Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder

wow , lots of book for your dollar and the greatest training methods of the greatest track coach ever.

I feel like i'm stealing when i got this book.

" a runner is a much smarter athlete then a football player " don't call him coach .

I was a huge fan of Bowerman and the runners until I read about his penchant for urinating on his athletes in the locker room shower. You might disagree with me and try to justify his behavior as some sort of coaching tool or trick but no matter how you slice it it is still an old man peeing on boys in a shower. I would rather have not been given this insight into the "Great" and "Legendary" Bowerman.

OK, dear readers, let me set the stage for you here. Kenny Moore's "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon," was given to me as a gift by my in-law's true Oregonians if there ever were some. Wait it gets better. 9 times out of 10 I believe it just may be my mother-in-law that picks out the majority of gifts given to me by that Southeastern Oregon Harney County Ma and Pa business legends that that couple is. So when it comes to running its been my passion since about 1991, the year I didn't make the baseball team my last year in College and had to adapt another sport...thus running. My first 5K was I think in C-Springs in Nike's but tennis shoe cross trainer's mind you. I had a lot to learn. So I've done Steen's Rim Run twice with Pa-in-law, driven by the hallowed track in Eugune and stared on with wonder and amazement like seeing a religious site, watched both Prefontaine movies, and am forever tethered to the State of Oregon. Oh by the way did I mention my wife the Oregonian and my two sons up and moved from Boise, Idaho to Dallas Fort-Worth in 2006 when we thought we'd spend the rest of our days in that fair burgh? So my in-laws are such good folk they gave me this book as a Christmas gift anyway and now through the literature they have given me (Cattle Country of Peter French) I think I better understand the spirit and nature of being Oregon-bred and raised and proud. On to Moore's Bowerman.

When it comes to books I only give out the 5-stars to books that make my like 15 best of all times list and this one came close. It's a unique tale of a unique and stalworth man. I learned quite a few things, like Bowerman's lineage was cut from a former governor of Idaho and their family ranch land was in central Oregon near John Day and Bend. I also learned about Bowerman's role in shaping the company of Nike, what his runner ducks at U of O had to go through to be initiated on the team(branding), and all about the crazy religious fanatics, the Rajneeshpuram. Through it all, Bill Bowerman was a truly inspiring man.

What also stands out about biography is the hand, presence, and voice of the author, Kenny Moore, one of Bowerman's more storied Duck runners. Through Moore's eyes and research, we get the unique perspective of an insider to Bowerman's running machine that traversed the oval of Heyward Field. But the beauty of it is that Moore brings the critical objective eye of the sports journalist he currently is and mixes it with the runner-student he once was to get a fair, personal, but not overly hero-worshipped view of the complicated and great man that Bowerman was.

"A guru gives us himself and then his system; a teacher gives us his subject, and then ourselves." -Adam Gopnik, as quoted in Bowerman. And an apt quote that is to lead off the book to describe what Bowerman built in the University of Oregon track and field program, US track and field, a giant American and Oregon company in Nike, a hand in fueling the running boom of the 70's, and most importantly they way Bill Bowerman touched the lives of those young men he deemed worthy and helped mold to reach beyond their potential and individual will.

If you are a runner, read this book. If you ever wore a pair of Nikes (which probably includes just about all of us), read this book. If you want to learn more about one of the more interesting lives of the 20th century...Moore's "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon," is a read for you. --mmw

this is an amazing biography, both as a book about sport and a book about an incredible man. definitely read this book.

This book goes into the life of running coach legend Bill Bowerman. Was a great read, and highly recommend to any running or Nike fanatic.