THE LAST SEASON OF WEEB EWBANK

by Paul Zimmerman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 1974

Although a less sympathetic account than Kay Gilman's recent Inside the Pressure Cooker (KR, p. 610), this is a deeper-probing examination of the Jets' woes of 1973 as mirrored through the frustrated eyes of their departing coach Weeb Ewbank. Zimmerman, a sports writer for the New York Post and the author of A Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, gets down to the nitty-gritty of the locker room as he analyzes the Jets' decline into a ""mediocre, self-delusory team."" Ewbank's final campaign was ""the year he got tired"" -- as both coach and general manager (a tough negotiator), he was overly burdened by lengthy contract struggles (Boozer, Hill, and Riggins among others) which seemed to have exacted their toll on a loose, unsettled team. With a measure of nostalgia Zimmerman traces Ewbank's Richmond, Indiana, roots and follows his progression from coach of Oxford-McGuffey High (Ohio) who went on to build the Colts and Jets into champions. Hardly a storybook ending for a man who paced the sidelines for 46 years, but then football always was a cold sport.

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION