Sign-In
Cart
An Almost Perfect Season: A Father and Son and a Golden Age of Small-Town High School Basketball
Paperback
Publisher Price: $15.00
ISBN13: 9781645305132
Publisher: Dorrance Pub Co Inc
Published: Dec 4 2019
Pages: 188
Weight: 0.57
Height: 0.40 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
During the 1966-1967 Illinois high school basketball season, tiny Bluford High School, having just over a hundred students, reached the lowest ebb of its basketball playing history, winning only a single game. Two years later, in the 1968-1969 season, Bluford reeled off an unbelievable winning streak of twenty-five games, the second longest in a state where over seven hundred schools competed in sports.
An Almost Perfect Season: A Father and Son and a Golden Age of Small-Town High School Basketball chronicles this fascinating story of unexpected success, telling it through the eyes of one of the starting players, Randy Mills. Embedded in the book is also the deeper story of how Mills's days of playing basketball for the Bluford team drew his distant father and him closer together for that short but happy time.
Rich in long lost basketball action photos and strong in the invoking of the hot, crowded small-town gymnasiums of the 1960s, An Almost Perfect Season is a deeply moving personal history of an almost-forgotten golden age of high school basketball.
About the Author
An Indiana and Midwest historian and author, Randy Mills is a professor at Oakland City University in Oakland City, Indiana. He has authored over eighty professional articles and eight books on a number of historical subjects, including military history, labor history, and the Underground Railroad. He is a 2006 recipient of the George C. Roberts Award given by the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences for excellence in academic scholarship and a 2018 recipient of the Dorothy Riker Hoosier Historian Award given by the Indiana Historical Society. More recently, Mills has begun to explore his own personal journey as a baby boomer.
Mills and his wife, Roxanne, live in Oakland City, Indiana.
Also in
Athletes
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins
Bremer, Dick
Bruton, Jim
Hardcover
Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird
O'Brien, Keith
Hardcover
We Are the World (Cup): A Personal History of the World's Greatest Sporting Event
Bennett, Roger
Hardcover
The Messi Effect: How the Global Legend Changed the Future of American Soccer
Tenorio, Paul
Hardcover
Fight Through It: The Battles, Breakthroughs, and Beauty of Becoming Resilient Enough to Never Give Up
Hall, Roy, Jr.
Paperback
Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players
Jackson, Phil
Smith, Sam
Hardcover
The Long Run: Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, and the Decade That Made the Marathon Cool
Dugard, Martin
Hardcover
The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner
Vaccaro, Mike
Hardcover
In the Name of Freedom: A Political Dissident's Fight for Human Rights in the NBA and Around the World
Freedom, Enes Kanter
Hardcover
Moses and the Doctor: Two Men, One Championship, and the Birth of Modern Basketball
Epplin, Luke
Hardcover
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
Miller, John W.
Hardcover
The Long Run: A New York City Firefighter's Triumphant Comeback from Crash Victim to Elite Athlete
Long, Matt
Butler, Charles
Paperback
Earned: The True Cost of Greatness from One of Hockey's Fiercest Competitors
Pronger, Chris
Hardcover
Duct Tape and Determination: A True Story of Turning Devastation Into Grit
Hunt-Broersma, Jacky
Hardcover
How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Formula 1 Designer
Newey, Adrian
Hardcover
Another Life: Discovering the Healing Power of Purpose on My Long Journey from Player to Preacher
Strawberry, Darryl
Hardcover
The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership
Walsh, Bill
Jamison, Steve
Walsh, Craig
Paperback
The Bookie: How I Bet It All on Sports Gambling and Watched an Industry Explode
Manteris, Art
Birkbeck, Matt
Hardcover
Royal Treatment: Jackie Robinson, Montreal, and the Breaking of Baseball's Color Barrier
McLaughlin, Sean J.
Hardcover
Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess (Large Print Edition)
Mezrich, Ben
Paperback
The Fight of His Life: Joe Louis's Battle for Freedom During World War II
Roberts, Randy
Smith, Johnny
Hardcover
The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
Coffey, Wayne
Paperback
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board
Hamilton, Bethany
Bundschuh, Rick
Paperback
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
O'Brien, Keith
Paperback
A Life's Calling: The Voice Behind the World's Greatest Horse Races
Shulman, Lenny
Durkin, Tom
Volponi, Paul
Hardcover
Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games
Lomong, Lopez
Paperback
The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban: How Alabama's Coach Became the Greatest Ever
Talty, John
Hardcover
Fight Through It: The Battles, Breakthroughs, and Beauty of Becoming Resilient Enough to Never Give Up
Hall, Roy, Jr.
Hardcover
Lambeau: The Epic Life of Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau, the Man Who Invented the Green Bay Packers
Gould, Herb
Paperback
The Spurrier Effect: How One Coach Transformed Gamecock Football
Silvia, Brent
Miller, Kevin
Hardcover
Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History
Schaap, Jeremy
Paperback
Beyond Fast: How a Renegade Coach and His Unlikely High School Team Revolutionized Distance Running
Lear, Chris
Greif, Andrew
Brosnan, Sean
Hardcover
The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions
Parker, Candace
Hardcover
The Skateboard Life: Movers, Shakers, Makers & Rulebreakers: The Quintessential Story of Skateboard Culture
Williams, Neftalie
Hardcover
Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird (Large Print Edition)
O'Brien, Keith
Hardcover
That World Cup Guy: Forty Years, Nine World Cups and One Fan's Incredible Journey
Milne, Andy
Paperback
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Ryan, Tom
Paperback
The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality
Pearlman, Jeff
Paperback
L.A. Story: Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a Season for the Ages
Plunkett, Bill
Hardcover
The Making of a Miracle: The Untold Story of the Captain of the 1980 Gold Medal-Winning U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
Boudette, Neal
Eruzione, Mike
Paperback
From the Outhouse to the Penthouse: The Football Journey of Hall of Famer Larry Little
Zagorski, Joe
Paperback
Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler
Wertheim, L. Jon
Paperback
American Soccer Nation: The Remarkable 150-Year History of Yanks on a Roll, from Mob Football to the Modern Game
Franek, Mark C.
Paperback
Dottir: My Journey to Becoming a Two-Time Crossfit Games Champion
Davidsdottir, Katrin
McKernan, Rory
Paperback
Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son
Cook, Kevin
Paperback
More Than a Game: How the Uconn Basketball Dynasty Was Built on a Culture of Caring
Amore, Dom
Calhoun, Jim
Hardcover