The Best Game Ever: Giants Vs. Colts, 1958, And The Birth Of The Modern NFL (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
The Best Game Ever is a fairly good account of what is probably the most famous game in NFL history - the 1958 NFL Championship game where the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in the NFL's first sudden death overtime game. The game pitted some of the greatest players of all time against one another such as Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry of the Colts, and Frank Gifford and Sam Huff of the Giants. The game also sported three legendary coaches, Vince Lombardi on offense for the Giants, Tom Landry on defense for the Giants, and Weeb Ewbank, head coach of Baltimore who went on to win another seminal NFL Championship when his New York Jets upset his former team, the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.As most who follow football closely know, this game is considered the launching point of the modern NFL because it occurred in the early years of television and at least the last part of the game was seen by an estimated 30 million people. After this game the popularity of professional football took off, particularly because the action is well suited for television viewing.This book tells the story of the game mostly from the players' perspective, focusing somewhat more on the Baltimore Colts, particularly Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, who both had phenomenal performances in this game. But it also tells the story of other key players on both sides of the ball to greater or lesser degrees. It does a less stellar job of building the drama of the game, maybe because we already know the outcome. But overall it completely documents the game and the key turning points that lead to the eventual outcome, including Frank Gifford not making a first down on third and short that would have allowed the Giants to run out the clock to win the game, and the Unitas to Barry connection on an improvised play for a first down on the final drive in regulation to tie the game.For a football fan this is certainly an enjoyable book and provides some insight into the game and the players, particularly Raymond Berry who gets the most coverage. While I wouldn't classify this as The Best Football Book Ever, it is well done and worth reading. To give a bit of context, I'm a UK based NFL fan who first encountered the sport in the 1980's. As a result, I was cautious about reading a book about a game from some 30 years before I began watching the sport. Furthermore, I was concerned that an entire book about a single game would be a big ask and I expected it to be slightly drawn out to say the least.I was wrong. This could be the best sports book I've ever read. Bowden does describe the game in detail but it never becomes boring. He weaves the life stories of the key participants in the game into the fabric of the book, returning every so often to the game in progress.Even though I knew who won, it was still nailbiting and was also hugely interesting as it was indeed the transformation point to the modern game.Overall, I was left with a slight sadness that the great Baltimore Colts are no more and are now in Indianapolis. While Baltimore now has the Superbowl winning Ravens, it's hard to overcome the feeling that Baltimore's team will always be the Colts.
What do You think about The Best Game Ever: Giants Vs. Colts, 1958, And The Birth Of The Modern NFL (2008)?
Awesome book. I am really enjoy reading about Raymond Berry and Johnny Unitas
—Darlene
What a great read! If you are interested in football history, this is a must.
—Beautiful
