Michael and the Whiz Kids

A Story of Basketball, Race, and Suburbia in the 1960s

Nonfiction, Sports, Basketball, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book Michael and the Whiz Kids by John Christgau, UNP - Bison Original
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John Christgau ISBN: 9780803249356
Publisher: UNP - Bison Original Publication: November 1, 2013
Imprint: Bison Books Language: English
Author: John Christgau
ISBN: 9780803249356
Publisher: UNP - Bison Original
Publication: November 1, 2013
Imprint: Bison Books
Language: English

Imagine a boy, five feet tall and one hundred pounds, who wants to play high school basketball. Now imagine that he was blind until the age of six and that he’s the first black student to attend his suburban school. And there you have Michael Thompson in 1965 in San Bruno, California. He played at the school where a young English teacher was coaching “lightweight basketball,” a competition for smaller players that has since disappeared. The team that Coach John Christgau put together came to be called the Whiz Kids for the way they rocketed up and down the court, led by Michael and invariably winning.

Michael and the Whiz Kids tells the story of the team’s 1968 championship season. It is a tale of cliffhanger games and players as outsized in character as they are short in stature, from the wild-haired, bespectacled “Professor” to the well-traveled Latvian dubbed “Suitcase” to the quiet and tenacious “Salt,” as in “of the earth.” But it is also a tale of the time—of counterculture, suburbia, integration, and racial brawls erupting on the court. In Christgau’s deft telling, it is an absorbing, often comic story of coming of age, for coach and Whiz Kids alike.
 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Imagine a boy, five feet tall and one hundred pounds, who wants to play high school basketball. Now imagine that he was blind until the age of six and that he’s the first black student to attend his suburban school. And there you have Michael Thompson in 1965 in San Bruno, California. He played at the school where a young English teacher was coaching “lightweight basketball,” a competition for smaller players that has since disappeared. The team that Coach John Christgau put together came to be called the Whiz Kids for the way they rocketed up and down the court, led by Michael and invariably winning.

Michael and the Whiz Kids tells the story of the team’s 1968 championship season. It is a tale of cliffhanger games and players as outsized in character as they are short in stature, from the wild-haired, bespectacled “Professor” to the well-traveled Latvian dubbed “Suitcase” to the quiet and tenacious “Salt,” as in “of the earth.” But it is also a tale of the time—of counterculture, suburbia, integration, and racial brawls erupting on the court. In Christgau’s deft telling, it is an absorbing, often comic story of coming of age, for coach and Whiz Kids alike.
 

More books from United States

Cover of the book Outlaw Tales of Idaho by John Christgau
Cover of the book Robert E. Lee The Southerner by John Christgau
Cover of the book The Ocean Hill-Brownsville Conflict by John Christgau
Cover of the book The Naval War of 1812 by John Christgau
Cover of the book The School of the Art Institute of Chicago by John Christgau
Cover of the book The Wright Brothers by John Christgau
Cover of the book Daily Life in the Colonial South by John Christgau
Cover of the book Flight Into Oblivion by John Christgau
Cover of the book 100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by John Christgau
Cover of the book He Started It! by John Christgau
Cover of the book More Than a Doctrine by John Christgau
Cover of the book The Jimmy Carter Library by John Christgau
Cover of the book David Crockett in Congress by John Christgau
Cover of the book Food Power by John Christgau
Cover of the book Bullion Bend Confederate Stagecoach Robbers, Murder Trials, and the California Supreme Court: Oh My! by John Christgau
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy