Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and Its Team

by Drew Jubera

Nestled amid cotton, pine, and swamps, the Deep South outpost of Valdosta, Georgia, has long drawn pilgrims from across the country to the home of the Wildcats, the winningest high school football team in America. Christened by national media as "Title Town, USA," Valdosta has thrived on the continuity of dominance: sons still play in front of fathers and grandfathers, creased men in pickups still offer steak dinners as a reward for gridiron glory, and Friday nights in the 11,000-seat stadium known as Death Valley still hold a central role in the town's social fabric. Now that place is in peril. As much as Valdosta is a romantic symbol of traditional American values, things are changing here just as they are in small towns everywhere. In Must Win , author Drew Jubera goes inside the country's most famous high school football team to chronicle its dramatic 2010 season, a quest by a program that's down but not out to regain past glory for both the team and the town it represents. This town, this school, and these people have been rocked by forces that have hit the entire country, but they're a long way from giving up. They still believe in the power of a game to overcome all. With a new coach, a new optimism, and a kaleidoscopic cast that includes an aspiring rapper, a beekeeper's son, the best athlete in the state, and the heir to a pro legacy cut short by a crack dealer's bullet, these Wildcats have been given one more chance. Must Win is the American story written across a bright green playing field.

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2012

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to my favorite sports teams. While my favorite sport is baseball, I also enjoy a good American football game, especially from the New England Patriots. Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell has often said that his success on the field comes from his increased reading rate off of it and has even authored a children's book to promote literacy. On Mitchell's birthday, the Patriots website listed Mitchell's nineteen favorite books that he urged people to read. Besides popular favorites Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Girl on the Train, Mitchell cited Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and Its Team by Drew Jubera as an inspirational read. As baseball season has moved into the dog days of August and football season is about to commence, I decided to read Mitchell's recommendation for myself.

Valdosta, Georgia epitomizes the South's love of high school and college football. A town a mere seventeen miles north of the Florida border, Valdosta High School at the time of publication had won twenty three state and six national championships in football. Rich, poor, white, black, and people from all walks of life came together as one in support of its football Wildcats. Yet, the team had fallen on hard times, at least for them. Rival Lowndes High School had surpassed Valdosta High as the gold standard of South Georgia football, winning five state titles of their own. With Lowndes predominately white and Valdosta High a majority black, naysayers often cited race and Valdosta's thuggish atmosphere as being the downfall of their once storied football program. In 2009, Lowndes annihilated Valdosta 57-15, and the debacle became the source of talk all over town. Boosters and administrators pining for one more championship in their lifetimes needed a new coach, one who would galvanize the team, unify the community, and return Valdosta to its glory days.

Jubera had covered Valdosta High as a reporter for the New York Times and ESPN and was intrigued at the prospect of covering the team for a year. He first encountered new coach Rance Gillespie at a meeting shortly after Gillepsie was hired and the two hit it off immediately. Jubera and his family moved from Atlanta to Valdosta for a year and became part of the Wildcat community. In the course of the year, Jubera takes readers inside the anatomy of a season. He breaks down the jubilation of victory and the agony of defeat and how a community based time on whether or not Valdosta High had a winning season. Readers get an intimate look at the lives of players, coaches, and boosters both on and off of the field, and, as the season, progresses, also feel like a part of the football family in South Georgia.

Gillespie and his coaching staff were entrusted with returning Valdosta to its glory days but also with molding the character of teenaged boys, many of whom came from broken families or qualified for free and reduced lunches. During the same year Jubera covered the Wildcats, wealthy businessmen from Lowndes County desired to consolidate the school system so that the students at Valdosta would gain the same opportunities and resources as their counterparts at Lowndes. Due to emotions and football, not surprisingly the referendum failed. Gillespie through his work ethic and emotional speeches was able to turn teens with athletic ability into football players. Establishing a high level of trust, Gillespie won the hearts of the athletic boosters and started Valdosta on the road back to glory. The school's graduation rate increased and a number of players from this initial team earned college scholarships. Channeling Valdosta's storied past, Gillespie once again made Valdosta residents proud to be Wildcats and turned the community back into a southern Titletown.

Jubera's journalistic writing tugs on the emotions of a sports fan in hopes that s(he) will come to root for Gillespie, his family, and the Valdosta Wildcats football team. Valdosta could come to symbolize all that is wrong with sports today: high school coaches earning six figures, teenaged football players followed by an entourage of fans, the same boys succumbing to pressure and turning to drugs when their careers are over. Yet, the book also made one feel good to be a sports fan and rooted for the community and team to shed its underdog status and become champions once again. Unbeknownst to me was that Mitchell was one of the twelfth graders on this team that started Valdosta back to glory. I tried to read with an unbiased opinion yet was curious to follow Mitchell in high school to see where his road to becoming a Super Bowl champion began. His path began with mentors like Rance Gillespie who at this point is now a college head assistant coach at Georgia Southern University. I enjoyed reading Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and Its Team as a prelude to the upcoming football season and rate this fun and uplifting story 3.75 stars.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Must Win” by Drew Jubera, published by St. Martin’s Press.

Category – Sports/Football

“Must Win” is a must read for anyone who enjoys sports, or anyone who just enjoys a great read. It is a story not only about a football team but a town and its fierce attachment to a High School football team. Southern Georgia is a Mecca for football players, especially for the colleges of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, but there may be none better than Valdosta High School.

Former and present players are revered as gods in this town. The reason may be that they have won more games than any high school in America. It is not often that the 11.000 seat stadium is not filled on a Friday night.

The last 9 years have taken its toll on the city and its team. The days of past glory are gone, both in the town and on the football field. Valdosta, a victim of the economic turn down, has seen its share of poverty, drugs, and alcohol abuse, to say nothing of an increase in crime and murder. Valdosta High has become a school of mostly black students that see very little in their future, except the few that prove themselves on the football field. Many players fight a daily battle with drug use, crime, and teenage pregnancy. The town pulls out all stops and hires Rance Gillespie as their new coach in hopes that he can bring back their former glory. The 2010 season sees the team and its coaches through a season of inspiration, toughness, grit, and heartbreak.

This is definitely a book for anyone who has children in sports and anyone who wants to understand the grip the sport of football has on this country. Many good lessons can be learned in the reading of “Must Win”.

[Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is meant for people who are into sports or like reading or watching football. This book i a great book my favorite player/character is Odell and he is the best receiver on the team he is a legend in that town. When coach Hyder dies it is very emotional because he dies of a heart attack in the lunch room during school. That is also my least favorite part of the book because it is very sad and unexpected.

[Victor Annoreno]

Must Win by Drew Jubera is about Valdosta High School's football program. This football program is known nationally as "The winningest high school football team in America". This book has a very vivid theme of turning "rags to riches". At Valdosta High School coach Rance Gillispie not only teaches these ex convicts and farm boys how to be excellent football players but to also be exceptional men in life. God, family and football hold a strong presence at Valdosta.

The story takes place in a small town in Georgia where it doesn't matter if they like you or not, it just matters that you win. Valdosta is home to many traditions. Football and the coaches are a couple traditions. One of these traditions is the honor held for the football coaches, as displayed on pg. 156-157. In this part of the book Chaplain Brinson spoke to the football team about their deceased Coach Hyder. He held a baton and a football and compared the transition from Coach Hyder to Coach Gillispie to the story of Moses and Joshua. Moses was a leader and had a unique relationship with God. Moses died and there was a transition to a man named Joshua. He said the baton represents transition and the football represents focus.

It may seem like a perfect job to be the coach at Valdosta, but not when you have to follow in the footsteps of two of the nation’s best high school football coaches, Bazemore and Hyder. Coach Gillispie always pushed the players to their limits whether they liked or not because he knew it would help in the long run. He would often say, "Quit feeling sorry for yourself or I'll give you something to feel sorry about!" pg. 141. This showed that their coach had a deeper understanding of pain and didn't believe in temporary pain.

The author does a great job putting you right into all the action in the book such as the long standing rival games and their never ending battle with Lowndes High. This is a great book for all even if one isn't passionate for football. The storyline is very moving and the strong connection to God and family will keep everyone reading to the end.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in north Florida, I was well aware of the Valdosta Wildcats and their football legacy. We fortunately only had to march against them, not play them in football. But that was enough competition right there. You were either in the band or you played football - just the way they rolled - and they dominated in both! This history of their 2010 season and its impact on the school and the town is excellent. Had me laughing out loud throughout the book and made me cry at least twice. Mr. Jubera really gives you the flavor and tone of the town and the people in it. If you are a fan of southern football, you would enjoy this true story!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. If you're a fan of high school football, or even just a sports lover, I think you will enjoy this tale of redemption in a South Georgia town, where generation after generation lives and dies by the holy trinity: God, Family and Football.

While i personally feel that Buzz Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" will always be the gold standard for this genre of writing, "Must Win" is a gripping story full of interesting and likeable characters. And if that's not enough, Drew Jubera writes beautifully.

[Robert Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true story of the 2010 high school football season of the Valdosta Wildcats as seen through the eyes of the author. More than just a sports article the book is an in-depth behind the scenes story of a way of life in the South Georgia city below the " knat line". Real life characters and their struggles, dramas and heartbreaks as the community strives to return to " Winnersville" status after several disappointing seasons and setbacks. I thoroughly enjoyed this read from cover to cover and was very impressed by the author's insight into the Southern culture and customs.

[Chris Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent ethnography of Valdosta, Georgia, focusing on the town's connection to their storied high school football program.

[Dachokie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Friday Night Plights ...

This book was reviewed as part of Amazon's Vine program which included a free advance copy of the book.

I remember reading the Sports Illustrated article ("Winnersville USA") my senior year in college (1988) that introduced the adulated history and lofty expectations of the Valdosta High School football program. The article detailed the pressure of the current coach (Nick Hyder) having to work under the ever-looming shadow of a deceased predecessor, Wright Bazemore, a legend that all subsequent Valdosta coaches would forever be compared. At the time of the article, Hyder was in the midst of eclipsing Bazemore by taking the program to even higher standards ... "national championships". Twenty-four years later, Drew Jubera revisits the Valdosta football program to find it a decaying shell of its former self and desperate to bring back the glory of yesteryear. While MUST WIN captures the uniqueness of Valdosta with its celebrated history, the book ironically struggles to free itself from the literary shadow cast by a like-minded book ... Buzz Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights".

Dating back to 1913, Valdosta football has maintained an astounding 79% win rate with (as of now) 869 wins. Losing is not a bitter pill that Valdosta's rabid fans and alumni must swallow, it's simply intolerable. Jubera drives this home in the first several chapters as the new coach in town, Rance Gillispie, is introduced to the Valdosta community that unceremoniously dumped several previous coaches for not living up to the standards of Bazemore and Hyder. Gillispie is even taken the cemetery where Bazemore and Hyder rest with the promise of his own personal plot if he can bring Valdosta back to its winning ways. While readers are following the new coach being "welcomed" into the fold, we are also being introduced to the various players the new coach must depend on to keep his job. Complicating an already difficult task is that the town that once served as the backbone of the Wildcats success has been decimated over the years by economic struggles and a wave of drug-related violence. MUST WIN details the trials and tribulations associated with the merging of these elements (new coach, past glory, young men and a decaying social scene) heading into the 2010 football season.

Although the ingredients are there, MUST WIN never seems to muster enough "mojo" to stand out as I found myself constantly reminded of Bissinger's iconic "Friday Night Lights". While the storylines parallel to a certain extent, Valdosta's pedigree status among high school football programs never gives the book enough steam to eclipse Bissinger's book in terms of immersive quality. The storyline, as promising as it seemed, was simply not captivating. The struggles of the players dealing with some serious issues (drug-related violence) while trying to stay in school and play football should be entrancing, but I found myself struggling to remember who was who throughout the book ... the stories just did not stand out. Most of all, there was a pervading sense that I had read and seen this before, only with different names and a different location. Basically, I felt this book was "Friday Night Lights, Part II" ... and we all know how sequels often don't measure up to the original. Jubera does a great job defining the atmosphere of Valdosta by detailing the coaching and winning legacies and the pressures Gillespie faces as the head coach. I especially enjoyed reading about Valdosta's frustration with cross-town rival, Lowndes High School ... a newer, spin-off school that, in recent years, has stolen Valdosta's "king of the hill" status by winning numerous state championships. The contrast between the two schools and Valdosta's desire to knock Lowndes off the pedestal it once owned proved to be interesting. The game-calling, however, was less than stellar and I found this to be somewhat disappointing given Jubera's experience as a sportswriter. And while it's clear that Valdosta coaches are held to high win standards, I never really got the sense that the 2010 season was "do-or-die" for Gillespie or the town ... just a fresh start for both. In fact, I felt Jubera was overly supportive of Gillespie throughout the book as the coach is portrayed in an almost saintly manner. I will be curious as to how long Valdosta's budding love affair with the coach will last.

I felt MUST WIN was hit-and-miss throughout. There were some instances where I really started to feel involved only to have Jubera switch gears and get me off-track. While the book has a degree of continuity, I felt it was a little "choppy" at times. The overall story, however, is interesting and somewhat inspiring ... as many high school sports stories are. My problem is that this storyline has already been told and MUST WIN simply doesn't measure up to the standard set by the original.

[Jake Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Win: A Season of Survival for Its Town and Its Team, By: Drew Jubera
Valdosta, Georgia is the home of the winningest football team in the United States. With 23 state titles, six national titles, and almost 900 victories, the Valdosta Wildcats have been the standard for high school football for almost 60 years. After many unsuccessful coaches, Rance Gillepsie steps up to lead the Wildcats in 2010. This book takes you on a journey through the 2010 season and shows how much a town will do to have its team win.
As a huge football fan, the book jacket sparked my interest to read this book. It made me want to find out what happened in the 2010 season and find out if the town and team could rebuild itself. I also wanted to see whether or not the new coach could match the intensity of the town and lead the team to a state title.
The cover artwork goes very well with the overall theme of the book. It shows the Valdosta football team running out onto the field with big yellow letters that say, “MUST WIN.” This artwork conveys how much winning championships meant to this community.
The title is not very creative, but it does fit with the theme. It really shows that the whole town of Valdosta revolves around its football team. As it shows in the book, if the team is not doing very well then the town doesn’t seem to be thriving either. However, when the team is successful, the town seems to prosper and have a more positive outlook on life.
The author’s purpose is to relay information about the 2010 Valdosta Wildcats football season. He does this by spending a whole year with the head coach and also getting to know the players. The author also wants to make you feel like you are a part of the community. He gives a very authentic version of the story and gives you a real feeling of what South Georgia football is like.
As a sports writer, Drew Jubera is qualified to write this book. He originally was going to write an article on the football team but decided there was too much going on in the town so he wrote a book. He spent a whole year with Coach Gillepsie and gathered a lot of information on the team and the town. Jubera continues to work as a reporter and reports on many of the sporting events that occur in his hometown of Atlanta.
There are five pages of pictures located in the middle of the book. They do a good job of giving us clear images of what the players, coaches, and the town looks like. They enhance the book’s message by showing Valdosta’s love for its team.
I thought that the scenes during the games were the ones best written. They were very intense and showed how the players, coaches, and fans reacted to the game around them. Drew Jubera described it so well that I felt like I was sitting in the stands of the games. He also did a great job of showing the players’ emotions after both big wins and heartbreaking losses.
I really did not dislike anything about the book. I found all of the parts interesting and thought the characters were all very relatable. The only thing I felt was missing is that the author didn’t tell me how all the players are doing out in the world today.
I highly recommend this book. I would mainly recommend it to people who like football. However, if you like a story about underdogs and a small town’s passion for its high school sports, then this book is for you.

[Charlie Parramore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't aware of this book's existence until I spoke to a friend over lunch awhile back. When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the Valdosta Wildcats even when I barely understood the game. Reading this book was nostalgic in that it reminded me of how passionate I once felt about this team. Also, it was fun being so familiar with many things in the book since it covers the 2010 season as I was living right here in Valdosta and was hearing about many of the events in the book peripherally. I thought the book does a great job of illustrating how passionate this city is about its football and how this high school team is so intricately entwined in the town's fabric. The way the author portrays the kids was also well done. I thought I had a good picture of all the kids' personalities, almost as if I knew them personally. My only real beef with this book was that I felt that it wasn't so much an objective journalistic exposé of the team as it was a glorification of it. I love football as much as anyone but I also recognize the extreme overemphasis of it can be a detrimental thing to the kids who play it and the institution they represent and I didn't feel that this book delved into that as it should have. I felt that in that way it fell short of H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights which I would guess is the standard for this kind of book.

[JBP · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a spate of interesting looking books connected to the sport of football and here's another, as Drew Jubera spends some time in Valdosta, Georgia following the local one-time football high school power. Valdosta used to be one of THE programs in the US, now it's not even the best team in its area. A new coach is hired and the locals have new enthusiasm and hope as Jubera follows the entire season of 2010.

As with these sorts of books, various people are profiled and weaved into the story including coaches, players, super-fans, town folk, school officials, ex-players, girlfriends and others who had some connection to the team or the city. That's the thing about the obsession certain people feel toward their football team--it's really a civic institution that exists for the entire city to rally behind, be proud of, feel letdown by and any other emotion that comes with passionately rooting for a sports team. Yes, it's just high school football and that might not mean a lot to some [if not most], but in Valdosta, it means a heck of a lot, and that intensity and zeal is what gives this book its heft.

[Henry Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Valdosta Georgia nothing but religion comes before football. The winningest town in high school football history is so good that they could go the next 65 years without winning a game, and still have a winning record. Recently though, the team has been in a bit of a slump. Over the last four years the team has gone a foul 22-21. So the school brings in a former Georgia State coordinator named Rance Gillespie to turn the team's losing ways around. The story is a day by day chronicle of Rance's trials in a town that won't accept anything but winning. The pressure is immense considering that the school and town won't accept anything but winning. And win is exactly what Gillespie does in the phenomenal book.

[Kristina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not really sure why Jubera thought there was a story to tell here. Maybe if he had let some more time pass to see if the team could really make their needed comeback then it would have been a better read. His writing isn't very good and has an ESPN-made-for-TV feel. The plot is all over the place as readers are bounced from person to person and in and out of time periods. There are a lot of facts, quotes, and histories being told without any footnotes- very frustrating! Overall, this one wasn't an enjoyable read for me.

[Chase Sitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having lived in Valdosta for 5 years while attending VSU, I was able to spend some time around the high school through FCA and Young Life. The author does an amazing job summing up the culture and environment that is Titletown, USA. I couldn't put this book down once I started, and it took my emotions for a ride as the season played on and into the end of the book. If you're a football fan period, read this book! You won't be upset that you did.

[Gavin15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book with a good insight on the football culture in the south. It follows a high school football team in Georgia the most winningest high school football team in America. When the get a new coach in Rance Gillespie the teams mood changes and the town accepts him. In a town that fired a coach after 3 losses in three seasons but this coach lost early in the playoffs but he is helping this town. I would recommend this book to most people but mostly sports fans

[Matt M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read... room a bit to get into. Jubera goes to great lengths to provide a backstory on not just the football program but the socio-economic roots of the region. that said, having finished the book, it is all very necessary to understand the mutual need this town and team have for each other as well as why these are not merely games, in South Georgia. Well done.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The importance of prep football in Valdosta, Georgia cannot be overestimated. Jubera embeds himself in the community's fabric and emerges with a story rich with Southern characters who all share a compulsion to see their teen athletes win.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very surprised how much I liked this book. If it had not been a book club pick, I would have never read it. I found myself rooting for the characters and the town. The author came to our bookclub and was delightful. A book club road trip may be in the works!

[Monisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Provides an in-depth, emotional, behind the scenes look at the passion surrounding South Georgia football centered around Valdosta High School's winningest football team. Well written book and great character development.

[Eddie Sendaydiego]

I think it's an ok book right now. It started out some what slow and boring in my opinion. But at the point I'm at right now it seems it is picking up to be a great sports book that will keep me wanting more.

[Jesus · Rating 3 out of 5]

IN the Must Win i thought it was really good but they needed more football in it but it was a good book and in the first pages of the book it talks about the players and how they work hard and fight for football but any way you should read this book very good!!!!! READ IT :)

[Kjanell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a sports fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, but this book made me want to go out & play some football! This town has heart and I enjoyed reading about the history of the town and its football program.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent "high school sports as life" book. I had a difficult time keeping the characters straight but overall enjoyed the comeback of the town's football program.

[Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!!!

[Melanie Johnson]

LOVED this book!! What a great book about the tradition here in Valdosta. Whether you are a Lowndes or a Valdosta fan, this book is a must read!

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!!! I may be partial because I taught in this school system during this year...

[Jennifer Goudreau]

I still have not received my copy

[Wade Starling · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any interest at all in big time high school football in small town South Georgia, you'll love this book.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a sucker for high school football books. Not as good as Friday Night Lights.