Sep 8th, 2009
BOOK REVIEW: 'Our Boys' a Triumphant Tale of Small-Town Football
By Ryan Wood
SportsPower.com
How does an itty-bitty high school on the Kansas plains win game after game in dominating fashion?
That's what New York Times reporter Joe Drape tried to answer when he moved his family to tiny Smith Center, Kansas (population 1,931) for one year. Drape spent the 2008 season embedded in the Smith Center High School football team, and the result is the fascinating book, "Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains With the Smith Center Redmen."
Drape first went to Smith Center in 2007 to write a story for the New York Times about the small-town dynasty. Intrigued by his first visit, Drape took a leave from the Times and moved to Smith Center the next season to dig deeper.
There is no dramatic ending to this book. High school football fans know that Smith Center's winning streak is at 68 games and counting, and the title of the book reveals that the Redmen indeed went unbeaten and won the Class 2A state title while Drape was there.
But what Drape's book does well is capture the spirit of small-town America, and specifically the joy that the high school football team brings to a place that doesn't have many other bells and whistles.
Fair or not, any high school football book written after 1990 will be compared to the Buzz Bissinger classic "Friday Night Lights." "Our Boys" gives the same attention to detail. It's just that the details are a little less haunting than those of Odessa, Texas, which was plagued by racism and unhealthy fanaticism toward the Permian High School football team.
Smith Center residents love their team, and love how they have the longest current winning streak in the United States. But it's mentioned numerous times that the end of the streak won't be the end of the world there. You believe it when you read the whole context of the town as Drape paints it. The community is too tightly wound to ever turn against each other.
In getting to the heart of Smith Center and its high school football team, Drape left no stone unturned. He documents a collection of senior citizens who meet every morning to discuss Smith Center gossip. He paints a great picture of what the players do in a town with little money--how a junior-college scholarship would be a financial godsend, how the players have multiple summer jobs to keep the town running (a couple are hog farmers), and what teenagers do for fun in a town that has a Pizza Hut and not much else.
And of course, Drape talks football. He details the sometimes-awkward relationship that a coach and a player have when they're also father and son. He breaks down the Redmen's lengthy scouting reports, including a detailed film dissection of Smith Center's 2A quarterfinal showdown with La Crosse. And he shows just what makes coach Roger Barta tick after decades of guiding young football players into manhood.
Most people can't relate to the humble existence that towns like Smith Center live. "Our Boys" paints that picture for us. All the while, Drape solves the riddle of how a little place in Kansas can improbably become a high school football dynasty.
--Contact Ryan Wood at ryan.wood@active.com.
SportsPower.com
How does an itty-bitty high school on the Kansas plains win game after game in dominating fashion?
That's what New York Times reporter Joe Drape tried to answer when he moved his family to tiny Smith Center, Kansas (population 1,931) for one year. Drape spent the 2008 season embedded in the Smith Center High School football team, and the result is the fascinating book, "Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains With the Smith Center Redmen."
Drape first went to Smith Center in 2007 to write a story for the New York Times about the small-town dynasty. Intrigued by his first visit, Drape took a leave from the Times and moved to Smith Center the next season to dig deeper.
There is no dramatic ending to this book. High school football fans know that Smith Center's winning streak is at 68 games and counting, and the title of the book reveals that the Redmen indeed went unbeaten and won the Class 2A state title while Drape was there.
Fair or not, any high school football book written after 1990 will be compared to the Buzz Bissinger classic "Friday Night Lights." "Our Boys" gives the same attention to detail. It's just that the details are a little less haunting than those of Odessa, Texas, which was plagued by racism and unhealthy fanaticism toward the Permian High School football team.
Smith Center residents love their team, and love how they have the longest current winning streak in the United States. But it's mentioned numerous times that the end of the streak won't be the end of the world there. You believe it when you read the whole context of the town as Drape paints it. The community is too tightly wound to ever turn against each other.
In getting to the heart of Smith Center and its high school football team, Drape left no stone unturned. He documents a collection of senior citizens who meet every morning to discuss Smith Center gossip. He paints a great picture of what the players do in a town with little money--how a junior-college scholarship would be a financial godsend, how the players have multiple summer jobs to keep the town running (a couple are hog farmers), and what teenagers do for fun in a town that has a Pizza Hut and not much else.
And of course, Drape talks football. He details the sometimes-awkward relationship that a coach and a player have when they're also father and son. He breaks down the Redmen's lengthy scouting reports, including a detailed film dissection of Smith Center's 2A quarterfinal showdown with La Crosse. And he shows just what makes coach Roger Barta tick after decades of guiding young football players into manhood.
Most people can't relate to the humble existence that towns like Smith Center live. "Our Boys" paints that picture for us. All the while, Drape solves the riddle of how a little place in Kansas can improbably become a high school football dynasty.
--Contact Ryan Wood at ryan.wood@active.com.
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