Tigerland: 1968-1969: A City Divided, a Nation Torn Apart, and a Magical Season of Healing

by Wil Haygood

From the author of the best-selling The Butler--an emotional, inspiring story of two teams from a poor, black, segregated high school in Ohio, who, in the midst of the racial turbulence of 1968/1969, win the Ohio state baseball and basketball championships in the same year.

1968 and 1969: Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy are assassinated. Race relations are frayed like never before. Cities are aflame as demonstrations and riots proliferate. But in Columbus, Ohio, the Tigers of segregated East High School win the baseball and basketball championships, defeating bigger, richer, whiter teams across the state. Now, Wil Haygood gives us a spirited and stirring account of this improbable triumph and takes us deep into the personal lives of these local heroes: Robert Wright, power forward, whose father was a murderer; Kenny Mizelle, the Tigers' second baseman, who grew up under the false impression that his father had died; Eddie "Rat" Ratleff, the star of both teams, who would play for the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team. We meet Jack Gibbs, the first black principal at East High; Bob Hart, the white basketball coach, determined to fight against the injustices he saw inflicting his team; the hometown fans who followed the Tigers to stadiums across the state. And, just as important, Haygood puts the Tigers' story in the context of the racially charged late 1960s. The result is both an inspiring sports story and a singularly illuminating social history.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, History, Basketball, Audiobook, Politics, Adult

432 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2018

Reviews

[Imaggieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so grateful for this narrative of an area of town that I love teaching in! The details of the games and people featured in this book are masterfully researched and described. Thank you, Wil Haygood, for preserving the memories of such important voices in Columbus, Ohio. I especially appreciate the anecdotes about Jack Gibbs, whose good work I hope to continue in my classroom.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not just a book about an urban high school that wins two state championships in the same school year; it's a history lesson... of Columbus, OH and the US.

[Kristen Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Changed the way I look at Columbus and its rich history. Also, sports storytelling can be so so powerful, particularly when it’s real!!! This book was long but so well done. East High deserves every word. Go Tigers!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haygood gives full, 20th century context to this moving, historical account that reads at a clip (think Laura Hillenbrand). And it's a darn good sports read! This meaningful, true story's locality has personal relevance: it takes place when and where I was born, exactly 50yrs ago RIGHT NOW in the city school district where I attended high school competing in athletics, and features contemporaries of both my father and grandfather. A few year notations didn't add up, which may just be editing oversights, but they didn't preclude my learning a ton and gaining a much more informed perspective.
This deserves a more enticing cover and someone should consider the movie rights.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The story of the 1968-69 East High School Tigers championship basketball and baseball teams at a black high school in segregated Columbus, Ohio during the tumultuous aftermath of the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I'm a Columbus, Ohio transplant, and like many, know little of the city's history, even sports history, beyond Ohio State football. But I love history, and sports, and so when Wil Haygood's new book on the legendary East High School Tiger basketball and baseball teams came up for review, I snagged a copy.

Columbus, Ohio in 1968 had a segregated school system. And it was far from equal. Facilities, text books, and sports facilities at black East High School were inferior to other schools. The death of Martin Luther King, Jr. hit the community hard. King had preached regularly at Union Grove Baptist Church. What would happen among the students in the high school that was the centerpiece of that community?

This book tells the story of the leadership of three men at East High School. Jack Gibbs was the black principal of the school, Bob Hart, the white basketball coach, and Paul Pennell, the white baseball coach. All three were marked by a deep concern for their students and players, and their families. Gibbs tirelessly advocated for the school, and even found a way to transport families to the basketball championship against Canton McKinley. Both coaches recognized the raw talent of the black athletes and convinced them they could be champions.

The book also is a narrative of the championship season of each team, divided into Part One for the basketball team, and Part Two for the baseball team. Two of the basketball players, Eddie "the Rat" Ratleff and Bo Pete Lamar were later college All-Americans in the same year and Ratleff played on the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. Personal stories of the players mix with game accounts leading up to the state championships for each team (Ratleff played on both). He tells us the story of the subsequent lives of a number of these figures--both good and painful.

Haygood, who has written biographies of Thurgood Marshall, Sammy Davis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and a family memoir on growing up in Columbus, brings his knowledge of the city and the history of race in the U.S. together in this work. He sets the story of the Tigers against backdrop of the racial segregation in the city, including the court ruling by Black judge Robert Duncan, upheld in the Supreme Court desegregating Columbus schools. He narrates a challenged, yet vibrant Black community centered around churches, the schools, and Mt Vernon Avenue businesses. He weaves enough of the national history in--from King to Jackie Robinson to give context.

There is a tendency on the part of some to want to isolate sports from the issues of race in our country. There is also a tendency to focus our discourse on race at a national level and forget that real progress has to find expression in each of our local contexts. Heygood weaves sport and racial history together, as well as the challenges we face as a nation and the possibilities in our local communities. He makes us consider who will be the Jack Gibbs, the Bob Hart, the Paul Pennell of our day.

____________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look back at the East High School run to the championship in basketball and baseball in the 1968-69 season. East High was on the east side of Columbus, OH. The east side in those days was predominantly Black and so the high school mirrored that demographic. 1968 was the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was gunned down and Black neighborhoods were extremely tense. And Columbus was no different. So, the author being a native of Columbus thought that the triumph of East High over all competition and racial turmoil would make for an interesting tale. He was right.

Wil Haygood does a marvelous job of bringing East High to life. With vivid descriptions of Columbus along with details and statistics from games. He managed to build drama in the game narratives and I often found myself peeking down the page to see what the final score was of the game being discussed. We meet a host of characters that labored to make a difference in the lives of the kids from east Columbus. From the deeply involved principal to civic, church and business leaders.

While skillfully weaving and recounting the story of the basketball and baseball teams championships, Wil Haygood succeeds in keeping the history of those turbulent times never far from the pages. It’s a well done mix and brings to light how a community can rally behind a High School team and temporarily put pressing social concerns on the back burner.

These young athletes served as a welcome distraction for the larger community and in some small way may have helped to alleviate some tensions. It’s a winning read for sports fans and really all readers who enjoy inspirational stories while learning some history of the Black side of town, the side that is far too often left out of published narratives. So kudos to Wil Haygood for bringing this story to the public. I enthusiastically recommend this book. Thanks to Penguin Random House First to Read program for an advanced digital review copy. Book will hit shelves 9/18/2018.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this book, but I was a little disappointed. I loved the portrait of the East High principal Jack Gibbs, I was surprised to learn a few facts about Jackie Robinson that I didn't know, and I was definitely cheering for both teams, especially the under-rated and ignored baseball teams but considering the tension of the times, the tone of the book seemed a little light. Haygood had a different perspective than Tim Tyson in Blood Don't Sign My Name, that's for sure.

[Marie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were points while reading this book when I didn't think I'd ever finish it. I attribute that partly to the writing and partly to the reader--how exciting can a book be, when it's centered around sports? But I really appreciated the format--interspersing descriptions of pertinent world events relative to civil rights as context to understand the significance of the events. It's definitely a story worth telling, and the personalities deserve their place in history.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book, which dives into the events of 1968-69 and the East High School’s basketball and baseball triumphs that year. There’s tons of Columbus, Ohio history which is interesting (and, given the subject matter, often enraging) which explains a lot about why my hometown is the way it is, and there is a great deal of US history too, particularly in terms of civil rights. This book goes down every rabbit hole, but that’s my instinct too, so I liked that a lot. It’s a wide-ranging story, well-told.

Read Harder 2021: Read a work of investigative nonfiction by an author of color

[David Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book about the history of the city where I live. I’m not really into baseball, but I liked that part too.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tigerland depicts a time of my youth and a place that was mere miles from my home, and yet the world of the East High School students and my world could have been on different planets. I attended the East High School basketball game against my high school during the 1968-69 basketball season. It is a testament to Haygood’s writing, and his ability to place his story in the larger story of the city, state and country, that he could so vividly describe the lives of the players, as their difficulties were not evident to a seventeen year old from a neighboring school.

This book should be read today not only because the story is one of triumph over adversity, but also as a example of how little things have changed for a vast number of young men and women. We need more Jack Gibbses in the world.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of 2 successful athletics teams in Columbus, Ohio, in 1968-1969, set within the larger story of of life in the United States at that time. Haygood draws us into the saga of the East High Tigers, an all-black High school on the east side of town, who won the state championships in Basketball and Baseball in the same year. Woven within this story is the story of the great migration, segregated schools in Columbus, Brown vs the Board of Education, MLK Jr., Jackie Robinson, and the background of the great coaches and teachers at East High School. An important and well-told tale.

[Gabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a roller coaster for me! I started out not loving the writing style. I'm not a picky reader in this regard normally, but there was some weird grammar and style choices that threw me off. Eventually I got over it and started enjoying the story. I learned a lot about what Columbus was like in the 60s and there were some neat biographical tangents about important people like Jackie Robinson and Judge Robert Duncan. And towards the end I enjoyed it a little less because it wasn't quite the underdog story I was expected. Still a neat look into racial tensions in Ohio, but not quite what I thought it would be. I don't think I'd recommend unless you are very into Ohio sports!

[Mark Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a basketball fan and someone who grew up in Columbus I enjoyed this book. I liked the juxtaposition of sports and politics. I was aware of the Columbus East team (greatest of all time in Ohio per many fans). I was a suburban pre-teen white male during this period and was mostly unaware of the racial issues. His recounting of these times and how they affected all black Columbus East High (in 1969 no less) were not known to me and I appreciated the way he recounted them against the back drop of the sports teams and students at East High.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pedestrian writing and a lot of repetition mar an otherwise worthy and unknown tale. I lived in Columbus in the mid-1980s, only 15 years after the basketball and baseball seasons detailed in this book, and I knew absolutely zero about it. (The fact that I'm White has a lot to do with my ignorance, of course.)

I could tell that Columbus was a conservative place, in the worst senses of the world: fearful, close-minded, ignorant, and arrogant that it was better than its peer cities. In fact, the people I knew considered NYC to be a peer, not Cleveland or Cincinnati, which was laughable. But that was Columbus.

I didn't know that the town was utterly racist also. I worked for a state government agency, which was reasonably well integrated. I lived in a neighborhood near Ohio State's campus, which also was reasonably well integrated. But this, apparently, was not the case across the city.

"Tigerland" does a great job of showing how racist the city was -- and though it doesn't say so explicitly, I assume that Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, and dozens of other cities were just as bad. Almost everyone Black lived in substandard housing or projects. Almost all went to segregated schools, and Columbus was specifically cited as an example in the famous "Brown v. Board of Ed" decision. The fact that "Brown" was in 1954 and that this book covers events 15 years later shows how entrenched the racist powers were.

The sports stuff in the book is ok. It's not better nor worse than many sports histories. I like that rather than go through each game in detail, the author rips through three or four 20-point wins in a single paragraph. There wasn't much to say when the Tigers were blowing out weaker opponents. The games that deserved more attention get their due.

The writing about coach Bob Hart is great. He would have been a fascinating guy to meet, a White guy whose eyes were opened about US racism while he was storming Normandy Beach. This guy is a true hero. Stack him up against every Republican member of Congress from Ohio (or anywhere else), and you'll see what cowards they are. I have no idea if Hart's authoritarian streak would work today, as the world was a different place. But he seems to have understood that pushing for perfection on the court did not give him license to run his players' lives off of it. The story about Bo-Pete's afro getting him kicked off one team, and then transferring to East High is precious, and it's sobering to remember that Black kids still get kicked off wrestling teams for having dreadlocks, etc. Racism is still here big-time, folks.

I also found the principal of East High to be commendable, as is intended in the book. He's another larger-than-life figure, and we are so lucky when school administrators today are like that. There are some, such as the revered head of University of Maryland Baltimore County, Freeman Hrabowski, who just retired. It shows there's hope in America, even in these troubled times.

On the demerit side, as I noted, the book is repetitive. Repeatedly, students or adults say how scared and angry they were after the 1968 assassination of MLK. Of course they were, and they should be. We don't need to hear it 20 times. And we don't need people's first names over and over.

The book takes a lot of side avenues to give stories of people (mostly women, sometimes families) who moved from the South to Columbus. They worked in factories or cleaning homes, and they tried to build better lives. These are redundant too, but their accumulated weight is important. Today, we hear about one kid raised by a single mom, and he's a millionaire at 19 when he goes to the NBA. This book reminds us that there are thousands of kids in the same circumstances, and truly only a few get a break.

Also along those lines, this book tells a lot of well-worn tales about Emmett Till, riots and protests, afros, James Brown, and the emerging black culture of the late 1960s. I know all this stuff. But it's good to be reminded, and the details bring outrage and tears to my eyes -- the way Till's murderers were acquitted by a White jury that laughed at his mother, and how they then earned money by selling their story to magazines a few months later, or how the school's principal literally would run outside and drive off pimps who were recruiting the lost and lonely girls at the school.

There's a lot of sadness in this book. And it ends on a pretty sad epilogue that reminds us how little has changed. But it's nonetheless also an inspiring story that deserves its literary treatment.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wil Haygood has offered stories of influential African American before, including 1993's 'King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.', 2003's 'In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.', 2013's 'The Butler: A Witness to History' about White House butler Eugene Allen, and 2015's 'Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America'.

In September of 2018, Wil Haygood brought us a more modest cast of characters. Upon the start of the 50th anniversary of Columbus, Ohio's East High School's remarkable sports season, Wil Haygood delivered 'Tigerland: 1968-1969: A City Divided, a Nation Torn Apart, and a Magical Season of Healing'. 'Tigerland: 1968-1969' is the story of how an all-African American school of students won state championships in basketball and baseball 55-days apart.

'Tigerland: 1968-1969' adds up to more than the sum of its parts. The book tells the story of two sports teams that overcame the serious odds of segregation to win the state title for the same school. 'Tigerland: 1968-1969' tells the story of a bigoted system of schools in a racially divided city in a racially divided state that segregated schools in a way that produced separate and unequal educational opportunity and results by systemic design, per court determination in the case of Penick v. Columbus Board of Education. 'Tigerland: 1968-1969' tells of assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the 1968 Mexico City Olympics with racial protests by athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, and the cultural awareness of the players, the community supporting East High School, and the communities actively working against the team and its athletes.

In getting into the personal stories of the players, parents, hopeful teachers, administrators, and in-depth and active hatred, discrimination, and petty hurts leveled at the people surrounding these teams, to claim the feat of two championships in the face of the cultural and real adversity faced indeed makes for an arguably epic tale of underdogs overcoming those obstacles to achieve. The tone of 'Tigerland: 1968-1969' by Wil Haygood feels fair and even tempered to me, a 44-year-old Caucasian male. The read is compelling, and important in a time of fractured politics in America. My rating for 'Tigerland: 1968-1969' by Wil Haygood is 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 2 out of 5]

THis is a story worth telling, but I got really frustrated by the way the author goes about it. This is the story of the East High School Tigers, an all black high school which in the tumultuous years of 1968-1969 won both the basketball and baseball state championships. I lived in Columbus for 2 years, so it was cool to get a little bit of the city's history, but overall this book had serious flaws.

There is one really interesting part of this book: the principal of East, Jack Gibbs, who combined tough love and discipline with real love for his students, including an encouragement of the expression of black identity and the belief that his students deserved everything that students in white suburban schools had. Gibbs had a Rudy-like story at Ohio State football, where he made the team as a practice player but came on against Michigan and made a big interception. Gibbs and the white basketball coach, a WWII veteran who became a major advocate for black civil rights and culture, held the book together, but could not save it.

The big problems with this book: 1. It is wayyyyy too long. I don't think he really needed the baseball story, which felt anti-climactic. The narratives of games and practices is kind of one-thing-after-another that sometimes just feels like taking up space. And while I appreciate the effort to set the larger context, WH goes way off with these long explanations of events like Jackie Robinson or Emmitt Till. There's always a balance to be had btw providing context and sticking to the main story, but this writer did not make that balance. 2. The writing and editing were mediocre at best. The book could have been half as long if a good editor had trimmed the fat. And WH just cannot turn a phrase like a good sportswriter. Some sentences read like they were written by disengaged ninth graders, like "They looked at each other and danced a lot." Compared to someone like John Feinstein, Chris Herring, or David Halberstam, WH couldn't give the reader a sense of the drama of the game or the personalities of the players (with the exceptions of Gibbs and Coach Hart).

In short, I was disappointed by this book and couldn't wait for it to tend. Way too long, average-bad writing, and tangents that detracted from the main story, which in itself could have made for a good book. There are so many good hoop and sports books out there, I can't recommend this one.

[Marion Tilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading "Tigerland" took me back fifty years ago to my junior year in high school. In 1979 I lived in Bexley, a wealthy suburb, which bordered the east side of Columbus. I thought I was fairly sophisticated at the time, but after reading "Tigerland," I now realize that my view of Central Ohio was quite narrow. I had little idea of the level of social turmoil that was going on throughout the USA and almost no understanding of the social ills in the Black community so near to where I was living.

"Tigerland" issn't just a nostalgic look at two sports teams during one school year. Instead, it is a kaleidoscope of stories--tales of mothers who got up early, rode busses to the suburbs to clean houses of the rich; stories of Black men, who coached Little League without pay after their own dreams of professional sports careers had been wiped out due to segregation; remembrances of both white and black coaches who poured all their love and energy into the teams they coached.


Wil Haywood's telling of the wildly successful Columbus East High School basketball and baseball teams in the 1968-1969 school year is both a David and Goliath tale and a social history of one black community. Many athletes at East High were from single-parent families where food was often in short supply. Players' families were part of the Black Migration from the Deep South to the industrial North following WW II. The deaths of Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, and JFK had shaken up everyone in America, especially Afro-Americans who believed the cause of social equality had been dealt a horrible blow.

After finishing this sports story, I'm glad I discovered the personal stories of Jack Gibbs, the East High school principal; Ed Ratliff and all the other basketball and baseball players; Bob Hart and Paul Pennell, the varsity coaches; and David Duncan, the federal judge who forced the city to integrate its schools. On the other hand, my youthful idealism regarding other Ohio hometown heroes no longer exists. I'll never think of Fred Taylor, Jack Sensenbrenner, and Gov. James A. Rhodes as I had when I was just a young girl.

My thanks to Will Haywood for getting this story onto paper. I may now live in the Pacific Northwest, but memories of the Midwest, especially Columbus, will stay with me always. I'm glad my memory bank now includes the story of Tigerland.

[Paige Huskey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for my Peace Readers book club where books are selected from Dayton Literary Peace Prize winners and runners-up. Tigerland was the nonfiction runner-up for 2019. I was so excited to read a book written by an esteemed person from Ohio and learn more about the history of the state in which I currently reside. However, after reading and discussing with my book club, I am disheartened to say that this book could have been so much better. In fact, this could have been one of the books that is required reading in every high school. But sadly it's not and it won't be--unless it gets a good edited edition. What makes this book so worthy is that it weaves together the stories of these poor black students who had nothing to look forward to in the late sixties and how they overcame great odds to capture the hearts of a nation during such a divisive time. Haygood does a fantastic job of interlacing the national stories of the time so that readers may understand what the cultural climate was and how everything tied together in a more personal, intimate way. What makes this book so difficult to read are the numerous journalistic accounts of basketball games, including who passed to whom, who made the winning shot, who made a difficult block, and on and on. I love basketball and still felt these lengthy play-by-play accounts were removing me from the overarching story at hand. Even a book club member who loves to read about sports said that he wondered if Haygood were getting paid by the word because of all the unnecessary trivial accounts that were strewn throughout. I also wondered why the editor didn't do a better job of editing these down or having Haygood rewrite them as summaries. If you do decide to read this book, I recommend getting the actual book as opposed to audio so you can skip over the tedious parts.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as a Columbus resident. I was talking to a friend who read it as well as has ties to the local basketball scene as she grew up with her dad coaching and she teaches basketball as well who mentioned that she wouldn't recommend to someone outside of Cbus. The few things I really enjoyed was the ability of Haygood to paint a picture of the times and how he talked about how black americans were treated then which is angering to realize we haven't come that far since then. We are still talking about police brutality, schools being somewhat segregated, and the difficulties for black males in America. I am glad Haygood's nephew exposed me to this book and recommended me checking it out. I learned a lot about the east side life in Cbus. I just wish the author didn't feel like he had to explain everything in so much detailing, a few rabbit trails seemed unnecessary especially with Jackie Robinson and Nixon. I like the personal stories for many of the kids playing. One knows this author knew a lot of people in the area and took his time to research and talk to many people about this time period. Well researched just a bit too long with unnecessary rabbit trails

[Brian DeWine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took much longer than I thought it would take to read. Was given it in 2019 by my grandpa and have been meaning to get to it for a long. Very interesting read, not really what I was expecting. The amount of information in the book was staggering, there was as much information if not more about the Civil Rights Movement as a whole as there was about the Tiger Basketball and Baseball Teams. I think I learned more from reading this book than I have in any school textbooks, I never realized how wild the 60's and 70's were for Civil Rights. The backdrop of the East High Tiger championship teams was a great way to show how everyday people reconciled with the craziness of the time. I did lose interests at times on some tangents that the author went on about the families of the players or other seemingly minor characters but still found them interesting all the same. Incredibly well researched, many times I just thought how the hell did the author find all this information about the families and the teams 50 plus years later. Didn't realize that Wil Haygood was a visiting professor at Miami in Journalism till I finished the book. I enjoyed the book, just found it to be a little long, historical books just don't seem to hold my attention well as most fictional stories.

[John Hannam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. The following academic year an all-black high school in Columbus OH goes on to win a state championship in both basketball and baseball. This rare feat was achieved despite the tumultuous circumstances of the time.

Wil Haygood's nonfiction account sets historical context to a magical season of athletics the East High School Tigers experienced. The authors short interludes inside each chapter create an interconnected web of personal histories, each contributing to the Tigers unprecedented season.

While reading this book I couldn't help but reflect on how America continues to wrestle with and often times outright ignore a past riddled with racism. Have strides been made? Yes. But we have so much further to go. Reading stories like Haygood's put into perspective the true hatred of those times and how that hatred still persists.

"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." Martin Luther King Jr., Washington National Cathedral, March 31st, 1968

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I have little interest in basketball, I am highly interested in race issues, particularly civil rights matters of the 1960s, so decided to read this book, thinking I could skim over detailed sports stories. End up skimming, I did, but not just sports, because this book ended up being a bit of an overwhelming smorgasbord of sports, schools, coaches, principals, local race issues, national race issues, etc.

The main problem was the author jumped around from topic to topic, going back and forth, to the point that it all seemed too choppy and cluttered. (I had an ARC, however, so maybe the final copy has a tighter storyline.) There are some very interesting stories about some very interesting individuals; and lots of sports for you sports fans, particularly basketball and baseball; but by the end of the final chapter, I had reader's fatigue.

(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 5 stars. My only quibble is with the structure, which can be hard to follow.

This book places the two team championships in their historical contexts. It fills in both national and local African American and civil rights history.

I’ve lived in the Columbus area for almost forty years and was astonished to realize how white (and therefore incomplete) my grasp of Columbus history is.

The team stories are compelling and the national events (Jackie Robinson, Emmett Till, Martin Luther King Jr., Nixon’s southern strategy and racism, and more) are connected to the team’s stories so that they’re equally compelling. Local history (particularly the lawsuit that resulted in desegregation of Columbus Schools and stories of lynchings and other racial violence and in Ohio) is eye-opening. Woody Hayes comes off as quite progressive; the rest of Ohio State, not so much.

[Letty · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Mom graduated from East in 1947. More than a half century later, I started asking her about her childhood living on the east side of Columbus, an area that now was impoverished. Fast forward to 2020 with the Country and City reeling with racial unrest, I came upon this book from an article written by the author in Columbus Monthly, and I was immediately intrigued. I love a good sports story and the connection to my mom’s high school sparked my interest. The demons of our past, as a nation, City, and individual family can be haunting. This book shined a light on East but also made me realize that 1969 and 2021 are not that different. We still have a long way to go.

This book was well written and interesting. I listened to the Audible version (which was well narrated), but I almost wish I had read the paper version in hopes that maybe it included pictures.

[Don Gorman · Rating 2 out of 5]

(1 1/2). I lived through all of the events that are the main focus of this book. Up close and personal, right here in Columbus, Ohio. I guess I naively expected this narration to focus more on the sports angle of things, but they are just a part of the story. Their is a large portion of it directed to the history of civil rights, for some of the featured individuals and Central Ohio in general. There is also (it feels like to me) a lot of filler in here, as I do not think this book should ever have been almost 400 pages. Not a great piece of non-fiction, just worth exploring for my local interest.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading about Columbus history is fascinating to me. Even though I grew up in Bexley, a stone’s throw from East High School, my life was a very different life of privilege from the students in this book.

The story told here of the state championships of the 68-69 year of East High in both basketball and baseball was thrilling. But by telling the story with the background of the civil rights movement of the nation as well as in Columbus, there was added depth. Giving the background on the many people who played a role in East High’s success brought the story home. And it was especially great to hear about some people I knew or knew of, including one of my Bexley classmates mentioned.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story & great history with captivating writing, but just way too long. However, easily skimmable, especially sections devoted to history that I was already well versed in. This book is about an all black high school in Columbus, OH in the aftermath of the King assassination. How a principal, some coaches, and some dedicated athletes made a run at a basketball state championship & a baseball one all in the same year. Interwoven throughout is lots of history about the individuals, their ancestors backgrounds (what brought them to Columbus) and the civil rights movement.

[Maxwell Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got really into this book because it does an excellent job of intertwining race, sports, culture, and history. Unfortunately, as I kept reading, it felt like it bit off too much for it to chew. There were threads I wish they had explored a little bit more, but they were sacrificed for the stories behind the East High basketball and baseball teams, which were compelling if not a bit skewed towards the more popular basketball team. That said, it was still a great story of a specific moment in history in a part of the country I know little about.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in the city where this book takes place so I was very interested in reading it. I was in elementary school in the 60's so I really didn't have a lot of knowledge of what was going on at the time. This book gave an excellent picture of race relations during that time and how it affected the city, nation and 2 groups of young high school athletes who managed to accomplish something that no high school teams from 1 school had ever done before: win the state basketball and baseball championships in the same year.