Winning's Only Part of the Game: Lessons of Life and Football

Winning's Only Part of the Game: Lessons of Life and Football. By Bobby, Terry, and the Bowden Family, with Ben Brown. New York: Warner Books, 1996. xxxii, 219 pp. $18.95. ISBN 0-446-52050-0. Because college football plays such a large part in the lives of Alabamians, this book about the Bowden family will be an entertaining read for many. Unlike most sports books, this one delves into the philosophies of the entire clan, including those who are not football coaches.

Ben Brown of USA Today compiled this readable book from over fifty hours of interviews with the Bowdens, which covered subjects such as sibling rivalry, measuring up to dad, family traits, lessons of life, learning to win, coping with losing, and loyalty. For many Alabamians who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s, the book's central theme-the underdog Bowdens struggling against the world eventually to reach the top of their shared profession-is familiar.

Brown tries to answer a basic question: can a person/coach be at the top of the profession, beat everybody at everything, and be the best son, husband, father, or friend all at the same time? Father Bobby Bowden put such a question to his son Terry, saying, "When you come up with some answers. . . we'll be on to something bigger than winning football" (p. 31). The reader comes away from this book with a better understanding of Auburn's current football coach and his family values.

-DAVID ROSENBLATT, Auburn University

Copyright University of Alabama Press Apr 1998
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