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The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team Audiobook, by Matthew Goodman Play Audiobook Sample

The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team Audiobook

The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team Audiobook, by Matthew Goodman Play Audiobook Sample
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Read By: Joe Ochman Publisher: Random House Audio Listen Time: at 1.0x Speed 9.67 hours at 1.5x Speed 7.25 hours at 2.0x Speed Release Date: November 2019 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9780593148259

Quick Stats About this Audiobook

Total Audiobook Chapters:

39

Longest Chapter Length:

37:34 minutes

Shortest Chapter Length:

13 seconds

Average Chapter Length:

22:10 minutes

Audiobooks by this Author:

3

Other Audiobooks Written by Matthew Goodman: > View All...

Publisher Description

The powerful story of a college basketball team who carried an era’s brightest hopes—racial harmony, social mobility, and the triumph of the underdog—but whose success was soon followed by a shocking downfall “A masterpiece of American storytelling.”—Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove NAMED ONE OF THE BEST SPORTS BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW The unlikeliest of champions, the 1949–50 City College Beavers were extraordinary by every measure. New York’s City College was a tuition-free, merit-based college in Harlem known far more for its intellectual achievements and political radicalism than its athletic prowess. Only two years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier—and at a time when the National Basketball Association was still segregated—every single member of the Beavers was either Jewish or African American. But during that remarkable season, under the guidance of the legendary former player Nat Holman, this unheralded group of city kids would stun the basketball world by becoming the only team in history to win the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year. This team, though, proved to be extraordinary in another way: During the following season, all of the team’s starting five were arrested by New York City detectives, charged with conspiring with gamblers to shave points. Almost overnight these beloved heroes turned into fallen idols. The story centers on two teammates and close friends, Eddie Roman and Floyd Layne, one white, one black, each caught up in the scandal, each searching for a path to personal redemption. Though banned from the NBA, Layne continued to devote himself to basketball, teaching the game to young people in his Bronx neighborhood and, ultimately, with Roman’s help, finding another kind of triumph—one that no one could have anticipated. Drawing on interviews with the surviving members of that championship team, Matthew Goodman has created an indelible portrait of an era of smoke-filled arenas and Borscht Belt hotels, when college basketball was far more popular than the professional game. It was a time when gangsters controlled illegal sports betting, the police were on their payroll, and everyone, it seemed, was getting rich—except for the young men who actually played the games.  Tautly paced and rich with period detail, The City Game tells a story both dramatic and poignant: of political corruption, duplicity in big-time college sports, and the deeper meaning of athletic success.

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Awards

  • Winner of the New York City Book Award
  • A Forbes Magazine Pick of the Year's Best Books about Higher Education

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About Matthew Goodman

Matthew Goodman received an MFA from Vermont College. His nonfiction writing has appeared in The Forward, American Scholar, Harvard Review, Brill’s Content, and Utne Reader. His short stories have appeared in such literary journals as the Georgia Review, New England Review, and Witness. He has been a fellow at both the MacDowall and Yaddo writer’s colonies. He is a lifetime New Yorker and lives in New York City with his wife and children.

About Joe Ochman

Joe Ochman is an American voice actor and stage director.