Georgia is known as one of the most competitive proving grounds in America for high school football. The league that began as a few city teams in the late nineteenth century blossomed to the four hundred-plus schools that put teams on the field today. These teams have given college football and the professional ranks their share of champions. As schools across the state continue to chase--and break--records, a century of winning is only the beginning of Georgia's dynamic high school football legacy. Jon Nelson guides readers through an unparalleled history of coaches, towns and dynasties that have led Georgia to become one of the top five most competitive football states in the country.
Must Win chronicles the country's most storied high school football team as it, like the town it represents, tries to regain past glory. Nestled amid cotton, pine, and swamps, the Deep South outpost of Valdosta, Georgia, has long drawn pilgrims from across the country to the home of the Wildcats, the winningest high school football team in America. Christened by national media as "Title Town, USA," Valdosta has thrived on the continuity of dominance: sons still play in front of fathers and grandfathers, creased men in pickups still offer steak dinners as a reward for gridiron glory, and Friday nights in the 11,000-seat stadium known as Death Valley still hold a central role in the town's social fabric. Now that place is in peril. As much as Valdosta is a romantic symbol of traditional American values, things are changing here just as they are in small towns everywhere. In Must Win, author Drew Jubera goes inside the country's most famous high school football team to chronicle its dramatic 2010 season, a quest by a program that's down but not out to regain past glory for both the team and the town it represents. This town, this school, and these people have been rocked by forces that have hit the entire country, but they're a long way from giving up. They still believe in the power of a game to overcome all. With a new coach, a new optimism, and a kaleidoscopic cast that includes an aspiring rapper, a beekeeper's son, the best athlete in the state, and the heir to a pro legacy cut short by a crack dealer's bullet, these Wildcats have been given one more chance. Must Win is the American story written across a bright green playing field.
Georgia is known as one of the most competitive proving grounds in America for high school football. The league that began as a few city teams in the late nineteenth century blossomed to the four hundred-plus schools that put teams on the field today. These teams have given college football and the professional ranks their share of champions. As schools across the state continue to chaseand breakrecords, a century of winning is only the beginning of Georgias dynamic high school football legacy. Jon Nelson guides readers through an unparalleled history of coaches, towns and dynasties that have led Georgia to become one of the top five most competitive football states in the country.
"Set in the tension filled Deep South during the 1960's, Made or Broken, follows a group of young men on their experiences at the notorious Graves Springs football camp. The agony of the grueling practices and the fears of hazing were a legend about to be realized by the team's sophomore players"--P. [4] of cover.
Candler Cook knows firsthand that dreams can come true--but only if you're willing to fight for them. A lifelong Bulldogs fan, Candler decided at age seven that he wanted to play football for the University of Georgia. Despite being only a fourth-string linebacker on his high school squad, he remained laser-focused on his quest. Rejection followed rejection, but he refused to give up, even when others insisted that he'd never make the team. After years of intensive workouts and grueling self-reinvention, Candler Cook finally played his first football game for UGA--1,543 days after he walked into the coach's office and requested a tryout. A fascinating inside look at SEC football and a guidebook for anyone pursuing a seemingly unattainable goal, From Underdog to Bulldog is the remarkable true story of one young man's extraordinary efforts to make the impossible happen.
A magician introduces children to the fantastical powers of books in this delightful and encouraging read by a Super Bowl champion and literacy crusader. This is not your typical afternoon at the library—a magician invites kids to reach into his hat to pull out whatever they find when they dig down deep. Soon—poof!—each child comes away with something better than they could’ve imagined—a book that helps them become whatever they want to be, and makes their dreams come true through pages and words, and the adventures that follow. But each child can’t help but wonder, What’s really making the magic happen? Praise for The Magician’s Hat “Malcolm Mitchell is changing the world through the power of reading.” —Dav Pilkey, bestselling creator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series “The Magician’s Hat will cast its spell on you!” —Jeff Kinney, bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series “New England Patriot and literacy advocate Mitchell proves to have a touch of magic as an author as well as on the field . . . Perhaps youngsters who think they are more interested in football than reading will take the message to heart.” —Kirkus Reviews
"Determined Look: Stories of a Youth Football Coaching Legend" is written by Three Year Letterman, a thirty-nine-year old college dropout who lives in a Northeast Georgia. He is the coach of a youth football dynasty. Unlike many youth sports coaches, Coach Letterman angrily rejects the notion that the purpose of youth sports is to have fun. He instead adopts a win-at-all-costs approach. This sometimes involves him intentionally trying to make players quit, recruiting players that he knows are too old for the league, and "altering" residency papers. Coach Letterman is also very proud of the fact that he "rakes in $29.35 an hour plus bennies and a cell phone" and "lives in an apartment complex with a pool and computer lab." He lettered for three years in high school football at wide receiver. He still wears his letter jacket to this day and stands in the student section when he watches high school football games. He's also a rabid University of Georgia football fan who takes takes pride in the fact that he barks at opposing fans. This book includes twenty-eight chapters of Coach Letterman offering youth coaching tips and opining on a variety of topics. Topics include "How to Attend a High School Football Game and Post-Game Field Party in Style," "Turning the Local School System from Adversary to Co-Conspirator," and "How to Dominate a Deposition."
Go inside the astounding and, at times, appalling stories of the mid-1970s University of Georgia football teams like you've never seen, or heard, before. In the mid-'70s, the University of Georgia football team caused quite a stir off the field. Several players had encounters with the manipulative "Godfather of Pro Wrestling" and his money-for-sex scheme. A careless prank aboard a team-chartered airplane resulted in a bomb scare and an FBI inquiry. The mysterious death of a standout teammate in 1976 remained unsolved for decades. Despite it all, a valiant and tenacious head coach and his acclaimed "Junkyard Dogs" defied the odds and developed a celebrated championship team. UGA football writer and historian Patrick Garbin, using extensive interviews with former players and coaches, delivers a true tale of sex, drugs and wild debauchery in college football.
With American Football becoming an increasingly popular sport in the UK, concerns are also being raised about the health impact the sport can have on players. The scary facts about American football causing brain injury have become a hot topic in the media, especially as the same worries are surfacing for other full contact sports such as rugby. Steve Almond was a keen American football fan, but, in light of recent scientific studies about the prevalence of injuries within the sport has slowly turned against the game.
