Army no longer plays Navy the Saturday after Thanksgiving but with the holiday looming it remains a good time to praise Mark Beech’s book When Saturday Mattered Most: The Last Golden Season Of Army Football. The book involves Army’s 1958 football season when the team dominated the nation’s sports pages and was the last time it reached a number one ranking. It ended the season ranked third with the only blemish on its record a 14-14 tie against Pitt.
Springfield’s Bill Carpenter, the famous Lonesome (or Lonely as he preferred) End is prominently featured in it.
The book is well-written with many historical tidbits and will easily capture and hold the interest of those who care little about sports.
I fully expect a movie or mini-series based on it.
Thnk You for the review. I will check it out. Football before ‘roids.
One of the best sports books I ever read. It brought back great memories. I was a fan of most of the characters mentioned including Blanchard and Davis. I’ll go see the movie.