The Back Roads To March by Samuel Harned

UMBC upsets Virginia with the final score of 74-54 as the first 16 seed to ever beat a 1 seed in March Madness history.

sh592 — 2024-02-06 14:18:18 UTC

This event relates to the book because this is what the book is about. It isn't about this individual game but the statement that no matter what division you come from, you can play against the best. Most people thought that this would be a normal 1 vs 16 seed game, but they didn't know that this game will always be remembered in college basketball history.

Theme of the book

sh592 — 2024-02-12 14:10:09 UTC

The author believes that no matter how big or small you might be, you have a chance to play against "the big dogs" and win. We see this theme through the many upsets and runs that can occur in March Madness with under dogs. These under dog teams are sometimes overlooked because they are from a smaller or less-known school. Sometimes they surprise their opponents and end up winning because of their determination and persistence. This statement applies to another thing the author believes, and that is that don't overlook under dogs because of what conference they are from. We see this apply to basketball and the NCAA tournament because of how they seed teams that come from those small conferences/mid- major conferences, such as the Atlantic 10 conference, the America East conference, Conference USA, etc. I can almost guarantee that if you think of important conferences in basketball that none of these conferences come to mind, but don't count them out just because you haven't heard of them.

Fairleigh Dickinson becomes the 2nd team to every beat a 1 seed, beating Purdue 63-58

sh592 — 2024-02-14 02:07:12 UTC

This event relates to the book because it brings us back to the theme that no matter how big or small you might seem, you have a chance to play against "the big dogs" and actually win. In the game, like normal, the 1 seed is expected to blow out the 16th seed. This game, was not like a normal 16 vs 1 seed game. Fairleigh Dickinson wasn't even guaranteed to play in the tournament because they had to play in "The First Four". They would blow out Texas Southern 84-61, and then go on to become the 2nd ever 16 seed to beat a 1 seed pointing us back to the point, don't ever overlook the underdog.

Image of the Palestra

sh592 — 2024-02-14 02:55:20 UTC

This image relates to the setting because in the book, John Feinstein talks a lot about Philadelphia in many ways. Whether it is with many Philly coaches, players, colleges, stadiums, etc. I chose this stadium because John Feinstein says in the book that the first time he came into the stadium he instantly fell in love with it. You can tell by the image above that this place (with a close to sold out crowd) would be a great place to watch some basketball because of the atmosphere and the history behind it.

Loyola Chicago's miraculous Cinderella Story coming off of 4 wins. 3 of them being game winning shots.

sh592 — 2024-02-14 03:10:55 UTC

This event relates to the book because of how overlooked Loyola Chicago had been coming into this game. I had never really heard of them and after hearing about all of the miraculous last second shots I had to think, "How did this happen?" This March Madness had been probably one of the best ones to watch because of the upsets. In this tournament we had UMBC beat Virginia and Loyola Chicago with their extravagant run. This shows that you shouldn't overlook the underdogs and that it can be fun to watch the underdog play.

THE FINAL FOUR

sh592 — 2024-02-14 03:29:43 UTC

This image connects to the setting because this book is based off of the 2018- 2019 season was happening. After the season had finished this is where the teams wanted to get too. They wanted to get to the Final Four and have a chance to get to the National Championship.

Fran Dunphy enjoys a very long standing ovation as his last time coaching at the Palestra

sh592 — 2024-02-14 03:42:11 UTC

This image connects to the setting because in this book, the Palestra is talked a lot about and that is the place where Fran Dunphy had received his very long standing ovation. This was very significant to him because he was retiring this year and it would be the last time in the Palestra.

"Dayton, the road starts here"

sh592 — 2024-02-14 03:52:45 UTC

This image connects to the setting because in March Madness, this is where the "play in games" happen. This is important because this is where some of the teams that are talked about in the book go to play. Since they come from a small conference, they are normally put up against another mid-major team that had won their league tournament but really didn't have the best record. This spot in the tournament is where we see the teams that have upset the "big names" come from such as UMBC.

Harvard vs. Yale

sh592 — 2024-02-14 03:59:55 UTC

This image connects to the setting because in the Ivy League, these teams are fierce rivals. They are also very consistent in their placement and they play each other a good amount of times in the Ivy League tournament and championship. Since their conference is a 1 bid league, this game can be very intense because only one team makes it to March Madness.

Letter to the author

sh592 — 2024-02-14 04:07:10 UTC

Dear John Feinstein,

I really enjoyed your book. I feel like that your book was very informational, and also fun to read. One complaint I had about the book was that when you were talking about a certain team you would mention another coach and do a whole story about him and then a page later you would go back to the main story. For me it was a little hard to follow along sometimes because of the change of the story. Other than that I feel like I learned a ton of stuff about a lot of the mid major conferences and teams. You helped me realize how important it is to not overlook a person or team based off of where they come from, but how they play and how hard they want to win something. Your book was really good and you are a really good writer.

From,

Sam Harned

4 out of 5 Stars

sh592 — 2024-02-14 04:11:53 UTC

The reason I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars is because I think that your book was very informational and fun to read because of how you added stories of friends and coaches. I also think that sometimes these stories were also bad in a way because they distracted the reader away from the main story that you were trying to tell and sometimes you would forget the main team that you would talk about. That was at least for me and other than that it really was a great book.

"To win the game is great, to play the game is greater, but to love the game is the greatest if all"

sh592 — 2024-02-14 04:16:46 UTC

In between pages 178 and 179. (It does not have a page number, but it is the page before 179)

"The true test of a man is not where he stands in comfort or conveniences, but where he stands in challenge and controversy."

sh592 — 2024-02-14 04:19:18 UTC

Page 179 (Quote of Martin Luther King Jr.)