Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B007HI3D3Y | Format: EPUB
Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench Description
An irreverent, hilarious insider's look at big-time NCAA basketball, through the eyes of the nation's most famous benchwarmer and author of the popular blog ClubTrillion.com (3.6m visits!). Mark Titus holds the Ohio State record for career wins, and made it to the 2007 national championship game. You would think Titus would be all over the highlight reels. You'd be wrong.
In 2006, Mark Titus arrived on Ohio State's campus as a former high school basketball player who aspired to be an orthopedic surgeon. Somehow, he was added to the elite Buckeye basketball team, given a scholarship, and played alongside seven future NBA players on his way to setting the record for most individual career wins in Ohio State history. Think that's impressive? In four years, he scored a grand total of nine - yes, nine - points.
This book will give readers an uncensored and uproarious look inside an elite NCAA basketball program from Titus's unique perspective. In his four years at the end of the bench, Mark founded his wildly popular blog Club Trillion, became a hero to all guys picked last, and even got scouted by the Harlem Globetrotters. Mark Titus is not your average basketball star. This is a wild and completely true story of the most unlikely career in college basketball. A must-read for all fans of March Madness and college sports!
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 6 hours and 22 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Random House Audio
- Audible.com Release Date: March 6, 2012
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B007HI3D3Y
DON'T PUT ME IN, COACH is a surprisingly engaging read. I should start by noting that I am not in any of the obvious target audiences for this book. I am not an Ohio Buckeyes fan, or even an NCAA basketball fan. I am a suburban mom, and an alum of a school that celebrated engineering rather than athletics. I think I had heard the author's name, but could not have told you anything at all about him. And yet, I read this book in just a couple of days. I was initially repelled, but found myself pulled in to the story, meandering, pointless and off-color though it is.
Just to be clear -- DON'T PUT ME IN, COACH, were it a film, would be rated R for "pervasive language" and some sexual content. You likely do not want to buy this book as a gift for the evangelicals on your holiday list.
I don't usually go for that kind of thing, but Titus really can write. DON'T PUT ME IN, COACH is organized around his basketball career from 7th grade or so through his senior year at Ohio State, ending with his brief stint as a Harlem Globetrotter recruit. Since the book cover talks about his career being "from the end of the bench to the end of the bench," you already know how the story goes for him. And you immediately gather that this won't turn about to be a riff on Rudy. Instead you find yourself reading about fistfights and poop accidents among the athletic elite, from someone who clearly loves basketball and who has a talent for 18-34 year old guy in a locker room humor.
Titus never takes himself too seriously. Early on, he comments that he is "one of the most famous walk-ons of all time (which let's be honest, is like being the smartest Kardashian)." If that makes you laugh (I admit it, I did), then you'll likely find yourself pulled along for this lightweight, enjoyable ride.
By Jennifer Juday
VINE VOICE
It was interesting this book came out after the SI expose into a blue-blood dysfunctional UCLA program. After reading the SI, I was naively shocked at the issues that were discussed in the article. After reading Mark's book, perspective arrived--every NCAA BB coach has come head-to-head with: 1) team chemistry issues, 2) top star feeling entitled to be a flocker, and 3) team discipline issues based on behavior as well as being college students. Some of the same issues came across in both programs (UCLA, OSU), but "Don't Put Me in Coach" gave a more comical, balanced, and entertaining look at college basketball. I read it during all the TV timeouts during March Madness and laughed out loud enough times that I started to get strange looks from my fellow fans. I could have done with less bathroom humor, but other than that I think it gave a locker-look at how college basketball team's function.
By Calliope
Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench Preview
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