The Blind Side - Michael Lewis

I'll admit it, I do enjoy football. I have probably watched 80% of the Sundays for 17 of the last 19 seasons - and with DirecTV NFL Pass, that is a lot of games. In all that time, I have heard the announcers talk about "West Coast Offense", "nickel and dime", etc., but I'll be honest, I didn't have a clue what they were talking about. I grew up with the legend of Joe Montana and Bill Walsh - and let me tell you, I am still sick of hearing about the 49ers. I have lamented the declining ability of players to actually TACKLE - all this shoving and pushing, bring the man down already.

The Blind Side helped me understand all of it and I am looking forward to watching for the left side tackle in the Super Bowl this Sunday. The Blind Side tells the story of the growing importance of the left side tackle position on the offensive line (and before this book, I knew that was a position but that was about it...). It starts with Lawrence Taylor (LT) and the new move to sack the quarterback. Before this book, I had assumed the sack statistic had been around since the dawn of football. Now, I know that it was invented after LT came to play. The topic sounds boring, but Lewis finds a way to intersperse the history of the game with the story of Michael Oher. Michael is being groomed to be a left side tackle and the story of how it happened is heartbreaking.

I loved this book and had a hard time putting it down. It will have a home in the library, and more importantly, I think it will change how I watch football.