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Toughness: Developing True Strength On and Off the Court Paperback – March 4, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
PRAISE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER TOUGHNESS
“Honest and inspiring, Jay Bilas explores the many tenets of toughness and shares personal stories and interviews with some of the best athletes and coaches. Toughness is critical to gaining an edge in sports and life, and this book provides lessons to help you succeed from a well-respected expert.”—Jim Nantz
“If you want the true definition of toughness as it relates to sports and life, this is a must read. Jay Bilas has acquired a wealth of knowledge from his basketball career as a player, coach, and analyst. Jay’s descriptions and illustrations are ‘Awesome, Baby’ with a capital A!”—Dick Vitale, ESPN
“Jay Bilas gives meaning to one of the most overused words in sports. Bilas explains the complexity of acquiring and utilizing all aspects of toughness, be it mental or physical, both on and off the playing field. It is a great description of a concept and value we all need in our lives.”—Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun
“Tough it out. Be tough. Stay tough. How often do we hear that in sports and life? It’s the go-to answer for any problem. We all want toughness. Jay Bilas take this intangible concept and gives it concrete meaning. The inspiring and humbling stories of truly tough people are written artfully and show that being tough isn’t just a catchall cliché. It’s a transforming personal value. Jay does a brilliant job illustrating why toughness is a quality I want to cultivate in my life every day.”—Rece Davis, ESPN
“Make sure you are holding a yellow highlighter when you read this book. There is an incredible amount of wit and wisdom in these pages, thanks to the dedication, hard work, and—yes—toughness Jay Bilas demonstrated by talking to all of these people. Reading this book won’t make you tough, but it will teach you how to get there.”—Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports
“Honest and inspiring, Jay Bilas explores the many tenets of toughness and shares personal stories and interviews with some of the best athletes and coaches. Toughness is critical to gaining an edge in sports and life, and this book provides lessons to help you succeed from a well-respected expert.”—Jim Nantz
“If you want the true definition of toughness as it relates to sports and life, this is a must read. Jay Bilas has acquired a wealth of knowledge from his basketball career as a player, coach, and analyst. Jay’s descriptions and illustrations are ‘Awesome, Baby’ with a capital A!”—Dick Vitale, ESPN
“Jay Bilas gives meaning to one of the most overused words in sports. Bilas explains the complexity of acquiring and utilizing all aspects of toughness, be it mental or physical, both on and off the playing field. It is a great description of a concept and value we all need in our lives.”—Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun
“Tough it out. Be tough. Stay tough. How often do we hear that in sports and life? It’s the go-to answer for any problem. We all want toughness. Jay Bilas take this intangible concept and gives it concrete meaning. The inspiring and humbling stories of truly tough people are written artfully and show that being tough isn’t just a catchall cliché. It’s a transforming personal value. Jay does a brilliant job illustrating why toughness is a quality I want to cultivate in my life every day.”—Rece Davis, ESPN
“Make sure you are holding a yellow highlighter when you read this book. There is an incredible amount of wit and wisdom in these pages, thanks to the dedication, hard work, and—yes—toughness Jay Bilas demonstrated by talking to all of these people. Reading this book won’t make you tough, but it will teach you how to get there.”—Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports
About the Author
Jay Bilas is one of the most widely recognized voices in sports. He is a regular analyst and color commentator on SportsCenter, ESPN game broadcasts, the wildly popular College GameDay, and coverage of the NCAA Final Four and NBA Draft. He was a four-year starter at Duke and helped lead the team to the Final Four. He played three seasons in Europe before signing on as assistant coach to Coach K from 1990-1992, during which time Duke won back-to-back national titles. He is currently a partner at the law firm Moore and Van Allen.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By
Justin
on May 14, 2013
Format: Hardcover
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I coach high school boys basketball. I had my team read Jay's "Toughness" article a couple years back. It provoked a lot of my players to view basketball from a different perspective, from more of my perspective. The current generation of players lack many of the toughness components that those before them learned and grew to appreciate. Jay's article brings to light what it takes to be a tough player.
I bought the book "Toughness" as a gift for my team at the end of the year. I had not read it when I bought, I simply believed that if it were anything like the article that it would be great.
I was right and have been excited about my purchase every time I read it. Jay does a great job of mixing personal stories of himself and other prominent figures to tell the tale of what toughness is. It not a challenging read, so readers as young as 10 years old could read it and get something from it.
I wish I could buy a copy of this book for everyone I coach now and moving forward. I believe it is a book that will help those that are willing to be helped see that having toughness in life comes with great personal sacrifice, but ultimately leads to great personal gain.
I bought the book "Toughness" as a gift for my team at the end of the year. I had not read it when I bought, I simply believed that if it were anything like the article that it would be great.
I was right and have been excited about my purchase every time I read it. Jay does a great job of mixing personal stories of himself and other prominent figures to tell the tale of what toughness is. It not a challenging read, so readers as young as 10 years old could read it and get something from it.
I wish I could buy a copy of this book for everyone I coach now and moving forward. I believe it is a book that will help those that are willing to be helped see that having toughness in life comes with great personal sacrifice, but ultimately leads to great personal gain.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By
Dan
on March 13, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
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Bilas's book does a great job of utliziing examples from a number different sports to give credence to his thoughts on toughness. This is a great read for any young athlete or even a young or experienced coach looking to jumpstart their program with the characteristics of toughness that propel so many teams to greatness.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
bmont
on March 31, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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I should give this book a five star rating, because it does have great advice on the subject of toughness. The only reason I didn't (get ready for the blasphemy) is that I am not a big basketball fan. My daughter is however, so it did give me something to talk to her about.
My favorite concept was that of the "next play." He says, "you have to be tough enough to move on whether the last play was good or crappy. It takes real mental toughness." Of course that applies to all areas of life. And this is what makes this book maybe even better than "OK." Every concept he discusses can be applied to everyday life.
You want a strong mind? You want to be mentally tough? Apply these concepts.
My favorite concept was that of the "next play." He says, "you have to be tough enough to move on whether the last play was good or crappy. It takes real mental toughness." Of course that applies to all areas of life. And this is what makes this book maybe even better than "OK." Every concept he discusses can be applied to everyday life.
You want a strong mind? You want to be mentally tough? Apply these concepts.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Grandma Zizzy
on March 11, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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I'm not a woman particularly enamoured with sports, but my husband's the polar opposite. I've never understood "loving" and "hating" different teams, but he's always "hated" Duke much in the same way so many people "hate" Ohio State, one of my husband's favorite college sports teams. What I do have to at least give him some credit for is being able to single out certain players (or former players, as the case may be) - even from "hated" teams - as people of integrity and quality, with Jay Bilas being one such person. He not only loved this book, but passed it along with high recommendation to my brother-in-law, who coaches a high school team --- he ordered copies for every player on his team, so that should tell you something about the book's inspiring message! 5 stars from both hubby & brother-in-law.
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By
Judy
on March 28, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
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This is an excellent book on Toughness and how various people have made it through difficult situations. Well written and informative -- He breaks it down to an understandable level. Well written
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By
TableRock55
on July 15, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Bilas' journey is very interesting. Refreshing
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By
Jim Burson
on March 9, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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Jay Bilas defines toughness, mentally and physically, as being able to withstand great force without tearing or breaking. He teaches us that being tough is much more than fighting hard to win on the floor or taking a hit. Toughness is about controlling your emotions. Toughness is making the choice to say, "I'm not going to react defensively" or "I'll treat this critic with genuine kindness." Anger is natural - it's not a bad thing -- but you must not lose your composure and react negatively.
He presents the thinking of a lot of other great basketball minds in the book. A quote I particularly like is this one, from Kevin Eastman, Los Angeles Clippers Assistant Coach: “Are you going to give up and give in, or are you going to get up and get in?”
This is a great read. It will challenge you as a coach and teacher of your players. Every coach at every level should read and engage this book.
He presents the thinking of a lot of other great basketball minds in the book. A quote I particularly like is this one, from Kevin Eastman, Los Angeles Clippers Assistant Coach: “Are you going to give up and give in, or are you going to get up and get in?”
This is a great read. It will challenge you as a coach and teacher of your players. Every coach at every level should read and engage this book.
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By
Molly Shelden
on March 6, 2014
Format: Paperback
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I love this book!! It helps me understand you have to work hard and be tough through tough times to be successful. Jay Bilas really showed that he knows what he's talking about with all of his stories he told about when he was younger. He still goes through tough times even as he is older but still shows his toughness to keep pushing through it. This book gets 5 stars from me because I would have all my players read it if I was a coach and my kids if I was a father. This book honestly shows that you have to do things you don't want to do to be successful you have to make tough sacrifices. First hand I can't believe that because of what Jay Bilas went through as a kid his parents were hard on him and that's who made him today a very successful basketball analyst.
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