Adrian WojnarowskiThe Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty

The first three chapters are highly repetitive descriptions of the poor neighborhood and school.

I received the book. Good condition. I loved the book. Awesome story. Very inspirational. I am a big Bob Hurley fan! Highly recommend if you like sports and like basketball!

Anyone who's read John Feinstein's "A Season on the Brink" will find this story very familiar. Just as Feinstein chronicled a year with Bob Knight at Indiana, Adrian Wojnarowski spent a year with the basketball team of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, NJ. The result is a very compelling story of a small band of sincere and dedicated educators using basketball to teach character and life lessons to a group of kids from the tough streets of Jersey City. For many of these young men, Coach Bob Hurley is the only authority figure they know and his tough style provides them with a standard to reach for on the court, perhaps the only time in their lives they've been pushed out of their comfort zones. Mixed in with these products of the inner city is Sean McCurdy from suburban Connecticut whose mother moves him to Jersey City in the belief that Hurley can attract the Division I college scholarship that she seems to think is Sean's birthright. Cindy McCurdy is every youth coach's nightmare, the quintessential little league parent.My only criticism of "The Miracle of St. Anthony" is in Wojnarowski's annoying pattern of giving a mini life story of every secondary character in the story. Of course, as a sports columnist, Wojnarowski makes a living going off on tangents, so this shouldn't be a surprise. But it too often interrupts the essential story and breaks up the flow of the book. But for anyone interested in sports, especially at the high school or college level, this is a very worthwile read.

This book is a testament to all those high school basketball coaches, who dedicate their lives to teaching kids to succeed in life through the discipline they endure while being coached by a tough coach. I read this book, and it brought back so many memories of growing up in Hudson County, NJ in the 1980s and playing for one tough basketball coach, Hank Morano, from Emerson High School in Union City, NJ. In fact, Coach Hurley mentions coach Morano in his book, when he yells at his players for not knowing the name of the coach for a high school team that was so eager to play them. He goes on to mention all the high school coaches of north Jersey and then south Jersey and is upset that his kids don't even bother to learn the names of the coaches from other schools. I remember coach Hurley very well. In 1982 we competed against St. Anthony for the county title, and we lost by 2 points at the St. Peter's college gym. We went on to win the state sectional title in 1982 and again in 1983. I went to coach Hurley's summer basketball camp in Pennsylvania twice, and his week long camp at St. Peter's college. There are so many names in the book that I remember from growing up. Too many to mention here. It was great to read this book, and if you grew up playing high school basketball, you would also enjoy this book. R. Lorenzo, Esq. Miami, FL.

It highlights the importance of someone believing in you and getting the best out of the individual. It also emphasizes personal responsibility which is in short demand these days.

A great book for all coaches! Bob Hurley's story is an inspiration.

A Johnston beginning to endThis is a must read book at the highest level of greatness ... wonderful in every way

Great story about the man Bob Hurley and his devotion to the Jersey City Youth. Felt that less words could have had the same impact. The stories of the kids on the 2004 championship team will stay with me for a long time.