[Alberta's Child]

I just finished reading one of the best sports books I've ever read -- The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey. It's a comprehensive account of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, with detailed player profiles presented within a minute-by-minute account of the game against the Soviet Union.

There's no open animosity shown because the book was written soon after Brooks died in 2003 (in fact, the book opens with the scene at his funeral), but the reader really comes away with a sense that many of those players really hated Brooks. I know from personal experience that he was pretty unstable and quite neurotic.

[rwilson99]

I'm sure there's a few players who look at their Stanley Cup rings and curse Scotty Bowman too.

[infidel29]

the reader really comes away with a sense that many of those players really hated Brooks.

Wow, that's a surprise. I always heard he was tough and a little nutty, but no players I heard ever had a bad word to say about him.

Then again, it's always the "names" for the '80 Olympic team that are doing the talking. (Eruzione, Craig, et al.)