Reviews
"Sit down and read theFriday Night Lightsof youth basketball. Except the landscape is even darker here, greed and blind ambition stirred together in a toxic stew, the perversions of the modern American athletic dream even more perverted. This is nothing less than Dickens brought up-to-date, the characters inOliver Twistdressed in Adidas warm-up suits. Amazing stuff. You'll never watch basketball the same way again."-Leigh Montville, author ofThe Big Bam "Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result,Play Their Hearts Out, is a gem of a book that addresses the question central to contemporary basketball: How does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers."-L. Jon Wertheim, author ofStrokes of Genius "What happens when the nation's foremost investigative sports reporter spends eight years probing the fascinating underworld of grassroots basketball? You get a page-turning narrative that will absorb and repulse you at the same time. I thought I knew a lot about grassroots hoops, but the scope and depth of the reportage in this book just blew me away.Play Their Hearts Outis a must-read for anyone who has ever watched, played, coached, or otherwise worked in-and cared about-the sport of basketball."-Seth Davis, author ofWhen March Went Mad, “Sit down and read the Friday Night Lights of youth basketball. Except the landscape is even darker here, greed and blind ambition stirred together in a toxic stew, the perversions of the modern American athletic dream even more perverted. This is nothing less than Dickens brought up-to-date, the characters in Oliver Twist dressed in Adidas warm-up suits. Amazing stuff. You’ll never watch basketball the same way again.�-Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam “Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result, Play Their Hearts Out , is a gem of a book that addresses the question central to contemporary basketball: How does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers.�-L. Jon Wertheim, author of Strokes of Genius “What happens when the nation’s foremost investigative sports reporter spends eight years probing the fascinating underworld of grassroots basketball? You get a page-turning narrative that will absorb and repulse you at the same time. I thought I knew a lot about grassroots hoops, but the scope and depth of the reportage in this book just blew me away. Play Their Hearts Out is a must-read for anyone who has ever watched, played, coached, or otherwise worked in-and cared about-the sport of basketball.�-Seth Davis, author of When March Went Mad From the Hardcover edition., "An often heartbreaking, always riveting exploration of the seamy underbelly of big-time youth basketball--and one of the finest books about sports I've ever read." --The New York Times Book Review "The sheer accumulation of transgressions makes for a deep and devastating portrait of an Amateur Athletic Union basketball team." --The New York Times "A tremendous account...the book has kept me up at night reading." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer "A unique and in-depth look at youth basketball, the players, the characters and how it all fits together, ala "Friday Night Lights." Nice insight into a very unique and complex subculture." --NewJerseyNewsroom.com "Sit down and read the Friday Night Lights of youth basketball. Except the landscape is even darker here, greed and blind ambition stirred together in a toxic stew, the perversions of the modern American athletic dream even more perverted. This is nothing less than Dickens brought up-to-date, the characters in Oliver Twist dressed in Adidas warm-up suits. Amazing stuff. You'll never watch basketball the same way again."-Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam "Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result, Play Their Hearts Out , is a gem of a book that addresses the question central to contemporary basketball: How does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers."-L. Jon Wertheim, author of Strokes of Genius "What happens when the nation's foremost investigative sports reporter spends eight years probing the fascinating underworld of grassroots basketball? You get a page-turning narrative that will absorb and repulse you at the same time. I thought I knew a lot about grassroots hoops, but the scope and depth of the reportage in this book just blew me away. Play Their Hearts Out is a must-read for anyone who has ever watched, played, coached, or otherwise worked in-and cared about-the sport of basketball."-Seth Davis, author of When March Went Mad "Think Friday Night Lights , but for amateur basketball." -- GQ "A tour de force of reporting." -- The Washington Post "Eight years of reporting in sharp, syrup-free prose&indispensable for anyone curious about the flawed process of forging America's premier basketball players." -- The Wall Street Journal "Read this book and it's so plain to see that this broken system needs to be changed, even if it means steping on some toes in the process." --ESPN.com "Massively impressive reportage&a sort of Friday Night Lights - Blind Side mash-up." --GQ.com "Chronicles the dark side of grassroots basketball-one that many of us on the edges may think we understand but have never seen at this disturbing level of detail." -- The Chronicle of Higher Education "An unflinching look at the seedy world of AAU basketball." --Yahoo! Sports From the Hardcover edition., "What happens when the nation's foremost investigative sports reporter spends eight years probing the fascinating underworld of grassroots basketball? You get a page-turning narrative that will absorb and repulse you at the same time. I thought I knew a lot about grassroots hoops, but the scope and depth of the reportage in this book just blew me away.Play Their Hearts Outis a must-read for anyone who has ever watched, played, coached or otherwise worked in and cared about the sport of basketball."-Seth Davis, college basketball reporter, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports, and author ofWhen March Went Mad "Sit down and read theFriday Night Lightsof youth basketball. Except the landscape is even darker here, greed and blind ambition stirred together in a toxic stew, the perversions of the modern American athletic dream even more perverted. This is nothing less than Dickens brought up to date, the characters in Oliver Twist dressed in adidas warm-up suits. Amazing stuff. You'll never watch basketball the same again."-Leigh Montville "Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result, Play Their Hearts Out, is a gem of a book that addresses THE question central to contemporary basketball: how does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers."-L. Jon Wertheim, author ofStrokes of Genius, "An often heartbreaking, always riveting exploration of the seamy underbelly of big-time youth basketball--and one of the finest books about sports I've ever read." --The New York Times Book Review "The sheer accumulation of transgressions makes for a deep and devastating portrait of an Amateur Athletic Union basketball team." --The New York Times "A tremendous account...the book has kept me up at night reading." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer "A unique and in-depth look at youth basketball, the players, the characters and how it all fits together, ala "Friday Night Lights." Nice insight into a very unique and complex subculture." --NewJerseyNewsroom.com "Sit down and read the Friday Night Lights of youth basketball. Except the landscape is even darker here, greed and blind ambition stirred together in a toxic stew, the perversions of the modern American athletic dream even more perverted. This is nothing less than Dickens brought up-to-date, the characters in Oliver Twist dressed in Adidas warm-up suits. Amazing stuff. You'll never watch basketball the same way again."-Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam "Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result, Play Their Hearts Out , is a gem of a book that addresses the question central to contemporary basketball: How does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers."-L. Jon Wertheim, author of Strokes of Genius "What happens when the nation's foremost investigative sports reporter spends eight years probing the fascinating underworld of grassroots basketball? You get a page-turning narrative that will absorb and repulse you at the same time. I thought I knew a lot about grassroots hoops, but the scope and depth of the reportage in this book just blew me away. Play Their Hearts Out is a must-read for anyone who has ever watched, played, coached, or otherwise worked in-and cared about-the sport of basketball."-Seth Davis, author of When March Went Mad "Think Friday Night Lights , but for amateur basketball." -- GQ "A tour de force of reporting." -- The Washington Post "Eight years of reporting in sharp, syrup-free prose&indispensable for anyone curious about the flawed process of forging America's premier basketball players." -- The Wall Street Journal "Read this book and it's so plain to see that this broken system needs to be changed, even if it means steping on some toes in the process." --ESPN.com "Massively impressive reportage&a sort of Friday Night Lights - Blind Side mash-up." --GQ.com "Chronicles the dark side of grassroots basketball-one that many of us on the edges may think we understand but have never seen at this disturbing level of detail." -- The Chronicle of Higher Education "An unflinching look at the seedy world of AAU basketball." --Yahoo! Sports, "An often heartbreaking, always riveting exploration of the seamy underbelly of big-time youth basketball--and one of the finest books about sports I've ever read." --The New York Times Book Review "The sheer accumulation of transgressions makes for a deep and devastating portrait of an Amateur Athletic Union basketball team." --The New York Times "A tremendous account...the book has kept me up at night reading." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer "A unique and in-depth look at youth basketball, the players, the characters and how it all fits together, ala "Friday Night Lights." Nice insight into a very unique and complex subculture." --NewJerseyNewsroom.com "Sit down and read the Friday Night Lights of youth basketball. Except the landscape is even darker here, greed and blind ambition stirred together in a toxic stew, the perversions of the modern American athletic dream even more perverted. This is nothing less than Dickens brought up-to-date, the characters in Oliver Twist dressed in Adidas warm-up suits. Amazing stuff. You'll never watch basketball the same way again."--Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam "Like a versatile baller, George Dohrmann swings seamlessly from position to position: investigative journalist, social critic, gifted storyteller. The result, Play Their Hearts Out , is a gem of a book that addresses the question central to contemporary basketball: How does such an unseemly culture spring from such an essentially beautiful game? You'll come away rooting harder than ever for the kids and harder than ever against the basketball profiteers."--L. Jon Wertheim, author of Strokes of Genius "What happens when the nation's foremost investigative sports reporter spends eight years probing the fascinating underworld of grassroots basketball? You get a page-turning narrative that will absorb and repulse you at the same time. I thought I knew a lot about grassroots hoops, but the scope and depth of the reportage in this book just blew me away. Play Their Hearts Out is a must-read for anyone who has ever watched, played, coached, or otherwise worked in--and cared about--the sport of basketball."--Seth Davis, author of When March Went Mad "Think Friday Night Lights , but for amateur basketball." -- GQ "A tour de force of reporting." -- The Washington Post "Eight years of reporting in sharp, syrup-free prose...indispensable for anyone curious about the flawed process of forging America's premier basketball players." -- The Wall Street Journal "Read this book and it's so plain to see that this broken system needs to be changed, even if it means steping on some toes in the process." --ESPN.com "Massively impressive reportage...a sort of Friday Night Lights - Blind Side mash-up." --GQ.com "Chronicles the dark side of grassroots basketball--one that many of us on the edges may think we understand but have never seen at this disturbing level of detail." -- The Chronicle of Higher Education "An unflinching look at the seedy world of AAU basketball." --Yahoo! Sports
