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 enlarge | Author: Stefan Fatsis
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $12.97
You Save: $12.98 (50%)
New (38) Used (13) from $9.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 12113
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1594201781
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.449796092
EAN: 9781594201783
ASIN: 1594201781
Publication Date: July 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great insight into the game September 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Stefan Fatsis takes us inside the game of football and also takes us into his struggle to be accepted by these Sunday warriors, who battle pain, fear of failure and fear of what success may do to them.
Fatsis reminds us that most football players aren't stars who are set financially for life. Instead, they play a game that is run like a business.
I really got a "kick" out of this book (pun intended) August 26, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Even the most dedicated fan of the National Football League (NFL) can't possibly know what goes on "behind the curtain." Most of us know only what we see on Sundays or what we read in Monday's newspaper. Sure, we think we know our favorite players and all their foibles. You can lay all that aside after reading this book.
Stefan Fatsis suceeds in infiltrating the most sacred of grounds: the NFL locker room and the strange world that surrounds it. We get a glimpse of what it is like to know that your very job hinges on the next play in training camp. Players come and go like the tides. Coaches rule like tyrrants and the pecking order among them becomes painfully evident. So does the stress created in this bubbling cauldron they call professional football.
Reading about the personalities of the players--from the lowly undrafted rookie free agent to the highest paid super-star--reminds us that these people are only human. In fact, Fastis' colorful writing creates a word picture that surely is the way these players really are. Some are real characters, some are sad reminders of how cruel life can be. I found myself identifying with one partiular play and this gave me great insight into my own place in life.
It must be terribly frustrating to be a professional football player, where the glamor of game day gives way to utter despair when the "turk" comes to visit.
The only downside I see with this book is that it is so captivating that I let my usual workload pile up while I sat glue to the book. Oh, well.
Stefan Fatsis provides a ticket to a game seldom of us see--the game withing the game. Though he stands only 5 feet 8 inches, this work is gigantic. May all of his kicks in life sail thorugh the uprights.
 okay book but nothing exciting August 20, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been a huge Broncos fan for many years, and when I saw this book was being printed I ordered a copy right away. I think I was looking for a book that would give some real insight into what a player goes through to play in the NFL, and I was anxious to read about interesting things involving the Broncos. This book provides only small amounts of both.
First off, I must give the author credit for having the guts and determination to train and participate in the Broncos' training camps. He does give some glimpses into what life is like for players trying to make the team, and he gives slightly more detailed descriptions about some of the individual players he interviewed. But most of his book seems to focus on himself and his efforts to perform like an NFL kicker. After a while it gets boring reading about him practicing, missing kicks, wanting to perform better, standing around watching others practice, wanting to kick in a preseason game, whining because the NFL won't let him play in an exhibition game, blah, blah, blah. I would much rather have read more about the other players and what trying out, training, and/or playing for the NFL was like for them.
If you are a die-hard Broncos fan you may enjoy reading most of this book just to read about some of the players with whom you are surely familiar. Anyone else will likely get bored after the first 40 pages or so.
 This ain't no Word Freak August 16, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Jason Elam, the Broncos' most successful place kicker described a kicker's experience in the NFL as "hours and hours of boredom surrounded by a few seconds of panic."
A few seconds of panic set in the moment I realized Mr. Fatsis was barred by the NFL from participating in even a pre-season game. A few more seconds of panic followed as I read Mr. Fatsis' bitter and unjustified complaints about why the NFL was steadfast in its refusal to allow him to kick in a pre-season game. According to Mr. Brian McCarthy, an NFL PR personnel, "people are paying seventy, ninety, a hundred and twenty dollars and then having someone from off the street come in - it could have the appearance of an exhibition, which we fight. I wouldn't use the word joke, but..." In response, and a shameful one at that, Mr. Fatsis proceeds to call the NFL a fraud for forcing fans to buy tickets to pre-season games, and a joke because all the run-ins NFL players have had with the law and the criminals who are allowed to play. Yet, he, who has worked "assiduously" for months to prepare for this glorious moment is made to feel like a joke.
Granted, Mr. Fatsis worked assiduously to play in the NFL, but he also assiduously shanked balls in practice, particularly during moments of pressure when players and fans were watching. Mr. Fatsis' length of experience in place kicking didn't extend beyond a few months. By his own admission, he was missing thousands of hours of repetition and observation that transforms athletes into experts. Just why he felt like he was so deserving of a chance to play in the NFL is baffling.
Whereas in "Word Freak", Mr. Fatsis' participation in Scrabble and ultimately his rise to the rank of "expert" made the book a delightful read, in "A few seconds of panic", everything but his participation in Football took centerstage.
"A Few Seconds of Panic" provides a glimpse of "what players endure to get there, and what they experience once they arrive. And it revealed the deep disconnect between what fans see on gameday and what happens the rest of the week.", but it fails to deliver on its promise of showcasing the efforts of an average Joe playing with the pros.
 "Paper Bronco" - A Real Kick! August 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wall Street Journal sports writer and uber-nerd Stefan Fatsis does a latter day George Plimpton as he becomes a 40-something place kicker for the Denver Broncos. What results is an absorbing on the inside narrative of what it is like playing in the NFL.
Fatsis doesn't exactly have us (or at least me) feeling sorry for these athletes, but he portrays the grinding monotony, pain and job insecurity of a system that is always reminding the players of their expendability. Of course, mostly these guys are getting paid six or seven figures to put up with such hassles.
Fatsis is a superb writer. (If you haven't read his book WORD FREAK on the world of elite Scrabble, you owe it to yourself to do so!)
Whether you are a Denver Bronco fan or not is beside the point. If you enjoy pro football, you will find "A Few Seconds of Panic" a tasty delight!
Fatsis kicks it straight through the uprights here....
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