Ice Bowl

by Ed Gruver

The day of the Ice Bowl game was so cold, the referees' whistles wouldn't work; so cold, the reporters' coffee froze in the press booth; so cold, fans built small fires in the concrete and metal stands; so cold, TV cables froze and photographers didn't dare touch the metal of their equipment; so cold, the game was as much about survival as it was about skill and strategy. On New Year's Eve, 1967, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers met for a classic NFL championship game, played on a frozen field in sub-zero weather. The "Ice Bowl" challenged every skill of these two great teams. Here's the whole story, based on dozens of interviews with people who were there—on the field and off—told by author Ed Gruver with passion, suspense, wit, and accuracy.

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1997

Reviews

[Irwin Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Packer fan I've read quite a few books either about the Ice Bowl specifically or about the Packers of that era in general but goes covers the game. One thing I will say this book has going for it is that is does a better job of covering the game than most books. I feel like most authors enjoy the atmosphere and personalities surrounding the game more than the actual action on the field so that the game itself takes a backseat. I feel like this book probably did the best job of describing what actually happened on the field even diagraming the key plays.

However it's not the best written book I've ever read. The author seems to not particularly understand the state of the NFL at the time. For the first couple of years the Super Bowl, or NFL/AFL Championship game, wasn't too much of a big deal to the NFL teams or their fans. The NFL Championship WAS the Super Bowl of the times and the Super Bowl was looked upon more like a post-season exhibition game that was more like a chore for NFL teams because it was a no-win scenario. There would be no pats on the backs for beating up on the AFL team as they were expected to do and losing was unthinkable. Yet in this book the author seems to be stuck in the Super Bowl era, constantly talking about how the stakes were high for this game with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line and treating those early meaningless games as if they were the event they later became as opposed to a contractual obligation with less meaning than a Pro Bowl. Yet throughout the book it's treated like the ultimate goal of both teams.

Another problem was that while the game was covered well the action was constantly interrupted by tangents into player biographies and anecdotes. That's pretty common in non-fiction sports books, as in this book most of the main personalities get their bios and are established prior to the game but as other players step up during the game to make plays the author will go into their background a little bit. I felt like this book left a little too much of the exposition until later in the book and broke up the narrative of the game itself too often.

But even though it has a few problems it was still an entertaining read. I give it 3.5 but rounded up to 4.

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well-written, descriptive telling of one of the most iconic games in the history of the NFL. I mean, you just FEEL cold while reading this book. Great stories on both coaches, Landry and Lombardi, the week and the years heading up to the game, the playoff games before the Ice Bowl and the season leading up to the game and then a chapter on each quarter of the game. The best writing comes about the fourth quarter and final minutes of the game. Even though I knew what happens, I was on the edge of my seat. Well done.