The Boys From Joes

by Nell Brown Propst

In 1929 the town of Joes caught national attention when 10 boys and their coach learned the rules from a book and went on to win third place int he national finals! Their story is a testimonial to hard work, desire, and dedication.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

178 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1987

Reviews

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just recently re-read this book. This story relates the basketball team from this 100 population town in Eastern Colorado, called Joes. It is a charming and exciting book, including some interesting Colorado history. Joes is only a few miles from where my Grandfather homesteaded, and my Father used to talk about the memories he had of this basketball team. He was 16 years old when the team shocked all of Colorado by winning the state tournament, earning the right to advance to the Nationals in Chicago. There were only ten players, (half of the boys in their school of just thirty-six). They had homemade uniforms, unmatching shoes, and didn't even have a gym to practice in. All their practices took place on an outside court. They learned to pass hard so the wind wouldn't take their ball away, and didn't dribble the ball much because they were playing on gravel. To quote Dick Connor in the Forword, "Joes was an event as much as a place or a collection of farm boys who didn't know they weren't supposed to overwhelm the big city boys from Denver to Chicago. They were too blessedly naive, too unaware, to realize it just wasn't done. So they did it!"

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in the area around Joes, Colorado. I've played an exhibition game against a Harlem Globetrotter-like team in their gym (now Liberty School). I even coached against them for a couple of years.

Even without my close connection to the story, this was awesome. The classic David v. Goliath, underdog sports story. Very well written, very well researched and documented, lots of cool old photos. Very cool stories and connections to other historical people/moments.

Lane Sullivan sounded like a tremendous man, a true man of the past that we can all look up to. We need more Lane Sullivans in the world.

Very cool book.

[Kyle Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story of being an underdog and having a desire to win. Doesn't take a million dollar coach to turn boys into winners. The best story in the book is how the beat the newly formed Harlem Globetrotters.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book written about a small town just 30 minutes north of where I grew up. Know many of the names in the book. A "Hoosiers" (movie) sort of story, and it's wonderful.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unless she got her facts wrong, this story would be hard to screw up. The underdog sports story?

Times a million.