Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town
Oct 2016 · Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
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About this ebook
From a Sports Illustrated senior writer, "a richly detailed history of Aliquippa football . . . A remarkable story of urban struggle and athletic prowess" ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
In the early twentieth century, down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company built one of the largest mills in the world and a town to go with it. Aliquippa was a beacon and a melting pot, pulling in thousands of families from Europe and the Jim Crow South. The J&L mill, though dirty and dangerous, offered a chance at a better life. It produced the steel that built American cities and won World War II and even became something of a workers' paradise. But then, in the 1980s, the steel industry cratered. The mill closed. Crime rose and crack hit big.
But another industry grew in Aliquippa. The town didn't just make steel; it made elite football players, from Mike Ditka to Ty Law to Darrelle Revis. Few places churned out talent like Aliquippa, a town not far from the birthplace of professional football in western Pennsylvania. Despite its troubles—maybe even because of them—Aliquippa became legendary for producing football greatness. A masterpiece of narrative journalism, Playing Through the Whistle tells the remarkable story of Aliquippa and through it, the larger history of American industry, sports, and life. Like football, it will make you marvel, wince, cry, and cheer.
"Looks at the struggling steel town of Aliquippa, Pa., through the prism of its high school football team. The author understands the Rust Belt particulars of the region better than most political professionals." — The Wall Street Journal
In the early twentieth century, down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company built one of the largest mills in the world and a town to go with it. Aliquippa was a beacon and a melting pot, pulling in thousands of families from Europe and the Jim Crow South. The J&L mill, though dirty and dangerous, offered a chance at a better life. It produced the steel that built American cities and won World War II and even became something of a workers' paradise. But then, in the 1980s, the steel industry cratered. The mill closed. Crime rose and crack hit big.
But another industry grew in Aliquippa. The town didn't just make steel; it made elite football players, from Mike Ditka to Ty Law to Darrelle Revis. Few places churned out talent like Aliquippa, a town not far from the birthplace of professional football in western Pennsylvania. Despite its troubles—maybe even because of them—Aliquippa became legendary for producing football greatness. A masterpiece of narrative journalism, Playing Through the Whistle tells the remarkable story of Aliquippa and through it, the larger history of American industry, sports, and life. Like football, it will make you marvel, wince, cry, and cheer.
"Looks at the struggling steel town of Aliquippa, Pa., through the prism of its high school football team. The author understands the Rust Belt particulars of the region better than most political professionals." — The Wall Street Journal
From a Sports Illustrated senior writer, "a richly detailed history of Aliquippa football . . . A remarkable story of urban struggle and athletic prowess" ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
In the early twentieth century, down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company built on...
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2 reviews
Logan Smith
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June 26, 2023
Lovely 🌹
About the author
S. L. Price, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated since 1994, is the author of three previous books: Heart of the Game; Pitching Around Fidel, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Far Afield, which Esquire named one of the top five reads of 2007. He lives in Washington, DC, with his family.
S. L. Price, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated since 1994, is the author of three previous books: Heart of the Game; Pitching Around Fidel, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Far Afield, which Esquire named one of the top five reads of 2007. He lives in Washington,...
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