My Take on Ian O'Connor's Belichick: A Review

Ian O'Connor's Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time is billed as "the definitive biography of the NFL’s most enigmatic, controversial, and yet successful coach." Because I'd mentioned it in an earlier blog post, I wanted to follow up with my take on the book now that I have finished it.

My starting point is an observation taken from sports journalist Jane Leavy's book about Mickey Mantle. My 2011 blog post about the Mick stated:

Mantle, like many American heroes, is a flawed man. His time in history was a period of innocence in which the sportswriters knew he was a man different from his iconic image. In those days the sportswriters could lose their jobs for writing some of the things they knew, Leavy notes. And today sportswriters might lose their jobs for not writing about what they knew. We live in a different time, a time of innocence lost.

My take on O'Connor's bio of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is that the author seems to have made it his agenda to bathe the man with tar, dig up as much dirt as he could find, throw shovelfuls onto the tarred man and see how much sticks.

OK, there's plenty of praise, but 100% of the time, every story of winning or brilliance or nearly anything positive that occurs in his life is immediately followed by a hurtful barb. Were all these barbs really necessary? In the end the reader is left to wonder if the author really believes the title of his own book, that this man is the greatest coach ever.

A majority of the reviews for this book were positive, but I also like to check out the negative reviews, as they are sometimes on point. Here were a few one star reviews that I do not think were far off the mark.

Peevish, Petulant, and Puerile
This book is a hatchet job, pure and simple. Ian O'Conner is a hack journalist with an axe to grind. Don't waste your money.

Waste of time...
Here's an idea when writing a book, have a point, it's makes it so more Interesting for the reader. There's absolutely nothing new in this book. 500 pages of rehashed transcripts from three games to glory and a football life. Pathetic effort! Ian get your second-rate ass back on the bus to the minor leagues where you belong.

Not a valid source of information
This author never even interviewed Belichick for this book. Well known amongst fans that lots of these info are unconfirmed rumors. Ian O’Connor is at the bottom of any list for actual insider information about Patriots and Belichick.

These are pretty unkind cuts, even though it is apparent that the author did a lot of legwork. My problem goes back up to the Jane Leavy observation. I did not see it necessary to dig up every gripe ever made and weave it into the story. For example there were players who got traded who did not want to leave, but in a salary cap world, someone has to make hard decisions. BB made them. The guys who got traded grumble and it is in the book.

I'm not suggesting that we revert back to the former days where heroes' foibles and feet of clay were denied or varnished over with three coats of paint. It just seems that there is never a missed opportunity to pinch and prick the Pats' coach.

The Spygate story is extensively covered, and to O'Connor's credit he shares the extent to which many coaches have gone to great lengths, many of them ethically questionable, to find an edge. One amusing one was how Chicago Bear coach George Halas put itching powder in the soap of the opposing teams' locker room.

This section of the book does seem to go on forever though.  And then there's Deflategate. Hoo boy.

What impressed me most about both books--this one and Halberstam's--was how each showed Belichick's commitment to the Patriots being a TEAM.

* * * *
This past week I wrote about one of the insights I gained from O'Connor's book, which I turned into the acronym WWAUA, or What We Are Up Against. (You can it read it here.)  There were some additional insights as well that I didn't recall reading in the Halberstam book. And since this book is many years later, it does break down the details of several more big games in a way that makes them come alive for you again. He's a good writer. For my taste, the author too often came across as mean-spirited.

* * * *

Related Link
David Halberstam's Education of a Coach
Books by David Halberstam

Personal Observations on the Top Ten Songs of All Time

I was YouTube surfing this weekend when I stumbled upon one of those lists that make you curious. You know how they work. First they are interesting and then you wonder how they picked this one or that one and then you mull over all the other things that were not on the list. I could be top ten places to live, top ten baseball players, top ten party schools, etc. The one that caught my eye last night was Top Ten Songs of All Time.

Evidently this must be the last part of a longer list as it begins with the end of song number eleven on the list, Heroin by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. If you don't want to take time to check it out here is the list, posted by someone whose handle reads GlOveCompartment.

TOP 10 SONGS OF ALL TIME
10. What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
9. Born to Run (Springsteen)
8. The End (The Doors)
7. Hurt (Johnny Cash written by Trent Reznor)
6. Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stone)
5. Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
4. A Day in the Life (Beatles)
3. Like a Rolling Stone (Dylan)
2. Blowin’ in the Wind (Dylan)
1. Imagine (John Lennnon)

I found the selection somewhat interesting, but I had to wonder what the criteria for their selections was. I noticed two things here. First, nearly all the great songs "of all time" were from the Sixties. That seemed to indicate a measure of bias, especially since "All Time" seems pretty inclusive of a long period of time. And second, where are the female vocalists, performers and songwriters? In this group there was nary a one.

So I went looking for another list to compare it to, Rolling Stone Magazine's...

TOP 10 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME
10. What’d I Say (Ray Charles)
9. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)
8. Hey Jude (Beatles)
7. Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
6. Good Vibrations (Beach Boys)
5. Respect (Aretha Franklin) (written by Otis Redding)
4. What’s Goin’ On (Marvin Gaye)
3. Imagine (John Lennon)
2. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Mick Jagger/Rolling Stones)
1. Like a Rolling Stone (Dylan)

Interestingly, both lists have Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone and John Lennon's Imagine in the 1 and 3 positions. Also, both lists have a Beatles song, albeit a different one, in each list. But the Rolling Stone list is not only more racially balanced, it also is the only list with a female vocalist/performer on the list.

To be honest, I would not want to be on a panel that had to make a list like this. There is just so much great music. But I'm curious how the judges of either list established their criteria. For all I know it may be published somewhere, but in an era of women breaking through barricades in so many ways, why are there not more women on these lists?

Here are some of the great female vocalists and songwriters of note that come rather effortlessly to mind for me. If you have time click on the links for some very special performances.

Wind Beneath Wings or From a Distance (Bette Midler)
Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)
Diamonds and Rust (Joan Baez)
Billy Holiday
In the Arms of the Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin)
Midnight Train to Georgia (Gladys Knight)
Judy Collins
Son of a Preacher Man (Dusty Springfield)

Where does Ella Fitzgerald fit? How 'bout Ethel Waters?

Do you have a favorite song of all time?

Alas... life goes on.

EdNote: All illustrations on this blog have been my own creation unless otherwise noted, or implied when I am writing a review of others' work.