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The Great Lakes—containing one-fifth of the standing freshwater on earth, covering some 94,250 square miles with a combined 10,210 miles of shoreline—have suffered greatly from human use and abuse since the advent of the commercial fur trade in the late 1600s. Logging destroys or degrades habitats, urbanization and industrialization pour human and industrial wastes into the water, fertilizers flowing off farm fields feed algae that suffocate other creatures, and ships bring in exotic species that decimate the lakes’ biodiversity. In 1985 when the International Joint Commission identified more than forty pollution hotspots around the lakes, few people had faith the Areas of Concern would be cleaned up in their lifetime. Indeed, aquatic ecosystem restoration is extremely difficult: only nine of these hotspots have been removed from the infamous list. But progress is being made, and at the helm are local champions, people with a profound love of the region who lead by example and build broad, diverse coalitions in order to realize a common vision. The stories of fourteen of these champions are told here to inspire necessary action to care for the place they call home, so it may be a home to many living creatures for ages yet to come.
Mississippi State dominated Southeastern Conference basketball in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Starting in 1959, the team won four conference titles over five seasons. Yet despite earning their way, the Bulldogs remained routinely absent from NCAA tournaments. Amid a climate of fierce segregation, Mississippi refused to allow its collegiate teams to compete with integrated programs. In 1963, one team determined to compete on the national stage made state history. Led by beloved coach Babe McCarthy and supported by university students and administration, the Bulldogs made a daring and furtive trip to play Loyola's integrated team in the national tournament. Now, sports journalist Kyle Veazey vividly recounts the amazing journey of a team that refused to be hindered by the status quo.
With the passing of Title IX, a Chicago high school girls’ basketball team becomes pioneers as they play for the championship in this sports memoir. Set against a backdrop of social change during the 1970s, State is a compelling first-person account of what it was like to live through both traditional gender discrimination in sports and the joy of the very first days of equality—or at least the closest that one high school girls’ basketball team ever came to it. In 1975, freshman Melissa Isaacson—along with a group of other girls who’d spent summers with their noses pressed against the fences of Little League ball fields, unable to play—entered Niles West High School in suburban Chicago with one goal: make a team, any team. For “Missy,” that turned out to be the basketball team. Title IX had passed just three years earlier, prohibiting gender discrimination in education programs or activities, including athletics. As a result, states like Illinois began implementing varsity competition—and state tournaments—for girls’ high school sports. At the time, Missy and her teammates didn’t really understand the legislation. All they knew was they finally had opportunities—to play, to learn, to sweat, to lose, to win—and an identity: they were athletes. They were a team. And in 1979, they became state champions. With the intimate insights of the girl who lived it, the pacing of a born storyteller, and the painstaking reporting of a veteran sports journalist, Isaacson chronicles one high school team’s journey to the state championship. In doing so, Isaacson shows us how a group of “tomboys” found themselves and each other, and how basketball rescued them from their collective frustrations and troubled homes, and forever altered the course of their lives. Praise for State “A beautiful story of basketball and life.” —Steve Kerr, head coach, Golden State Warriors “Isaacson perfectly captures the birth of Title IX and a time when high school girls were starting to gain equality in sports and in the classroom, showing us how opportunities on the court can light a path for girls to become their authentic selves in all aspects of their lives.” —Billie Jean King, founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative “The book is special because Isaacson captures the special bond that formed among the female athletes. Not only were they teammates, they were pioneers of a sort . . . . A wonderful book that is both eye-opening history and a moving and deeply personal memoir.” —Booklist, starred review “An intimate, at times inspiring account.” —Kirkus Reviews
As late as 1950, many chess clubs in America excluded women. The Marshall Chess Club in New York City was an exception, organizing the U.S. Women's Chess Championship beginning in the late 1930s. Since the 1980s, the average rating of the players has increased. The Saint Louis Chess Club has organized the championship since 2009, with record-setting prizes. Drawing on archives and original interviews with the living U.S. Women's Chess Champions, this book examines their careers with biographies, photos, and 171 annotated games, most of which are from the 60 championships between 1937 and 2020.
The Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships began in 1975 as a vision of several people who understood the hard work and achievement of the student athletes in Pennsylvania. Whether it was Jim Cox's overtime winner for Baldwin or Downingtown East's five-overtime classic, the championship continues to keep fans and followers alike on the edges of their seats. Many great teams, such as eight-time champions Meadville and seven-time champions Bayard Rustin, have reached this championship. Notable alumni include Germantown Academy's Mike Richter and Pine Richland's Brandon Saad, both Stanley Cup champions. The development of high school hockey in Pennsylvania begins in grade school and continues through middle school and junior varsity. It is a community effort with the support of many. Today, teams from 150 high schools compete in the championship.
Once a year, Cameron Carpenter visits his old friend and teammate Jonah Jackson, and the two read through a journal Cameron wrote in high school to cope with the death of his father. In a series of letters to his dad, young Cameron writes about moving with his mother back to her hometown of Eagle River, Washington, and his tumultuous freshman basketball season. In addition to struggling with fitting in, he and Jonah experience racial bigotry that splits the town and reveals Jonah's mysterious past. Cameron also meets Mandy, the love of his life, only to see her go through a traumatic experience that threatens to separate them forever. Will God's grace heal Cameron's pain? Will the team's exciting run through the state tournament bring the town together? Will Cameron learn what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ and be a champion in God's eyes? And in the end, will Cameron and Jonah's lifelong friendship see them through one final challenge?
Steve Wolfe knows his stuff when it comes to coaching and wrestling. Call Us Champions would entertain the most avid wrestler all the way to a beginner. This is not only a excellent and fun book for those interested in wrestling but those interested in how it is to raise a family in Alaska. Wolfe writes about his young family in a way that makes you want to read more. Thanks for a wonderful book. Rainbow Saupe, San Jose, CA Steve Wolfe does a wonderful job of captivating not only the idiosyncrasies of the sport of wrestling, but the essence of the human spirit. I found myself laughing out loud of some of the humorous events within the book and appreciate having this coach share his experience with up and coming coaches like myself. Mike Illg, Lowell, MA
Montana State's Golden Bobcats celebrates a storied history from the hardwood Ashworth "Cat" Thompson and brothers Frank and Orland Ward didn't know what to expect when they left southern Utah in the Fall of 1926. They arrived in Bozeman to play on the Montana State College basketball team under charismatic coach and fellow Utah native Ott Romney and Assistant Coach Schubert Dyche. Teamed with Montana products Brick Breeden and Max Worthington the following season, the core formed one of the best teams in the country. Despite Romney returning to Provo at the end of 1928, the Bobcats persevered in '29 under Schubert to win the consensus college national basketball championship, with Cat and Frank Ward earning All-American honors. Author Paul R. Wylie recounts the on and off court challenges and triumphs of the Bobcats' Golden team
Shawn Harrington returned to Marshall High School as an assistant coach years after appearing as a player in the iconic basketball documentary film Hoop Dreams. In January of 2014, Marshall's struggling team was about to improve after the addition of a charismatic but troubled player. Everything changed, however, when two young men opened fire on Harrington's car as he drove his daughter to school. Using his body to shield her, Harrington was struck and paralyzed. The mistaken-identity shooting was followed by a series of events that had a devastating impact on Harrington and Marshall's basketball family. Over the next three years it became obvious that the dream of the game providing a better life had nearly dissolved. Author Rus Bradburd tells Shawn's story with empathy and care, exploring the intertwined tragedies of gun violence, health care failure, racial assumptions, struggling educational systems, corruption in athletics—and the hope that can survive them all.