One Small Town, One Crazy Coach PDF Download

Author: Mike Roos
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253010357
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
In the summer of 1962, the peripatetic and irrepressible Pete Gill was hired on a whim to coach basketball at tiny Ireland High School. There he would accomplish, against enormous odds, one of the great small-town feats in Indiana basketball history. With no starters taller than 5'10", few wins were predicted for the Spuds. Yet, after inflicting brutal preseason conditioning, employing a variety of unconventional motivational tactics, and overcoming fierce opposition, Gill molded the Spuds into a winning team that brought home the town's first and only sectional and regional titles. Relying on narrative strategies of creative nonfiction rather than strict historical rendering, Mike Roos brings to life a colorful and varied cast of characters and provides a compelling account of their struggles, wide-ranging emotions, and triumphs throughout the season.

Author: Chris Ballard
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 140130432X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
"One Shot at Forever is powerful, inspirational. . . This isn't merely a book about baseball. It's a book about heart." -- Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Boys Will Be Boys and The Bad Guys Won In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois, playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats, defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to represent the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. There the Ironmen would play against a Chicago powerhouse in a dramatic game that would change their lives forever. In this gripping, cinematic narrative, Chris Ballard tells the story of the team and its coach, Lynn Sweet: a hippie, dreamer, and intellectual who arrived in Macon in 1966, bringing progressive ideas to a town stuck in the Eisenhower era. Beloved by students but not administration, Sweet reluctantly took over the ragtag team, intent on teaching the boys as much about life as baseball. Together they embarked on an improbable postseason run that buoyed a small town in desperate need of something to celebrate. Engaging and poignant, One Shot at Forever is a testament to the power of high school sports to shape the lives of those who play them, and it reminds us that there are few bonds more sacred than that among a coach, a team, and a town. "Macon's run at the title reminds us why sports matter and why sportswriting has such great power to inspire. . . [It's] one hell of a good story, and Ballard has written one hell of a good book." -- Jonathan Eig, Chicago Tribune

Author: Russell Grieger
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253023246
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
In 1964, the Evansville College Purple Aces raced undefeated through the Indiana Collegiate Conference, posting a perfect 24–0 regular-season record and winning the College Division NCAA championship. The skeleton of this season exists in newspaper archives and in books that capture the on-court action, but the flesh and blood has never been written—until now. This is the story of Russell Grieger, a starting guard, and his observations, feelings, reactions, and struggles of that season. It provides a game-by-game look into the team, showcasing Grieger's teammates, Coach Arad McCutchan, and Evansville's love for the Aces. The Perfect Season is an insider's inspiring story of a team whose motto—"If you're going to go, go big time or don't go at all"—inspired them to achieve their dream.

Author: Bill Riley
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253020956
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Will lightning ever strike twice? Can David beat Goliath a second time? These questions haunt everyone in the small town of Milan, Indiana, whose basketball team inspired Hoosiers, the greatest underdog sports movie ever made. From a town of just 1,816 residents, the team remains forever an underdog, but one with a storied past that has them eternally frozen in their 1954 moment of glory. Every ten years or so, Milan has a winning season, but for the most part, they only manage a win or two each year. And still, perhaps because it's the only option for Milan, the town believes that the Indians can rise again. Bill Riley follows the modern day Indians for a season and explores how the Milan myth still permeates the town, the residents, and their high level of expectations of the team. Riley deftly captures the camaraderie between the players and their coach and their school pride in being Indians. In the end, there are few wins or causes for celebration—there is only the little town where basketball is king and nearly the whole town shows up to watch each game. The legend of Milan and Hoosiers is both a blessing and a curse.

Author: Abe Streep
Publisher: Celadon Books
ISBN: 1250210674
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
**Winner of the 2021 Montana Book Award** **Winner of the 2021 New Mexico-Arizona General Nonfiction Book Award** **Finalist for the Spur Award for Best Contemporary Nonfiction** **A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick** "A heart-stomping, heart-stopping read. Unsentimental. Unforgettable. Astonishing. Brothers on Three captures the roar of a community spirit powered by blood history, loyalty, and ferocious love." —Debra Magpie Earling, author of Perma Red From journalist Abe Streep, a story of coming-of-age on a reservation in the American West and a team uniting a community March 11, 2017, was a night to remember: in front of the hopeful eyes of thousands of friends, family members, and fans, the Arlee Warriors would finally bring the high school basketball state championship title home to the Flathead Indian Reservation. The game would become the stuff of legend, with the boys revered as local heroes. The team’s place in Montana history was now cemented, but for starters Will Mesteth, Jr. and Phillip Malatare, life would keep moving on—senior year was just beginning. In Brothers on Three, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches, and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future. Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, state championships, and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.

Author: Mark Kreidler
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006187762X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In the tradition of Friday Night Lights comes an unforgettable portrait of a small New Jersey town that became known throughout the world for the remarkable exploits of its Little League stars. Summertime in Toms River means two things: tourists and champions. The tourists head for the beaches; the 12-year-old Little League champions can be found on the baseball diamonds, where they win titles at the local, regional, and international levels. The Toms River dynasty began in the 1990s, when the team made it to the Little League World Series three times in five years and brought home a historic world championship victory in 1998. But with each passing summer in Toms River comes renewed pressure, as the latest collection of All-Stars strives to leave its mark on the town's imposing baseball legacy. In Six Good Innings, acclaimed sportswriter Mark Kreidler deftly illuminates the sometimes tense relationship between Toms River and the team that carries the town's hopes and dreams. Following the most recent juggernaut through one tumultuous All-Star season, Kreidler chronicles how the coach, John Puleo, works to strike a balance between healthy competition and bloodless ambition, and how the players themselves reckon with their own fleeting fame as they tumble headlong into adolescence. Puleo, a man with a gift for inspiring young athletes, commands a team whose recent string of successes has led to speculation that this might be the squad to extend the Toms River tradition of reaching Williamsport, site of the Little League World Series. But along the path to glory, Puleo's players will deal with unexpected injuries, a brutally difficult schedule of games, and the daunting knowledge that they have been identified throughout their region—and within the neighborhood blocks of their own baseball-crazy town—as the team to beat. With deep empathy, incisive reporting, and intimate access, Kreidler weaves the stories of the coaches, the parents, the fans, and the true boys of summer into a memorable tableau.

Author: Antony Takis Tsegellis
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 1457566524
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
From an accomplished lawyer, judge, coach, and community servant comes a fast-moving tale of colorful characters in a small, blue-collar, coal mining town deep in the hills of Kentucky. Tales of a Small-Town King traces the struggles to find upward mobility in Appalachia, all while navigating the unique culture smothered by isolation, expansive poverty, drugs, crime, and political corruption. The product of a hard-working band of Greek immigrants, with mentoring from his Uncle Miklos, Takis Tsegellis rises as the town’s favorite son – hopscotching through varied career and community projects along the way – only to ultimately leave in disgrace, however, rejected by the town he spent 40 years trying to help. Now, as he returns to town to give the eulogy at his Uncle Miklos’s funeral, he must confront his unresolved love and hate for his hometown, and his ambition to topple it, all while discovering that his family and career were never the American dream he hoped them to be. He may finally reach the mountaintop he’s always sought, just not as the person he’s always been.

Author: Jessie Gussman
Publisher: Jessie Gussman
ISBN: 1953066348
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
Claire Harding I live in Idaho. (Yes, potatoes. *eye roll* Can we talk about something else?) And I love it here. Small town values galore and it’s right where I want to raise my girls after my jerk ex traded me in for a “younger, newer model” (his words, not mine). My mom’s the volunteer fire chief in our town and I’m pretty happy hanging out with the auxiliary at the fire hall and doing her grunt work – NOT fighting fires, because, please, I read, love science and my idea of a lot of exercise is having to walk up the stairs twice in the morning before I send my girls off to school and leave for my job as a home nurse. I guess it’s kind of weird that I also coach basketball. Long story. I was pretty happy with my life until the hot shot, all-state baller from my teen years moved back in next door. (I babysat him, yes, but I never changed his diapers. Just wanted to be clear about that.) Guess who’s now the assistant b-ball coach? Logic would say me – especially since I coached my entire first year holding the play book upside down (it turned out to be an old football playbook from the ‘80s, so it’s not like it mattered which way I held it) but the accurate answer is Trey Haywood, my all-star neighbor, and I’m honestly not sure which of us is more upset about it. Anyway, the team was trying to set us up (girls, they’re such romantics) and I don’t think they would have succeeded, but in celebration of breaking our 37 game losing streak, they locked Trey and me in the septic system control room. That changed everything. Not in a good way. Trey Yeah. What she said. And…when I first saw her again, I thought she was a catastrophe. New thought post septic control: she’s a cute catastrophe. (And, holy man, can she kiss.) Listen for free on the Say with Jay channel on YouTube. Reviews for Me and the Cute Catastrophe: ★★★★★ "This is a giggle, snort,snort, laugh out loud kind of book, but there is an underlying message about growing up, letting go of some insecurities, seeing life with all its warts but loving anyway. Oh and the kiss scene is the best." - Wren ★★★★★ "This is a little different than Jessie’s other books, but I LOVED it! Trey and Claire were truly fun to read about. You won’t be disappointed!" - Ashton01 ★★★★★ "It's beautifully written, the characters are true to real, and true to life. It's funny, and loving, and exciting, just like a Rom-Com should be. Although it doesn't have any sex in it, you can still feel the attraction and desire building." - Ken ★★★★★ "This book starts out funny from the very beginning and pulls you right in! I’m actually not a fan of funny books, (just to be clear, I do like a little humor) but this had me hooked right off!" - Kindle Customer ★★★★★ "I admit to being a skimmer. But the way this author writes, I had to stop that behavior and read every word so I wouldn’t miss out on a laugh or grin or smirk. She was just throwing those sentences out there and I couldn’t skim or I would miss them. Thank you so much Jessie for a really enjoyable read." - Shirley Books in the Sweet, Small Town Romantic Comedy in Good Grief, Idaho series: Me and the Cute Catastrophe Me and the Tidy Tornado Me and the Helpful Hurricane Me and the Sweet Snowstorm Me and the Dreamy Doomsday

Author: T. R. Kelly
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781736161111
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Linnbert "Cheese" Oliver, a hard-luck hero in the Northwest town of North Fork, is reported missing from a late-night ferry. And for Ernie, his father figure, friend and former coach, the news hits hard. Ernie's suffered too much loss and pain in his life-his wife, a state basketball championship, a serious medical malady-and he just can't accept the idea that Cheese might have taken his own life. "The Cheese" was the best basketball player Ernie Creekmore coached in his nineteen years at Washington High School and the best shooter Ernie had ever seen. The unassuming great-grandson of the town's founder, Linn Oliver could do no wrong. He was the talk of the town-until he missed the final shot in the 2000 state championship game. Working with the county's Harvey Johnston, Ernie uses his new contacts in real estate and old hoops resources to trace Cheese's movements. Meanwhile, hints at possible foul play turn up in pieces of North Fork's rough-and-tumble history in fishing, logging and railroading and the past and present violently collide in a series of heart-stopping moments that peel back layers of secrets, gold and twisted family ties that refuse to stay buried.

Author: Amy Knupp
Publisher: Amy Knupp
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
Who says love can’t show up on your doorstep, completely unexpected? Quincy I have a plan, and it doesn’t include falling for the older, hot single dad who convinced me to be his short-term nanny. So, I will leave my small town and my broken heart behind and go back to college. Or so I told myself. But now I’m starting to wonder if my plan has room for an unexpected happily ever after… Knox To say I was overwhelmed when I found a baby on my doorstep would be an understatement. Quincy saved me when she stepped in to help. The last thing I need is a no-strings fling with a twenty-something woman with her whole life ahead of her. I should walk away, no matter how much I want her. But I don’t. Now, I need to figure out how to let her go when the time comes. Preferably without breaking her heart. Or mine… Unexpected, book 4 in the Henry Brothers series, is a light, age gap contemporary romance that can be read as a standalone. It has a little humor, some spicy times, and plenty of emotional, heartwarming moments. Download today and watch Quincy and Knox stumble heart first into their completely unexpected HEA.