2008 Woodie Awards
Duke Lacrosse: The True Story
Book Review
By Mike Stone
9/3/07 - Sports
It's Not about the Truth by Don Yeager with Mike Pressler is one of the most stirring, disturbing, and insightful books I have ever read. Based on the Duke Lacrosse "alleged rape" case last year, this book tells all and reveals the horrors inside the human spirit.
With relentless rage I read, trying to see what would happen in this Hollywood story. Three young boys were the center of a huge media and public debate where the outcome could mean thirty years of jail time for crimes they did not commit. Unfortunately, it wasn't a story from Hollywood. It was based in Durham, North Carolina where privilege, race, sex and money are all-too scary subjects now.
What you might remember from CNN, Fox and ESPN in late March, 2006 were tales of "gang rape" by the entire Duke Lacrosse team. Later, there were stories of a young African-American woman, pushed onto the wrong tracks by a disparaging society, with no way out. Finally, months later, the news channels told stories of "fabrication," "deceit" and "lies." That is exactly what happened. This book tells the story of how a rogue DA, a tainted police force, an image-conscious university, and a media "frenzy" can ruin lives.
If you want to hear the story, it goes like this recipe: Pour a varsity lacrosse team, strippers and alcohol into a house. Stir lightly. Heat with a national media force. Add Mike Nifong, a DA drunk with power, who pushes the case past the limits after DNA tests proved all were innocent. Finally, splash on protesters on player's lawns, professors publicly denouncing the team before the verdict, and an administration ready to cut and run. This was not a recipe for truth and justice.
As a lacrosse player, I recommend that every teammate read this book. As a member of an athletic sport, I recommend that every athletic coach and team read this book. As a member of a free society, I recommend that every person willing to look through "the fog" read this book. This happened to Duke, but could very well happen to anyone of us.
The story takes in all aspects of the case and how one lie dangerously shattered many lives forever.
With relentless rage I read, trying to see what would happen in this Hollywood story. Three young boys were the center of a huge media and public debate where the outcome could mean thirty years of jail time for crimes they did not commit. Unfortunately, it wasn't a story from Hollywood. It was based in Durham, North Carolina where privilege, race, sex and money are all-too scary subjects now.
What you might remember from CNN, Fox and ESPN in late March, 2006 were tales of "gang rape" by the entire Duke Lacrosse team. Later, there were stories of a young African-American woman, pushed onto the wrong tracks by a disparaging society, with no way out. Finally, months later, the news channels told stories of "fabrication," "deceit" and "lies." That is exactly what happened. This book tells the story of how a rogue DA, a tainted police force, an image-conscious university, and a media "frenzy" can ruin lives.
If you want to hear the story, it goes like this recipe: Pour a varsity lacrosse team, strippers and alcohol into a house. Stir lightly. Heat with a national media force. Add Mike Nifong, a DA drunk with power, who pushes the case past the limits after DNA tests proved all were innocent. Finally, splash on protesters on player's lawns, professors publicly denouncing the team before the verdict, and an administration ready to cut and run. This was not a recipe for truth and justice.
As a lacrosse player, I recommend that every teammate read this book. As a member of an athletic sport, I recommend that every athletic coach and team read this book. As a member of a free society, I recommend that every person willing to look through "the fog" read this book. This happened to Duke, but could very well happen to anyone of us.
The story takes in all aspects of the case and how one lie dangerously shattered many lives forever.
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