Author Interview: Warner Books is proud to...

Warner Books is proud to introduce our special guest, John Feinstein, author of "The Last Amateurs: Playing for Glory and Honor in Division 1 College Basketball." In this book, he captures the passion of basketball players for whom the game is neither pastime nor profession, but something more. For anyone who enjoys college basketball, this is an unforgettably moving and enlightening look inside the game at its purest and most intense.

Thank you! I love that introduction. This book, along with "A Civil War," was by far the ones I enjoyed doing the most, because of the kind of person that I was working with, doing my reporting.

What led me to write the book was a feeling that big time college athletics are spinning out of control. :I feel a great disconnect with the big-time programs because I think that 95% of the players are pros in training, and the term "student athlete" has become an oxymoron. I wanted to write about athletes who care greatly about their sport, but understand that it's not a be-all and an end-all, and that playing it well does not entitle them to act above the law throughout their daily lives.

The entire process took a little less than a year, and I first came up with the idea in August 1999. I researched the book through the end of August 2000 basketball season and completed the writing in mid-June. The most difficult to write was probably "A Civil War," because I was so emotionally involved with the athletes in the book. At the same time, "A Civil War" and "The Last Amateurs" were the most fun to write for the same reason.

I grew up in New York City. I played ball myself in the schoolyard like everyone else, and loved going to Madison Square Garden for the old 8-team holiday festival and the NIT, which was back then played entirely in New York. I was a huge fan of Columbia, Fordham, Saint John's, Manhattan, and NYU.

I think it is true in the Patriot League and the Ivy League on the Division II and III levels. I think more and more at the big time level that's changing, which is while we are seeing so many players leave early to turn pro.

Oh, that's a broad question. I've had a lot of great teachers, starting with my writing teacher Joe Kress through editors at the student newspaper at Duke like Steve Garland and Susan Carroll-Robinson, to the people at the Washington Post like Bob Woodard, David Maraniss, and Tony Kornheiser. And too many others to name. I think I'm lucky that I have been able to learn something from each of them along the way. And I could not possibly do what I do with out my wife, Mary, who is taking care of the kids as we speak.

I see no reason why the United States ever had to send the NBA players. :Just because John Thompson did a lousy job in 1988 and lost to the Soviet Union in the semi-finals, it was no reason to go completely corporate/commercial and bring in the NBA players. I think everyone now agrees now that it has been a disaster.

I think it's very hard to single one person out when you've interviewed as many people as I did for this book, but I think Chris Spitler, the walk on at Holy Cross who had to try out for the team for every year he was in college, in many ways defines to me what the spirit of competition is supposed to be about. If every athlete had Chris Spitler's attitude, the world of sports that we all live in would be very different. The whole league was surprised! When I first started calling people in the Patriot League, telling them that I wanted to write a book, their response was, " No, really...why are you calling?"

The kind of player I'm talking about is usually someone who has numerous choices when it comes to college, and who ends up choosing the coach he feels will make him the best player. The choice of college becomes secondary. That was the point I was trying to make with that statement.

It only took us eight years to speak to one another after "A Season on the Brink" came out, which I figure is par from the course from Bob. I was disappointed in the way his career ended in Indiana, but it was certainly inevitable. I have no doubt he will coach again.

Well, my hero as a kid was Tom Seaver, along with Willis Reed, being a New York kid. Other than the fact that both of them drew me to my two favorite sports, baseball and basketball, I can't say that they affected my life in a personal way, but they did help bring me to those games. As an adult, I have been touched by my relationships with a number of people, perhaps most notably Arthur Ashe, Mike Krzyzewski, and the great immortal golfer Paul Goydos.

The improvement in women's basketball in the last 20 years has been remarkable. My only hope for the women is that they do not use the men as a role model as the game continues to grow. That is not a road that they want to go down.

I think there are several factors. 1) That a small school can have a very competitive team because it doesn't take huge money like in football to field the team. 2) Real upsets happen. Valparaiso can reach the Sweet 16; Princeton can almost beat Georgetown; someday maybe a Patriot team will win an NCAA tournament game. I also think that people enjoy the intimacy of most college gyms. Of course, in the big time, that's becoming a thing of the past.

I think that the best games are those that are played by teams that are evenly matched. That is why a game in the Patriot League, although not as athletic as a game in the NBA, ACC, the Big East, can be every bit as passionate and thrilling to watch.

I think that you can learn from sports about playing by the rules, about respect for your opponents, about giving your all regardless of circumstances, about teamwork, getting along with others, and about keeping things in perspective.

I want to thank everybody. I thought the questions were great! I hope people will buy "The Last Amateurs" for the holidays and hope people will enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Posted with permission by Talk City, Inc. Copyright 2001. All rights reserved.