It’s a game known to fans as one that changed the sport forever and, as MSU fans know, changed the complexion of the MSU basketball program.

But for a common reader in the neighborhood to pick up a good David and Goliath story, the book takes nothing for granted— for neither the MSU or Indiana State audience — and never assumes anyone knows the cast of characters.

For this, he’s lucky. He has the ability to retell the story of the college basketball game that redefined March Madness forever and shaped how we view the NCAA Tournament, superstardom and the underdog in athletics.

However, I don’t give Davis any credit for the idea of the book. It’s unoriginal and lacks creativity. The names are familiar, the story line is familiar and the setting is one we’ve seen before.

But I do credit him for taking a relatively commonplace story and running with it. What makes this one game, two simple halves of basketball (which, as you might know or have read, were not all that exciting), so intriguing are the limitless storylines beyond the hardwood. There are staggering similarities and differences between the bright-eyed sophomore Johnson and the small-town, soft-spoken (to say the least) senior Bird. We’re introduced to people and places that have became household names for the first time such as ESPN, Frandor Shopping Center, Bob Knight and Jenison Field House.

There’s a whole other world to learn about Johnson (like how close he was to spending his college days in Ann Arbor). And wait until you read about how Bird was received by the media in college — and how he dished it right back. I’ll certainly never look at him the same way.

Davis, a college basketball guru, was certainly no stranger to this game before the book was written. But that fact did nothing to stop him anywhere short of thousands of hours of interviews and poring over old newspaper clippings and footage of 1970s basketball games. There are intricate details to the story that Davis uncovers and reveals much more than a box score.