A while back, I used to coach the 6th and 7th grade school basketball team. While I was coaching, Travel Team was still a relatively new book that Mike Lupica had written, and I got into reading it.
As the story was unfolding, my season was running parallel to what was happening in the book. In the book, the main character is a short kid named Danny that could handle the ball well and is the heart of the team. On my own basketball team, my point guard and captain was also a short guy named Danny, and he was a great kid (I'd imagine he's much older now, and is still probably a really good kid). As the team in the story improves from terrible to pretty good, my own team was stringing together a few wins and we were making a push for the playoffs ourselves. The similiarities between my season and this book were uncanny, and it made for a great read and an amazing year coaching.
Looking back, I loved coaching that basketball team, and I really did love reading this book at the same time. When it comes to sports books, I think Mike Lupica is one of the best in the game. It doesn't hurt that he's a New England sports fan, either.
If you play basketball and live for sports, if you've ever dreamed of making the team and being in the spotlight but have just come up short, if you're a point guard and you wish you were just a few inches taller - then perhaps this book will be right up your alley. And, if you'd like to learn more about this book and many others that Mike Lupica has written, follow this link: http://www.mikelupicabooks.com/index.html
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