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Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe

ebook
In urban and rural high schools throughout Illinois, basketball is a Friday night ritual. Local games are often the biggest thing happening all week, and the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and state tournaments attract fanatical fans by the thousands.

Far from the jaded professionals, the stories in Taylor Bell's Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe are of hungry young men playing their hearts out, where high-tops and high hopes inspire "hoop dreams" from Peoria to Pinckneyville, and Champaign to Chicago. Bell, a life-long fan and authority on high school basketball in Illinois, brings together for the first time the stories of the great players, teams, and coaches from the 1940s through the 1990s.

The book is titled for four players who reflect the unique quality of high school basketball, and whose first names are enough to trigger memories in fans who love the sport — Sweet Charlie Brown, Dike Eddleman, Cazzie Russell, and Bobby Joe Mason. Bell offers exciting accounts of their exploits, told with a journalistic flair.

Beyond a lifetime spent covering the sport, Bell's research includes three hundred and fifty personal interviews with coaches, administrators, family members, and fans. He has attended the Elite Eight finals of every boys' state basketball tournament since 1958, and met and written about many of the most outstanding teams, coaches, and players who helped to make Illinois one of the most exciting arenas for high school basketball in the United States. Sixty photographs add depth to the accounts.

By a fan, for the fans, Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe is the authoritative book on high school basketball in Illinois, and will elate anyone who has thrilled to the poignant highs and shattering lows of high school sports.
| Contents The Bench Pregame Warm-Up Chapter 1: The 1940s Centralia: Winningest Team in History Dike Eddleman: The Greatest Athlete of All Taylorville: 45-0 in 1943-44 Paris: The Ernie Eveland Era Decatur: End of an Era Champaign: Combes to Cabutti South Shore: Gaining Respect Pinckneyville: Two Legendary Coaches Mount Vernon: Three Titles in Six Years Max Hooper: The Captain Chapter 2: The 1950s Segregated Schools: "Power of the Pointed Finger" Hebron: The Giant Killers St. Elizabeth: Gone but Never Forgotten Chico Vaughn/Joe Aden: Only Fifteen Miles Apart Lyons: A Generation Apart Du Sable: Where We've Come From Rockford: Six Points in One Second Elgin: Bill Chesbrough Era Marshall: Remember the Juniors George Wilson: The Messiah Comes to Play Chapter 3: The 1960s Collinsville: Bogie's Hometown Vergil Fletcher: A Winner and a Visionary Carver 53, Centralia 52: Smedley's Game-Winning Shot Cazzie Russell: In a Class by Himself Pekin: Four Years of Glory Cobden: In Memory of Tom Crowell Rich Herrin: "A Gem of a Man" Galesburg: The John Thiel Era Thornton: Lipe, Lou, LaMarr, Lloyd Billy Harris: The Fastest Gunslinger of All Chapter 4: The 1970s Two-Class System: David vs. Goliath Thornridge: The Best There Ever Was Bob Dallas: Down on the Farm Jay Shidler: Ride with Shide Bloom: Tales from Hungry Hill East Leyden: 104-4 in Four Years Jim Hlafka: Home, Sweet Home Chicago Public League: Rise to Power Isiah Thomas: Hoop Dreams and Disneyland Maine South: The Biggest Upset of All Chapter 5: The 1980s Glenn Riversc: Doc Makes House Calls Quincy: The Hanks/Leggett Feud Lawrenceville: 68-0 Mount Carmel: One of a Kind Springfield: Bragging Rights 4 Ben Wilson: Too Young to Die King: The Landon Cox Era East St. Louis Lincoln: Four Titles in Eight Years Andy Kaufmann: Making a Point of His Own East St. Louis Lincoln vs. Peoria Central: Triple Overtime Chapter 6: The 1990s Move to Peoria:...

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Publisher: University of Illinois Press

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780252090486
  • Release date: October 24, 2013

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780252090486
  • File size: 2806 KB
  • Release date: October 24, 2013

Formats

OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

Languages

English

In urban and rural high schools throughout Illinois, basketball is a Friday night ritual. Local games are often the biggest thing happening all week, and the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and state tournaments attract fanatical fans by the thousands.

Far from the jaded professionals, the stories in Taylor Bell's Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe are of hungry young men playing their hearts out, where high-tops and high hopes inspire "hoop dreams" from Peoria to Pinckneyville, and Champaign to Chicago. Bell, a life-long fan and authority on high school basketball in Illinois, brings together for the first time the stories of the great players, teams, and coaches from the 1940s through the 1990s.

The book is titled for four players who reflect the unique quality of high school basketball, and whose first names are enough to trigger memories in fans who love the sport — Sweet Charlie Brown, Dike Eddleman, Cazzie Russell, and Bobby Joe Mason. Bell offers exciting accounts of their exploits, told with a journalistic flair.

Beyond a lifetime spent covering the sport, Bell's research includes three hundred and fifty personal interviews with coaches, administrators, family members, and fans. He has attended the Elite Eight finals of every boys' state basketball tournament since 1958, and met and written about many of the most outstanding teams, coaches, and players who helped to make Illinois one of the most exciting arenas for high school basketball in the United States. Sixty photographs add depth to the accounts.

By a fan, for the fans, Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe is the authoritative book on high school basketball in Illinois, and will elate anyone who has thrilled to the poignant highs and shattering lows of high school sports.
| Contents The Bench Pregame Warm-Up Chapter 1: The 1940s Centralia: Winningest Team in History Dike Eddleman: The Greatest Athlete of All Taylorville: 45-0 in 1943-44 Paris: The Ernie Eveland Era Decatur: End of an Era Champaign: Combes to Cabutti South Shore: Gaining Respect Pinckneyville: Two Legendary Coaches Mount Vernon: Three Titles in Six Years Max Hooper: The Captain Chapter 2: The 1950s Segregated Schools: "Power of the Pointed Finger" Hebron: The Giant Killers St. Elizabeth: Gone but Never Forgotten Chico Vaughn/Joe Aden: Only Fifteen Miles Apart Lyons: A Generation Apart Du Sable: Where We've Come From Rockford: Six Points in One Second Elgin: Bill Chesbrough Era Marshall: Remember the Juniors George Wilson: The Messiah Comes to Play Chapter 3: The 1960s Collinsville: Bogie's Hometown Vergil Fletcher: A Winner and a Visionary Carver 53, Centralia 52: Smedley's Game-Winning Shot Cazzie Russell: In a Class by Himself Pekin: Four Years of Glory Cobden: In Memory of Tom Crowell Rich Herrin: "A Gem of a Man" Galesburg: The John Thiel Era Thornton: Lipe, Lou, LaMarr, Lloyd Billy Harris: The Fastest Gunslinger of All Chapter 4: The 1970s Two-Class System: David vs. Goliath Thornridge: The Best There Ever Was Bob Dallas: Down on the Farm Jay Shidler: Ride with Shide Bloom: Tales from Hungry Hill East Leyden: 104-4 in Four Years Jim Hlafka: Home, Sweet Home Chicago Public League: Rise to Power Isiah Thomas: Hoop Dreams and Disneyland Maine South: The Biggest Upset of All Chapter 5: The 1980s Glenn Riversc: Doc Makes House Calls Quincy: The Hanks/Leggett Feud Lawrenceville: 68-0 Mount Carmel: One of a Kind Springfield: Bragging Rights 4 Ben Wilson: Too Young to Die King: The Landon Cox Era East St. Louis Lincoln: Four Titles in Eight Years Andy Kaufmann: Making a Point of His Own East St. Louis Lincoln vs. Peoria Central: Triple Overtime Chapter 6: The 1990s Move to Peoria:...

Expand title description text