United Way of Ellis County – 2009 United Way Online Auction
Auction Ends: Dec 3, 2009 10:00 PM CST

Books

Autographed book "Our Boys, A Perfect Season on the Plains"

Item Number
991
Estimated Value
40 USD
Sold
28 USD to abitmore
Number of Bids
5  -  Bid History

Item Description

Autographed by the author, Joe Drape. 

From Macmillon Books:

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. 

"Our Boys is about far more than football. It’s an inspiring story about how a coach and a community are building young men with the simple values of love, patience, and hard work. This is a great book."—Joe Paterno, head football coach, Pennsylvania State University

“‘Hoosiers’ on a football field.”—New York Post

Item Special Note

Shipping & Handling fees:  If this item requires shipment, the bidder will be responsible for shipping and handling fees, which will be added to the winning bid at standard UPS industry rates.  

* A Sales Tax of 7.55% will be added to winning bids where Kansas State Sales Tax is applicable.   

Donated By:

CASA of the High Plains, Inc.