Review: The Rocket
I was recently asked to review the movie, The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard, before it made its debut in the US on Tuesday. I had been eagerly awaiting the release of the movie and was happy to review it before you could even buy it on DVD. For those of you who don’t know, the 124 minute long movie is about Maurice “The Rocket” Richard (the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games). Before I get going on the review, you can view the trailer below.
The movie actually opens up with credits and the riot outside Montreal’s arena in the game against Detroit in 1955 (also known as the Richard Riot).
Now, the movie was originally made in French so the English version is English dubbed over. The movie is still very enjoyable, but it was a little weird at first not having the mouthing of words match up with what you are hearing.
This movie was truly beautifully done. It fittingly had that old style feel and seemed like hockey’s version of Cinderella Man, one of my favorite movies. Surprisingly for me, I enjoyed this movie moreso than Miracle. The story is a very heartwarming one as you cheer Richard on as he went from a factory worker to the best in the NHL for the storied Montreal Canadiens franchise.
The following NHL athletes are featured in the movie:
-Sean Avery of the New York Rangers
-Pascal Dupuis of the Atlanta Thrashers
-Ian Laperriere of the Colorado Avalanche
-Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightening
-Stéphane Quintal previously of the Montréal Canadiens
-Mike Ricci previously of the Phoenix Coyotes
At one game against the NY Rangers, Montreal was told to keep Richard off the ice because of what Dill of the Rangers would do to him. After a big hit by Dill, Richard got up, skated up to him, and punched him. He punched him again when he got up after the first one. Guess who was acting the nasty mean Ranger player? Yep, it was Sean Avery.
“It was the first time I had ever done anything like that,” said Avery. “It was exciting, and a little bit nerve-racking the first day. Because you’re in a rink with a couple of other thousand extras as well. The attitude I had is that I might as well get it right as quickly as possible. The second day you get into it more and feel more comfortable.
“It was fun, and I had never been to Quebec City either, and that was cool. It’s a beautiful city.”
The movie won nine Canadian Academy Awards including Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor.
You can purchase the DVD for $18.24 at its official store here.
Review: Ice Kings
This weekend, I had the chance to watch the documentary Ice Kings after being asked to write a review about the film for BTJ. Before last night, I had never seen another hockey documentary outside of In the Crease. So when I went to watch Ice Kings, I expected to see a similar type of documentary; boy, was I wrong. Whereas In the Crease followed a team for an entire season, Ice Kings takes a look at the history of Rhode Island hockey. It was an incredibly informative film and I felt I learned a lot while enjoying the film.
You can view the trailer for this film on its official website.
While the focus of the documentary is on the dynasty built by Mount St. Charles Academy, which won 26 consecutive state titles, the film looks at other great Rhode Island hockey teams like La Salle, Hendrickin, and Toll Gate High School. Mount has produced NHL players like former Detroit Red Wings player Mathieu Schneider and other players like Brian Berard, Garth Snow, Keith Carney, and Brian Lawton. The documentary included interviews from Ron Wilson (player for East Providence High School), Lou Lamoriello (Providence College coach), Garth Snow, Brian Lawton (1st American to ever be drafted #1 overall), and Mathieu Schneider.
Schneider played for Mount back in 1984-1986 and he said that Bill Belisle, the head coach of the team since 1976, was the hardest working guy by far. He coached and could fix both the zamboni and the soda machines in the lobby. He doesn’t allow family or friends to attend practice. On some Mondays, coach would be upset with how the team played and would make them skate three full periods worth (even when they won 4-0, but over a poor team). The team was so successful, in part, because they had their own rink and could skate as much as they want.
My favorite part of the 82 minute documentary was the history lesson about old time Rhode Island hockey at the start of the film like learning about the Rhode Island Reds and the crazy atmosphere at their games.
Mount St. Charles Academy team
You can purchase this DVD for $19.99 on their official website.
Review: It’s Not About the Truth
I just finished reading a book entitled It’s Not About the Truth by Don Yaeger. If you haven’t already heard of the book, it’s the “Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives It Shattered.” Yaeger has written 13 books and was the Associate Editor for Sports Illustrated for 10 years. He actually has already sold movie rights for this book.
Yaeger used notes taken by former Duke Lacrosse head coach Mike Pressler during the entire fiasco as well as thorough research into this case and the circumstances behind it. The book is definitely not pro-Mike Nifong, but it’s hard to argue with his viewpoint after you read everything that the team had to go through.
Now before I go any farther, I wanted to give you my thoughts about this case before I had read the book. When I first heard the news report that members of the Duke Lacrosse team had allegedly raped a stripper, I believed the report like most of America. As Yaeger argues, it was a perfect storm of rich white kids playing lacrosse at a prestigious university versus a poor black stripper that created a controversial story that the country jumped on.
After reading the book, I can actually better sympathize with the Duke players. Should they have hired two strippers for a party? No, it wasn’t a good idea. Were they perfect students? No. But the majority of college students drink and party so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the lacrosse players did so as well.
I attended a college preparatory high school where men’s lacrosse was pretty popular and quite a few of our players ended up playing for D-I programs (ie. Syracuse). For the most part, these players were white and from wealthy families. For me, I don’t find it hard to believe that the team was bored on spring break and made a poor decision by hiring two strippers. I also believe that when the two women who showed up were not what they requested, the strippers were asked to leave. Unfortunately, one stripper decided to lie and cry rape.
In part because of the racial division between the two sides and the fact that DA Mike Nifong needed the publicity to win the upcoming primary and consequent election, the case was pushed forward and heavily publicized despite the fact that the alleged rape victim kept changing her story and the DNA tests did nothing to prove a rape had happened by any of the lacrosse players.
I had casually followed the case on TV so I knew the basics about this case, but I was blown away by how completely unlucky the players on the team were. Nifong appeared to be on a witch hunt and didn’t look like he would stop until the jury read off the guilty verdict. Fortunately for the players, the tide started to turn and they were eventually able to clear their names but those three players will always be known for their role in the alleged Duke Lacrosse rape case.
If you have any interest in the case, I would highly suggest reading this book. It’s Not About the Truth was an easy and enjoyable read. It’s amazing how many things were left out of mainstream media about the alleged victim and even the DA. Yaeger estimates that Nifong “granted up to seventy interviews in rapid succession” and in those interviews he misinformed the public by making incorrect claims or ignoring facts that hurt his case. He also tried to attack the character of the lacrosse players during these interviews and one time called them hooligans.
My jaw literally dropped a couple times in utter shock of the things Nifong did. Here’s an excerpt from pages 262 and 263 that summarize some of the things Nifong did.
1) On more than one occasion, Nifong suggested condoms may have been used in the attack - this after he had read the report, which stated the victim said no condoms were used. Nifong knew the statements were false, but he still suggested circumstances that excused the exculpatory evidence.
2) The DA insinuated that results of certain tests performed as a part of the investigation proved their guilt. No such evidence existed.
3) Nifong openly proclaimed the players’ guilt, poisoning a potential jury pool.
4) Nifong should not have castigated the lacrosse players for their alleged refusal to cooperate with or make statements to law enforcement authorities. Nifong painted a picture that the players hid behind a wall of silence, which, it was noted, was false. They voluntarily helped investigators with the search warrant, offering personal statements and DNA.
5) Nifong also “defamed the character, credibility, and reputation” of the accused. This, along with his expression of opinions and views of the nature of the alleged crimes, had a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused. The bar cited sixteen comments that attacked the reputation of the accused white men and their “ganglike rape” of a black woman.
You can buy It’s Not About the Truth today on Amazon.com for only $16.50.
Review: Triumph by Jeremy Schaap
Early last week, I finished a book entitled Triumph by Jeremy Schaap. I went into the book figuring that I’d like it for a few reasons:
1) I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cinderella Man, which Schaap also wrote. The movie, of the same title, was based on his book and also one of my favorite movies.
2) I used to run varsity track before my knee got crappy and so the “untold story of Jesse Owens” sounded appealing.
3) I had just finished taking German class all summer where we did a fair amount of discussing WWII and Hitler.
What is Triumph about? Basically, the book takes a brief look at Jesse Owens’ childhood. The book then focuses on his career in college (he ran for OSU) including the day when he broke three world records and tied another in 45 minutes at the Big Ten Championship held in Ann Arbor, MI.
Triumph goes into the greatest detail around Owens making the Olympic team, traveling to Germany, and then performing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In Berlin, Adolf Hitler wanted to use the Games as a chance to sell Germany. The army was building at that point and he didn’t want Germany to look like it was preparing for war. Instead, he wanted to use the Games to lull people into a false sense of security.
For Hitler and his colleagues, the Berlin games were the ultimate opportunity not to promote their agenda but to hide their agenda under a cloak of hospitality, prosperity, and efficiency (p. 155).
I would encourage anyone interested in the role of sport in history or a fan of track/Jesse Owens to read this book. It isn’t the most scholarly book in the world especially with some scenes of “imagined dialogue,” but it was an enjoyable read and I felt that I took a lot away from the book.
I’ve read another book entitled Hitler’s Olympics and while I learned more about the setup of the Games and Hitler’s role in that book, I enjoyed Triumph more because you could follow one black athlete’s quest to win gold in Nazi Germany.
Review of Hockey: A People’s History
I recently finished reading the book Hockey: A People’s History and wanted to share my thoughts about the book. I interviewed the book’s author, Michael McKinley, back in April and you check it out at this link.
For me personally, the book was not a quick read, but it definitely was an enjoyable one. Between all the reading I do for homework, I had to slowly go through Hockey: A People’s History in order to fully appreciate and take in all of the information. A friend of mine, who is not a hockey fan, saw the book and said it looks like a textbook about hockey. It does resemble a textbook in its size (11.2 x 9.6 x 1.3 inches) and contains 333 pages of comprehensive information.
Anyone who is a history buff and who enjoys the sport of hockey will probably love this book. The pages are of thicker quality with beautiful photographs chronicling the history of the sport. Readers learn about the origin of the sport (both male and female leagues) as well as anecdotes about key players and management. The book also includes how social issues and events impacted the game (ie. In the 1910s, many hockey players were trading in their hockey sweaters for army uniforms - p. 75). Before reading this book, my knowledge of hockey before my lifetime was not very good so I truly learned a lot.
Review: Blood Feud
As I mentioned in my last review, I’m going to be trying to do these reviews more often and whenever I finish a hockey book/DVD. Today’s review is of Adrian Dater’s book, Blood Feud
To be honest, I was skeptical when I purchased this book. It’s a 238 page book on the Wings-Avs rivalry by a Colorado reporter. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was not the best book I’ve ever read, but Dater provided some insight on what happened within the rivalry that many fans would not know. I especially liked it because I was only 10 in 1997 so I remember the big games, but the details were definitely fuzzy. This book helped clear things up for me.
Dater spent a chapter on each of the key players in the rivalry: Claude Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Scotty Bowman, and Darren McCarty. I certainly enjoyed reading about Scotty and Mac, but it was interesting to read about Lemieux and Roy as well (although my “hatred” for the two built as I read). He also talks about each season with the rivalry intact from 1995 to 2002. You also learn what Marc Crawford said to Scotty Bowman that got them both in a fighting match.
Other interesting tidbits…
- Denver Post columnist Kiszla wrote after Game 4 in the 1997 Western Conference finals, “Want to know the sad truth? The Red Wings are laughing at the Avalanche. Asked Wednesday if Colorado was tough enough to play dirt hockey, Wings enforcer Vladimir Konstantinov responded by chuckling for a full five seconds.” (p. 106)
- “His [Scotty Bowman] stay in Buffalo, until 1986-1987, would mark the only time in Bowman’s career he did not take a team to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the long, glorious display of his year-by-year coaching records, there is only one season in which the losses outnumber the victories…” (p. 126) Wow. That certainly speaks volumes about Bowman’s successful career.
- Did you know: Jimmy Devellano originally “wanted to hire Islanders legend Al Arbour for the [coaching job], but turned to Bowman when Arbour decline. In the summer of 1993, Ilitch gave Bowman a two-year contract worth $800,000 a yar. The son of a Montreal blacksmith had never seen so many zeroes in his life.” (p. 132-3)
- Scotty Bowman made the Red Wings get him a brand new laptop and he would read every single hockey story. He even knew what time the papers’ early editions were released online.
“I’d get a lot of calls: ‘How come I can’t get my computer working?’” Stan Bowman [Scotty’s son] said. “But once he got the hang of it, he read every single hockey story in every single paper in the country. For a guy who is 72, he’s on the computer all day, reading stories on the Internet.” (p. 136)
- Wings PR man Mike Kuta had gone to the Diamond Cabaret (a gentleman’s club) with Joey Kocur and Jamie Macoun in the 1999 playoffs, both were not playing at that time. Anyways, he spends $200-300 at the club and realizes he has no more money, but three more days in Denver. Well, the whole team learns about this event and that Kuta spent all of his money. While Kuta was sitting on the bus as they headed to the rink for the game, Yzerman gives him $400. His reasoning?
“He’s out there representing the team, that’s his allowance for the rest of the week.”
- Another big surprise, for me at least, was that Blood Feud disclosed Darren McCarty’s birth name. I won’t give it away, but the initials are DF and you can find it on page 194 in the book. Darren did not meet his biological dad until he was about 30 years old.
“I had to do it [meet his dad] on my time,” he said. “We’ve built a friendship since then. It was neat recently; I came out of the locer room in Edmonton and there was my read dad, mom, and sister all in one place. I’d never seen that.” (p. 202)
- Most of us know that Darren McCarty declared bankruptcy in April 2006. Well, it didn’t help that when the Red Wings bought out his contract after the lockout, 75% of it went towards Cheryl, who he had recently divorced. Yep, she got $405,000. It didn’t help that he had other gambling expenses, but when you go from making plenty of money to not having any income during the lockout and then losing a majority of your contract money, it could be hard to stay afloat. (p. 202-3)
Overall…
I’d suggest this book to other Wings and Avs fans. I enjoyed it and I’m happy with my purchase. One thing I noticed was that he referred to Denver columnists/reporters a lot for their postgame reactions. It wouldn’t have seemed so obvious, but the Detroit voice was missing a lot of times. I’m sure it’s because he had easier access to the Denver archives since he works there, but it would have been nice to read about what Detroit columnists/reporters wrote following those games as well. Especially since there weren’t hockey blogs back in ‘95 and I certainly don’t remember what they wrote.
However, he did cover the rivalry from both sides so it wasn’t completely biased. He even discussed the little rivalry between the Denver and Detroit papers. Now I don’t believe it has been released to stores yet until January 25th, but you can buy it on Amazon and get it today.
You can buy it at Amazon.com
Cost: $12.03
Update: The author of the book, Adrian Dater, emailed me after reading my review with some answers to the questions I posed:
You’re right, there is more mention of Denver columnists in the book, and all their invective. You’re right, it was because it was easier for me to get them from the archives here, but mainly because they were the ones who did nearly all of the trash talking. The Detroit columnists were always less that way, taking the “high road” more, I guess. Keith Gave would get into it a bit, but not nearly as much as Paige and Kiszla. So, that’s a big reason why you read them more.
I should have written more about guys like Yzerman and Lidstrom, but, really, they are both kind of quiet (OK, boring) guys to write about in a book like this. The same can be said of guys from Colorado, like Adam Foote and Sakic.
Review: In the Crease
I recently purchased In the Crease, a documentary following a youth hockey team (California Wave Bantam AAA) in their journey to Nationals.
Not only does the DVD follow the team for a full month leading up to the US Nationals, but is interspersed with interviews from NHL players like Brendan Shanahan, Mathieu Schneider, Scott Gomez, Joe Thornton, Scott Niedermayer, Jeremy Roenick, Craig Conroy and Derian Hatcher. The players talk about their memories from youth hockey, their Nationals experiences, etc. The DVD bonus features include extended interviews with these players as well as scouts (prep school, major junior, and college scouts).
I’ve never played hockey before so it was really interesting to me to see the kids practicing (both in the rink and at home) and just following a team was a unique experience for me. I also thought it was great to follow a team from California with an African American coach (Mike Lewis) with players from a variety of ethnicities, which shows that the sport isn’t just for Canadian white kids.
The documentary interviewed the players on the team and you got to see the role hockey plays in their life and how important it is to them. For example, hockey was helping Erick cope with his parents’ divorce. The DVD then had a clip from their interview with Mathieu Schneider who said this about hockey helping him while his parents were getting divorced:
Without hockey, there are so many bad things I could’ve gotten into…Any personal problems I’ve had in my life, I get out on the ice and it’s all gone.
The documentary also highlighted the sacrifices the families made to allow their kids to succeed. These sacrifices were both financial and emotional in nature. For example, it once took Troy’s mother three and a half hours to drive to practice.
I also found it interesting to see Derian Hatcher and Brian Rolston comment on the successful youth hockey programs in southeast Michigan and you even get to see the Honeybaked team in the DVD. I did not know that they were that good on the national level, but now I do!
As I mentioned previously, the documentary helps show that hockey isn’t just a sport succeeding in Canada and select US states, the game is developing around the country and geography does not necessarily predict who will or will not win.
Additionally, the DVD features reactions from college scouts and even agency representatives as they watch the games at Nationals. In the Crease even interviewed Ken Martel from the NTDP to learn more about the program in Ann Arbor (I will hopefully be working for the NTDP over the summer on the media guide so it was cool to see that for me at least).
According to Michael Sarner, the director/producer of the documentary, In the Crease was the top selling sports film on Amazon.com last week. Currently, it sits at No. 10
I don’t own many hockey DVDs, but I really did enjoy the documentary as it opened my eyes to the pressures and hard work these young athletes put in to succeed and try to (1) win a National championship and (2) get a chance to continue their playing career in either a major junior league or for a college/university.
Cost: $25
You can buy it now at IntheCreaseMovie.com!
* I plan on posting more reviews over the next couple of weeks as I complete some hockey related books I recently bought! Know of a hockey book or DVD I should check out? Let me know via email or comments! *
Travis Roy in Eleven Seconds
A couple of years ago, I read the book Eleven Seconds by Travis Roy. It’s an excellent book about a boy who grew up wanting to play D-I college hockey and eventually make it into the NHL. But that all changed when he broke his neck only eleven seconds into his first shift in his first college game at Boston University. Paul at Kukla’s Korner just posted a link to an article about Roy’s progress eleven years after the accident.
“As I look at my life sitting here in this wheelchair today - I feel very fortunate,” Roy said. “I can’t do physical things, but I can still laugh, still cry, still love people and they me, and still set goals.”
Roy has established the Travis Roy Foundation and written an inspirational book “Eleven Seconds, a Story of Tragedy, Courage and Triumph.”
Roy said having a positive attitude, core values, and respect for others are the keys to success. “Sometimes challenges chase us,” he said. “But I believe we all have an inner spirit that is capable of doing things we never imagined.”
For more information on the Travis Roy Foundation, you can visit their website here. And if you have yet to read his book Eleven Seconds, go get a copy from the library or you could buy a copy online at Amazon
Book Review: Lance Armstrong’s War
For the past few years, I have religiously followed Lance Armstrong during July’s Tour de France. Aside from reading Armstrong’s two autobiographies, It’s Not About the Bike and Every Second Counts, I also read articles about him whether it’s in the magazine Bicycling, Sports Illustrated, or online. After his sixth Tour win, I wrote about Armstrong for my Behind the Jersey column which you can view by clicking on the Behind the Jersey tab.
“War” uncovered the side of Lance Armstrong you don’t hear about in the news. The media tends to glorify Armstrong’s victory over cancer (and his consequent cycling success and cancer work) or attack his character and that he uses steroids. This book shows Armstrong in a very different light. In detail, author Daniel Coyle covers the sport, Armstrong’s rivals, Sheryl Crow, and training for his sixth Tour de France. Even though I’ve watched the tour (and practically every stage) over the past few years, I learned so much more about the sport in general between training practices, how important weight loss/control is, etc. It truly is one of the most challenging athletic events in the world and the book reflects that. You also see the side of Armstrong that you won’t find in his autobiographies.
Here are a couple of excerpts from a couple of editorial reviews courtesy of Amazon.com:
Publisher’s Weekly: The journalist [Daniel Coyle] moved to Armstrong’s training base in Spain to cover the months leading up to the cyclist’s sixth Tour de France victory in 2004, and the resulting comfort level of Coyle with his subject is palpable. Armstrong emerges from these pages as neither the cancer-surviving saint his American fans admire, nor the soulless, imperialist machine his European detractors hate. Instead, he comes across as a preternaturally gifted athlete barely removed from the death-defying hellion he was as a teenager, fanatically disciplined, gregarious and generous but with a legendarily icy temper. Coyle sweeps over the basics of Armstrong’s Texas childhood and fight with cancer, concentrating on his obsessive training—this is a sport where results are measured in ounces and microseconds. He’s sometimes too loose with his writing, digressing as though he had all the time in the world, but he tightens up for the grand finale: the Tour. This work is honest, personal and passionate, with plenty to chew on for fans and novices alike.
Booklist: If Linda Armstrong Kelly’s No Mountain High Enough (2005) revealed the impetus for son Lance’s drive to succeed (anger at absent dad, support from overachieving mom), and Lance’s own It’s Not about the Bike (2000) revealed the medical odds he has courageously overcome, Coyle’s excellent portrait of the six-time (and counting) Tour de France winner places Armstrong fully in his own element: the road to his victory in the 2004 Tour…Fueled by superb reporting and the built-in suspense of the 2004 Tour, Lance Armstrong’s War is the equal of its distinguished and very complicated subject. And it’s just in time for Armstrong’s final Tour de France this July.
67 Amazon.com customers gave this book an average of 4.5 stars out of 5. You can learn more about the book at this website including copies of 15 different book reviews.
I’ll also give Lance Armstrong’s War a 4.0 out of 5 stars.