Walking the Line offers readers a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes of the turbulent world of big time intercollegiate athletics. It is a revealing and fascinating look at the life of campus fun and games, assuredly a new insight for sports fans normally limited to cheering on the sidelines, watching from in front of a TV set or reading the sports pages.

Hotel a LodzWorking with prominent Northwest sports journalist Bill Knight, former sports editor of the Seattle Post-IntelligencerGeneva hotels, Mike Lude, former UW athletic director, pulls no punches in detailing his differences with William Gerberding, the school president at the University of Washington. He also blames Gerberding’s decision to hire Barbara Hedges as athletic director for ultimately causing the myriad problems that more recently brought disgrace and embarrassment to the program which had become a national model of success under Lude. Two of Hedges’ favorites, football coach Rick Neuheisel and women’s softball coach Teresa Wilson, were fired and then Hedges abruptly retired in early 2004.

Lude shares a wealth of personal anecdotes about his experiences with colleagues and friends— many of them nationally prominent coaches, athletes and administrators. His strong opinions about issues involving collegiate sports come through loud and clear. Mike Lude’s book is a compelling read for fans and should be a required addition to the library of everyone involved in intercollegiate athletics.