Super Bowl XXV, the epic 1991 showdown between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills, was the closest episode in Super Bowl history. But what established that day as one of greater significance was the cloud of war in the Persian Gulf hanging over the game and the nation. Thousands of U.S. soldiers were able to watch the Giants vs. the Bills, but on Arabic Standard Time, which for them, resulted in Super Bowl Monday.
It offered a few side stories into the Persian Gulf War that was starting at the time - very effectively through the television networks perspective, I felt less so through the players’s perspectives. Author took pains to bring the key characters of the book - Hostetler and Kelly especially- in full circle story chronicle starting out in Pennsylvania HS football. Great stuff on the ‘90 Bills and Giants. The Super Bowl flashbacks I thought at first were random and unnecessary but actually effective in the way they tied to SB 25. A good quick read on a great SB.
An absolutely thoroughly researched book, but for me, it did not accomplish tying together this Super Bowl with Operation Desert Storm. Considering the title and the premise, I expected more development of the political circumstances alongside the detailed games. Other than a few chapters, including an especially interesting one regarding safety considerations surrounding the Super Bowl itself, the war "just happens" to be occurring at the same time. If you are a fan of either team or watched this Super Bowl, you may enjoy reliving it through this book. It was fine, but not what I expected.
A well-researched book on Super Bowl XXV where the Buffalo Bills came as close as they would ever come (until now) to winning a Super Bowl. Whether it is my personal feelings as a Bills fan, but Lazarus seems to "favour" the Giants in this book rather than it being completely objective. It is much more about Jeff Hostetler than it is about Jim Kelly. I had forgotten that this game coincided with the beginning of the Gulf War. Despite the bias, it was a good refresher on that fateful game.
A very well-written, well-researched book on possibly the greatest Super Bowl of all time, Super Bowl 25, in which the Giants (spoiler alert from game 25 years ago) won 20-19 when Scott Norwood missed a field goal wide right for the Bills in the finals seconds. The game took place during the Gulf War in 1991. The author, Adam Lazarus, who also wrote a good book on Joe Montana and Steve Young called "Team of Rivals" does a good job of taking the reader back to the 1990 season and 1991 playoffs. I felt like I was in seventh grade again. Very detailed, but Lazarus does a good job of talking about the personal stories of players from the game, without alienating the game in the book too much. Here you will find stories on Jim Kelly, Jeff Hostetler, O.J. Anderson, Everson Walls, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bill Parcells, Stephen Baker (the touchdown-maker), Bruce Smith, Matt Bahr, Lawerence Taylor and of course, Scott Norwood. I highly recommend this book to fans of the NFL, and fans of the Giants and Bills will both enjoy this one. Well done and can't wait to read the next one by Lazarus.
i made it through about 15% of this book. and it was really in depth. which would have been great if i really cared at all about 1991, the buffalo bills, jeff hostetler (and his family) or jim kelly.
write this same book about the 2001 superbowl and i would be way more into it...probably.
I really enjoyed this book. I say this because i love football it is one of my favorite sports and I love seeing or reading anything about the sport football. This super bowl was one of my favorite super bowls of all time behind last year's of course, I mean who can forget that game!