When the Game Stands Tall: The Story of the De La Salle Spartans and Football's Longest Winning Streak (Paperback)

~ (Author), Bob Larson (Photographer), Tony La Russa (Foreword) "de La Salle High School sits on the corner of Treat Boulevard and Winton Drive in Concord, California..." (more)
Key Phrases: Long Beach Poly, Mater Dei, Monte Vista (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The core of the program’s success extends well beyond sports. It is a remarkable blueprint that has applications not only in business but also with your family and friends."
- Tony La Russa.

"There are lessons in this book for everyone. And the most important lessons don’t have anything to do with football, or coaching, or winning."
- John Madden

"Human vulnerability gets equal time with athletic invincibility throughout Hayes’s book."
- San Francisco Chronicle

"Remarkable..."
- Pro Football Weekly

Product Description

By 2002, The Streak — a historic 13-year run of consecutive wins by the Spartans, a high-school football team from Concord, California, that couldn¹t be beat — was still going strong. In this revised edition of When the Game Stands Tall, author Neil Hayes, who had unrestricted access to the De La Salle team, writes from the inside about the games, the players, and their visionary coach, Bob Ladouceur, who managed to amass the highest winning percentage in football history (.995) through standing for something greater than winning. The book, which also features interviews with major sports figures like Bill Walsh and John Gruden, is a revealing portrait of the coach who believed above all in instilling basic life skills where winning is not the goal, but merely the by-product of playing the game.

The Streak had become a national story long before it ended in September 2004. In this revised paperback, Neil Hayes catches up on the lives of the main characters and takes readers through the final tumultuous year. What results is a timeless and inspirational story of struggle, tragedy, and triumph.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books; Rev Upd edition (August 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583941304
• ISBN-13: 978-1583941300
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #151,565 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm not even a football fan...., November 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Game Stands Tall: The Story of the De La Salle Spartans and Football's Longest Winning Streak (Hardcover)

As the mother of three former high school football players who remains largely indifferent to the sport even now, I found myself surprisingly captivated by this story. Powerfully and tightly written, it early on evoked strong emotions and a growing fascination with Head Coach Ladouceur's methodology. As one of the team members said, "If you think Coach (Ladouceur) is inspiring on the football field, you ought to be in his Religion class."

The Coach is clearly unique among high school football coaches, This book is about a season of individual football games, the team players, the assistant coaches, and Coach Lad. I quickly grew to care deeply about every one of them.

As one of the boys chided a boasting parent, "Dad, it's not about winning." Indeed, it's not, not really at all, and that's what is so intriguing about this coach and this team. It's not even about football. Corny as it may sound, it's about love.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Po_boy geo didn't even read the book- he's just a DLS hater, November 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Game Stands Tall: The Story of the De La Salle Spartans and Football's Longest Winning Streak (Hardcover)

This is the most definitive Life skills primer for teachers, parents and young student-athletes. Neil Hayes came about as close as one can to capturing the essence of the mystery surrounding the great Bob Ladouceur teacher/coaching philosophy. This is an excellent read and should be must reading for all coaches. It is also a testiment to the boys who have become Men under the guidance of caring and knowledgeable coaches and mentors.

PS, student/athletes are not recruited - They want to paly with the best and choose to become Spartans.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you., July 21, 2004

By	David A. York (La Costa, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: When the Game Stands Tall: The Story of the De La Salle Spartans and Football's Longest Winning Streak (Hardcover)

Thank you Mr. Hayes for bringing this story to print.

Nearly 20 years ago, I went to my first De La Salle football game, and they won. In fact, they did not lose for several years to come, and even then it was on a controversial play at Oakland Coliseum when running back Rob Forrester ran in a touchdown, but was ruled out of bounds... Reviews showed, he was still in bounds and scored with the football just crossing inside the pylon. However, there was no 'instant replay' and alas, DLS had an incredible win streak come to an end.

I understand they started a new streak... and it was an impressive one in its own right. However, it too found its end.

The Spartans would start yet another streak, this one even longer. I sat in the bleachers when they played La Costa Canyon near San Diego this past year. It was my first Spartan game in nearly 15 years, the last one I witnessed, they lost. They weren't to lose this game down south. In fact, I know a kid who played for La Costa that night. This "kid" is 6'4" and about 240lbs - fit. I talked to him a few weeks prior to the game. He was already concerned. The look in his eyes said this game was already over before the opponents even got there.

Missing a few key players that night, DLS won. To La Costa's credit, they played with a lot of heart.

A few weeks later, ESPN showed a match pitting DLS vs. the perennial champs of Louisiana. Louisiana was without their past QB, John Booty and DLS would lose their QB early in the game, victim to the awful turf of Diablo Valley College. The Spartans rolled - not even a close match.

What the score didn't tell you was how the 200lb linemen of DLS were destroying the 300lb lineman opposing them. One of which was 6'7", well over 300lbs, and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

They ended the season as national champs, and that brings us to today, at the dawn of another season where they will travel yet again to battle the best America has to offer.

You may have already devised that, yes, I do indeed have ties to a small Catholic School in Concord, California. I have to say it pains me to read, as well as hear, the constant rants of "recruiting". I was there and admittedly, I thought I knew of a few instances where recruiting might have been possible... However, after looking into it, I found my own personal allegations to simply be false. Later in life, I realized the flat out implausibility of their recruiting: The kids are all local to the area, and still beat the best there is to offer, both Statewide and Nationally; Invariably, these kids are all undersized compared to their competition; For the amount of profound success DLS has at the High School level, there are but a few that go on to have success in college, and a precious few who go on to the NFL; and finally, I just have to laugh at the idea of 'scouting' out some kid that is running around his 7th grade blacktop playing 'tag' with his friends. It just isn?t plausible.

So the streak rolls and is currently at 151.
De La Salle will lose a game again some day, but quite frankly it will be a lifetime before they are beaten. If they lose a game, they'll just start another streak the next day. They always have, and I can only believe, they always will.

The reviewers bashing this book are invariably looking for an excuse to explain away this school's success. Their rants of "recruiting" are but a sophomoric attempt at belittling something that is both good and true as part of its fundamental nature. They will never know what makes this school so special. But those of us who have been blessed to be affiliated with this -Brotherhood- we all know.

There is no science that can explain why this team is a winner. It is a matter of faith.

Without Faith this team is nothing.

All that Coach Lad has to do is just - let it happen.

Internal Faith in each player, each student, each other... is what makes these kids true Champions. They are winners because of who they are and it is depicted each season in what they do.