BOOKMARK
'Game' plays to readers and those in stands

ONE GREAT GAME by Don Wallace; Atria Books, hardback, $26

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Book Editor

If you're vitally interested in football or if you enjoy a good piece of journalism regardless of subject, this book will keep you reading. It's about the first-ever national high school football championship, which pitted two powerhouse California teams, Concord De La Salle and Long Beach Poly.

Wallace, a Poly graduate who played varsity football and an award-winning writer, spent months on the sidelines with both teams and knows how to build suspense, tease out telling detail and — most importantly — get traditionally close-mouthed coaches and athletes to open up. Gritty Poly's famous alumnae include Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg, and the city has a fascinating history. De La Salle is an example of a kind of work-focused, keep-your-nose-clean, God-is-our-co-pilot school that seems almost a throwback.

Hawai'i comes into the action because of a comment by a De La Salle coach during a phone interview with an Island radio show back in October of 2000. Something he said led fans here to believe that he had committed No. 1-ranked De La Salle to a Christmastime matchup with Hawai'i's St. Louis. When it became clear that De La Salle had no such intention, the resulting flap had many ripple effects, all covered in detail here (although I suspect some Islanders will disagree with Wallace's characterizations of the place). Wallace also discusses the exceptional place of Pacific islanders, Hawaiians and Samoans in football programs.

This one scores a touchdown.