Sid and the Boys: Playing Ball in the Face of Race and Big Business

Product Description

This is a true story about a small town, big oil, an undersized high school basketball team, a coach with a huge heart, and how a season was nearly undone by well-intentioned corporate interference and racism.
Big oil and basketball both grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in the first half of the twentieth century. The eleven-time national AAU champion Phillips 66ers and their corporate sponsor gained international fame together in the 1940s and 50s. Due in large part to Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville had a highly educated and affluent population. Thanks also to Phillips, there was a stockpile of All-American basketball stars who lived there and served as coaches and mentors to youth throughout the community.
In the late fall of 1966, just as the high school basketball season was getting underway, one of those former players was dispatched by Phillips to “assist” the local team, only to learn that the help was unwelcome. What Phillips failed to understand was the loyalty between the coach and his team. In an exceptional and unexpected show of unity, as well as fierce loyalty, the players rallied around their coach and commenced their season, playing against the state’s largest schools. This is a heartwarming story of that coach, his team and the lasting impact of their remarkable relationship.
★★★★★ “This story reminds me of Hoosiers; It combines high school basketball with timely social issues. Well researched and a great read.” —Jay Bilas, ESPN
★★★★★ “Debut author Carl McCullough has captured not only a great sports story, but provides food for thought on current issues. His treatment of racism is sensitive and timely.” —Former Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys Head Coach, Barry Switzer
★★★★★ “This is a classic story of an undersized high school basketball team from a big oil town in Northeast Oklahoma that finds a way to make a run at a state championship while fighting systemic racism at the height of the civil rights movement and attempts by corporate business to control who coaches and plays on the team. A sociologist’s dream that turns into a fairy tale finish.” —Dick Weiss, Hall of Fame Sports Columnist

Review

This story reminds me of Hoosiers. It combines high school basketball with timely social issues. Well researched and a great read. —
Jay Bilas, ESPN

“Debut author has captured not only a great sports story, but provides food for thought on current issues. His treatment of racism is sensitive and timely.” –
-Former Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Barry Switzer

“A classic story of an undersized high school basketball team from a big oil town in Northeast Oklahoma that finds a way to make a run at a state championship while fighting systemic racism at the height of the civil rights movement and attempts by corporate business to control who coaches and plays on the team. A sociologist’s dream that turns into a fairy tale finish.” —
Dick Weiss, Hall of Fame Sports Columnist

”
Sid and the Boys” is not only a feel-good story about a mid-America high school basketball team. It is a timeless tale of how fierce loyalty, selflessness, and mutual respect led a group of teenage boys and their beloved mentor to break down barriers and inspire their town. Told with heart, a keen attention to detail, and an awareness of how this undersized team fit into the big picture of a slowly evolving America,
Sid and the Boys will have you cheering for the College High Wildcats as they take on corporate interference, systemic racism, and basketball opponents from around the state.” —
Lon Kruger, Head Coach, University of Oklahoma Men’s Basketball

“Few of u
s knew at the time the full meaning and impact of our circumstances. That’s another reason this story is important, and why we all appreciate the author’s willingness to get it out there. After getting to know Carl McCullough on this journey, I sincerely believe that he was meant to tell it.” —
Ernie Jackson