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303reviews1
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303reviews2
Leatherheads of the North
In 1926, survival of the National Football League looked dark after the popular Red Grange and his agent created the rival American Football League, stealing NFL players and signing the biggest names in college.
But AFL’s contract offer to the popular Stanford All-American Ernie Nevers was unsigned. That left an opening for Ole Haugsrud – who grew up with Ernie in Superior, Wisconsin – to make his play and sign the college superstar to anchor Haugsrud’s Duluth team, then renamed Ernie Nevers’ Eskimos.
That move inspired Joe Carr, president of the NFL, to tell Ole Haugsrud, “Young man, you’ve just saved the National Football League.”
Such a pivotal moment is one of many about the wild and chaotic early years of pro football found in Chuck Frederick’s book, Leatherheads of the North: The True Story of Ernie Nevers & the Duluth Eskimos.
Don’t get the wrong idea: This is not just a book for football fanatics. There’s a lot of Twin Ports history here. And the book provides detailed profiles of astonishing athletes with fascinating backgrounds, including Nevers and Johnny “Blood” McNally, who once raced – and beat – a German shepherd on a bet with a speakeasy’s owner.
You learn that the Eskimos were designated a “road team” to help fill big-city ballparks. They didn’t host “home games” because other franchises didn’t relish traveling far north to play in the often cold and foggy Duluth. After playing one game at home, the team traveled across country for 117 days, covering 17,000 miles, by train and bus and once by boat.
Unlike the George Clooney movie “Leatherheads,” the book tells about the real deal – the team and the story that inspired the movie.
Asked about comparisons, Chuck says that the movie ‘Leatherheads’ “does a good job of capturing the color and the spirit of a bygone era.”
For instance, you’ll see things that are true to the real-life story of Duluth’s five seasons in the NFL, such as players taking two showers after games, the first with their clothes on to get the mud off their jerseys. And wet uniforms were hung from the train windows to dry.
“The parallels between the movie characters and real-life Duluthians is exciting, too,” says Chuck, a columnist for the Duluth News Tribune. “George Clooney’s Dodge Connolly tooling around on a motorcycle and playing a kid’s game despite being far removed from being a kid is very much like the Eskimos’ Johnny ‘Blood’ McNally. John Krasinski’s Carter Rutherford, a just-graduated college star, being recruited to Duluth to help save the team sounds a lot like Ernie Nevers, a just-graduated college star, being recruited to Duluth to help save the National Football League.”
As Chuck told us, “Duluth can be proud that such an exciting and little-known piece of our history has inspired a wildly fun Hollywood movie.”
Clooney’s “Leatherheads” is a charming romantic comedy that puts a spotlight on the Twin Ports’ role in the history of the NFL.
Chuck’s book, however, allows us to get to know the real-life memorable characters.
- Bob Berg
Superior Deception
This story grabs you from the first sentence: “How do you explain to your toddler that the man dangling from a noose isn’t playing on a rope swing?”
The scene takes place in a park as Vince Marshall and his daughter discover the body of a judge.
Superior Deception contains elements that any good murder mystery ought to have: engaging characters, surprises and dialogue that’s believable and snappy. It’s the second of three planned Lake Superior mysteries by Michigan author and journalist Matthew Williams, who lives in Marquette with his wife and son. He previously was a newspaper reporter, columnist and author of a weekly column about fatherhood. These details explain a lot about the effectiveness of the writing.
In this book, Vince has reduced his hours as a daily newspaper reporter so he can try to be a better dad. And one of my favorite things about the book is Vince’s relationship with his little girl, Glory, who is often in tow as he chases down leads and gets into some sticky situations. At one point, she is at the center of the action when his car is stolen with her inside.
I can honestly say that there were times when I couldn’t put the book down because Matthew has done a great job of creating genuine suspense. Just as important, you get to know the main characters well, and that means you care about them.
– Bob Berg