Customer Reviews

Remember Westville: The Story of the 1976 Westville Tigers Basketball Team, Their Hopes, Dreams And The Season The Town Can Not Forget

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I read this book during breaks at work. Very detailed book and you can tell the Author has passion for the story and did a lot of homework before writing. Anyone who has grown up in a small town can relate to this book. Every small town has that one team that everyone talks about and this is Westville's team. The Author takes you back to 1976 and is able to give you a play-by-play of some of the biggest games of the year. When you are done with the book you will feel like you know the team and it made me want to travel to Westville to check out the real life school,town,etc. This isn't Hoosiers, but it is a good book that any sports fan would enjoy. The biography on each player and coach at the end of the book is a great bonus.

James E. Bryant retells the story of the 1976 Westville High School Basketball Team with the diligence of an investigative reporter and the passion of a small town prep sports fan. I marvel at the attention to detail he has brought in his descriptions of the players, coaches and community of Westville; but he does not stop there. The insights from opposing participants, coaches and press reports is simply amazing.

You aren't going to find a romanticized recant of a near winning team, against all odds. Instead, you get accurate, detailed reporting. The flow of the story follows the pre-season, season, and state tournament in chronology. Intertwined in each chapter are quotes of the various participants relative to that time sequence.

One can only imagine the effort the author logged tracking down the key and minor players for interviews of recollections, and the time spent squinting at microfiche machines to research old newspaper articles. As a bonus, the author updates us on what has become of each of the team members and coaches. This book is a must for those who played or watched basketball in the 70's in and around East-Central Illinois.

Mr. Bryant has demonstrated a talent here for investigative reporting. I can't help but wonder what a true crime expose would be like from this author - is there another book on the drawing board?

Yale R. Jaffe

Remember Westville is a sensational book! I loved Friday Night Lights, and this book reminds me of it. I recommend it to anyone who is a sports fan. The book follows the real life story of the 1976 Westville Tigers, a blue collar team from an old coal mining town in east central Illinois. Bryant talks about their electrifying run through the season and into the post season tournament, and it will capture your attention right away. Bryant has a way of getting the reader to fall for the characters in the book, and root for them to succeed. I won't give away the ending, but it had me literally in tears, remembering my experience in the state tournament. Some of players and coaches faced personal and team struggles during that year. But they came through each situation in heroic fashion. I love the historical views of the town as well, and didn't realize that the town hosted the first night high school football game in the United States in 1928. The book is very well written, and you can see that Bryant has done his homework. The book gets more involved the deeper you dive into it, and is hard to put down. I would love for it to be turned into a movie some day. Buy this book. Believe me, you won't regret it!

This book is a great read! Much like Friday Night Lights, this book blends history with the incredible basketball season of 1976. Its an inspirational book that would be an ideal for any high school fan of basketball or football. Any fan who has experienced a season with your own kids or if you are just a fan of high school sports, get this book. It tells about the highs and lows of high school sports, and what a team goes through on an individual level and as a unit.