One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game

by Don Wallace

Book Overview

For more than a century, no Number 1 and Number 2 high schoolfootball team had ever met -- until October 6, 2001 One Great Game This is the story of two teams -- Concord De La Salle, a private... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743446216
• ISBN13: 9780743446211
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

One Great Book

Don Wallace's account of the first ever high school football championship game is frequently riveting, and always insightful. In the chapters leading up to the Game (An October 2001 matchup between #2 Long Beach Poly and #1 Concord De La Salle)Wallace proves himself more than able to juggle two disparate narratives, managing to track the players and football programs at these two perennial powerhouses while capturing the social dynamics of the towns in which they reside. At first, the towns seem diametrically opposed: Concord is a predominantly white, upper middle class suburb; Long Beach is an ethnically diverse community replete with gang warfare and violence, as well as Wallace's alma mater. But Wallace, it's clear, does not buy in to the American Dream vs American Nightmare pitch. Poly, it turns out, is an academic as well as a football powerhouse, a diamond circumscribed within the rough streets of Long Beach. And while the students at De La Salle may be economically priviliged in comparison to Poly's, they are also burdened by heavy expectations (A 116 game winning streak on the line)and must dedicate themselves completely to football. One Great Game concludes with a vivid account of The Game itself, often digressing into a play by play account. It's during these moments that Wallace's intimate familiarity with the two teams, as well as the game of football, comes across best. I highly recommend this book, not just to football fans, but to anybody with an interest in contemporary American society. You won't mistake One Great Game for a PHD thesis--its far too interesting and well worded--but you may find yourself admiring the poignancy Wallace discovers, or creates, from our best, quintessentially American sport.

A study of contrasts - very well written

This book chronicles the first-ever meeting between the #1 and #2-ranked high school football teams in America. In October of 2001, #1 Long Beach Poly, a Southern California powerhouse with a long, storied tradition, alma mater to a record 50 past and present NFL players, played host to #2 De La Salle, a Catholic all-boys school from the upper-class suburban town of Concord, CA, home of the nation's longest football (and perhaps all team sports) winning streak, which, before the Game, stands at an astounding 116 games. Prior to this game, no #1 and #2 teams had ever met in head-to-head competition, which always beggared the question, "Who's REALLY #1?," since most, if not all of the USAToday's Top 25 high school teams would end up the season undefeated. Long Beach is the "most diverse city in America," a sprawling city of 425,000 sandwiched between monstrous L.A. to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. It has a long and rich history, much of it less-than-sparkling, where waves of immigration, first of blacks, Hispanics, and Japanese in the early part of the 20th century, then of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Central Americans following upheavals in their respective homelands, made for a boiling brew of racial tension. Despite all this, Polytechnic High School, located in the decaying heart of downtown Long Beach, is a shining beacon for the whole community, not only as an athletic powerhouse, but as an academic springboard to prestigious colleges. in the 2001 season, the Poly Jackrabbits have perhaps their most talented team ever, with 5 players ranked among the 100 best high school players in the country. Concord, California, is a wealthy, mostly white, upper-middle-class suburb in the East Bay Area, populated by the professional, educated types who toil in nearby San Francisco. De La Salle is an exclusive all-boys school where tuition is $7,200 per year. The De La Salle Spartans are coached by a living legend, Bob Ladouceur, who since 1979, has lost only 14 games in his entire career, and none since December of 1991. The book takes two parallel stories, one of Poly, the other of De La Salle, focusing on the players, coaches, families, and overall atmosphere of each school and community, before intersecting them at the Game, which is described in bone-jarring play-by-play detail. You can almost imagine listening to the game on the radio, the play-by-play is so well-written. The Game was billed as a sort of David vs. Goliath, with De La Salle playing the part of David, traditionally undersized but winning on the basis of suberb coaching and relentless conditioning, and Long Beach Poly playing Goliath, with massive offensive and defensive lines and Division I college talent populating every skill position. However, when reading about each program, the reader gets the impression that instead of David vs. Goliath, it's more like Godzilla vs. Mothra, two unstoppable juggernauts heading toward a climactic Battle Royale. And

This book delivers

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. Yes, it was One Great Game, and it was One Great Book.

All-Star Prose for an Irresistible Matchup

I confess I was intrigued partly because of the success of "Friday Night Lights," H.G. Bissinger's classic look at high school football. However, I like Wallace's book better. While "Lights" drifted into long, rather dry sociological digressions, "One Great Game" is focused, beautifully written, and still explores--in a hard-hitting way--the fascinating contrast in two football cultures. It's an irresistible matchup: white, upscale Concord De La Salle, No. 1 in the nation and riding a 113-game winning streak, versus blue-collar, diverse Long Beach Poly, No. 2 in the nation and producer of more NFL football talent than any school ever. I was amazed at the access Wallace must have gotten to produce this book. He obviously spent a lot of times in the lockerrooms, absorbing the changing emotions and dreams of these young athletes, and he also proves himself an exceptional student of the two communities where these schools are based. It's worth the read just to glimpse into the mind and philosophy of De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur, architect of the record winning streak, a guy who's apparently able to turn young men of good or even modest athletic ability into a juggernaut through discipline and commitment to the common goal. It's the kind of thing that's rare and makes an amazing story.

Don Wallace scores a touchdown.................

Don Wallace's ability to capture an essence of not only the emotions of what was truly a first in the world of prep sports, but the historical content that lead to a memorable event just a few weeks after this nation's 9/11 tragedy. The game was a temporary remedy for sports fans wanting to escape the horrors that occured in New York City. ESPN had named it one of the top sporting events in the country to watch for that week.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. I believe those choosing to purchase this book will realize it is more than just about one football game. It reaches more into depth of two contrasting communities, that despite the differences, are very similar. It is more about the country we live in today.