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Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town
In the early twentieth century, down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company built one of the largest mills in the world and a town to go with it. Aliquippa was a beacon and melting pot, pulling in thousands of families from eastern and southern Europe and the Jim Crow south. The J&L mill, though dirty and dangerous, offered a chance at a better life and hope for the future. It produced the steel that built American cities and won World War II and, thanks to hard-fought union victories, made Aliquippa something of a workers’ paradise. But then, in the 1980’s, the steel industry cratered. The mill closed. Crime rose and crack hit big.
But another industry grew in Aliquippa. The town didn’t just make steel; it made elite football players, from Mike Ditka to Ty Law to Darrelle Revis. Pro football was born in Western Pennsylvania, and few places churned out talent like Aliquippa. Despite its troubles―maybe even because of them―Aliquippa became legendary for producing greatness.
In Playing Through the Whistle , celebrated sportwriter S. L. Price tells the remarkable story of Aliquippa and through it, the larger history of American industry, sports, and life. Price charts the fortunes of Aliquippa’s celebrated team through championships under charismatic coaches and through hard times after the mill died. In an era when sports has grown from novelty to a vital source of civic pride, Price reveals the shifting mores of a town defined by work―and the loss of it―yet anchored by a weekly game. Today, as our view of football shifts and participation drops, in Aliquippa the sport can still feel like the one path away from life on the streets, the last force keeping the town together.
One of the most acclaimed sports books of 2016, Playing Through the Whistle is a masterpiece of narrative journalism and, like football, it will make you marvel, wince, cry, and cheer.
But another industry grew in Aliquippa. The town didn’t just make steel; it made elite football players, from Mike Ditka to Ty Law to Darrelle Revis. Pro football was born in Western Pennsylvania, and few places churned out talent like Aliquippa. Despite its troubles―maybe even because of them―Aliquippa became legendary for producing greatness.
In Playing Through the Whistle , celebrated sportwriter S. L. Price tells the remarkable story of Aliquippa and through it, the larger history of American industry, sports, and life. Price charts the fortunes of Aliquippa’s celebrated team through championships under charismatic coaches and through hard times after the mill died. In an era when sports has grown from novelty to a vital source of civic pride, Price reveals the shifting mores of a town defined by work―and the loss of it―yet anchored by a weekly game. Today, as our view of football shifts and participation drops, in Aliquippa the sport can still feel like the one path away from life on the streets, the last force keeping the town together.
One of the most acclaimed sports books of 2016, Playing Through the Whistle is a masterpiece of narrative journalism and, like football, it will make you marvel, wince, cry, and cheer.
560 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
December 28, 2021
I saw this author interviewed on the NFL Network show "Good Morning Football" and I ordered the book instantly. This book is an American History tale set in the Pennsylvania town of Aliquippa. I understand why this small town of 9000 people has had so many successful people, including several hall of fame NFL players. Immigration, hard work, and pride in community is what breeds American Success. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It is more of a history book than a sports book.
September 21, 2018
Being from a place like Aliquippa, and discovering that a book was written about it, and then discovering that it's an important and beautifully written work of social history, is sort of like having a relative whose portrait was done by Leonardo da Vinci. Knowing many of the people adds a secret thrill to reading. What was once often hard to bear in reality gains perspective in the context of the town's history, that I never knew much of, except in broken sentences often spoken in anger and frustration. That was the general tone from the old timers, they liked to complain; it's an Italian thing too. It's not really complaining, more like dark comedy, or satire, because everyone in the story looks so bad and ridiculous and insane. The old timers didn't go in much for the corny patriotic stuff; that was for the Anglos, or "cake-eaters", as they were mysteriously called; at that time they held all the managerial and professional positions.
Price describes the total closure of J&L and the loss of over 14,000 jobs as a combination of more advanced and efficient steel-making processes in other countries and an out-of-control union that demanded too much. You hear all the standard stuff about guys sleeping on the job and unreasonable demands and strikes - essentially that they were a bunch of assholes who wanted to get rich working in a steel mill. That all rings a bit hollow with me. Why didn't the owners upgrade? That's easy, because the labor was cheaper overseas and the industry has been seeking out cheaper and cheaper labor until it's virtually slave labor as in the Indian steel industry, home of the largest steel company in the world now - Arcelormittal. The plan was and is to break unions and globalization is nothing but the search for cheap labor, minimal to no regulations and of course higher profits for investors. Could anyone get rich making 14 dollars an hour?
The workers in Price's book went from heroic to bums, simply because they started making more money and were organized. They were heroic when they were being abused, threatened and controlled in every way, then suddenly you get the impression that no steel was being produced in the 70s. I think a few words about the cynicism of finance and the owners would have been appropriate rather than the standard line about market forces.
Right, football. I don't remember a day that we didn't play football and basketball, in any weather, outside. The football games were hard-hitting and always a blast. The town was heavily segregated then. I left high school a year early in 1983, but a few of the black star players would spend some time in the white sections sometimes, especially after games - get some pizza at Breezy's, drink a beer outside somewhere. I never saw black people on the streets in Plan 12 and New Sheffield. My grandfather, Joe Villa, owned Villa's Inn, which is mentioned in the book as Villa's Lounge: The Supremes, Ike and Tina, and Dionne Warwick played there and probably many other greats. I hadn't heard about that growing up and I lived with him! Later, a friend of the family mentioned that Fats Domino played there.
Here's a great book written about Aliquippa, and Quip football, and the mostly black superstars and talents that came out of the program. The book gives a bleak view of black culture; not that all that violence never happened, but there's so much more to life - that's the one thing a book can never capture - all the moments. Price talks about most of the violent crime that was in some way connected with the athletes but doesn't mention that Mark Lay, a star basketball player, was sentenced to 12 years in the Federal Pen for "losing" 213 million from the Ohio Workers Pension Fund! He was ordered to pay it back! Along with almost 600 grand in "fees." Why was this crime omitted from the long list of black on black crimes in the book? A crime against workers in a book about workers? Price could have gone into detail about this, maybe in the next edition.
I went to junior high and high school right after the race riots, but when we were in school, we had a lot of fun and a lot of smiles. I got the feeling we were all kind of amazed with each other, constantly checking each other out.
Someone told me that Mean Joe Greene visited the Funky Four on the Hill once and got shot at but I can't verify that. It's probably true and something that's part of the secret history spoken on the corners. True to one of the book's themes, lots of us end up here again, looking for a way out - again. Things are a little shabby in places but what do you expect? Besides, there can be charm in things that are slightly run-down, a little worn, well-used; it used to be called SOUL.
From p.401:
"Such is the mean secret of progress: it depends on the self-delusion of youth, the sense that somehow, all striving and achievement - any kind of victory - will somehow hold death at bay."
Price describes the total closure of J&L and the loss of over 14,000 jobs as a combination of more advanced and efficient steel-making processes in other countries and an out-of-control union that demanded too much. You hear all the standard stuff about guys sleeping on the job and unreasonable demands and strikes - essentially that they were a bunch of assholes who wanted to get rich working in a steel mill. That all rings a bit hollow with me. Why didn't the owners upgrade? That's easy, because the labor was cheaper overseas and the industry has been seeking out cheaper and cheaper labor until it's virtually slave labor as in the Indian steel industry, home of the largest steel company in the world now - Arcelormittal. The plan was and is to break unions and globalization is nothing but the search for cheap labor, minimal to no regulations and of course higher profits for investors. Could anyone get rich making 14 dollars an hour?
The workers in Price's book went from heroic to bums, simply because they started making more money and were organized. They were heroic when they were being abused, threatened and controlled in every way, then suddenly you get the impression that no steel was being produced in the 70s. I think a few words about the cynicism of finance and the owners would have been appropriate rather than the standard line about market forces.
Right, football. I don't remember a day that we didn't play football and basketball, in any weather, outside. The football games were hard-hitting and always a blast. The town was heavily segregated then. I left high school a year early in 1983, but a few of the black star players would spend some time in the white sections sometimes, especially after games - get some pizza at Breezy's, drink a beer outside somewhere. I never saw black people on the streets in Plan 12 and New Sheffield. My grandfather, Joe Villa, owned Villa's Inn, which is mentioned in the book as Villa's Lounge: The Supremes, Ike and Tina, and Dionne Warwick played there and probably many other greats. I hadn't heard about that growing up and I lived with him! Later, a friend of the family mentioned that Fats Domino played there.
Here's a great book written about Aliquippa, and Quip football, and the mostly black superstars and talents that came out of the program. The book gives a bleak view of black culture; not that all that violence never happened, but there's so much more to life - that's the one thing a book can never capture - all the moments. Price talks about most of the violent crime that was in some way connected with the athletes but doesn't mention that Mark Lay, a star basketball player, was sentenced to 12 years in the Federal Pen for "losing" 213 million from the Ohio Workers Pension Fund! He was ordered to pay it back! Along with almost 600 grand in "fees." Why was this crime omitted from the long list of black on black crimes in the book? A crime against workers in a book about workers? Price could have gone into detail about this, maybe in the next edition.
I went to junior high and high school right after the race riots, but when we were in school, we had a lot of fun and a lot of smiles. I got the feeling we were all kind of amazed with each other, constantly checking each other out.
Someone told me that Mean Joe Greene visited the Funky Four on the Hill once and got shot at but I can't verify that. It's probably true and something that's part of the secret history spoken on the corners. True to one of the book's themes, lots of us end up here again, looking for a way out - again. Things are a little shabby in places but what do you expect? Besides, there can be charm in things that are slightly run-down, a little worn, well-used; it used to be called SOUL.
From p.401:
"Such is the mean secret of progress: it depends on the self-delusion of youth, the sense that somehow, all striving and achievement - any kind of victory - will somehow hold death at bay."
February 2, 2017
This book is part sports, Aliquippa football mostly, part business, the rise and fall of J&L steel, and mostly a sociological study of the impact both of those have on a small town. I lived in the area for part of the story and have been a part of an extended family who lived there. There is great pride and this comes out strongly in this book. If you want to understand how a company town is impacted both positively and negatively by the company. This is a good book to read. If you want to better understand how high school football impacts the pride of a small town, this is a good book to read.
August 28, 2017
I expected to read a great football book by a great writer. Instead I read a book much more rich than that - history, culture, race, and football. Price uses first person interviews, historical narrative, and his own story telling gifts to put together a magnificent book. This is a snapshot of the rust belt, not trust a football book.
September 20, 2018
I should have LOVED this book. Its completely in my wheelhouse (non-fiction, sports, reads like fiction), but it’s like the writer collected too much good information and could not figure out what to exclude. Too long for sure. Should have been half the length
October 5, 2019
I grew up in western Pennsylvania during a time when the coal mines and steel mills of Jones & Laughlin Corporation provided employment for my dad and most of my friends’ dads too. In fact, other than a stint with Uncle Sam, my dad spent his entire working career with J&L.
We lived in “The Patch”, a community of duplex houses in alternating green and red shingles built by the company for its laborers. We shopped at the company store where my mother worked for a time until meeting my dad and allowing him to take her away from all that. There were patches all around the area supporting the particular mines and mills where their residents worked. It was the natural state of things.
S. L. Price, a writer for Sports Illustrated and other magazines, writes in “PLAYING THROUGH THE WHISTLE: Steel, Football, and an American Town” about one of those J&L patches: Aliquippa, a large steel town of ethnic neighborhoods with more than its share of high school football mastery throughout the decades. Price exhibits his own mastery by blending the elements of those ethnic identities, steel, and football into a rich history of American life.
Over the decades, western PA has provided more than its share of top NFL Players, and Aliquippa has been a rich resource of those players ranging from Mike Ditka to Darelle Revis. Price explains why the rich work ethic of the steel workers manifested itself into successful football programs. In many cases, racial tensions, unemployment, drugs and violence, made this success seem more than improbable, and Price examines the families, coaches, players, and their changing environments that made that success more difficult and unlikely.
Price’s history is an honest look at the people who have lived for their community, and their community, in many ways, lived for football. It is a an American story, and Price tells it well.
We lived in “The Patch”, a community of duplex houses in alternating green and red shingles built by the company for its laborers. We shopped at the company store where my mother worked for a time until meeting my dad and allowing him to take her away from all that. There were patches all around the area supporting the particular mines and mills where their residents worked. It was the natural state of things.
S. L. Price, a writer for Sports Illustrated and other magazines, writes in “PLAYING THROUGH THE WHISTLE: Steel, Football, and an American Town” about one of those J&L patches: Aliquippa, a large steel town of ethnic neighborhoods with more than its share of high school football mastery throughout the decades. Price exhibits his own mastery by blending the elements of those ethnic identities, steel, and football into a rich history of American life.
Over the decades, western PA has provided more than its share of top NFL Players, and Aliquippa has been a rich resource of those players ranging from Mike Ditka to Darelle Revis. Price explains why the rich work ethic of the steel workers manifested itself into successful football programs. In many cases, racial tensions, unemployment, drugs and violence, made this success seem more than improbable, and Price examines the families, coaches, players, and their changing environments that made that success more difficult and unlikely.
Price’s history is an honest look at the people who have lived for their community, and their community, in many ways, lived for football. It is a an American story, and Price tells it well.
May 2, 2024
Through the prism of sports, particularly football, Price writes of the rise and fall of this western Pennsylvania city. In the early and mid 20th century immigrants and blacks migrating from the south came to Alliquippa to do the hard work in the steel industry and were able to live the life of lower middle class America. With the collapse of the steel industry in the latter part of the 20th century, the city's fortunes went down as well descending into poverty, with rampant drug abuse and crime. Despite all this, the one constant was football with regular championships and such stars as Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Ty Law and Darrelle Revis - not to mention basketball's Pistol Pete Maravich, Yankee pitcher of my youth Doc Medich, Henry Mancini and a U.S. Surgeon General. A well told and sometimes gut wrenching story where some were able to thrive despite the squalor around them. Much recommended!
May 25, 2017
This was a weird one for me. It was fascinating, well-researched, and seamlessly told, and yet it was a SLOG to get through it, something that usually only happens with books that don't have all those other qualities. I'm giving it four stars for the writing and research, but when I finished it my main reaction was to wonder why I'd read it. It's an interesting story, certainly, but there's nothing singular about it. Instead, Price simply uses a small, PA town to walk the reader through the ups and downs that much of industrial American experienced in the 20th century. In other words, for those who study history even superficially there are few surprises here, just faces and names to go with the events and trends about which you're already aware.
November 22, 2022
“Since 1990, four alums from Aliquippa High, enrollment 270, have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft: All-Pro defensive lineman Sean Gilbert, three-time Super Bowl champ Ty Law, All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis,
and wideout Jon Baldwin. Only one other high school in America, California's Long Beach Poly, can match that, but its enrollment is seventeen times larger” (5).
and wideout Jon Baldwin. Only one other high school in America, California's Long Beach Poly, can match that, but its enrollment is seventeen times larger” (5).
March 20, 2018
Loved this historical look at football in a dying steel town. Anyone from the rust belt can relate to this story.
September 11, 2016
The western Pennsylvania town of Aliquippa is noted for two things: the rise and fall of the Jones and Loughlin (J & L) steel company and the success of the high school football team that has produced several NFL players, two of the most notable being Mike Ditka and Derrelle Revis. The story of the town and how the people in the town became a melting pot of culture, race and social status is captured in this outstanding book by S.L. Price.
The award winning Sports Illustrated author writes about more than the football team. In fact, the book illustrates the struggles of the town’s residents as some wanted to escape the hard gritty life of the steel mill. While J & L provided a living for most of the families in Aliquippa, the town also was a reflection of the conflicts occurring in the country. For example, racial tensions ran high in Aliquippa during the height of the civil rights protests and it affected the high school as well as the adults.
There isn’t a lot of football talk in the book – at least not the X’s and O’s of the game. The stories of many players and coaches, both black and white, are told through interviews and how the experience of Alliquippa football shaped the man. The football team was not a winner every year that is written, a reflection of the ups and downs of the mood of the town.
This book is better classified as a history book, as it describes the successes and failures of the town through the steel industry and the high school football team. It is a gripping story, one that is not always easy to read, and will not end on a happy note. Instead, it is one of the most realistic books a reader will find on the lives of the residents of one of the most resilient towns in the nation.
I wish to thank Grove Atlantic for providing a copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The award winning Sports Illustrated author writes about more than the football team. In fact, the book illustrates the struggles of the town’s residents as some wanted to escape the hard gritty life of the steel mill. While J & L provided a living for most of the families in Aliquippa, the town also was a reflection of the conflicts occurring in the country. For example, racial tensions ran high in Aliquippa during the height of the civil rights protests and it affected the high school as well as the adults.
There isn’t a lot of football talk in the book – at least not the X’s and O’s of the game. The stories of many players and coaches, both black and white, are told through interviews and how the experience of Alliquippa football shaped the man. The football team was not a winner every year that is written, a reflection of the ups and downs of the mood of the town.
This book is better classified as a history book, as it describes the successes and failures of the town through the steel industry and the high school football team. It is a gripping story, one that is not always easy to read, and will not end on a happy note. Instead, it is one of the most realistic books a reader will find on the lives of the residents of one of the most resilient towns in the nation.
I wish to thank Grove Atlantic for providing a copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 23, 2016
The first half of the book is 4 stars, 5 if you've spent a healthy chunk of your life in western Pennsylvania. The second half of the book is a strong 2 or weak 3.
The author took on ambitious task: provide a cultural and social history of the United States as it played out in a Pittsburgh suburb, home to a prominent high school football program.
The author takes us through the history of Aliquippa, and other towns of its ilk -- prohibition, the Depression, the economic boom times of World War II, the heyday of the U.S. steel industry of the 60s and 70s, the recession of the 80s. All of this is told largely through the eyes of the people associated with the high school football team, both players and coaches, and their families.
Through the first half of the book, the telling moves along. The second half bogs down in the 80s-- drugs, crime, former players killed, former players on drugs, former players doing time for a crime, former players going on to play in the NFL, former players who could have played in the NFL if it weren't for drugs and crime.
These were all people with lives, many with tragic lives -- and I'm glad their stories have been told. But with so many people with similar stories, I got lost in who was who. (Was that Tony Dorsett's cousin? Nephew? Uncle? Or was it Mike Ditka's teammate? Or both Dorsett's relative and Ditka's teammate?)
Race relations between Blacks and Whites features prominently throughout the book, but I frequently lost track of who was White and who was Black, making it difficult to appreciate the perspectives of both sides.
The book is certainly worth a read, but you have permission to skim the second half. Unless you or a relative of yours is in the book, then you really should read every word -- because you know your neighbor will.
The author took on ambitious task: provide a cultural and social history of the United States as it played out in a Pittsburgh suburb, home to a prominent high school football program.
The author takes us through the history of Aliquippa, and other towns of its ilk -- prohibition, the Depression, the economic boom times of World War II, the heyday of the U.S. steel industry of the 60s and 70s, the recession of the 80s. All of this is told largely through the eyes of the people associated with the high school football team, both players and coaches, and their families.
Through the first half of the book, the telling moves along. The second half bogs down in the 80s-- drugs, crime, former players killed, former players on drugs, former players doing time for a crime, former players going on to play in the NFL, former players who could have played in the NFL if it weren't for drugs and crime.
These were all people with lives, many with tragic lives -- and I'm glad their stories have been told. But with so many people with similar stories, I got lost in who was who. (Was that Tony Dorsett's cousin? Nephew? Uncle? Or was it Mike Ditka's teammate? Or both Dorsett's relative and Ditka's teammate?)
Race relations between Blacks and Whites features prominently throughout the book, but I frequently lost track of who was White and who was Black, making it difficult to appreciate the perspectives of both sides.
The book is certainly worth a read, but you have permission to skim the second half. Unless you or a relative of yours is in the book, then you really should read every word -- because you know your neighbor will.
October 10, 2016
"Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town" by S L Price, is a long, somewhat convoluted look at the steel city of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Famed for it's production of steel products and athletes seemingly made of steel, the city has gone from a "company town" for J & L Steel, to a small town typical today with drugs and unemployment. Mike Ditka and the other football and basketball stars who came out of Aliquippa would probably not recognise the place today.
Aliquippa started out as a town where eastern European immigrants came to take the down and dirty jobs in the busy steel factories. Their children in many cases followed them into the factories, but many were able to harness their athletic talent into college scholarships, and, perhaps, further success in the pro-sports ranks. Price writes about these admirable people - white and black - but somehow his writing is confusing. He does skip from time to time, person to person, sport to sport, crime to crime and I was rarely confident about what I was reading. I think maybe the book needed editing. The idea behind the book was a solid one, I wish it had been done better. Also, I looked through my Kindle version for pictures and couldn't find any. They would have been helpful to understanding the town and its people.
Aliquippa started out as a town where eastern European immigrants came to take the down and dirty jobs in the busy steel factories. Their children in many cases followed them into the factories, but many were able to harness their athletic talent into college scholarships, and, perhaps, further success in the pro-sports ranks. Price writes about these admirable people - white and black - but somehow his writing is confusing. He does skip from time to time, person to person, sport to sport, crime to crime and I was rarely confident about what I was reading. I think maybe the book needed editing. The idea behind the book was a solid one, I wish it had been done better. Also, I looked through my Kindle version for pictures and couldn't find any. They would have been helpful to understanding the town and its people.
January 4, 2017
Price's book is an excellent blend of well-researched history and sociological observation and interview. I am from Aliquippa, PA, although I attended the "other" school, Hopewell, where many Alliquippians had escaped to. The first 2/3-3/5? of this book are well written and fascinating as the backdrop against which the final 1/3-2/5 play out. The loss of the American Dream, the hopelessness of people convinced that high-pay/low-skill work will somehow return, the drugs, the wasted lives, and the dream of young men to be the next Ty Law, Darrelle Revis, Sean Gilbert, Tony Dorsett (former teammate), or Mike Ditka is both uplifting and crushing. The execution style murder of a young police officer (a contemporary of my younger brother) and the attendant corruption of the authorities make the dream nightmarish at times.
This was a VERY personal book for me. So many familiar names and places, so many changes for the worse, and my concern about family still living there, it's all too real.
This was a VERY personal book for me. So many familiar names and places, so many changes for the worse, and my concern about family still living there, it's all too real.
December 27, 2016
This is a book about a quintessential "company" town, the town my where father grew up (and left), and where my grandfather and uncles worked for their entire careers. It's the town I visited often and spent many hours observing during my childhood. It's also the tale of the rise and fall of industrial and union America, of ugly ethnic and racial divisions and the plight of uneducated, but smart, hard-working and passionate people over the last 40 years. I found the book to be remarkably accurate and effective at capturing Aliquippa. The story has happy moments but no happy ending, so it can be hard to read at times. Very much worthwhile if you are interested in western Pennsylvania.
December 10, 2020
This book is the story of what has gripped much of the smalltown "rust belt" of Pennsylvania all the through the midwest, with a twist. At first glance, there's nothing special about Aliquippa Pennsylvania, a former steel town in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Yet, for a small town that peaked at 30,000 in the 1920s-60s, and now is down to less than 10,000, it has produced an absurd amount of elite NFL players and many college football players, with even a few MLB players, such as Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Sean Gilbert, Ty Law, and Darrelle Revis. What's more, it was the center of the J&L Steel Company, one of the few rivals to the US Steel Company, and a center of unionism in the area.
Price lays out a sort of rise and fall narrative of the town. He illustrated how the town was really made by the J&L Steel company, which caused it to swell with multitudes of immigrants from all over the world, along with white and black americans, divided carefully and pre-planned. Aliquippa was a classic company town, with its police force and private security force more or less acting as one. Price shows how eventually, the thousands of workers broke the totalitarianism of the company over the town when they successfully won Local 1211 of the rising Steelworkers union, and built what they later remembered as a working people's paradise. With easily attained jobs requiring little education and a strong union that that the company largely cooperated with in winning better gains and benefits, including long vacation time, Price argues that these gains eventually made the union and company soft in the face of global competition (I take issue with that, as these companies or individuals in the companies instead raced to the bottom in the face of globalization, specifically crafted by free trade agreements that incentivized seeking cheaper and cheaper global labor sources. I wish Price had explored that dynamic as much as he lambasted the union, as well as not criticizing the company for updating the facilities at Aliquippa. That's a choice that the companies made, not the unions.)
As the town solidified itself as a stable middle-class existence for working class people (though with a lot of limitations for black residents), it developed a really strong local culture that emphasized no-frills and grittiness. That was most exemplified in its high school football team, the "Quips". Price details its long run of domination under a few long serving coaches who carry on run-first, strong-defense hard nosed teams that played far above their team's talent pool. For the amount of elite-level athletes produced by such a small town, who routinely defeated teams from schools much larger than them, it was something special. So the town became known for producing steel and football players. Even as the town began to be ripped apart by racial strife as young black men embracing the ethos of militant Black Power, challenging their long second class status, the residents would often rally around their football team. Still, the team represented the divisions of the town, only healed when coaches began making specific outreaches to black booster and white booster clubs in efforts to bring them together.
Eventually, the town was totally gutted with steel plant closures, which racked much of American industry in the late 1970s through 1980s. As stable, easily attainable jobs gradually and then quickly disappeared as the LTV (which had bought J&L in the late 1960s) went into bankruptcy, many residents began to leave the town for its richer neighbors, or fell into the destructive crack cocaine trade. Drugs replaced steel as a way to "make it". Curiously, football remained a constant even as everything else declined. Unlike when a can't-miss prospect failed and simply became a steel worker instead, now the price of failure often meant that a former athlete would fall into the drug trade, wind up in prison, or murdered. By the 1990s, as families were destroyed, coaches had to become more controlling of the increasingly black teams, as the white residents left the town more and more. Still, even as the school district declined from 6000 to 1000, the football team just kept contending for championships.
Today, the town's future seems bleak and the high school football team may eventually die off if the high school ever needs to merge with another team. Yet, it continues to be a rallying point of identity for locals. Even those who "made it" and moved far away speak of a deep longing to go home, of a place that they feel is a central part of their identity. Even as the old steel facilities are demolished and ransacked, and poverty is the main constant of the people who remain in Aliquippa, the high school team is at its core something the residents rally around. Sadly, the education provided by the school district is usually in the bottom rankings of the 500+ school districts across Pennsylvania, so football is just about all it does well these days.
Price's book is thick with details on this place. It reminds me of a much longer Western Pennsylvania version of Friday Night Lights, except it follows all of the existence of this town and its team. In many ways, it could have been many places in the rust belt, and calls into question the priorities of not only the people setting policy in the United States, but what happens when people lose most of their hope. How do you survive, if you survive, and what does it say about you?
Price lays out a sort of rise and fall narrative of the town. He illustrated how the town was really made by the J&L Steel company, which caused it to swell with multitudes of immigrants from all over the world, along with white and black americans, divided carefully and pre-planned. Aliquippa was a classic company town, with its police force and private security force more or less acting as one. Price shows how eventually, the thousands of workers broke the totalitarianism of the company over the town when they successfully won Local 1211 of the rising Steelworkers union, and built what they later remembered as a working people's paradise. With easily attained jobs requiring little education and a strong union that that the company largely cooperated with in winning better gains and benefits, including long vacation time, Price argues that these gains eventually made the union and company soft in the face of global competition (I take issue with that, as these companies or individuals in the companies instead raced to the bottom in the face of globalization, specifically crafted by free trade agreements that incentivized seeking cheaper and cheaper global labor sources. I wish Price had explored that dynamic as much as he lambasted the union, as well as not criticizing the company for updating the facilities at Aliquippa. That's a choice that the companies made, not the unions.)
As the town solidified itself as a stable middle-class existence for working class people (though with a lot of limitations for black residents), it developed a really strong local culture that emphasized no-frills and grittiness. That was most exemplified in its high school football team, the "Quips". Price details its long run of domination under a few long serving coaches who carry on run-first, strong-defense hard nosed teams that played far above their team's talent pool. For the amount of elite-level athletes produced by such a small town, who routinely defeated teams from schools much larger than them, it was something special. So the town became known for producing steel and football players. Even as the town began to be ripped apart by racial strife as young black men embracing the ethos of militant Black Power, challenging their long second class status, the residents would often rally around their football team. Still, the team represented the divisions of the town, only healed when coaches began making specific outreaches to black booster and white booster clubs in efforts to bring them together.
Eventually, the town was totally gutted with steel plant closures, which racked much of American industry in the late 1970s through 1980s. As stable, easily attainable jobs gradually and then quickly disappeared as the LTV (which had bought J&L in the late 1960s) went into bankruptcy, many residents began to leave the town for its richer neighbors, or fell into the destructive crack cocaine trade. Drugs replaced steel as a way to "make it". Curiously, football remained a constant even as everything else declined. Unlike when a can't-miss prospect failed and simply became a steel worker instead, now the price of failure often meant that a former athlete would fall into the drug trade, wind up in prison, or murdered. By the 1990s, as families were destroyed, coaches had to become more controlling of the increasingly black teams, as the white residents left the town more and more. Still, even as the school district declined from 6000 to 1000, the football team just kept contending for championships.
Today, the town's future seems bleak and the high school football team may eventually die off if the high school ever needs to merge with another team. Yet, it continues to be a rallying point of identity for locals. Even those who "made it" and moved far away speak of a deep longing to go home, of a place that they feel is a central part of their identity. Even as the old steel facilities are demolished and ransacked, and poverty is the main constant of the people who remain in Aliquippa, the high school team is at its core something the residents rally around. Sadly, the education provided by the school district is usually in the bottom rankings of the 500+ school districts across Pennsylvania, so football is just about all it does well these days.
Price's book is thick with details on this place. It reminds me of a much longer Western Pennsylvania version of Friday Night Lights, except it follows all of the existence of this town and its team. In many ways, it could have been many places in the rust belt, and calls into question the priorities of not only the people setting policy in the United States, but what happens when people lose most of their hope. How do you survive, if you survive, and what does it say about you?
November 24, 2018
Extremely long and a hard plot to follow since only the football coaches carried through. Way too long and detailed for the topic
July 2, 2017
For a football fan and history buff who loves fiction and non-fiction where setting is a crucial element, Playing Through the Whistle is a great read. It's about a small, blue-collar steel town, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, that has produced a disproportionate number of extremely successful people. I was amazed at the name-dropping this city that only boasted a population of close to 30,000 at its high-water mark, can do. Most of the "favorite son" are football stars: Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, and Derelle Revis are just a small sampling. This is also the hometown of Henry Mancini (composer) and many other luminaries. Most of them are the children of immigrant steelworkers who parlayed the work ethic instilled by their parents into success in their chosen avocations. Along with the list of NFL Hall of Famers and first-round draft picks, one of the many fascinating passages in the book notes the number of Grammy and Oscar Awards that would later be won by kids growing up as neighbors in the same duplex.
The book traces the history of the town from it's beginning as a company-town and the early 20th century's violent battles between labor and capital, through it's golden era of the World War II and post-war years when the need for steel in materiel and cars brought wealth to the industry, and the hard-won gains by labor during the first part of the century guaranteed that the town's working class would share in that wealth. As Aliquippa's fortunes improved, its high school football team rose to regional dominance, often competing and winning championships against teams from much larger schools.
It is in the latter part of the book that the title, Playing Through the Whistle, emerges as a perfect analogy. Like many cities in what has become known as the Rust Belt, the past few decades have not been kind to Aliquippa. The decline of the steel industry and resulting unemployment took a huge toll. The void left by the steady, demanding steel work was replaced in many cases by drug addiction, gang violence, police corruption, and related societal scourges. Never a big city, the population has declined to less than 10,000; just one-third of it's high. While the city's main street is largely boarded up and the future of the high school is in doubt due to declining enrollment and speculation of a merger, the football team continues to punch above their weight, winning and providing a way out and up.
The 1983 movie, All the Right Moves, set in western Pennsylvania and starring Tom Cruise as a high school football star and Craig T. Nelson as his coach, is not specifically based on Aliquippa but includes many of the same themes. Aliquippa high school's longest tenured head coach serves as a consultant on the film and appears briefly as an opponent's head coach. In the era of Hollywood reboots, a sequel would be a better idea than many that we've seen. As the real story of Aliquippa has shown us, the early 1980's collapse of the steel industry brought ruin to many steel towns, but that was not the end of the story.
The book traces the history of the town from it's beginning as a company-town and the early 20th century's violent battles between labor and capital, through it's golden era of the World War II and post-war years when the need for steel in materiel and cars brought wealth to the industry, and the hard-won gains by labor during the first part of the century guaranteed that the town's working class would share in that wealth. As Aliquippa's fortunes improved, its high school football team rose to regional dominance, often competing and winning championships against teams from much larger schools.
It is in the latter part of the book that the title, Playing Through the Whistle, emerges as a perfect analogy. Like many cities in what has become known as the Rust Belt, the past few decades have not been kind to Aliquippa. The decline of the steel industry and resulting unemployment took a huge toll. The void left by the steady, demanding steel work was replaced in many cases by drug addiction, gang violence, police corruption, and related societal scourges. Never a big city, the population has declined to less than 10,000; just one-third of it's high. While the city's main street is largely boarded up and the future of the high school is in doubt due to declining enrollment and speculation of a merger, the football team continues to punch above their weight, winning and providing a way out and up.
The 1983 movie, All the Right Moves, set in western Pennsylvania and starring Tom Cruise as a high school football star and Craig T. Nelson as his coach, is not specifically based on Aliquippa but includes many of the same themes. Aliquippa high school's longest tenured head coach serves as a consultant on the film and appears briefly as an opponent's head coach. In the era of Hollywood reboots, a sequel would be a better idea than many that we've seen. As the real story of Aliquippa has shown us, the early 1980's collapse of the steel industry brought ruin to many steel towns, but that was not the end of the story.
July 13, 2017
This is a beautifully written (as always, with Price) economic and political history of Aliquippa, a small town in southwest Pennsylvania, told through the lens of the town's football team. I had it on my "to read" list from the moment it was published, based on how much I've enjoyed all of Price's other books. But after the election I saw it mentioned alongside Hillbilly Elegy as a book recommended to understand the forces that led to Trump's election--and I would agree with that, too. This analysis is best summed up in this passage:
"The more mundane fact is that places like J&L also served as social catch basins, places where those lacking academic skill or interest could fix a toe into the American flank and start climbing. J&L gave the Aliquippa workingman dignity—not to mention income enough to own a home, raise a family, take a paid vacation—and thus a stake, like that engendered in the rich and educated, in keeping the entire system humming."
Price is well left of me politically (based on his Twitter feed anyway!), but I thought his economic history of the steel industry--including management, unions, and the global economy--was fair and unflinching. Indeed I learned a lot about US labor history from this book, a rich and interesting topic I don't know much about. Too, he doesn't spare the perverse US values that push kids into college who lack the preparation to be there.
It's a moving portrait of a company town brought to its knees by both self-inflicted wounds and global factors beyond its control. As he sums up near the end of the book:
"A company town without a company is like a man past his prime; both become hollowed, age faster, without the regenerating charge of daily purpose. Such has been the Rust Belt affliction for the past forty years, but large urban economies like Pittsburgh at least had the scale and diversified infrastructure that help make reinvention possible. 'Aliquippa’s in a weird place: it’s not the center of the region, it’s not the city, it’s not quite rural,' Briem said. 'What is the competitiveness of a lot of towns that used to have a reason for being that don’t anymore?'"
An excellent read, as always, from Price. Highly recommended, albeit bleak.
"The more mundane fact is that places like J&L also served as social catch basins, places where those lacking academic skill or interest could fix a toe into the American flank and start climbing. J&L gave the Aliquippa workingman dignity—not to mention income enough to own a home, raise a family, take a paid vacation—and thus a stake, like that engendered in the rich and educated, in keeping the entire system humming."
Price is well left of me politically (based on his Twitter feed anyway!), but I thought his economic history of the steel industry--including management, unions, and the global economy--was fair and unflinching. Indeed I learned a lot about US labor history from this book, a rich and interesting topic I don't know much about. Too, he doesn't spare the perverse US values that push kids into college who lack the preparation to be there.
It's a moving portrait of a company town brought to its knees by both self-inflicted wounds and global factors beyond its control. As he sums up near the end of the book:
"A company town without a company is like a man past his prime; both become hollowed, age faster, without the regenerating charge of daily purpose. Such has been the Rust Belt affliction for the past forty years, but large urban economies like Pittsburgh at least had the scale and diversified infrastructure that help make reinvention possible. 'Aliquippa’s in a weird place: it’s not the center of the region, it’s not the city, it’s not quite rural,' Briem said. 'What is the competitiveness of a lot of towns that used to have a reason for being that don’t anymore?'"
An excellent read, as always, from Price. Highly recommended, albeit bleak.
June 19, 2017
I am going to start with what I didn't like about this book, in fact I would have taken 1 star off ordinarily.
1. There are no pictures! How in the world did this book get approved with no pictures?
2. The scattershot way the story is told. Especially the second half of the book. It was hard at times to keep track or remember who is who, who is related to who, sometimes the author would mention someone and I couldn't remember that person.
Playing through the whistle is the story of America as it took place in Aliquippa Pennsylvania. A town that is a football player making machine. But it is also a town ravaged by drug, by crime, and by despair. It is a town that had it all and then it had nothing. Except a drive to churn out football players. Players who would go on to college greatness, and NFL stardom.
I like football. I like to watch both college and pro, but I couldn't tell you when watching the NFL what college a player went to, and I definitely couldn't tell you what high school they attended. So I had never heard of Aliquippa, before reading this book.
I knew about the race riots of the 60's, but I knew of the ones in Detroit, Watts, NYC, I didn't know they happened in a town a suburb almost of Pittsburgh!
I knew about the shuttering of Steel making in America, the rust belt, a little about how it was managements fault, or it was the unions fault. I wondered what happened to these towns but I wondered about the big ones like Pittsburgh, not the smaller ones.
Playing through the whistle is a fantastic book about American greatness, as well as America's black eyes, its exceptionalism, and its racism. It's perseverance, and its diminishing work ethic. It about guns, and Radom shooting and it's about drugs, and how in some ways all of these things destroy society, and how there are two choices for kids in Aliquippa to get out and get on from there, Sports, or drugs.
I recommend this book highly, outside of my two complaints. I don't think you will be disappointed.
1. There are no pictures! How in the world did this book get approved with no pictures?
2. The scattershot way the story is told. Especially the second half of the book. It was hard at times to keep track or remember who is who, who is related to who, sometimes the author would mention someone and I couldn't remember that person.
Playing through the whistle is the story of America as it took place in Aliquippa Pennsylvania. A town that is a football player making machine. But it is also a town ravaged by drug, by crime, and by despair. It is a town that had it all and then it had nothing. Except a drive to churn out football players. Players who would go on to college greatness, and NFL stardom.
I like football. I like to watch both college and pro, but I couldn't tell you when watching the NFL what college a player went to, and I definitely couldn't tell you what high school they attended. So I had never heard of Aliquippa, before reading this book.
I knew about the race riots of the 60's, but I knew of the ones in Detroit, Watts, NYC, I didn't know they happened in a town a suburb almost of Pittsburgh!
I knew about the shuttering of Steel making in America, the rust belt, a little about how it was managements fault, or it was the unions fault. I wondered what happened to these towns but I wondered about the big ones like Pittsburgh, not the smaller ones.
Playing through the whistle is a fantastic book about American greatness, as well as America's black eyes, its exceptionalism, and its racism. It's perseverance, and its diminishing work ethic. It about guns, and Radom shooting and it's about drugs, and how in some ways all of these things destroy society, and how there are two choices for kids in Aliquippa to get out and get on from there, Sports, or drugs.
I recommend this book highly, outside of my two complaints. I don't think you will be disappointed.
August 26, 2018
I'm not sure there's anyone in America as obsessed with race as S.L. Price. Maybe Al Sharpton or the Grand Wizard of the KKK, but that's about it. And it's that creepy obsession with race, bigoted digs at the South, and the needless padding of a 300 page book into a 450 page book that made what would have been a 4-star tale of the rise and fall of steel against a backdrop of small town western Pennsylvania football in more capable hands a 2-star chore of a read.
The good - Aliquippa - my goodness, how did one small town produce this much? Ditka, Ty Law, Derrelle Revis, Oscar-winning musician, Pete Maravich, etc. Like Donora with outfielders this place just outside Pittsburgh really churned out the athletes. Was it the rough life of working in a steel mill that contributed and truly made the average Quip tougher than the average man or woman elsewhere? Hard to say, but certainly a theory worth considering.
Also, the multi-cultural rise into the middle class of immigrants who came here with nothing but a good work ethic, and then the labor overreach that began the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs overseas. A tale repeated in one town after another in the collapsing economies that ring Lake Erie.
The bad - my goodness, dude. Race isn't everything. White nationalists care about it less than you. Just stop, really, stop. It was a drag on the narrative and with every tale of a race riot and poor treatment of blacks it made the author's digs at Dixie ring that much more hollow.
The small town bullshit - I don't care about infighting and backstabbing amongst the townspeople, coaches, cops, and politicians. This was a wasted hundred pages.
The OK - I gave up on football years ago, and the horrific damage it does to humans notwithstanding, I do understand how it can be a unifying factor for a town, especially one under attack by the forces of globalization.
Price likely fits in well as a sports writer at Social Justice Illustrated, but it was that sociology overkill that left the book lacking. This one's a miss.
The good - Aliquippa - my goodness, how did one small town produce this much? Ditka, Ty Law, Derrelle Revis, Oscar-winning musician, Pete Maravich, etc. Like Donora with outfielders this place just outside Pittsburgh really churned out the athletes. Was it the rough life of working in a steel mill that contributed and truly made the average Quip tougher than the average man or woman elsewhere? Hard to say, but certainly a theory worth considering.
Also, the multi-cultural rise into the middle class of immigrants who came here with nothing but a good work ethic, and then the labor overreach that began the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs overseas. A tale repeated in one town after another in the collapsing economies that ring Lake Erie.
The bad - my goodness, dude. Race isn't everything. White nationalists care about it less than you. Just stop, really, stop. It was a drag on the narrative and with every tale of a race riot and poor treatment of blacks it made the author's digs at Dixie ring that much more hollow.
The small town bullshit - I don't care about infighting and backstabbing amongst the townspeople, coaches, cops, and politicians. This was a wasted hundred pages.
The OK - I gave up on football years ago, and the horrific damage it does to humans notwithstanding, I do understand how it can be a unifying factor for a town, especially one under attack by the forces of globalization.
Price likely fits in well as a sports writer at Social Justice Illustrated, but it was that sociology overkill that left the book lacking. This one's a miss.
July 22, 2021
Life in Aliquippa, PA has never been easy. From the time it began as an industrial town, where everyone was employed by J and L, to more difficult times it endures today, Aliquippa has almost always been known for one thing: football!
S.L. Price's, Playing Through the Whistle, the author chronologically explores the history of the town, community relationships and hardships the people have endured, and its football greatness.
Personally, I grew up roughly 20-25 minutes outside of Aliquippa. I remember that whether it was football or basketball, Aliquippa was the game you circled on the schedule, because it would be one of the biggest, if not the most important of the year. I recall talking about "Quip" games with uncles, grandparents, and my dad. Many of those contests involved my alma mater and other schools close to where I grew up, and some were specifically mentioned in the book. Without a doubt, I personally connected with this story, and it brought many memories of growing up in Beaver County.
Using Aliquippa as his reference, Price writes a book that is a great study of what happened to towns after the steel industry collapsed in Western Pennsylvania, and mostly gets the football story correct. I have a few objections, specifically that he did not give enough credit to superstar running back Chico Williams for winning the schools first state championship. Everyone respected and acknowledged Ty Law as an elite football player, but it was Williams that kept coaches up at night.
Despite this, the book is really well written. I wouldn't put it on the the same plateau as Friday Night Lights, but it is pretty close. I'm giving it four and one half stars, but I'm rounding it down to four on the Goodreads scale. A really good sports read!
S.L. Price's, Playing Through the Whistle, the author chronologically explores the history of the town, community relationships and hardships the people have endured, and its football greatness.
Personally, I grew up roughly 20-25 minutes outside of Aliquippa. I remember that whether it was football or basketball, Aliquippa was the game you circled on the schedule, because it would be one of the biggest, if not the most important of the year. I recall talking about "Quip" games with uncles, grandparents, and my dad. Many of those contests involved my alma mater and other schools close to where I grew up, and some were specifically mentioned in the book. Without a doubt, I personally connected with this story, and it brought many memories of growing up in Beaver County.
Using Aliquippa as his reference, Price writes a book that is a great study of what happened to towns after the steel industry collapsed in Western Pennsylvania, and mostly gets the football story correct. I have a few objections, specifically that he did not give enough credit to superstar running back Chico Williams for winning the schools first state championship. Everyone respected and acknowledged Ty Law as an elite football player, but it was Williams that kept coaches up at night.
Despite this, the book is really well written. I wouldn't put it on the the same plateau as Friday Night Lights, but it is pretty close. I'm giving it four and one half stars, but I'm rounding it down to four on the Goodreads scale. A really good sports read!
June 29, 2022
Price never really answers the question of how Alliquippa, Pennsylvania, managed to produce so many men who went on to excel in football and other pursuits, but the attempt results in an interesting social history of 20th century America. In addition to the obvious stories of the rise and fall of the American labor movement and the central role of high school athletics in small-town life, the book touches on themes of race and racism, immigration, and whether the War on Drugs was justified. However, just seven years after its publication, the book already feels somewhat dated; the machismo and win-at-any-cost ethic the book celebrates seems somewhat out of step from the perspective of a world that has lived through the Trump administration and the MeToo movement. The audiobook is well produced and the narrator is terrific, but listening to this rather than reading it presents a real challenge of keeping the dozens of characters straight. Sensitive readers should be warned that the book includes pervasive profanity and graphic descriptions of a couple of gruesome murders.
July 17, 2017
Even though I am not from Aliquippa, I felt like I was reading about my hometown...and quite a few memories roared back into my mind. Aliquippa has quite an unique and fascinating history, but this book is truly dedicated to all those old, steel mill/coal mining towns of Southwest PA, Northeast OH, and Southeast OH. S. L. Price pays homage to the toughness and grittiness of this All-American town by providing a history of how the J&L Steel Company formed the town and how the immigrant populations and their descendants built the town and carried on the traditions of hard work and a sense of community. He then sweeps through the decades of the town and its football; showcasing the economic decline of one and the glorious rise of the other. Ultimately, we end with a devastating look at what the town now has become, but still understand that the pride surrounding its high school football team keeps them going in such difficult times. It is both delightful and devastating at the same time.
April 18, 2018
I did not grow up in Aliquippa, but across the river in Ambridge, so close enough that this story is very meaningful to me. That is probably the reason for my fifth star. Still, this book gets 4+ stars for taking on such a broad assignment, and writing about it so beautifully. This isn’t just a story of football, or the U.S. steel industry, or the struggles and triumphs of a small town, but of the pride and perseverance of people through all those things. It’s a story of sports, politics, industry, culture, crime, achievement and failure. And the research and the writing are amazing. This book is non-fiction, but it reads like fiction—the characters are that well-developed, and you just want to know more.
April 23, 2018
Price tackles (no pun intended) a heartbreaking subject as he follows the birth and slow death of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. This story has repeated hundreds of times across the east as the steel industry and dependent industries died of wounds inflicted by the industry, unions, and government. Price shows how sports, especially football, gave the youth of Aliquippa a way to work out their frustrations, anger, and hopelessness. In doing so, they found hope and a future, at least until the steel industry collapsed. My complaints with the book are that Price rambles, switches timeframes and sports without warning, pads his narrative, and relates some information that others have questioned. Even so, it's truly a tragedy what has happened in Aliquippa, and other cities across America.
February 23, 2025
S.L. Price’s Playing Through the Whistle delivers a hard-hitting narrative of how a town can be beaten down by economic decline, yet find hope and resilience through high school football. Once a workers' paradise, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, saw its prosperity fade as the steel industry collapsed, leaving behind a town struggling with hardship, segregation, and the fight for workers' rights. Price captures the heartbreak of this decline while illustrating how football became more than just a game—it became a guiding beacon for young men, a source of pride, and a testament to the town’s enduring spirit. This book is a powerful exploration of how sports can carry a community through its darkest times.
October 19, 2016
This is a fascinating book about the history Aliquippa, PA, a seemingly insignificant town on the banks of the Ohio River - and how despite its size and socio-economic standing, has managed to produce an inordinate number of sports and other stars (Henry Mancini, Mike Ditka, Darrelle Revis, ...), and influence American history in general. The history of Aliquippa is the history of the rise and fall of working-class america in the 20th century. Price uses football (and there is no Aliquippa without football), as the scarlet thread connecting the different periods of the past 100 years, and Aliquippa's diverse ethnic communities. The narrative juxtaposes stories of key local figures with local and national historical events, with the ever present theme of Aliquippa football coloring (in red and black) the mood of the town. This is a must read for both fans of American history and football. Confession: This is a book I've been waiting for years for someone to write. I was born and raised in Aliquippa, as was my father (class of 1943). And like so many, we both left in the 80's. But my Dad kept going back to his high school reunions, even until the 65th. And where ever I travel, I identify as being from Aliquippa. Why? This book explains the pull.
October 24, 2017
Fascinating account of one small town in western PA that has a knack for producing uncommonly successful people. It is seriously ridiculous how many star athletes, academy awards winners, etc... that once called Aliquippa home. Price profiles many of these former Aliquippa residents and their successes against the backdrop of the U.S. steel industry. Both a history and a social commentary, Playing Through the Whistle isn’t for the reader who dislikes football (or steel for that matter), but it would be careless to pigeonhole it as a “sports book.”
March 19, 2017
This book is not a fast read, but it is a compelling blend of historical narrative, sports journalism, and social science. I first became interested in this book because I married into a family with Alaquippa roots and it was half thrilling to picture them as extras sitting in the stands of the Pit or on the line at J&L Steel, and half heartbreaking to mourn so much of the legacy of their hometown.
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