Product Description

To understand the aboriginal roots of lacrosse, one must enter a world of spiritual belief and magic where players sewed inchworms into the innards of lacrosse balls and medicine men gazed at miniature lacrosse sticks to predict future events, where bits of bat wings were twisted into the stick's netting, and where famous players were -- and are still -- buried with their sticks. Here Thomas Vennum brings this world to life.

Customer Reviews (3)

The Little Brother of War
Every year, it seems as though Lacrosse is growing in popularity.With great enthusiasm, new teams are being added at every level.We are truly living in a Golden Age of Lacrosse. Yet, the game seems to be increasingly divorced from its Native American roots."American Indian Lacrosse" is an essential book for all those are interested in learning where this Pre-Columbian game came from.

Thomas Vennum is a anthropologist based out of the Center for Folklife Programs at the Smithsonian Institute.Vennum has carefully mined both the historical texts and the more recent ethnographies to assemble the most complete story to date of Native American Lacrosse.He examines such important topics as Lacrosse and Indian spirituality and its historic role in warfare and diplomacy."American Indian Lacroose" is a well written book, dense with historic and anthropological detail.It is a must read for people who want to understand the origins of the game they love.

This is a superlative book!
I can't say enough good things about this book! I picked it up while at a book sale and immediately had to have it.It's full of photographs of American Indian teams and tells you the full story of Lacrosse/baggataway and you get so much more--it's an in-depth look at how it affected the peoples and tidbits about their daily lives.Interspersed between each chapter are short 'stories' about lacrosse events.

This is a great book, and a wealth of information.It's about more than just lacrosse.Don't hesitate to get this!

A fine synthesis of native and sports history.
Vennum's work covers a neglected aspect of North American history: the role of lacrosse in native culture.By examining varieties of the game played across the continent, Vennum demonstrates that it was more than just a sport.Lacrosse provided entertainment, served as a substitute for armed conflict (and sometimes was a precursor to it), and was part of native spirituality.Particularly fascinating is Vennum's ability to weave the sporting aspects of the game with the sociological.Also important is his investigation of how the majority culture has taken this game and turned into something completely different: with standardized plastic sticks and a for-profit motive for playing.By taking the story all the way to the present, the author reveals that to native Americans the game still means much more, although many nations no longer even know they once enjoyed playing the "fastest game on two feet."My only complaint, as a Canadian, is that Vennum appears not to know geography quite well, and he consistently refers to Canadian sites incorrectly.But, overall, this a wonderful book ... Read more

Product Description
The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Lacrosse is the most comprehensive and up-to-date lacrosse-specific training guide in the world today. It contains descriptions and photographs of over 80 of the most effective weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises used by athletes worldwide. This book features year-round lacrosse-specific weight-training programs guaranteed to improve your performance and get you results.

No other lacrosse book to date has been so well designed, so easy to use, and so committed to weight training. This book will have players increasing strength, speed, and flexibility resulting in harder checks, more accurate shots, and the ability power past defenders all game long. From the opening face-off you will be able to dominate the game like never before and maintain your intensity until the final whistle.

Both beginners and advanced athletes and weight trainers can follow this book and utilize its programs. From recreational to professional, thousands of athletes all over the world are already benefiting from this book and its techniques, and now you can too!

As an added bonus, this book also contains links to free record keeping charts which normally sell separately for $20. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not bad, but not what I was hoping for
I am a physical therapist with a lacrosse-obsessed son.I bought this book not because I need to know how to strength-train, but because I wanted to know what muscles should be strength-trained to improve lacrosse performance.

This book has a lot of information about strength-training in general, and it gives nice specific detailed workouts ('Day 2 do these exercises', etc).But it does not tell me anything that I, as a PT, don't already know.For example, it says that for lacrosse, the upper body muscles that should be strengthened are the chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps.Um, yeah.That about covers everything, so - not helpful.

To improve running speed it says to do sprints.Again, not so helpful.

I would say that the author is pretty well-educated with regards to exercise physiology.If you're looking for a concise yet thorough book about strength training, with various strategies for when to train and what you could substitute - this is a good book.If you're looking for information about exactly what muscles to train for lacrosse, I feel this book falls short.

Good ideas presented
I like the way this book is put together.It lays out week by week plans for the off season as well as on season.The author also explains why certain workout techniques are suggested for different times of the year.I've read through and plan to use the routinues myself and see if if it puts me back in condition to play some over 40 ball.Until then I've reserved the final star.

Lacrosse - Why Weight Training
I found this book to be excellent for the young lacrosse player. It shows the basic techneques and how with repititions they can increase their strength but at a safe pace.

Great Lacrosse-Related Exercises
Detailed explanations accompany each exercise to help the lacrosse player train, even in the off-season.Great photos also help the explanations.

A must read for any high school or college player
This book gives a detailed explanation of every exercise and has photos that show the correct way to do the exercise. ... Read more

Product Description

For thirty years Bob Scott's Lacrosse has been the ultimate guide to the "fastest game on two feet," explaining the men's game at its highest level and promoting the Johns Hopkins philosophy, which has become synonymous with lacrosse excellence.

In this long-awaited updated edition, Coach Dave Pietramala, whose Blue Jays won the 2007 and 2005 NCAA men's lacrosse championships, and Neil Grauer, a Hopkins graduate and veteran writer on lacrosse, among other subjects, have reworked every chapter, modernizing sections on rules, equipment, preparation, and tactics. They revisit topics such as drills and skills for specific positions, game strategy, clearing tactics, and the history of the game itself -- including a section on the Johns Hopkins contributions to lacrosse. New diagrams and images help to clarify concepts and instructions in the text. Action and instructional photos by Hopkins photographer James Van Rensselaer capture some of the drama from the 2005 championship year and accompany the teaching chapters.

Like the Bob Scott book on which it builds, this edition will soon become familiar to every serious student of the sport.

Customer Reviews (3)

Updated Valuable Lacrosse Information!
Whether this book was updated or not it still
does a great job! From the time this was first written
in the 1970's till now, Lacrosse has become the fastest
growing sport in the US. If you want to know the inside poop
of the Johns Hopkins program, you'll love this book!



This reviewer also recommends this best selling Lacrosse product.
Backyard Lacrosse

Great update of an old classic
As noted in the title, this is an update of Bob Scott's classic book on Lacrosse technique and coaching from the 1970's.Coach Pietramala has provided the best of both worlds in this edition.He has retained much of the old school, tried and true techniques and instruction from Coach Scott's original, while adding new techniques and strategies from the last thirty (!) years.I have played the game for 35 years and coached for six, and I have referenced the original edition countless times.Having Coach Pietramala's updates and observations included make this an invaluable reference and a must-have in any Lacrosse coaches library.It's also a great history of the legendary Johns Hopkins program for any fan of the sport.

Doing Justice to a Great Book
David Pietramala and Neil Grauer have managed to take a classic and update it without sacrificing the integrity, spirit, and purpose of the first edition by Bob Scott.This Second Edition is an absolute must read for any lacrosse coach, player, and fan. Pietramala has done a masterful job of giving the reader insight into the modern game and his own personal views on the sport and the players, much as did Bob Scott before him.Neil Grauer has performed a flawless job in fine tuning the syntax and overall style to make it a very enjoyable read while remaining instructional.Truly the best contemporary book on the sport of Lacrosse. It is a rare and wonderful glimpse into the mind of a great player/coach, and the legacy that is Johns Hopkins Lacrosse. ... Read more

Product Description
The sport of lacrosse is not only Canada's national sport, but it has recently spawned one of the fastest growing professional leagues around. Outrageous ticket prices and million dollar superstars have made hockey, baseball and basketball a corporate province and out of reach for the average family. As a result, North American sports fans and families have discovered the appeal of the fast-paced, high-scoring, grassroots game of lacrosse.

Lacrosse For Dummies is the most cmprehensive mass market book available on the sport and is the first book licensed by the National Lacrosse League. Packed with photos and line drawing to demonstrate techniques and tips for players and fan alike, Lacrosse For Dummies is an essential tool for all those who play, watch, coach, or simply enjoy this action-packed game. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Great Box Lacrosse book
This book is a great overview of the sport of box lacrosse.It does mention differences between box and field lacrosse and briefly discusses women's lacrosse as well.It's discussion on the equipment, positions, skills, and tactics of box lacrosse is it's strong point though.The Dummies title is misleading as there is plenty of information contained inside.Overall if your interested in learning more about box lacrosse it'd be hard to go wrong with this book.

Misleading title
The title is misleading. It is not about the game of lacrosse as we know it in the United States.

I assumed that I could trust the "Dummies" books to be a good general resource. However, this is not published in the U.S.

It is mostly about the game of "box lacrosse" played indoors in Canada. The section on coaching your players how to cross-check pretty much says it all about how useful it is to the U.S. youth coach or player!

Review of Lacrosse for Dummies
This book is not about lacrosse played on grass fields.It is about indoor "box" lacrosse.

I'm sure it's a fine box lacrosse book, and some drills would cross over, but you need to be clear that this book is not about "normal" lacrosse.

I also bought "Lacrosse Technique and Tradition" by Hopkins Coach Dave Pietramala.That one is great.

For indoor lacrosse only!
This book is NOT for US field lacrosse, boys or girls. Indoor Canadian...i suspect it is great, but I have no clue.

Boys Only Need Apply
If you're coaching boys lacrosse, this is the book for you.However, if you're interested in girls or women's lacrosse, don't waste your money here.There's only a few pages on girls rules and even those are skimpy and practically useless. ... Read more

Product Description

Gaylord Powless was playing lacrosse by the age of three.His father was a famous player who taught Gaylord everything he knew. But Gaylord's tremendous skill and native ancestry made him a target on and off the lacrosse floor. Gaylord learned that the best revenge was to improve his game. He became a standard for sportsmanship and skill and a pioneer in promoting equality for Canadian athletes of all ethnic backgrounds.

[Fry Reading Level - 4.7]

Product Description

Michael O'Reilly is the shortest kid on the lacrosse team, and the youngest. He doesn't play rough, and everyone says he's not tough enough for the sport. When tension breaks out between teams and one team accuses the other of racist behavior, Michael realizes that he is tough after all -- he's the only one brave enough to speak the truth.

Product Description
The most complete guide to lacrosse, America's fastest growing team sport. Action-packed and fun,lacrosse is a game anyone can play - the big and small, boys and girls. Lacrosse offers a positive outlet, a place to fit in at school, motivation to excel, and opportunities for team travel. Lacrosse can even potentially mean money for college, and can influence career choices.

Product Description
Ages 6 to 9 years. When lacrosse was first played as a Native American sport, teams of hundreds of people played on a "field" that was miles in length! This book uses full-colour photographs and illustrations to highlight the sport of lacrosse. Features include: player positions; scoring drills and skills; defence and goaltending techniques; equipment and rules. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is suitable for ages 6 to 10 years. Developed by Native Americans, lacrosse is North America's oldest known game. Children will be intrigued to read about this fast rising sport in this simple introduction. Easy to read text explains the basic rules, how to hold the stick, and how to pass and catch the ball. ... Read more

Product Description
The sport's best instruction from the sport's top coach!

In Winning Women's Lacrosse, renowned coach Kelly Amonte Hiller shares the expertise that has developed some of the game's premier players, and have made her team a perennial powerhouse on the national scene.

Winning Women's Lacrosse covers it all. Through expert instruction, coaching tips, and one-of-a-kind insights into the sport, you'll learn to

• develop the individual offensive and defensive skills of the game,
• master the specialty skills of field players and goalkeepers,
• train like a champion with sport-specific conditioning drills,
• sharpen individual and team execution with situational drills, and
• maximize potential by making the most out of practice time.

Customer Reviews (2)

A MUST HAVE FOR ANY PLAYER OR COACH OF WOMENS LACROSSE
what a powerful tool for every coach, player, and student of the game of Womens Lacrosse. The authors do a phenomenal job of laying out the basics to the cutting edge skills one needs to coach and/or be a champion lacrosse player!

A Winner of a Book!
This is the definitive "how-to" book on lacrosse!Kelly Amonte Hiller has proven her successful coaching skills on the field, and her book is a comprehensive insructional manual on how to play her brand of winning lacrosse.

Beginning with an introduction which highlights the importance of adopting a positive attitude towards the game, Amonte Hiller imparts her detailed, thorough understanding of the game of lacrosse.In a clear and concise manner, chapter by chapter, she breaks down the mechanics of the game, while providing helpful photos of specific skills, as well as diagrams to illustrate her instruction.

The format includes both individual and team development skills, and concludes with specific drills to effectively master the game.
This is a book which will provide comprehensive instruction for the novice coach and player, as well as help fine-tune the skills of an experienced coach and advanced player.Its approach is simultaneously analytical and user-friendly.A "must-read" for any player or coach looking to improve their game. ... Read more

Product Description

An ancient Native American sport, lacrosse was originally played to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop strong, virile men. In Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans, Thomas Vennum draws on centuries of oral tradition to collect thirteen legends from five tribes -- the Cherokee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Seneca, Ojibwa, and Menominee. Reflecting the game's origins and early history, these myths provide a glimpse into Native American life and the role of the "Creator's Game" in tribal culture.

From the Great Game in which the Birds defeated the Quadrupeds to high-stakes contests after which the losers literally lost their heads, these stories reveal the fascinating spiritual world of the first lacrosse players as well as the violent reality of the original sport. Lacrosse enthusiasts will learn about game equipment, ritual preparations, dress, and style of play, from stick handling to scoring. They will discover how the "coach" -- a medicine man -- conjured potions to prevent game injuries or make the opponent's leg cramp as well as how early craftsmen identified the perfect tree -- marked by a lightning strike -- from which to carve a lacrosse stick.

The game is no longer played by large numbers of men on mile-long fields, and plastic, titanium, and nylon have replaced hickory and ash, leather, and catgut. As lacrosse continues to evolve, this collection will help us remember and understand its rich and complex history.

Product Description
Within the past decade, lacrosse has seen explosive growth on the elementary, junior and high school, and college levels, rapidly becoming one of America's most popular playing sports. Lifelong lacrosse player and coach Daniel Morris, along with noted author Michael Morris, distill the essence of this exciting, fast-paced game into one compact volume, teaching everything the beginning and intermediate coach needs to know about the rules, equipment, skills, and drills of this venerable game.

Unlike other books on lacrosse, this guide reflects recent important rule changes, as well as the latest techniques in offense and defense, stick-handling, and advances in equipment that have transformed the game as it is played today. Chapters focus on critical elements of individual and team play, conducting practices, skill-building drills, and a playbook of offensive and defensive strategies. A resource list of suppliers, camps, and additional information is included.

This is a book that will find a place on every coach and player's shelf.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Excellent intro into the game
I've long been an ice hockey and soccer fan, having coached soccer for about 30 years and own a USSF "D" license (highest state level license available). For the last few years, I've come to enjoy and really follow the game of lacrosse, which has elements of the other two games. Our high school girls have been playing varsity for 9 seasons and the boys have gone varsity after 2 years of club play. There is a move afoot to start a youth club program in my community and I look to get involved there.To firm up my background, I borrowed a number of books on the sport from my local library and the larger city library in downtown Akron, OH. Of the books I read, several were quite good. But the best of the bunch is Daniel Morris' coaching guide, which I bought through Amazon. It explains many aspects of the game I didn't completely understand, even having watched many NCAA games on cable.

For anyone interested in the game or looking to get involved in this rapidly growing sport, Morris' book is the way to go.

Great Book
While I haven't finished reading the book yet, it has had some great information so far. I have never been a coach for a sport & this has helped out with practice ideas & skill development.

Good for new coach
This is a good book for a new lax coach at the youth level.Not for an experienced coach or someone who wants to take things to the next level.Provides basics of the game and running a team.Better than most books of this type.

Good starter book
This is a very good starter book, especially for teaching the basics to youth.Definitely worth it for a youth coach or assistant coach, or anyone trying to teach the fundamentals to kids.Very reasonable price.I learned a lot from it.

there are better books available
This book is a welcome addition to the lack of material on lacrosse, but it doesn't add much depth to the subject and is not very useful as a reference or as a tool for coaches. I would recommend Dave Pietramala's book over this one, hands down. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive history of modern lacrosse, from the appropriation of the Native American game to its ever-increasing popularity today.

North America's Indian peoples have always viewed competitive sport as something more than a pastime.The northeastern Indians' ball-and-stick game that would become lacrosse served both symbolic and practical functions—preparing young men for war, providing an arena for tribes to strengthen alliances or settle disputes, and reinforcing religious beliefs and cultural cohesion.Today a multimillion-dollar industry, lacrosse is played by colleges and high schools, amateur clubs, and two professional leagues.

In Lacrosse: A History of the Game, Donald M. Fisher traces the evolution of the sport from the pre-colonial era to the founding in 2001 of a professional outdoor league—Major League Lacrosse—told through the stories of the people behind each step in lacrosse's development: Canadian dentist George Beers, the father of the modern game; Rosabelle Sinclair, who played a large role in the 1950s reinforcing the feminine qualities of the women's game; "Father Bill" Schmeisser, the Johns Hopkins University coach who worked tirelessly to popularize lacrosse in Baltimore; Syracuse coach Laurie Cox, who was to lacrosse what Yale's Walter Camp was to football; 1960s Indian star Gaylord Powless, who endured racist taunts both on and off the field; Oren Lyons and Wes Patterson, who founded the inter-reservation Iroquois Nationals in 1983; and Gary and Paul Gait, the Canadian twins who were All-Americans at Syracuse University and have dominated the sport for the past decade.

Throughout, Fisher focuses on lacrosse as contested ground.Competing cultural interests, he explains, have clashed since English settlers in mid-nineteenth-century Canada first appropriated and transformed the "primitive" Mohawk game oftewaarathon, eventually turning it into a respectable "gentleman's" sport.Drawing on extensive primary research, he shows how amateurs and professionals, elite collegians and working-class athletes, field- and box-lacrosse players, Canadians and Americans, men and women, and Indians and whites have assigned multiple and often conflicting meanings to North America's first—and fastest growing— team sport. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A must read for everyone!
I played lacrosse for 5 years, including 1 at the varsity level. It is the fastest game on two feet, a combination of power, speed, agility, and skill unmatched by any modern sport. And it's American, North American that is, through and through. I don't read much for pleasure but when I do, I like to read books like Fisher's. I've read it several times; my only regret is not having reviewed it earlier. There is some serious intellectual meat in here but the book is engagingly written, the research is impeccable, and the balance is perfect. (I noticed an earlier reviewer had some odd things to say about Fisher's leftward bias. Fisher does use terms like class but a close reading shows that he is not using the term in a Marxist sense at all. In fact, I'd wager Fisher is slightly right-of-center if anything but I wouldn't put too much money down because, again, the balance is beautiful.) The best aspect of the book, imho, is that it is an example of the history of sport, a subfield of history that places sports into a wide cultural context. The context that Fisher provides improved my understanding of, and love for, the game. I think every lacrosse player, certainly at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels, should read this book carefully and thoughtfully. Were I coaching, I'd get at least one copy for my players to read and then give them an age-appropriate quiz to make sure they got the main points. I bet most would as this is one of the best histories of sport, any sport, I've ever seen or heard about.

Dry let-down
I was torn between giving this book two or three stars.I wanted to give it a positive review because it is obvious that the man did amazing research and he was very thorough.In that sense, he did a great job.
On the other hand, I disliked it because it was dry and because he projects too much of his own political anxiety and agenda onto the game.I could have over-looked the dryness and given it a positive rating.But I can't overlook the leftist politics that simply get in the way of what would have been a good history of a great game.

The Ultimate History of Lacrosse
There are a few good books out there on lacrosse, but this one should be regarded as the Bible of the sport. If you have a serious passion for lax, you have to read this book from cover to cover. It's thoroughly researched, well-written, thought-provoking and enlightening. The book talks about both field lacrosse in the US and the indoor box game in Canada. It covers lacrosse on Indian reservations and even in the Olympics!! It's a very rich and complex history that really makes you think. It's hard to summarize 150+ years of lacrosse history in this review, so you have to read it for yourself. The book also includes a bunch of neat photos.

Excellent
A great work that provides a phenominal amount of historical content. A good book about a great game.

Fisher details the complete history of game
Anyone with an interest in the game of LaCrosse will find
Don Fisher`s volume most helpful. Don provides a very concise
look into the history of the sport,taking the reader where most
writers have not yet ventured.Although the author never played
LaCrosse in any professional capacity,the knowledge that he
he offers herein shines throughout this book.I recommend Don`s
book to everyone out there.
Jeffrey Bryan
White Oak,NC ... Read more

Product Description
Mike Pressler walked into the bottomfloor meeting room of the Murray Building and, as he had done hundreds of times over a sixteen-year career at Duke University, prepared to address his men's lacrosse team. Forty-six players sat in theater-style chairs, all eyes riveted forward.

It was 4:35 P.M. on Wednesday, April 5, 2006. The program's darkest hour had arrived in an unexpected and explosive announcement.

Pressler, a three-time ACC Coach of the Year, informed his team that its season was canceled and he had "resigned," effective immediately. While his words reverberated off the walls, hysteria erupted. Players cried, confused over a course of events that had spun wildly out of control. What began as an off-campus team party with two hired strippers had accelerated into a rape investigation -- one that exposed prosecutorial misconduct, shoddy police work, an administration's rush to judgment, and the media's disregard for the facts -- dividing both a prestigious university and the city of Durham.

Wiping away tears, Pressler demonstrated the steely resolve that helped him win more than two hundred games. For the next thirty minutes, Pressler put his personal situation aside and encouraged his players to stick together. He also made a bold promise: "One day, we will get a chance to tell the world the truth. One day."

This is that day.

Pressler, who has not done an interview since the saga began, has handed his private diary from those three weeks to New York Times bestselling author Don Yaeger, exposing vivid details, including the day Pressler was fired, when the coach asked Athletic Director Joe Alleva why the school "wasn't willing to wait for the truth" to come out. "It's not about the truth anymore," Alleva said to the coach in a signature moment that said it all. In addition to Pressler, Yaeger interviewed more than seventy-five key figures intimately involved in the case. The result is a tale that defies logic.

"It is tough to be one of fifty people who believed a story when fifty million people believed something else," Pressler said. "This wasn't about the truth to many of the others involved. My story is all about the truth." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Factually accurate but emotionally biased
This is a clear, but not especially well-written, account of the events in the case. While Pressler did get royally railroaded out of Duke, he probably is merely mortal like the rest of us, not the God-like figure that the author paints ad nauseum. Pressler did conduct himself as well as anyone could be expected to, however. My only major gripe with the book is the author's broad brush portrayal of the Duke faculty as "radicals," when in some cases the quotes from professors that he uses simply reveal people who are trying to provide some historical context and explain the seething resentments that are still just below the surface in black/white relations, especially in the South. The author totally freaks out on a History professor because he brings up Emmett Till in a blog post. It is obvious the professor was not trying to equate the Duke case with the murder of Emmett Till, he was simply trying to explain that it was not that long ago (1950s) that racial relations were so fraught in North Carolina that a black man could be lynched for "talking too familiarly" with a white woman. The violent slave-owning history of the South pervades the Duke case, and it's certainly a viable lens through which to understand the volcanic emotions the case unleashed. Granted, some of the faculty proved themselves to be as hystrionic (now that's a word postmodernists can dig into!), emotion-driven, and blind as any lynch mob. But ... I finished the book with the thought that the Duke lacrosse team, while they were certainly stomped by a corrupt legal process, displayed staggering ignorance by hiring strippers in a small southern city. I would bet that they didn't call the whole thing off when the two strippers turned out to be Black because to do so, in their minds, would be racist! But they had to acknowledge somewhere down in their drunken brains, that continuing with the strippers was walking the razor's edge.

Great telling of a disturbing story...
Anyone living in America during the time remembers this case.It was plastered all over the national news.As one who remembers but never followed this case, this book did a great job filling in the gaps and telling the complete story.It is a story worth reading.

Given the fact that Pressler (the coach) is a co-author, it comes as no surprise that the story is told from his perspective.While the inevitable biases are present, they are neither hard to recognize nor distracting to the telling of the story.As one of the few innocent adults in this case (aside from the players themselves), Pressler is likely the only major participant capable of relating the entire story.

The book does a fantastic job introducing the major figures, giving the reader a feeling for who they were as these events occurred.As the events are presented, people of education and character consistently made poor decisions in their rush to judgment.What is surprising is their reluctance to admit those mistakes as the facts showed just how wrong they had been.Instead of acting with character and integrity, admitting their mistakes and apologizing for them, they justified their inappropriate reactions.

Most have heard how the DA ultimately was not only discredited but disbarred as a result of his actions.A true villain in this story, the reader sees how a weak and incompetent man stretched beyond his capabilities was willing to do anything to maintain the illusion.Nifong tried to twist the situation to his own advantage without regard to his main responsibilities of due process.The reader can't help but cheer when his career goes down in flames.

The administration and faculty at Duke are more frustrating.The administration does what administrations do best, that is, overreact after the fact lest they be held accountable themselves.Their unwillingness to acknowledge their mistakes comes as no surprise; accountability is something that they apply to others but not to themselves.Duke's administration did all bureaucracies proud.What is surprising is the faculty, the gang of 88.As supposed liberal champions of tolerance, they showed themselves to be exactly what they claim to abhor and amazingly never backed down from these positions.These pseudo-intellectuals have become what they hate.The reader keeps hoping that these two groups will admit their mistakes, but alas that moment never comes.

The story is not a pleasant one to read, but it is told well here.It is a story that shows the realities of life today, and just how frail our systems of Justice and Higher Education are.

The real story behind the scandal
This book is about the Duke lacrosse team and the scandal causing the firing of Mike Pressler and the cancellation of the season.It details how the administration of the school threw the team under the bus and how the rogue prosecution of Nifong treated the team wrongly.It details how the professors and general student body mistreated the team once the allegations were made.It especially deals with the media attention given to the case and how everyone judged the team before any real facts came out.I recommend this for anyone who is curious about the case, and wants to know more about it.

Wow !
Informative book that is loaded with the facts, including all the atrocities committed against the players and their families.Your jaw will drop at the manipulations and egos that were involved with this case.

A little convoluted but still worth ploughing on
It's obvious that this book is cobbled together from drafts of several authors with different writing styles which isn't all that annoying in itself. However, the chronic repetition of the same information is.That said it's still worth finishing the read.It's certainly a sad indictment on the media industry and justice system in the USA. ... Read more