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When Saturday Mattered Most is the stirring story of the 1958 undefeated Army football team and the controversial coach who inspired Vince Lombardi
It was the end of an era, the last season before the surge of professional football began to lure the nation's best young student-athletes away from the military academies. That fall, the Black Knights of Army were the class of the nation. Mark Beech, a second-generation West Pointer, recounts this memorable and never-to-be-repeated season with:
- Pete Dawkins, the Heisman Trophy winner who rose to the rank of Brigadier General
- The long -Reclusive Bill Carpenter, the fabled "lonesome end" who earned the Distinguished Service Cross for saving his company in Vietnam
- Red Blaik, who led Army back to glory after the cribbing scandal and had the field at Michie Stadium named in his honor
Combining the triumph of The Junction Boys with the heroics of The Long Gray Line, Beech captures a unique period in the history of football, the military, and mid-twentieth-century America.
It was the end of an era, the last season before the surge of professional football began to lure the nation's best young student-athletes away from the military academies. That fall, the Black Knights of Army were the class of the nation. Mark Beech, a second-generation West Pointer, recounts this memorable and never-to-be-repeated season with:
- Pete Dawkins, the Heisman Trophy winner who rose to the rank of Brigadier General
- The long -Reclusive Bill Carpenter, the fabled "lonesome end" who earned the Distinguished Service Cross for saving his company in Vietnam
- Red Blaik, who led Army back to glory after the cribbing scandal and had the field at Michie Stadium named in his honor
Combining the triumph of The Junction Boys with the heroics of The Long Gray Line, Beech captures a unique period in the history of football, the military, and mid-twentieth-century America.
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Reviews
"If you like football history, get ready to read When Saturday Mattered Most, by Mark Beech (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.99). Beech, a West Point grad and a Sports Illustrated writer, tells the story of the 1958 Army team, including Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins. Best of all, he describes how Red Blaik, the longest-tenured coach in the game, tweaked his old-fashioned T offense to take the Black K
ESPN.com
"In this memorable sports chronicle of a fabled Army football team at the birth of the space age and the NFL, Beech highlights a remarkable coach and his determined squad in a golden season of redemption and triumph."
Publishers Weekly
"Football began as a college game, and for decades, before the pro game captured fans' imaginations, college-football Saturdays mattered most. For many of those years, the Army and Navy service academies fielded some of the very best teams; Beech, a veteran Sports Illustrated writer and editor, focuses on the 1958 Army team coached by Earl "Red" Blaik."
Booklist