Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen

I cannot recall the last time I was so taken by a story like the one told in Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen, by New York Times reporter & noted author Joe Drape. Perhaps it was the films Hoosiers or Rudy or the wonderful book Six Good Innings: How One Small Town Became a Little League Giant, the true story of which took place basically in my own backyard, down near the Jersey Shore. None of those experiences, however, were as engaging as this story of the Smith Center High School Redman from Kansas. On the face of things , this delightful book is about a small Kansas high school foootball team & their coach, Roger Barta, pursuing yet another undefeated season & state championship trophy. It is, however, about so very much more. It's about friendship & caring about others & hardwork & determination. It is about challenges taken up & challenges met. It is about becoming a little better everyday & respecting opponents, but not fearing them ( both are pearls of simple smalltown wisdom from Coach Barta.) Any reader could not possibly fail to become totally engrossed in this wonderful narrative. Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen is a book I happened upon by chance, but is one that I will also treasure for many years to come. It is one of the finest stories about working to make your dreams come true that I have read in many years. I cannot recommend this excellent book highly enough.

I'm a sucker for the American sports story. In our making a fetish of egalitarianism we risk losing the recipe for excellence which has characterized every American generation from the founding to the 20th century: hard work, dedication, and competitiveness. The Smith Center Redmen football team hasn't forgotten the formula. Season after season, they strive to master the same basic playbook their coaches have implemented for decades. They emphasize not flash but pure execution. And they have been rewarded with victory after victory, season after season. This is an excellent window on this phenomenon and a reminder that heartland America is the real America.

This is one of the best books I have read on high school sports since reading "Friday Night Lights" 20 years ago. The author, Joe Drape, moves his wife and son Jack to Smith Center, Kansas to follow the exploits of the town's high school football team. The Smith Center Redmen are riding a 4 year winning streak that has culminated in 4 state titles. In 2008 they are seeking to continue the streak and break the state record. This is an amazing story about love, family, commitment, small town America and football. I have been around high school sports and young people most of my adult life. We are often blinded by mega sports stars,free agent contracts, performance enhancing drugs and professional extravaganzas. The pure essence of sport is embodied in the high school athlete who sacrifices and works hard for the benefit of the lessons learned. Mr. Drape gets it absolutely right. Coach Barta and his staff impart life wisdom to the group of remarkable young men you will come to love as you read this book. This book is an ABSOLUTE GEM!!!

Author Joe Drape penned a trifecta of critically-acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing before tackling the turf of high-school football in rural Kansas in Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen (August 2009; Times Books: Henry Holt and Company, LLC). When Drape first became acquainted with the Redmen in November 2007, they were on the cusp of capturing their fourth straight Division 2A state championship, with the current senior class about to finish their four years by winning an incredible 54 games in a row. But Drape hurdles past the statistics to get to the heart of a dynasty when he returns with his wife and young son the following summer to explore a true foundation that's built on community - the Smith Center population is less than 2,000 - and teamwork in a 165-member student body. "I tell our boys it's about the journey," says long-time head coach Roger Barta, whose 2008 squad was shooting for state records in consecutive wins and most consecutive state titles. "What we do around here real well is raise kids. None of this is really about football." Drape picks up the pre-season drills as June is about to give way to July and weaves an oftentimes tragic history of the region - dust storms of the 1930s, recent economic woes - with well-paced and placed sketches of coaches, players and residents. There is the battle between the core values found in the heartland with some perilous dangers in the fast-paced first decade of the new century; juvenile abuse cases on the rise and methamphetamine labs being found in abandoned farmhouses. Through it all, writes Drape, "...the Redmen were proof that hard work and accountability still meant something." The Redmen have support through a booster organization, cheerleading squad and dance team, with student clubs working the concession stands and a student broadcast team covering the season with a professional flair. Each senior player and cheerleader has a trading card issued which carries a pledge to be alcohol- and tobacco-free. If there is a violation the individual is kicked off the team/squad, has the card revoked and must go to the elementary school to explain to students why the severe penalties were issued. And there are the players who have been molded in a system that stresses "execution over innovation," but, as Drape writes, "....they (the seniors) were known mainly for following orders and riding the coattails of the class ahead of them." With any team, there is drama leading to the first coin flip under the stadium lights. A 350-pound lineman - who is the state weight-lifting champion and has the potential to play at the major college level - is emotionally hurt by not being named as one of the team captains and has briefly abandoned the summer workouts. One of the four captains, who is hoping to receive at least a partial athletic scholarship to a small college, is trying to prepare for the season while juggling two jobs from 7:30 am to 6 pm - pl