Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: Neil Hayes took me places I didn't expect to go. What a fascinating portrait of a fascinating program. My brother is a coach in Southern California and I sent him this book because of the unique perspective it offers. It's amazing the wholesome culture that has been set up at De La Salle. Hayes does a great job of describing every facet of the football program. The secret to De La Salle's succes: Sure, they've started getting good talent, but they also work harder and take it more seriously than you could ever imagine.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you.
Review: Thank you Mr. Hayes for bringing this story to print.
Nearly 20 years ago, I went to my first De La Salle football game, and they won. In fact, they did not lose for several years to come, and even then it was on a controversial play at Oakland Coliseum when running back Rob Forrester ran in a touchdown, but was ruled out of bounds... Reviews showed, he was still in bounds and scored with the football just crossing inside the pylon. However, there was no 'instant replay' and alas, DLS had an incredible win streak come to an end.
I understand they started a new streak... and it was an impressive one in its own right. However, it too found its end.
The Spartans would start yet another streak, this one even longer. I sat in the bleachers when they played La Costa Canyon near San Diego this past year. It was my first Spartan game in nearly 15 years, the last one I witnessed, they lost. They weren't to lose this game down south. In fact, I know a kid who played for La Costa that night. This "kid" is 6'4" and about 240lbs - fit. I talked to him a few weeks prior to the game. He was already concerned. The look in his eyes said this game was already over before the opponents even got there.
Missing a few key players that night, DLS won. To La Costa's credit, they played with a lot of heart.
A few weeks later, ESPN showed a match pitting DLS vs. the perennial champs of Louisiana. Louisiana was without their past QB, John Booty and DLS would lose their QB early in the game, victim to the awful turf of Diablo Valley College. The Spartans rolled - not even a close match.
What the score didn't tell you was how the 200lb linemen of DLS were destroying the 300lb lineman opposing them. One of which was 6'7", well over 300lbs, and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
They ended the season as national champs, and that brings us to today, at the dawn of another season where they will travel yet again to battle the best America has to offer.
You may have already devised that, yes, I do indeed have ties to a small Catholic School in Concord, California. I have to say it pains me to read, as well as hear, the constant rants of "recruiting". I was there and admittedly, I thought I knew of a few instances where recruiting might have been possible... However, after looking into it, I found my own personal allegations to simply be false. Later in life, I realized the flat out implausibility of their recruiting: The kids are all local to the area, and still beat the best there is to offer, both Statewide and Nationally; Invariably, these kids are all undersized compared to their competition; For the amount of profound success DLS has at the High School level, there are but a few that go on to have success in college, and a precious few who go on to the NFL; and finally, I just have to laugh at the idea of 'scouting' out some kid that is running around his 7th grade blacktop playing 'tag' with his friends. It just isn?t plausible.
So the streak rolls and is currently at 151.
De La Salle will lose a game again some day, but quite frankly it will be a lifetime before they are beaten. If they lose a game, they'll just start another streak the next day. They always have, and I can only believe, they always will.
The reviewers bashing this book are invariably looking for an excuse to explain away this school's success. Their rants of "recruiting" are but a sophomoric attempt at belittling something that is both good and true as part of its fundamental nature. They will never know what makes this school so special. But those of us who have been blessed to be affiliated with this -Brotherhood- we all know.
There is no science that can explain why this team is a winner. It is a matter of faith.
Without Faith this team is nothing.
All that Coach Lad has to do is just - let it happen.
Internal Faith in each player, each student, each other... is what makes these kids true Champions. They are winners because of who they are and it is depicted each season in what they do.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at the best football program in America
Review: The De La Salle Spartans of Concord, CA, are owners and stewards of perhaps the longest winning streak in sports, let alone high school football. At the beginning of the 2002 season, the Spartans have won an amazing 125 straight games. To fully understand what that means, you have to realize that a typical high school football season is a mere 10 games, with a few more playoff games for the teams good enough to make it. Running through a season undefeated is an amazing accomplishment that most schools never experience, and is usually a fortunate and timely collaboration of good coaching, solid talent, meshed with experience and an enormous amount of commitment and desire, with just a bit of plain old good luck. By the summer of 2002, De La Salle's team had just completed a run of TEN CONSECUTIVE undefeated seasons. The 2002 Spartans, however, do not appear to have what it takes to continue "The Streak", as they are less talented, less experienced, and seemingly, less interested and committed than De La Salle teams of the past. This book chronicles the trials and travails of the 2002 season, including potential Streak-ending games versus Southern California powerhouse Long Beach Poly and 15-time Hawaiian State Champions Honolulu St. Louis. This book delves into the mystery surrounding the origins and continuation of the Streak, the players and coaches who have contributed to it, and most of all, how unassuming and unlikely a school like De La Salle and a place like Concord could be home to the longest winning streak in football history. The story isn't as electrically charged as H.G. Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights," but it is still a teriffic read and a rousing salute to the "ordinary" young men who have, through their dedication and effort, managed to forge "The Streak."
Rating:
Summary: Po_boy geo didn't even read the book- he's just a DLS hater
Review: This is the most definitive Life skills primer for teachers, parents and young student-athletes. Neil Hayes came about as close as one can to capturing the essence of the mystery surrounding the great Bob Ladouceur teacher/coaching philosophy. This is an excellent read and should be must reading for all coaches. It is also a testiment to the boys who have become Men under the guidance of caring and knowledgeable coaches and mentors. PS, student/athletes are not recruited - They want to paly with the best and choose to become Spartans.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books about children's sports ever
Review: Truly, this book gives an astonishing insight into what is possible when a grown man devotes his life to children's sports. When a small community decides to really identify itself with a children's football team, and when parents and educators alike say "Yes! What really matters to us in life is that our local children's football team wins against other childrens' football teams!" then something extraordinary can happen.
For example, national television stations start broadcasting games between 16-year-olds. People start writing fawning biographies of PE teachers. And parents allow their sons to start on programs of hideous overtraining that will almost certainly lead to long-term injuries, all in the service of the cause of being the nation's finest children's sports team. What dedication! Even people whose children do not attend De La Salle school can bask in the reflected glory of living in an area that has at least one school with a jolly good team of sixteen-year-old football players.
I would unreservedly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in sixteen year old sporting competitions. Indeed, I would recommend it most of all to people who think that a national obsession with high-school football is silly, even laughable. Such people would certainly find this book an eye-opening experience.
|
