The Great Christmas Bowl

 

The other day I received an unusual sized envelope in the mail. To my surprise it was a signed copy of Susan May Warren’s new book, The
Great Christmas Bowl.
As I would later find out, Warren is a very accomplished writer, having written many books too numerous to list. I know her best as “Peter’s mom.”

Her son, Peter Warren, plays football for the Cook County Vikings. He has been a delight to coach, as he is an especially hard-working young man who is polite, respectful, and always working to do his best. In our program, we sum that up best as “becoming a man built for others.”

As someone who likes to read, this was the perfect gift to get me in the “holiday spirit.” The only problem, however, was finding the time to read it. Between playing with four kids, working on my graduate studies, reading for school, and completing my weekly Bible study, when was I going to get the time for leisure reading?

Last Thursday night after the kids went to bed and I finished my evening workout, I sat down to read a few pages of The Great Christmas Bowl.
The next night I read a few more pages. Themore I read, the more I was hooked. On Saturday, I reserved an afternoon time slot and read the rest of the book.

The book connected with me because it has three main themes that I cherish: football, family, and Christmas traditions. While the lead character of the book, Marianne Wallace, tells the story from a mother’s perspective that resonates with many women, I found the book to be a great read for any guy who loves football and the Christmas spirit.

Warren’s writing cleverly intertwines the North Shore of Minnesota into her Christmas novel. References to Duluth, Highway 61, and many others made me smile in a way only a local could.

When I read, I want to take something away from a book. I want to learn something or ponder a belief. This book was no letdown, as I was constantly brought back to my childhood, remembering Christmas holidays of my past. I remember my mom’s cookies in the kitchen, decorating the tree with our own “personalized” ornaments, midnight mass at Church, leaving cookies out for Santa, checking our stockings in the mornings, and many other Dorr Christmas traditions that live on today.

In addition, I was brought back to two of the three state championship runs that the Cook County football team made in the late ’90s. My first two years of coaching football as an assistant coach under Lyle Anderson, I was blessed to be a part of two magical seasons filled with great memories. Those memories came flooding back as I read Warren’s humorous account of a mom making “mom-like” sacrifices for her son during football season.

It also had me reminiscing of the times when my mom would make spaghetti dinner for all my friends and me Friday afternoons before every home game. We would cram six to ten guys into our little kitchen for the best pre-game meal in town. My mom made plenty of sacrifices for me then that I am now only starting to fully appreciate.

More than anything else, however, The Great Christmas
Bowl
teaches the reader a valuable lesson about hospitality. The Christmas season is a great way to serve other people and this book captures this challenge in a way readers will remember. Reading this book also personally challenged me to find ways in which I can serve others better during this holiday season.

The Great Christmas Bowl
is a must read, especially for those of us in the north woods who love football, family, and Christmas. You can get a copy before Christmas at Super America in Grand Marais, Christianbook.com or amazon.com, not to mention Barnes & Noble or wherever books are sold. If you get time, get a copy of the book and visit www.susanmaywarren.com.

Mitch Dorr, a Cook County
High School Class of 1993
graduate, is now a social studies

teacher and coach at his
former alma mater. Mitch
coaches Vikings football and
boys’ basketball.