Monday, May 19, 2008
Thornridge: The Perfect Season in Black and White
In 1970, the United States the same as in the 60s radicals was, killed the Americans in Vietnam, the antiwar protests at the universities, the conflict between blacks and whites in most major cities. Very white Dolton, a suburb south of Chicago, went to school transport Thorn Ridge High School. Phoenix black students for hours near the school with whites in Dolton and South Holland. They were warmly welcomed. Then began the basketball team to win Thorn Ridge. . . Fans of the black and white community came together to Thorn Ridge captured consecutive championships in Illinois. Led by the athletes of the national high school years, Quinn Buckner stormed the Falcons to a perfect season 1972nd No team, even remotely. This is their story told in his own words. THORN RIDGE is about prejudice and acceptance, adversity and triumph, and a team that the setting has changed, while the players were with the time of their lives.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
SCOTT LYNN (BETZELBERGER) is an award-winning Radio/TV Sportscaster who has worked the last 33 years in Illinois, Florida, and Oregon; the last 20 years as Sports Director of KEX Radio in Portland, OR. He has been recognized as the Oregon Sportscaster of the Year seven times and has won a prestigious regional Edward R. Murrow Award on three occasions. Lynn was born and raised in Lincoln, Illinois. He captained the 1972 Lincoln High School team that was ranked second in the state, and he was a scholarship basketball player at Southern Illinois University before graduating from SIU-Edwardsville in 1976. He and Sharon have been married for 32 years and live in Beaverton, Oregon. They have two children. Scott Lynn is a colon cancer survivor. He wrote much of this book while undergoing chemotherapy in 2009. This is his first book.
Customer Reviews
Great depth, fascinating characters, and athletic perfection. Impressive debut.
Thornridge is a triumphant story by a new author that delves into several issues ranging from athletic accomplishment to the struggle against racism and the fight for desegregation. The book chronicles the story of the Thornridge High School basketball team on their run to a state title and perfect record during the 1972 season. The star of the team, future NBA player Quinn Buckner, along with the rest of the Thornridge team forged bonds of friendship and overcame struggles in their community as well as the on the basketball floor. However, this book is not just basketball anecdotes. The primary strength of the book is the development of the characters. By the end of Thornridge the reader comes to know the players, coaches, and family members on a personal level. Basketball fans will greatly enjoy the athletic narrative, but Thornridge will appeal to a much wider audience because of the detail included of the human narrative and personal relationships. Teachers will appreciate the struggles of students overcoming poverty, racism, violence and family turmoil. Social historians and sociologists will appreciate analysis of different social groups during the early 1970s, a volatile period in American history. Fans of literature will appreciate the character development and full bodied representation of the key individuals in Lynn's story. Overall this book is an engaging story by a new author who knows how to tell a story!
COOL HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL AND HISTORY BOOK 1970s CULTURE
This is one of the best sports books I have read in recent years! Although I live on the West Coast and the book is about an Illinois high school basketball team from 38 years ago, I quickly started caring about the players and coaches. It was really neat how the author located all of the key players of the Thornridge team to get their thoughts on what it was like to win consecutive state championships, go through an undefeated-unchallenged season, and to be remembered today as one of the greatest high school teams in the nation's history. It was also interesting to find out what they had done in the time since they were high school basketball stars. I love the way Lynn recapped the season game by game with 4 or 5 games in a chapter, alternating with stories and bios of each of the players and the coach, Ron Ferguson. I'm sure anybody who has ever played high school sports would find this book interesting. Also, it was fascinating to find out that none of the star players would have attended the previously all-white school had integration not come to the school a couple years earlier. The black&white thing is a constant theme throughout the book. It's hard to believe there was such a fuss because a black player held a white cheerleader's hand during the championship trophy presentation! And finally, the photographs are really neat! It's pretty cool to see pictures of all the players with their huge Afro haircuts and wearing the short-shorts so common back in the day. Congrats to Scott Lynn for an excellent first book and for completing the book while battling cancer! I hope he has the opportunity to write another book in the future.
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