Jack Lawyer is a gifted athlete. Alan Dionne is not. They are friends because of shoes: Alan thinks they are the best he's ever worn, and Jack because the manufacturers pay him to play ball. To Alan, athletic competition is a noble endeavor; he believes in the Olympic Creed, and that the most important thing is the trying. To Jack, playing ball is the road out of his decaying mill-town home, and the path to the riches of a professional career. They meet at a time when manufacturers are beginning to funnel huge sums of money into amateur and collegiate sports, and this story chronicles both boy's (and later, men's) trials through college and beyond. Is sport a noble endeavor in itself? Or, is it high-dollar entertainment? Can it realistically be both?
Jack Lawyer is a gifted athlete. Alan Dionne is not. They are friends because of shoes: Alan thinks they are the best he's ever worn, and Jack because the manufacturers pay him to play ball. To Alan, athletic competition is a noble endeavor; he believes in the Olympic Creed, and that the most important thing is the trying. To Jack, playing ball is the road out of his decaying mill-town home, and the path to the riches of a professional career. They meet at a time when manufacturers are beginning to funnel huge sums of money into amateur and collegiate sports, and this story chronicles both boy's (and later, men's) trials through college and beyond. Is sport a noble endeavor in itself? Or, is it high-dollar entertainment? Can it realistically be both?