More Than Just A Catch; A Dissenting View On The Loss of the Truly Written Word

I was at one of my favorite places, Barnes and Nobles, tonight and saw the book, More Than Just A Catch. It is written (with assistance) by David Tyree, the special teams specialist/wide receiver on the 2008 New York Football Giants playoff team. He was the player who made the remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime, up-against-the-helmet, can-you-believe-what-you-just-saw catch that continued the game-winning drive for the Giants. [View it here if you desire] If you remember, they upset the undefeated 18-0 Patriots to win Super Bowl XLII. The book is about 250 pages (complete with 12 pages of photo reproductions) all centered around this one moment in time. Ostensibly, the book, according to its subtitle and dust jacket, is also about Courage, Faith, Hope, Second Chances, and Achieving the Impossible.

I have not read the book though I did read reviews and blurbs about the book and apparently it has to do with David Tyree's journey of faith which culminated in the divinely-assisted catch. I am sure it is well written and is wonderfully encouraging but I have to admit I have my doubts since it has already hit the paperback market less than 12 months after the world-shaking event happened.

Actually, with only a very cursory search on Amazon, I have found 8 more books centered on the Super Bowl Champion Giants of 2007-2008. One from coach Tom Coughlin, one from Eli Manning, and several from various sports journalists. The one I am most excited about reading is Giant: The Road To The Super Bowl by Plaxico Burress. Yes, he of the self-inflicted gunshot wound. This leads perfectly to my point: maybe I should not be so quick to lament the loss of the "written"/"published" word. Maybe some things are never worth sacrificing trees and ink to print.

Just a thought...now I gotta get back to my Plaxico book.

(Aside: The blog is not about the fact that an entire book (or at least >1/3 of the book) is about a single 7 second football play (who said you needed a full 15 minutes of fame). Nor is it about the fact that David Tyree gets credit for a play that really was made by Eli Manning. Nor is it about the fact that Burress shot himself in the leg while withdrawing his handgun from the pocket of his sweatpants (!!), later stating that he was carrying the gun to protect his "bling" while clubbing. Really? Clubbing with bling, sweatpants and a loaded gun in your pocket? No, this is a post merely centered around the issue of the merit of putting thought to page and then archiving those pages.)