michael lewis the blind side evolution of a game

In the same way, The Blind Side is not really about football, or the offensive line, or really even just about Michael Oher. It?s a phenomenal story, which was also summarized in a New York Times magazine feature called ?The Ballad of Big Mike.? Lewis? book Moneyball was presumptively about baseball, but it was also about challenging conventional ways of thinking, about resisting things that are done in fashion because tradition says it?s so. Gradually, he becomes a part of their family in every conceivable way, despite the fact that their backgrounds are polar opposites. Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy, the wealthy, white Evangelical Christian family who adopt Oher, are almost wholesome in their intentions ? they just realize they can?t let someone like Oher get ignored by the system. The book is fascinating, but mainly because Lewis paints such an interesting picture. Eventually, as Oher works through high school and his talent becomes obvious to everyone, he becomes one of the most sought after prospects by the NCAA.

Oher is a virtual cipher, someone who has never really learned anything, because he?s never really had any teachers or role models. Through a story far too interesting to even recap, Oher gets taken in by a white Evangelical Christian family who take in Oher not because of his future earning potential, but because they want to see him get his degree. Michael Oher, likely to his own surprise, is unnaturally suited to play left tackle, the critical position on the line. Lewis spends some good time discussing the offensive line in football, something under valued by most casual fans of the sport. The blind side protects the quarterback, most often at left tackle for right handed passers. The ?blind side? of Lewis? title refers not only to the kind of society that ignores the reality of a Michael Oher, rudderless and wasting away, but also to that position in football. Oher is also a giant, over 300 lbs as a 15 year old, and none of it fat. His father is virtually unknown, his mother caught up in drugs and alcohol. Oher is at once a lost African-American 15-year old, rummaging around the Memphis area, with no real home to speak of.

Oher is?well, the brilliance of Lewis? book is synthesizing all the accurate ways to describe him. Author Michael Lewis, who has been consistently good from Liar?s Poker to Moneyball. OK, that?s probably not descriptive enough, but it is pretty much the story.

Michael lewis the blind side evolution of a game