Synopses & Reviews
In your hands is the coveted answer to the riddle central to life: At what age does the eight-year-old boy in every grown man catch his last touchdown pass? When TV producer Roger Director was growing up in a ranch house on Long Island in the fifties, his heroes were not Batman or James Bond, but rather Frank Gifford, Andy Robustelli, Kyle Rote, and the other legends from that eras New York Giants squad. Decades later, Director finds himself sitting in an estate lawyers office, faced with this question: To whom would he entrust custody of his beloved daughter should some unforeseen tragedy befall him and his wife? The answer comes easily to Directors lips: “Tiki Barber.”
If you have no sense of humor, you will not like I Dream in Blue, the impassioned story of how one middle-aged fan ran away from Hollywood in order to fulfill his lifelong fantasy. Director spends the 2006-7 season with the latest incarnation of his childhood heroes: in the locker room and on the practice field with Big Blue, hanging with its prodigal quarterback Eli Manning, who serenely—too serenely, according to some—battles the impossible pressure of his mythic pedigree; with the untamable tight end Jeremy Shockey; and, of course, with his daughters future guardian, Tiki Barber. Refusing to let anything stop him—not his fumble-prone television career, not the very same hip injury that forced the great Bo Jackson off the gridiron, not even the constant strain of occasionally having to act like a responsible husband and father—Director is there with the team, from the first promising snap of summer camp in Albany to that final, soul-crushing rainy night in Philadelphia.
Along the way, Director asks you to imagine the story of how a family business, founded with only five hundred dollars by an Irish bookmaker during the gaudy Prohibition era of Red Grange, Jack Dempsey, and Babe Ruth, has endured to become an essen-tial component of New York Citys heartbeat—and of Directors. I Dream in Blue is the story of a desperate Hail Mary—a die-hard fans quest to have one last touchdown pass, one final celebration of boyhood.
Review
“A giant of a Giants book. Worthy of a Super Bowl ring.” Frank Gifford, Hall of Fame member and former New York Giant
Review
“Part comical personal struggle, part sports history, this is a book that will resonate with anyone who has loved a team till it hurt.” New York Post
Review
“Director [writes] with a humanity and humor that even a Redskin fan could appreciate.” Sports Illustrated
Review
“A funny, perceptive, and humble examination of why were fans. Dont miss it.” Booklist
Synopsis
I Dream in Blue is the uproarious and impassioned story of how one middle–aged fan ran away from his everyday life in order to join the ranks of his favorite team on earth: the New York Giants. Director spends the 2006–2007 season up close and personal with Big Blue, in the locker room and on the practice field, schmoozing with fan favorites like Tiki Barber, arguably the league's best running back, who announces mid–way through the season that this will be his last, and famed quarterback Eli Manning, who faces, among other challenges, the pressures imposed on him by his impressive pedigree.
But while the players are propped up by battalions of trainers, doctors, physical therapists, mental health professionals, nutritionists, film technicians, locker room attendants, media advisers and the best of coaches, Director guts it out with Big Blue all on his own without even the benefit of getting his ankles taped. Refusing to let anything get in his way not his fumble-prone television career, not the very same degenerative hip disease that forced the great Bo Jackson off the gridiron, not even planning his daughter's bat-mitzvah from the road he is there with the team from the first snap of summer camp to the final gun of the season. And like the players he adores, he's got only one end in mind: the Super Bowl.
Along the way, Director tells the story of how a family business, founded with only $500 by an Irish bookmaker in the gaudy Prohibition era of Red Grange, Jack Dempsey, Will Rogers, and Babe Ruth, has endured to become an essential component of New York City's heartbeat and also the heartbeat of Director, our tour-guide through this great athletic dynasty. Ultimately, I Dream in Blue is the story of a desperate Hail Mary a die-hard fan's quest to have one last endzone celebration.
Synopsis
This uproarious and impassioned story tells of television producer Director's decision to run away from his everyday life and spend an entire season with the New York Giants from the first snap at training camp to the final whistle of the tumultuous season. Eight-page b&w photo insert.
About the Author
A screenwriter and television producer, Roger Director has been nominated twice for both the Emmy Award and the Writers Guild Award for such shows as NCIS, Mad About You, Moonlighting, Arli$$, and Hill Street Blues. His award-winning journalism has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Sports Illustrated, and on ESPN.com. The author of the novel A Place to Fall, Director lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.