors from Rivals.com and The Sporting News and Third Team distinction from CollegeFootballNews.com ... Named First Team Freshman All-SEC by the SEC Coaches and The Sporting News ... Played in all 11 games, starting the last 10 at right guard ... Helped pave the way for RB Mico McSwain to establish an Ole Miss freshman rushing record with 612 yards and three 100-yard performances ... Earned his first letter ... at Vanderbilt (9/17): Helped the Rebels pile up a season-high 400 yards of total offense .... vs. Wyoming (9/24): Helped McSwain record his first 100-yard ... vs. Wyoming (9/24): Helped McSwain record his first 100-yard rushing performance with a season-high 114 and a TD ... vs. Citadel (10.8): Helped the Rebel offense tally 366 yards of offense and McSwain notch his second 100-yard game of the year ... vs. Alabama (10/15): Received Rebel Quarterback Club Player of the Week Trench Award ... Helped the offensive line not allow a sack ... vs. Kentucky (10/22): Offensive line does not allow a sack for the second straight week ... Rebel offense totals 361 yards and McSwain reaches 100-yard plateau for third time.

HIGH SCHOOL:Considered one of the top offensive linemen in the nation ... Earned first team USA Today and EA Sports All-America honors ... Played in U.S. Army All-America Bowl in San Antonio, Texas ... Member of 2005 Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association All-Star team selected to compete against Kentucky on June 16, 2005 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky. ... Picked by Tom Lemming/ESPN as the nation's top offensive tackle ... Named to SuperPrep All-America team and was ranked No. 24 among offensive linemen by that publication, which also had him on its Dixie Team, ranking No. 6 on its Tennessee Top 20 ... Rated No. 5 best offensive lineman in the country by Scout.com as well as first team All-America, No. 8 overall player in the South, and No. 37 overall player in the country ... Rivals.com 100 selection, ranking No. 48 among prospects in the nation, regardless of position ... Also rated by Rivals.com as the No. 7 offensive lineman in the nation and No. 2 player in Tennessee ... Selected the No. 1 player in the State of Tennessee by the Knoxville News-Sentinel ... Rated as the No. 2 player in the South by the Mobile Register as a member of its Super Southeast 120 squad ... Named to Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super Southern 100 and rated as No. 22 on its Top 25 recruits in the nation list ... "Mr. Football" in Tennessee ... Offensive Lineman of the Year in Tennessee ... First team All-South selection by Fox Sports ... Chosen to Orlando Sentinel All-Southern team ... Named to Student Sports Hot 100 list, ranking as the nation's No. 5 offensive lineman ... Was named to PrepStar preseason Top 100 Dream Team, ranking No. 52 ... Two-time All-State selection ... Rated by The Commercial Appeal as No. 1 on Shelby-Metro's Most Wanted list ... As a senior, was credited with 130 "pancake" blocks, allowing no sacks, and grading out at 90 percent ... Didn't allow a sack in his two years and had 200 "pancakes" and an 85 percent grade ... Helped lead Briarcrest to 10-3 record and 2004 state championship ... Earned two letters in football ... Coached in high school by Hugh Freeze ... Also lettered twice in basketball and twice in track ... Basketball team went 27-6 in 2004, winning district championship ... Averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds in basketball, earning All-State honors as well as making the Sun Coast All-Tourney team ... In track, was state runner-up in discus.

PERSONAL: Son of Denise Oher and Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy ... Full name is Michael Jerome Oher ... Born: May 28, 1986.

far as I'm concerned...we gotta get this guy! Unfortunately, he's not eligible til next year.

nobody's read it?

This is a "Bundren Thing" isn't it?

I bought it as a Christmas gift for a friend, but unfortunately he hasn't finished it yet so I can borrow it back...

log, I expected you to be my only hope!

Nope Pit, this is a Left Tackle thing.

Sorry, I don't follow football.

I'll pick up a copy from the library.

I havent read I am brown yet! But will have to check this out

Looks like a good one. Last book I read was Managerial Accounting,,blah Instead of reading it some more for my final tomorrow I am on here

"On Being Brown" was the last football book I read. I know how much u like it.