No man has affected more runners in more ways than Bill Bowerman. During his 24-year tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon, he won four national team titles and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. He also ignited the jogging boom, invented the waffle-sole running shoe that helped establish Nike, and coached the US track and field team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
With the full cooperation of the Bowerman family and Nike, plus years of taped interviews with friends, relatives, students, and competitors, two-time Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore–himself one of Bowerman’s champion athletes–brilliantly re-creates the legendary track coach’s life.
-
Sexual Content - 0/5
0/5
-
Violence - 1/5
1/5
-
Language - 2/5
2/5
-
Drugs and Alcohol - 1/5
1/5
Summary
Overall Details the life of a fascinating multitalented man who brought jogging to the United States in 1962, coached numerous NCAA and Olympic champions and who, along with one of his former students named Phil Knight, started a little shoe company called Nike. As a former high school track and cross country athlete I thought I knew a fair amount about track and field but after reading this I realized how little I knew about my chosen sport. This book showed me how much influence Bill had on the coaching methods and overall experience I and other track athletes had while we were in high school. A real eyeopener.
Violence If violence bothers you, you may want to skip the section on Bill's time in the US Army during WWII. There isn't much, but it is there. I thought the author did a good job of describing the events without overdoing the violence, and I don't know how he could have done it better with less violence.
Language There are a few instances of crude language, typically a quote from one of the characters in Bill's life. Something you might expect to hear in a college locker room in the 1960's. It is a very small portion of the work. Review provided by Danno.