I just finished reading "The Miracle of St. Anthony" by Adrian Wojnarowski and it is truly a masterpiece. It literally changed me. It is to basketball what Friday Night Lights is to football.
For anyone not familiar with the book or St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, NJ... It is one of the premier high school basketball powerhouses in the country and its coach Bob Hurley(Bobby Hurley's dad) is a tough-love, old school, hardass ,demanding, often screaming tough-as-nails SOB, in the mold of Bob Knight, who is considered a coaching legend with an astonishing .900 coaching record. He apparently has declined many lucrative contract offers from big time colleges and has left millions of dollars on the table to coach kids from the ghetto of Jersey City at dirt-poor St. Anthony's where more than hald of the the students' parents are below the poverty line. His reason is that his true satisfaction in life is not to cash a big fat check, but to see a kid that would of been destined at life on the streets, get a basketball scholarship to college and a degree so he can go as far away from Jersey City as possible and live a good life. Hurley is the only authority figure in their lifes and has sent over 100 players to college and 5 NBA draft picks(including son Bobby who us kings fans know all too well) .St. Anthony doesn't even have a gym to call their own and have to play their home games in a bingo hall. The school is constantly on the brink of bankruptcy and the only way that it has a chance to survive is because of the reputation of it's dynasty of a Basketball team. A basketball team made up of local Jersey City kids that have won coach Hurley 22 state titles and 2 national championships since his coaching debut in the 70's by playing the game in the purest form possible. No tattoos, no backtalk, no whining, just plain old hard work, determination and suffocating defense that borders on harrassment.
Sorry for going on and on but I absolutely fell in love with this book and I highly recommend it to anyone that has the slightest interest in basketball. It is just that good, you won't be able to put it down.
Anyway, I'd just like to know if anyone has ever had such an experience reading a book before and if so, which book and why?
P.S: Let's please not turn this into a trade Peja thread
For anyone not familiar with the book or St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, NJ... It is one of the premier high school basketball powerhouses in the country and its coach Bob Hurley(Bobby Hurley's dad) is a tough-love, old school, hardass ,demanding, often screaming tough-as-nails SOB, in the mold of Bob Knight, who is considered a coaching legend with an astonishing .900 coaching record. He apparently has declined many lucrative contract offers from big time colleges and has left millions of dollars on the table to coach kids from the ghetto of Jersey City at dirt-poor St. Anthony's where more than hald of the the students' parents are below the poverty line. His reason is that his true satisfaction in life is not to cash a big fat check, but to see a kid that would of been destined at life on the streets, get a basketball scholarship to college and a degree so he can go as far away from Jersey City as possible and live a good life. Hurley is the only authority figure in their lifes and has sent over 100 players to college and 5 NBA draft picks(including son Bobby who us kings fans know all too well) .St. Anthony doesn't even have a gym to call their own and have to play their home games in a bingo hall. The school is constantly on the brink of bankruptcy and the only way that it has a chance to survive is because of the reputation of it's dynasty of a Basketball team. A basketball team made up of local Jersey City kids that have won coach Hurley 22 state titles and 2 national championships since his coaching debut in the 70's by playing the game in the purest form possible. No tattoos, no backtalk, no whining, just plain old hard work, determination and suffocating defense that borders on harrassment.
Sorry for going on and on but I absolutely fell in love with this book and I highly recommend it to anyone that has the slightest interest in basketball. It is just that good, you won't be able to put it down.
Anyway, I'd just like to know if anyone has ever had such an experience reading a book before and if so, which book and why?
P.S: Let's please not turn this into a trade Peja thread
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