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.
The dramatic events of 2020—the presidential election, the COVID-19 pandemic, protests for racial justice—affected every corner of American life. What did these events mean for the residents of small towns and cities that are often overlooked by national newspapers? How do local stories change when they are told by journalists with roots in these communities? And what is lost as this kind of coverage disappears? American Deadline brings together dispatches from four longtime local journalists in different parts of the United States that tell the story of 2020 anew. It shares reporting from Bowling Green, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; McKeesport, Pennsylvania; and McAllen, Texas—two towns that lost their local newspapers and two where they are barely hanging on. The authors consider what makes each town distinctive and how these local perspectives tell a part of a broader American story. This book reports on how residents of these towns grapple with and talk about issues relating to race, schooling, health, immigration, deindustrialization, as well as local and national politics amid a changing and increasingly precarious information ecosystem. A distinct and intimate look at a calamitous year, American Deadline is an important book for all readers interested in the possibilities and future of local journalism.
Back to the start and behind the scenes on the Dawgs recruiting trail The University of Georgia boasts one of the nation's premier football programs, and the recruiting acumen of coaches like Kirby Smart plays a major role in that. The Road to Georgia is a wild ride into the competitive world of college football recruiting, revealing how some of the most memorable Bulldogs players found their way to Athens. Jake Reuse and Patrick Garbin take UGA fans back to the start and behind the scenes, showing that the path to Sanford Stadium is not always a straight and narrow one.
This book is written for those of us who love Georgia Bulldogs Football and who cannot wait until our next win. There is no need to be impatient because as of 2022, Georgia is now at the top of the pack and the Bulldogs win big games all the time. Ask the others! In 2022, of course we all know, Georgia became the College Football Champions. The founding of the University was in 1785 and before Georgia eventually played its first football game, the first book was read at UGA right after Abraham Baldwin of the University of Georgia drafted legislation that became the charter of the university. Georgia student life moved quickly as the first student organization was founded as the Demosthenian Literary Society was founded. The first commencement was held with Josiah Miggs, President presiding in 1804. For its first 50 years the school was known as Franklin College. Soon after being established, Charles Herty got football going on campus in the fall of 1886 and UGA played its first intercollegiate football game. It took a while but in 1929, the school built its first stadium Sanford Stadium. The rest of the college football is not necessarily thrilled that Georgia became so good, so fast, and now they are recognized as the best team in the nation. Georgia won its first National Championship in 1942. In 1980, Georgia repeated its national championship with freshman Herschel Walker leading the way. The Bulldogs remained a national powerhouse with a lot of close calls to greatness until 2022 when it again won another National Championship with a coach who was a great Georgia graduate. Go Bulldogs! This book captures the whole great story of Georgia football. It takes the reader through stories about Georgia’s great immortal coaches and great players over the years. You will not be able to put this book down.
An inspiring portrait of the extraordinary high-school football team whose quest for perfection sustains its hometown in the heartland The football team in Smith Center, Kansas, has won sixty-seven games in a row, the nation's longest high-school winning streak. They have done so by embracing a philosophy of life taught by their legendary coach, Roger Barta: "Respect each other, then learn to love each other and together we are champions." But as they embarked on a quest for a fifth consecutive title in the fall of 2008, they faced a potentially destabilizing transition: the greatest senior class in school history had graduated, and Barta was contemplating retirement after three decades on the sidelines. In Smith Center--population: 1,931--this changing of the guard was seismic. Hours removed from the nearest city, the town revolves around "our boys" in a way that goes to the heart of what America's heartland is today. Joe Drape, a Kansas City native and an award-winning sportswriter for The New York Times, moved his family to Smith Center to discover what makes the team and the town an inspiration even to those who live hundreds of miles away. His stories of the coaches, players, and parents reveal a community fighting to hold on to a way of life that is rich in value, even as its economic fortunes decline. Drape's moving portrait of Coach Barta and the impressive young men of Smith Center is sure to take its place among the more memorable American sports stories of recent years.
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.
We usually think of Bible characters as dressed with their Sunday best—lookin’ good, smelling of accomplishment, and holding the posture of unshakeable faith. We marvel at these “flawless saints” while thinking, “Wow! I’m not worthy!” Hey, not so fast. Believe it or not, the most celebrated people in the Bible were plagued by doubt, bad decisions, and less than perfect reputations. In a word, most were losers! And yet, God had plans that would take them beyond their humble, imperfect lives and dub them proud members of the “losers” club. Losers Club is a real-life look at famous Bible figures such as Moses, Solomon, David, Thomas, Rahab, and others. Each vignette reveals people who struggle with weak faith, confusion, and frustration—people very much like you and me! These stories will help you connect with these flawed heroes, find encouragement in their stories, and get inspired by God’s love and care for “losers.”
A time capsule that recounts the greatest moments in Georgia lore and tracks the chronological progression of sports writing styles from the esoteric to the ultra-modern, this account details the popular team that has been to more bowl games than any other. The book chronicles the Georgia Bulldogs from their roots of glory to their modern-day triumphs.
