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Striking Gridiron: A Town's Pride and a Team’s Shot at Glory During the Biggest Strike in American History
In the summer of 1959, most of the town of Braddock, Pennsylvania---along with half a million steel workers around the country---went on strike in the longest labor stoppage in American history. With no paychecks coming in, the families of Braddock looked to its football team for inspiration.
The Braddock Tigers had played for five amazing seasons, a total of 45 games, without a single loss. Heading into the fall of ‘59, this team from just outside Pittsburgh, whose games members of the Steelers would drop by to watch, needed just eight victories to break the national record for consecutive wins. Sports Illustrated and other media descended upon the banks of the Monongahela River to profile the team and its revered head coach, future Hall of Famer Chuck Klausing, who molded his boys into winners while helping to effect the racial integration of his squad. While the townspeople bet their last dollars on the Tigers, young black players like Ray Henderson hoped that the record would be a ticket to college and spare them from life in the mills alongside their fathers. In Striking Gridiron, author Greg Nichols recounts every detail of Braddock's incredible sixth, undefeated season---from the brutal weeks of summer training camp to the season's final play that defined the team's legacy. In the words of Klausing himself, "Greg Nichols couldn't have written it better if he'd been on the sidelines with us."
But even more than the story of a triumphant season, Nichols's narrative is an intimate chronicle of small-town America during the hardest of times. Striking Gridiron takes us from the sidelines and stands on game day into the school hallways, onto the street corners, and into the very homes of Braddock to reveal a beleaguered blue-collar town from a bygone era---and the striking workers whose strength was mirrored by the football heroics of steel-town boys on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.
The Braddock Tigers had played for five amazing seasons, a total of 45 games, without a single loss. Heading into the fall of ‘59, this team from just outside Pittsburgh, whose games members of the Steelers would drop by to watch, needed just eight victories to break the national record for consecutive wins. Sports Illustrated and other media descended upon the banks of the Monongahela River to profile the team and its revered head coach, future Hall of Famer Chuck Klausing, who molded his boys into winners while helping to effect the racial integration of his squad. While the townspeople bet their last dollars on the Tigers, young black players like Ray Henderson hoped that the record would be a ticket to college and spare them from life in the mills alongside their fathers. In Striking Gridiron, author Greg Nichols recounts every detail of Braddock's incredible sixth, undefeated season---from the brutal weeks of summer training camp to the season's final play that defined the team's legacy. In the words of Klausing himself, "Greg Nichols couldn't have written it better if he'd been on the sidelines with us."
But even more than the story of a triumphant season, Nichols's narrative is an intimate chronicle of small-town America during the hardest of times. Striking Gridiron takes us from the sidelines and stands on game day into the school hallways, onto the street corners, and into the very homes of Braddock to reveal a beleaguered blue-collar town from a bygone era---and the striking workers whose strength was mirrored by the football heroics of steel-town boys on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 16, 2014
10 people are currently reading
367 people want to read
About the author
Greg Nichols
1 book3 followersAuthor and journalist GREG NICHOLS has followed his penchant for place-based reporting from the barrios of South America to the steel towns of Western Pennsylvania. His article on Braddock for Pittsburgh Quarterly won the 2012 Golden Quill Awards for Best History/Culture Feature and Best Sports Feature.
Nichols holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College. He lives with his wife in Los Angeles, California.
* Source: About the Author on Amazon product page
Nichols holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College. He lives with his wife in Los Angeles, California.
* Source: About the Author on Amazon product page
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 28, 2014
Every book about a high school football team for better or worse may be judged against Friday Night Lights. When the subject is football this book is first rate. The reader feels like they are on the dirty, muddy, rain-soaked fields of Western Pennsylvania during the 1950's. The reader almost feels himself being hit, the pop of the pads, the jarring bone crushing hits. Where the book struggles somewhat is when the topic is not football. Nichols touches on the steel mill strike of 1959 and the effect that it has on the town. But the strike itself feels more like background material to the football team and its drive for perfection as if to say "the football team beat their opponents and a steel strike. I would have liked to have seen more depth paid to the complexities of the steel strike rather than the surface treatment it received.
With this exception noted, who doesn't know a team like the Tigers? They still exist throughout small town America today. They give small towns the opportunity to believe in something more pure and innocent, regardless of whether the residents of the community are experiencing job loss, unemployment, etc. These teams give the inhabitants of their towns two and a half hours to forget about everything, These feelings and representations of a small town America that less and less of us know and understand today are difficult to recreate and Greg Nichols did the job beautifully.
With this exception noted, who doesn't know a team like the Tigers? They still exist throughout small town America today. They give small towns the opportunity to believe in something more pure and innocent, regardless of whether the residents of the community are experiencing job loss, unemployment, etc. These teams give the inhabitants of their towns two and a half hours to forget about everything, These feelings and representations of a small town America that less and less of us know and understand today are difficult to recreate and Greg Nichols did the job beautifully.
October 6, 2014
Ambivalent though I am about football, I nevertheless am totally aware of its ability to draw people to the television on Sunday [and Monday, and etc...]. Striking Gridiron is about a town pulverized by the steel workers' strike in the 1950's, a high school football coach named Klausing, and the boys from Braddock High who played the game.
From their coach they learned discipline, respect for themselves and others, confidence, manners. Oh, and yes, they learned how to play winning football. Klausing worked with his quarterbacks and his receivers until passes became the stuff of legend, and the number of games won stretched from 20 to 30 to 40 and beyond. Seniors graduated from Braddock never having lost a game.
During the steel strike, when money was scarce and entertainment was unheard of, the town rallied around the football team from Braddock High. Men bet money they didn't have on the outcome of the games. Cars were over-stuffed with passengers in order to save gas when attending "away" games. For 60 clock minutes, every Friday night, the cares of the week were forgotten as win after win lifted the spirits of a whole town.
Based on true events, this is a heartwarming book about the team and the coach and the fans who all came together to make a kind of magic.
From their coach they learned discipline, respect for themselves and others, confidence, manners. Oh, and yes, they learned how to play winning football. Klausing worked with his quarterbacks and his receivers until passes became the stuff of legend, and the number of games won stretched from 20 to 30 to 40 and beyond. Seniors graduated from Braddock never having lost a game.
During the steel strike, when money was scarce and entertainment was unheard of, the town rallied around the football team from Braddock High. Men bet money they didn't have on the outcome of the games. Cars were over-stuffed with passengers in order to save gas when attending "away" games. For 60 clock minutes, every Friday night, the cares of the week were forgotten as win after win lifted the spirits of a whole town.
Based on true events, this is a heartwarming book about the team and the coach and the fans who all came together to make a kind of magic.
June 5, 2019
Striking Gridiron was a very interesting book from the beginning to the end. At first, this book just seems like every other sports book on a team/coach that overcame all odds and was successful in the end. However, this historical book was much different as it analyzes the social issues of the time period. This book discusses the social discrimination that people of color (specifically black people) faced during the 20th century; additionally, the book discusses the many strikes that people went on in Pennsylvania as a result of bad workplace conditions during this time period. This book did have moments where it was a little slow; however, Nichols quickly drew the reader back in with interesting facts on the problems that the players faced on their path to victory.
April 17, 2020
This is a good book for nonsports fans as well, as the author talks not just about football, but about a town, a way of life, a society, and how business and labor functioned in a western Pennsylvania town in the late 1950s.
January 25, 2021
Captured the essence of the Mon Valley and Western PA
Great story of the steel towns of the Mon Valley though the lens of football and how woven it is to the fabric of the region.
Great story of the steel towns of the Mon Valley though the lens of football and how woven it is to the fabric of the region.
Read
December 1, 2015The authors purpose for writing "Striking Gridiron was to show that in football it doesn't just matter on how you win on the field or in the locker room, but how you win in the community and how you overcome racism in the small town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The author mainly touches on the point on how it does not matter if your town is big or small that football or any sport could get the whole town to love the game and want to show up to games and participate in extracurricular activities. The point of view is 3rd person because, the author uses word such as they are and he lists names of characters in the book. The style of the book is a description because, the author Greg Nichols wants to make you feel as if you're in the town of Braddock. I think that this book would more likely interest football players and fans.
The theme of Striking Gridiron was that even though your town is small and that there is racism that anything is possible. In the town of Braddock, Pennsylvania it was fairly small and the life of the town was dying all until one day where the coach of the Braddock Tigers decided that this year was the Tigers year to win. The football team had black and white kids but most people in the town did not want black football players playing on the field. The head coach would soon put an end to that so that the black football players could play. The players had the heart and the spirit to play. Everyone in the town started to love the game of football and soon enough the town had all of the people going to the Tigers games. This goes to show that any team from any town can make this happen they just have to have the heart and the want-to to complete the task in front of them.
Striking Gridiron was written as a description. The author Greg Nichols was describing the life in the town of Braddock. He told us the story about how the Tigers who were out of a very small town became one of the best teams in football history. He described that it shows that it does not matter where you're from it matters how much heart and love you have for the game and for your community. He describes that if your community is not involved in your sport or you in general that you will not have any support and your mental state will go down the drain. The team of Braddock, Pennsylvania had the right mentality and they ended up going a long way down the road of football.
My opinion of this book would have to be that it was amazing, it really shows how a team can go from not having the leadership and mentality to then having everything they could ever ask for. I really liked how the players did not give up on themselves. I disliked the part about making the town racist towards the black player on the team. I really hate racist people. I would not change anything about this book besides the racism. It reminds me of another book but it is the total opposite, it is called Friday Night Lights. It is about a town in Texas that eats sleeps and breathes football. The team is very good and they receive a new coach who after 2 seasons want to move higher in the coaching ranks.
The theme of Striking Gridiron was that even though your town is small and that there is racism that anything is possible. In the town of Braddock, Pennsylvania it was fairly small and the life of the town was dying all until one day where the coach of the Braddock Tigers decided that this year was the Tigers year to win. The football team had black and white kids but most people in the town did not want black football players playing on the field. The head coach would soon put an end to that so that the black football players could play. The players had the heart and the spirit to play. Everyone in the town started to love the game of football and soon enough the town had all of the people going to the Tigers games. This goes to show that any team from any town can make this happen they just have to have the heart and the want-to to complete the task in front of them.
Striking Gridiron was written as a description. The author Greg Nichols was describing the life in the town of Braddock. He told us the story about how the Tigers who were out of a very small town became one of the best teams in football history. He described that it shows that it does not matter where you're from it matters how much heart and love you have for the game and for your community. He describes that if your community is not involved in your sport or you in general that you will not have any support and your mental state will go down the drain. The team of Braddock, Pennsylvania had the right mentality and they ended up going a long way down the road of football.
My opinion of this book would have to be that it was amazing, it really shows how a team can go from not having the leadership and mentality to then having everything they could ever ask for. I really liked how the players did not give up on themselves. I disliked the part about making the town racist towards the black player on the team. I really hate racist people. I would not change anything about this book besides the racism. It reminds me of another book but it is the total opposite, it is called Friday Night Lights. It is about a town in Texas that eats sleeps and breathes football. The team is very good and they receive a new coach who after 2 seasons want to move higher in the coaching ranks.
August 16, 2014
Adverse events and high school football have both been around for a while. The two have often intersected during the long period while the two have existed simultaneously. These instances are frequently chronicled by purveyors of the written word. As a result, Greg Nichols' Striking Gridiron, which recounts a western Pennsylvanian team's attempt at breaking the consecutive win record in the midst of a steel strike, enters a pretty crowded field. The book is well-written and researched and decently enjoyable, though there isn't really enough to separate it from similar fare.
The book covers the 1959 season of the Braddock Tigers as they loom on the verge of the longest winning streak in high school football. Led by coach Chuck Klausing, a hard-nosed leader with a preference for character-heavy players high in "intestinal fortitude" the Tigers have become a force in one of the more football-crazy regions of the country despite Braddock's poverty and declining economy, going undefeated in 5 consecutive seasons. The Tigers' 1959 campaign is further complicated by a massive steel strike that began in July that saw half a million steelworkers walk away from their jobs, which understandably dealt a humongous blow to the local economy.
Striking Gridiron follows the conventional setup of basically progressing through the season chronologically with occasional asides to further explore the backgrounds of Klausing or his players. Nichols had extensive cooperation from major players including Klausing and also culls from abundant newspaper and radio resources. Nichols vividly recreates life in 1950s western Pennsylvania and the importance of football to Braddock. There are some amusing anecdotes as well, such as Klausing working with US Steel employees to construct a rudimentary blocking sled for his players and Pittsburgh mayor David Lawrence employing some creative bureaucratic tricks in getting Klausing accredited as a teacher.
The basic format and content reminded me of countless other books such as Our Boys where a team of hardscrabble youths proceeds to beat the pants off of the bulk of its competition. I won't divulge any big spoilers here but a few of the Tigers' games aren't particularly competitive and are pretty difficult to make exciting. While Nichols does devote a decent chunk of the book to describing the steel strike and the impact on Braddock's economy, Striking Gridiron is still fundamentally a football book focused on the Braddock Tigers and their coach. This is to some degree a drawback, as there is little to make the book stand out. If you don't read about high school football very often and/or have an interest in the culture and economy of western Pennsylvania then Striking Gridiron is probably worth reading or at least seeking out. While Nichols is a strong writer and the book is a decent read overall, I can't recommend it too highly to those more versed in the "this is the account of one team's attempt at attaining gridiron success in the face of some kind of adversity" genre as it treads some familiar territory.
The book covers the 1959 season of the Braddock Tigers as they loom on the verge of the longest winning streak in high school football. Led by coach Chuck Klausing, a hard-nosed leader with a preference for character-heavy players high in "intestinal fortitude" the Tigers have become a force in one of the more football-crazy regions of the country despite Braddock's poverty and declining economy, going undefeated in 5 consecutive seasons. The Tigers' 1959 campaign is further complicated by a massive steel strike that began in July that saw half a million steelworkers walk away from their jobs, which understandably dealt a humongous blow to the local economy.
Striking Gridiron follows the conventional setup of basically progressing through the season chronologically with occasional asides to further explore the backgrounds of Klausing or his players. Nichols had extensive cooperation from major players including Klausing and also culls from abundant newspaper and radio resources. Nichols vividly recreates life in 1950s western Pennsylvania and the importance of football to Braddock. There are some amusing anecdotes as well, such as Klausing working with US Steel employees to construct a rudimentary blocking sled for his players and Pittsburgh mayor David Lawrence employing some creative bureaucratic tricks in getting Klausing accredited as a teacher.
The basic format and content reminded me of countless other books such as Our Boys where a team of hardscrabble youths proceeds to beat the pants off of the bulk of its competition. I won't divulge any big spoilers here but a few of the Tigers' games aren't particularly competitive and are pretty difficult to make exciting. While Nichols does devote a decent chunk of the book to describing the steel strike and the impact on Braddock's economy, Striking Gridiron is still fundamentally a football book focused on the Braddock Tigers and their coach. This is to some degree a drawback, as there is little to make the book stand out. If you don't read about high school football very often and/or have an interest in the culture and economy of western Pennsylvania then Striking Gridiron is probably worth reading or at least seeking out. While Nichols is a strong writer and the book is a decent read overall, I can't recommend it too highly to those more versed in the "this is the account of one team's attempt at attaining gridiron success in the face of some kind of adversity" genre as it treads some familiar territory.
November 6, 2015
I finished reading “Striking Gridiron: A Town's Pride and a Team's Shot at Glory During the Biggest Strike in American History,” and I thought it was a very good book. The book is about a little town in Pittsburgh named Braddock in the middle of the biggest strike in American history. At the beginning it starts a little slow because it introduces the characters. I believe the main vocal point though was the coach. His name was Chuck Klausing and he was trying to take his football team to 6 straight undefeated seasons which hadn’t been done since Paul Brown who famously then started the Cleveland Browns. The author Greg Nichols then introduces some people on the team such as the quarterback John Jacobs, and others. Once you get through about chapter three things really pick up as the season starts and they face there in town rival North Braddock Scott and many other schools as the team sets their sights on a 6th straight undefeated season. Although I did like the book there were somethings that it could have done better. Like go into more detail into the characters. The book talks about Coach Klausing a lot and about his actions outside of the team but it doesn’t talk a whole lot about the team itself. The book takes you into how Klausing built Braddock into a winner which I liked because I’ve always wondered how some teams train than others. Like I said though it doesn’t talk about the players take John Jacobs for example we know that he’s a quarterback and he’s got a great arm and he has a chance at a scholarship and that’s about it. Also the author doesn't talk about how the strike is harming the community he says it takes jobs away but he doesn’t say overall how it affects the town. So if you like books about sports and football and not really about the characters then this is the book for you.
February 23, 2015
This book about a high school football team from the 50’s in Pennsylvania, Braddock Pennsylvania, to be exact. Opens with the last game of the 1958 season North Braddock High against Braddock High, Braddock won 9-6 and now along with the championship coach Klausing has another year to see if they can remain undefeated for six years. The story entwines his love of his family and how important they are to him, 5 children and his wife who at this time they have been married 15 years. The author takes you back to how they met and where her parents came from and his conversion to Catholicism. His father is a Methodist Preacher, being a winning coach did allow him at times to some perks like on Saturdays when they had a game when he went to confession everyone would make sure he went first so he would not be late. Thought that was funny. The author also brings in the story of a steel strike that is affecting the town with the plant being idle and most of the boy’s fathers working there the strike would go on for the season. He shows how they would go to a camp for a week or two before school starts to get conditioned for football and the new players to learn the plays, also bonds the team. In high school we called this hell week. Some of the stories brought me back to high school football and the coaches I had, and some of the yelling all to get you to play as a team. This is a wonderful story and though now the high school record is well over 150 games, this takes you back to a time when coaches would give players rides and look out for them because sometimes they did not have a father at home. Coach Klausing like many other coach’s wanted the best for those boys and that is what he got. A fantastic story of a time lost. A very good book. I got this book from net galley.
December 9, 2014
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Striking Gridiron: A Town's Pride and a Team's Shot at Glory During the Biggest Strike in American History tells the story of the Braddock Tigers, a high school football team in the midst of a winning run that has stretched over 5 seasons. The story tells of the 1959 season and the many hardships faced by the players, the team and the community they live in (in Pennsylvania) during the national steel strike that saw half a million people walk away from their jobs across the country.
This book has been richly researched, with the cooperation of the coach, Chuck Klausing, and several players from that team. The detail is amazing: the reader sometimes feels like they can taste the mud on the field, feel the hits of the opposition, and even feel the rain on their face. But, the reader also feels the pain, the desperation and the frustrations of a community in turmoil. The author has captured a moment in time particularly well.
While some have said that they would have preferred to read more about the steel strikes in this book, it is, after all, a book about football. And that is the way it should be. If you are a fan of high school football (or football in general) or like a story of sporting underdogs overcoming the odds, then this book is right up your alley.
Recommended.
Paul
ARH
Striking Gridiron: A Town's Pride and a Team's Shot at Glory During the Biggest Strike in American History tells the story of the Braddock Tigers, a high school football team in the midst of a winning run that has stretched over 5 seasons. The story tells of the 1959 season and the many hardships faced by the players, the team and the community they live in (in Pennsylvania) during the national steel strike that saw half a million people walk away from their jobs across the country.
This book has been richly researched, with the cooperation of the coach, Chuck Klausing, and several players from that team. The detail is amazing: the reader sometimes feels like they can taste the mud on the field, feel the hits of the opposition, and even feel the rain on their face. But, the reader also feels the pain, the desperation and the frustrations of a community in turmoil. The author has captured a moment in time particularly well.
While some have said that they would have preferred to read more about the steel strikes in this book, it is, after all, a book about football. And that is the way it should be. If you are a fan of high school football (or football in general) or like a story of sporting underdogs overcoming the odds, then this book is right up your alley.
Recommended.
Paul
ARH
October 6, 2014
(I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for review.)
In Striking Gridiron, Greg Nichols recounts the story of the Braddock Tigers and their 1959 quest to break the record for the longest winning streak in high school football. Nichols' narrative focuses primarily on Tigers coach Chuck Klausing and the role he played in shaping the on- and off-the-field experiences of his players.
Klausing is, without a doubt, the central focus of the book - the majority of the narrative is devoted to his coaching strategies, aspirations, and personal life, but there is also some attention given to his effort to better integrate the football team through the inclusion of black players. Nichols does his best to bring the town of Braddock, PA to life, helping the reader understand the role that high school football played in fostering civic pride while also functioning as a social touchstone for the entire town. It's easy to understand why a winning season for the Tigers meant so much, not just to the team, but to the town.
At the same time, I wish that Nichols had better developed the aspects of the story related to the strike at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. While the strike features in the book's title, there is relatively little information on it in the book itself, aside from the occasional reminder that the strike was long and ongoing during football season. Better tying in the story of the strike with the success of the team would have led an extra dimension to an otherwise straightforward high school sports narrative.
In Striking Gridiron, Greg Nichols recounts the story of the Braddock Tigers and their 1959 quest to break the record for the longest winning streak in high school football. Nichols' narrative focuses primarily on Tigers coach Chuck Klausing and the role he played in shaping the on- and off-the-field experiences of his players.
Klausing is, without a doubt, the central focus of the book - the majority of the narrative is devoted to his coaching strategies, aspirations, and personal life, but there is also some attention given to his effort to better integrate the football team through the inclusion of black players. Nichols does his best to bring the town of Braddock, PA to life, helping the reader understand the role that high school football played in fostering civic pride while also functioning as a social touchstone for the entire town. It's easy to understand why a winning season for the Tigers meant so much, not just to the team, but to the town.
At the same time, I wish that Nichols had better developed the aspects of the story related to the strike at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. While the strike features in the book's title, there is relatively little information on it in the book itself, aside from the occasional reminder that the strike was long and ongoing during football season. Better tying in the story of the strike with the success of the team would have led an extra dimension to an otherwise straightforward high school sports narrative.
August 10, 2014
Disclaimer: I received an advance electronic copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This deserves to be on the same shelf with Friday Night Lights and Muck City and the documentary Undefeated as an essential entry in the literature on the central role that high school football plays in shaping American community identities, particularly in small communities in crisis. It also happens to be a great story of American labor and race relations at a pivotal point at the end of what Eric Goldman called "Crucial Decade." It's a wonder the story hasn't been brought into 21st century popular consciousness before, given our thirst for sports sagas and the singularly historical significance of the 1959 Braddock season. Good reading for the start of the football season.
This deserves to be on the same shelf with Friday Night Lights and Muck City and the documentary Undefeated as an essential entry in the literature on the central role that high school football plays in shaping American community identities, particularly in small communities in crisis. It also happens to be a great story of American labor and race relations at a pivotal point at the end of what Eric Goldman called "Crucial Decade." It's a wonder the story hasn't been brought into 21st century popular consciousness before, given our thirst for sports sagas and the singularly historical significance of the 1959 Braddock season. Good reading for the start of the football season.
August 23, 2014
Striking Gridiron covers the record breaking run of the Braddock Tigers and the national steel strike that intertwined the season. This book offers not only a look at high school football and a team that fought through their toughness to break six years of undefeated seasons. The story follows key players, the coach and the town that cheered the team on to victory. This book provides an excellent look into a steel town that has fallen from its former glory today. As someone who used to recruit high schools students from Western PA I found this book to be an enjoyable history of many of the places I had seen and visited before. Overall if you are into football or interested in PA history then this is a great book for you. For those interested in the steel strike there is not too much here.
March 16, 2015
Really enjoyed this book, which covers one of the winningest high school football teams in history. It's engagingly written, and the characters are so beautifully drawn, the era really springs to life. Nichols handles especially well the blatant and disheartening racism of the period. But what you'll really take away is how thrilling it was for this small town high school football team to have achieved a national record. Some of the most memorable scenes are when Sports Illustrated comes to this tiny town, all because of the amazing high school football team, and when the players are feted at Pittsburgh's nicest hotel. Being from Northeast Ohio, which is pretty much the same as Western Pennsylvania, I got an extra thrill out of hearing stories involving towns and schools I knew growing up -- Canton, Massilon. This book was a true joy. I highly recommend it!
October 24, 2014
Excellent sports book about a real-life Friday Night Lights town and high school team in the 1950's. It's refreshing to read a sports story that doesn't involve scandal, drugs, or cocky, overpaid pro athletes. I would have appreciated a bit more on the steel strikes and their national and local impact. The strikes are mostly just addressed as the reason that the labor force got so excited about football as a distraction.
November 26, 2014
My husband and I are big football fans and harbor soft spots for goose bump-inducing high school football stories. So, Striking Gridiron was right up my alley. The big question was if Nichols would be able to give me goose bumps in a situation where I already knew the ending…but, he succeeded!
That being said, this is a book for football fans.
To continue reading, visit my blog, www.sarahsbookshelves.com.
That being said, this is a book for football fans.
To continue reading, visit my blog, www.sarahsbookshelves.com.
September 10, 2014
Greg Nichols' book Striking Gridiron puts Friday Night Lights to shame. The prose and imagery was so vivid it reads as more a narrative than a non-fiction work. I couldn't put it down for even a second. I felt myself pulling for the Tigers and the cast of characters I came to love. Nichols is an amazing author and I can't wait to see what he writes next.
December 30, 2014
Covers the Braddock, Pa. Tigers of 1959 as they attempt to set the record for the nation's longest winning streak in high school football. Set against the backdrop of the cultural milieu of the 1950s and the 1959 steel strike that economically paralyzed Braddock, it is a fast-paced enjoyable read. Excellent game action descriptions and biographical portraits of the main characters.
April 15, 2015
A good book weaving high school football and the industrial heritage and trials of a small town outside Pittsburgh. An insight into a changing American landscape and the glory of a winning teams journey to a new record while a town and a way of life erodes around them. Well done and this effort by Nichols is much more than a "sports" book.
October 14, 2015
This book is really good! I love how the author gave background on the coach, players and the people of the town. It has great descriptions of the games too. I was into it from the first page! (Gerard's review)
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November 18, 2016Set in Braddock, PA in 1959, this was the interesting story of a western Pennsylvania high school who set what was then thought to be longest unbeaten streak in high school football history. It was done amidst a crippling steel workers strike that saw many of the townspeople out of work.
August 6, 2016
Strking Gridiron is an Amazing story and was an amazing book! Nichols did a great job.
June 13, 2016
Outstanding mix of football and life in America in the 1950's. Life was simpler - yet oh so very complex - then.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews