Soldiers First

July 30, 2012
Against the scandal-ridden college football landscape, Drape, a New York Times reporter and author of Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen, closely examines the Black Knights football team, representing the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, on the gridiron while preparing to serve their country. He notes the central theme motivating Army football as “duty, honor, and country,” a tradition stressed at the national landmark established in 1802. Jointly emphasizing the excellence of education and the rigors of military training, Drape captures the vitality of the team’s three-year coach (1960-63), Rich Ellerson, and his revamped football team, including the tales of players and real-life heroes Larry Dixon, Trent Steelman, and Tyson Quink. Special attention is paid to the recent hard-fought season of the Black Knights, notably the thrilling peak of the Army–Navy game, done in broad strokes as if by ESPN talking heads. In the end, Drape’s arresting account of West Point cadets on the football field and battlefield scores powerfully for both sport fans and military history buffs.

July 15, 2012
A New York Times sportswriter chronicles the 2011 edition of the Black Knights football team. During the 1940s and '50s, Coach Red Blaik's undefeated, powerhouse teams thundered up and down Michie Stadium's field, and Army featured players--Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, Pete Dawkins--talented enough to win the Heisman Trophy. At the outset of Drape's (Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen, 2009, etc.) account of last year's young, not-very-talented team, he concedes that the glory days of Army football are over. He's in search, however, of something else: Where, in the moral sewer of today's big-time college athletics, does honor still reside? His book contains a game-by-game replay of the disappointing three-win season, but the author is mainly concerned with explaining what it's like to play a Division I sport at a place where the idea of a student-athlete is real. He focuses on the coach, Rich Ellerson, the team's three captains, the quarterback and a few others to tell about a culture where being a player "is a picnic compared to being a West Point Plebe," where football training camp is far easier than the field training to which all cadets are subjected, and where gridiron disappointments must be set aside quickly, because "[t]here is always something more important coming at you." At the United States Military Academy, no Hollywood celebrities or NFL stars show up at practice (although a Medal of Honor winner might), no player receives special treatment to ensure his eligibility, nor are any concessions made to cadets who are soldiers first, players second. In reporting this story, Drape had "unfettered access to the Academy." He's returned from the banks of the Hudson with a sports book that has far more to do with character, intellect and sacrifice than it has to do with football. Inspired by his 5-year-old son's fascination with the pageantry of a televised Army game, Drape went to West Point looking for college football's "good guys." He most certainly found them.

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August 1, 2012

Sportswriter Drape (New York Times; The Race for the Triple Crown) covers the 2011 football season at West Point. He provides a clear view of the experience of the cadets, all of whom recognize that there are things of greater significance in life, and in their obligations, than football. Having conducted many interviews, Drape recounts the season mostly through the eyes of several prominent players and the head coach, with the rich history of West Point itself folded in. Unfortunately, the book would have held greater interest if the 2011 Black Knights had done better than finishing 3-9, including another loss to Navy. VERDICT Drape succeeds at capturing the spirit of football at the U.S. Military Academy well. His book will appeal primarily to those interested in the service academies, football and all.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2012
Before coach Rich Ellerson arrived at West Point in 2009, the Army Cadets had won only 35 of their previous 150 games. Ellerson was a coaching gypsy of sorts, toiling at small colleges as well as in the Canadian Football League. He was also an innovative coach whose offensive and defensive schemes best suited the intelligent student athletes whom he would guide at Army. Drape, the best-selling author of Our Boys (2009), was granted virtually unfettered access to the Cadets during the 2011 season. The access allows readers inside a special environment in which young people are challenged to perform at extraordinary levels academically, physically, and emotionally. Drape focuses on a half-dozen students who relate their personal challenges, their setbacks, and triumphs both on the field and off, as they develop into officers and leaders. There's not a false note in the book. Inspirational reading about an inspiring group of young men.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)