Thom reviewed When the Crowd Didn't Roar by Kevin Cowherd
Review of "When the Crowd Didn't Roar" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This timely book is basically an extended magazine article, and not in a good way. That said, it does focus on the important aspects of this - the economic devastation that caused this situation in the first place, and the reduction of civil rights "in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state."
As that magazine article, it is thorough, but wanders some - 4 stars. Unfortunately, the author extended his word count by flashing back to the past (Buck Showalter played in a league basketball game in a closed gym - only players, coaches and referees present) and then flashing back even further (in this case, to Bill Showalter, Buck's father, who... was blue collar?). By page 100, he is including the backstory of everyone in the press box - the …
This timely book is basically an extended magazine article, and not in a good way. That said, it does focus on the important aspects of this - the economic devastation that caused this situation in the first place, and the reduction of civil rights "in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state."
As that magazine article, it is thorough, but wanders some - 4 stars. Unfortunately, the author extended his word count by flashing back to the past (Buck Showalter played in a league basketball game in a closed gym - only players, coaches and referees present) and then flashing back even further (in this case, to Bill Showalter, Buck's father, who... was blue collar?). By page 100, he is including the backstory of everyone in the press box - the only crowded location within the confines of Camden Yards.
Neither the ending nor the decent epilogue (was justice served? How did the teams fare in the season?) exactly describe how this game "gave a broken city hope". I was just happy to put the book down. The only good message was that delivered by John Angelos, whose tweet I quoted above. My favorite reference in the book was one seen often recently - the Griswold family arriving at a closed Wally World. While I can heartily recommend National Lampoon's Vacation, I can't recommend this book.