The Back Roads to March, John Feinstein
The Back Roads to March, John Feinstein
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The Back Roads to March
The Unsung, Unheralded, and Unknown Heroes of a College Basketball Season

Author: John Feinstein

Narrator: John Feinstein

Unabridged: 14 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/03/2020


Synopsis

#1 New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein returns to his first love--college basketball--with a fascinating and compelling journey through a landscape of unsung, unpublicized and often unknown heroes of Division-1 college hoops.

"Uplifting...[A] heartfelt missive to college basketball." —The Wall Street Journal

John Feinstein pulls back the curtain on college basketball's lesser-known Cinderella stories--the smaller programs who no one expects to win, who have no chance of attracting the most coveted high school recruits. To tell this story, Feinstein follows a handful of players, coaches, and schools who dream, not of winning the NCAA tournament, but of making it past their first or second round games. Every once in a while, one of these coaches or players is plucked from obscurity to lead a major team or to play professionally, cementing their status in these fiercely passionate fan bases as a legend. These are the gifted players who aren't handled with kid gloves--they're hardworking, gritty teammates who practice and party with everyone else.

With his trademark humor and invaluable connections, John Feinstein reveals the big time programs you've never heard of, the bracket busters you didn't expect to cheer for, and the coaches who inspire them to take their teams to the next level.

About The Author

JOHN FEINSTEIN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the classic sports books A Season on the Brink and A Good Walk Spoiled, along with many other bestsellers including Quarterback, The Legends Club, Where Nobody Knows Your Name and The First Major. He currently writes for The Washington Post, Golf Digest, and Golf World, and does commentary on the CBS Sports Radio Network.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Connor

This book deserved to be so much better than it was; it is saved only by its topic being of the utmost interest to me. ‘Journalist travels the country for an entire season spending time with various mid-major men’s college basketball programs’ is an idea for a book created by a flawless algorithm th......more

Goodreads review by Maddy

I really did honestly and truly want to love this book the mostest. Unfortunately John Feinstein spent 50% of the book talking about , gasp, basketball, 25% complaining about the NCAA, and 25% pretentiously talking about his basketball ~connections~ and tagging on Zion Williamson for having the Audac......more

Goodreads review by Allen

[URL not allowed] There are few times on the American sports calendar as eagerly anticipated as March Madness. The NCAA basketball tournament is one of the most celebrated sporting stretches of the year, with teams from all over the country harboring hopes of championship glory......more


Quotes

“Perfect. A wonderful book by a wonderful sports journalist.”
--Booklist (starred review)

"In this fascinating history, sportswriter Feinstein (A Season on the Brink) takes a look at lesser-known college basketball teams. In order to explore the 'real joys of college basketball,' Feinstein eschews the big money and future NBA stars of celebrated universities to focus on the sheer love of the game that characterizes smaller schools, covering the 2018 basketball season from November to the March playoffs. . . It’s all net for Feinstein’s passionate basketball history."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Rousing . .  . The author is a sympathetic observer, fan, reporter, and scholar all at once, and he delivers reams of information about how the game has evolved . . . Feinstein writes with warmth and enthusiasm of a beloved sport in a book that will grab any fan."
--Kirkus