Our Boys: A Perfect Season On The Plains With The Smith Center Redmen (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Here's a good book for a light, heartwarming read. Smith Center, Kansas sits out on the prairie on a not-so-busy highway and they win football games. One heck of a dedicated coach built a dynasty and at the time this book was written, the team was looking for another perfect season of 8-man football. A New York writer took up residence in Smith Center for a year or so to write the book and was given terrific access to the everything having to do with the program. It seems like everyone in town was connected in some way to the program, some of the locals that wouldn't know a football from a baseball bat even set up and broadcast the games on the radio."Our Boys" is a very fulfilling read filled with the bittersweet knowledge that some of the kids will have to leave their hometown and the people that have loved them. Nothing of the alienation and growing-old-alone angst that takes up all the oxygen in William Inge's pictures of life in small town Kansas.Highly recommended. Someone sent me this book in a plain brown envelope. I think it was my brother but it may very well have been a pal from back home in Kansas. This was a really enjoyable read in which New York Times reporter Joe Drape tells of the football dynasty from Smith Center, Kansas. It is 2008 and the Smith Center High School Redmen are hoping to set the record for Kansas longest high school winning streak and claim the Class 2A Championship for the fifth year in a row. Joe Drape and his family move to Smith Center so he can observe first-hand what is so special about this football program and their esteemed coach, Roger Barta. He learns that it isn't just about football. It's also about wholesome living, midwestern values and people who wholeheartedly support their town and school.
What do You think about Our Boys: A Perfect Season On The Plains With The Smith Center Redmen (2009)?
very exciting book. I am of fan of Smith Center forever. I cant wait for next season.
—ggott121
Excellent read. I learned more about Kansas than I ever cared to know.
—NelielTuOderschvank
Great reporting of a feel-good story by a writer I consider a friend.
—erankova
Loved this book and the spirit of the Smith Center Redmen.
—Carolina
