One Great Game
One Great Game Reviews: One Great Game is an interesting chronicle for those who like high school football. The analysis of the longest winning streak in history in any sport would be enough in itself. Indeed the game account seems less important than discourse on social and economic differences between the featured schools and their students. Though the writing is ponderous at times, I learned a lot about the nature of high schools in other states for instance most of the perennial powerhouse football teams are from private schools. The character sketches of players and coaches is good, but I still would like to know how to pronounce Bob Ladouceur’s name.
Cover notes on the book say it is “an engaging cultural history about twenty-first-century American life.” I submit it is, instead, a cultural narrative about life in California. Where else would you find players, when gunshots erupt in the neighborhood, react by citing the type weapon being fired, then resume practice as if nothing unusual happened. Going in, I expected the story would convince me that California high school football is the best played anywhere in the U.S. Despite the author’s conviction that California has not just the best but probably the second- and maybe third-best teams anywhere any given year, I came away figuring teams from my state and others would fare well playing the Golden State schools.
Had there been more interstate games, I doubt The Streak would have happened. I give the book 3 stars because I consider it about midway between the most and least enjoyable books I’ve read. Oh yes, if you’re buying it, suggest you get the September 2005 edition that includes epilogue and afterword rounding out the story.
One Great Game Reviews: Don Wallace did an excellent job profiling the stark differences between De La Salle and Long Beach Poly, creating much more interest in the game and it’s outcome. Whether you are a fan of DLS or Poly, you couldn’t help but come away with a greater appreciation of the other school.
One Great Game Description: For more than a century, no Number 1 and Number 2 high schoolfootball team had ever met until October 6, 2001One Great GameThis is the story of two teams Concord De La Salle, a private Catholic school in an upscale Northern California suburb, and Long Beach Poly, a proud public institution from a blue collar SoCal seaport striving to achieve the same goal: the all American dream.In this supercharged account of the first ever national high school championship game, acclaimed sports journalist and former Poly varsity football player.
Don Wallace goes out onto the field and straight into the heart of each team. One Great Game offers a rare look at the world of young adult sportsmanship, featuring up-close and personal interviews with the team players and their families, coaches and cheerleaders, rabid fans and sworn enemies. The result is a powerful piece of sports literature in the tradition of the classic Friday Night Lights. More than a book about football, One Great Game is an engaging cultural history about twenty-first-century American life.
One Great Game Reviews: When I first picked up the book I was worried that the account would be bias toward the Poly side, especially considering it’s the writer’s alma mater. However, Mr. Wallace presents a fair, balanced account of one of the most anticipated prep sporting events ever. He starts off about a year prior to the game, when it was only a rumor and concludes with an action filled account of the game.
Characters are well developed, and although I can only speak from experience on the De La Salle side seem to be very accurate. The introduction leading up to the game got a bit long winded at times, but outside of that the book was hard to put down. I recommend it to any fan of high school sports, as well as for people curious of how two of the most successful football programs in America opperate.
One Great Game Reviews: Wallace is able to captivate an audience with his descriptions of the preparation that went into the game itself. His attention to detail as to how each schools football programs arrived at the point of their unforgetable matchup is outstanding. I am most impressed with how the book uses high school football as a metaphor for how life as viewed by those involved in the game.
Don Wallace describes his own upbringing in Long Beach and the dynamics that have that have occured since he has moved away. His definitions of the suburban community of Concord, California, and how it somewhat evolves around the school with the infamous winning streak, actually makes the town sound interesting.