The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game Paperback – September 17, 2007

First to give you full disclosure I'm a University of Georgia (UGA)Ball Fan. In the South "Ball" means just one thing, football. Does your son play ball has only one meaning, unless you are a Tech fan, then it could mean basketball, but those guys still carry slide rules.I bought this book because I thought it was a "sports story". I was wrong. It is an incredible human interest story, also. One which has caused me to laugh out loud and read some passages to my wife and, others, which made me cry.This should be required reading for every school board official in the country.Oprah ought to put it in her book club.The author starts off explaining why an offensive left tackle is important in football (See Lawrence Taylor (L.T) and Joe (How I got my leg broken on national television) Thiesmann. It tells of the evolution of the passing game in the NFL from a steam-roller running game to a finesse passing game ala Bill Walsh (see west Coast Offense that was really born in Cincinnati).I particular enjoyed the antidote about his official trip to visit the University of Tennessee.But what will be of greater human interest is the overlay of the story of Michael Oher, the "man/child" currently playing football at Ole Miss. Oher shows up at a predominantly white Christian school in the 9th grade with virtually no school history and horrible family background. An incredibly shy 350 pound kid struggles but ingratiates himself to faculty and staff and manages to stick around. Finally one Thanksgiving Day a volunteer assistant coach and his wife see him at a bus stop in his usual shorts and recognize that in addition to no money for food, he is traveling to the gym to watch practice just to be in a heated room. Through incredible acts of kindness and caring this young man is taken in by this wealthy Christian family who attempt to socialize and educate him for the future.But little did they realize that at 6' 6" with an incredible frame and quick feet, football coaches would see their answer to possibly the most important position on the football field and they would relentlessly come calling. This presents many problems as Oher has virtually no chance of attending college with his past educational background. Thus begins the odyssey of the recruiting wars for this individual who by the end of high school has been called the best pro prospect even though he has played in only 15 football games.This portion of the book dominates approximately 60% of the book. It is incredibly touching and I certainly applaud the sympathetic, caring approach by Leigh Ann and Sean Tuohy. This book is not just for football fans as the issues here are much greater. How does a child get to the 9th grade with virtually no retention of knowledge or ability to function in a social setting? What can a change in culture and caring do for this young man? And other questions will also appear such as is their potential ulterior motives for selecting this student out of so many and wasn't the final steps to eligibility really inappropriate? As to my opinion I choose to believe that the Tuohy's were interested in helping another human being, and in the process, it enriched the lives of their family, this young man and the possibilities that a loving, caring environment can create.I strongly recommend this book for football fans, sociologists, and people with interest in politics, religion, or Southern Culture as there are many issues intertwined. Once again, the weakness to this book may be that he narrowed its focus by making it a "sports book". It's not. Its main message concerns underprivileged kids and how a change in environment can produce incredible resultsI thought it was hilarious that Sean Tuohy read Michael the following and told him that it was about Ole Miss going into the stadium at LSU (THE STADIUM IS KNOWN AS ""Death Valley,":The Charge of the Light Brigadeby Alfred Lord TennysonHalf a league, half a league,Half a league onward,All in the valley of DeathRode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!Charge for the guns!" he said:Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!"Was there a man dismayed?Not though the soldier knewSome one had blundered:Their's not to make reply,Their's not to reason why,Their's but to do and die:Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of themVolleyed and thundered;Stormed at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of HellRode the six hundred.Flashed all their sabres bare,Flashed as they turned in airSabring the gunners there,Charging an army, whileAll the world wondered:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight through the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReeled from the sabre-strokeShattered and sundered.Then they rode back, but not,Not the six hundred.Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind themVolleyed and thundered;Stormed at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame through the jaws of DeathBack from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them,Left of six hundred.When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made!All the world wondered.Honour the charge they made!Honour the Light Brigade,Noble six hundred!Oh, I'm an ex-artillery officer as well.Highly recommended for educational professionals and members of Boards of education. It wouldn't hurt if you are a fan of college football ,either.Gunner August, 2008

As a young adult and student-athlete, this book resonates with me in so many levels. The author’s purpose is to not to tell a simple story about how a kid went from nothing to something because there are many stories out there like that. He was trying to influence people that we all have something in us that can make change and we are capable of so much more than we think. The intended audience is everyone, but I mostly think it is to young adults, especially the marginalized. It is easy to relate to mainly everyone because no matter what age, we all face things that seem to be impossible in the moment, but once we come out of it, we realize we are something far greater than ourselves. It relates to my personal life because I overlook the fact that I am fortunate enough to have a gym at my house and I have the resources to get better, while others don’t. It motivates me on my school work because Michael was always in and out of school, and I am so blessed that I can go to a school everyday where the teachers want what is best for me. In the media, we, as a society, try to shy away from stuff like this because we don’t like seeing the bad side. I think it is important for us to see this because then that is the only way change will happen. I would really recommend this book to young adults of any age because there are lessons in the book that could inspire many at a young age. The author has achieved his goal of using two situations in the NFL and in Michael Oher’s case in order to show that it is possible to succeed, even when it sounds so unobtainable. He uses two stories and parallels them to show that success can come from both ends of the spectrum. I wish that he could have made the NFL part of the story easier to understand. I am a pretty big football fan, so I could understand most of the terms, but for young adult readers or people not interested in football, it could be harder for them to connect with the book. Though it can be hard, the author makes it a bit easier to understand by adding in the definition of plays. The book is very useful because it motivated me to change something about myself and society. Be prepared to grab some tissues during the middle of the book and ending because you’ll become very moved by many of the things that happen. It is easily accessible to parents, students, and teachers through Amazon or a local bookstore. The two most interesting quotes that will stick with me are: “Don’t worry where I am. I’ll tell you when I get there” and “Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or mistake, but you're not supposed to question adults, or your coach or your teacher, because they make the rules. Maybe they know best, but maybe they don't. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn't at least one of the six hundred guys think about giving up, and joining with the other side? I mean, valley of death that's pretty salty stuff. That's why courage it's tricky. Should you always do what others tell you to do? Sometimes you might not even know why you're doing something. I mean any fool can have courage. But honor, that's the real reason for you either do something or you don't. It's who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important, then you have both honor and courage, and that's pretty good. I think that's what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honor. And maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some, too.” They stick with me because as an athlete it is important to not only listen to other’s stories, but use them to motivate myself. Hard work and the courage to try new things are two key things that I have learned to use in my everyday life if I want to be successful. Overall, this book is a story that I recommend to any and all people because of the learning experiences the author will bring you along.