Part one of my series about the Tony Meale book "The Chosen Ones: The Team that Beat LeBron" was posted yesterday.  In part two, I submitted a series of questions about being an author and publisher, Roger Bacon and LeBron James.  

"The Chosen Ones" can be purchsed at www.thechosenonesthebook.com.

DI: What was the research process like for the book?  I'd like to know about what it was like securing interviews with everybody and hunting down video archives.

TM: The research process was a lot easier than it could have been. Roger Bacon tapes all of its games, so getting copies of the state final and whatnot was fairly simple. One of the players on the cover, Matt Reed, has an amazing scrapbook from that season with every newspaper clipping from every relevant newspaper you could imagine. That saved a lot of time. As far as interviews, some people were harder to track down than others, but a few phone calls and emails usually did the trick. Interviewing the players and coaches was obviously important, but I wanted to go beyond that and get as many perspectives as possible from that game and that season. An example would be interviewing the referees from the state final. I was able to track down two of the three and just wanted to see what their recollections were – of LeBron, of Roger Bacon, of the game itself. 

DI: It is obvious that you had paid a lot of attention to detail while writing "The Chosen Ones."  What was the most difficult aspect of writing the book?  

TM: The most difficult aspect, by far, was not being an eye witness to what happened. I sort of pulled a Buzz Bissinger in that I left my newspaper job to write a book, but Buzz moved to Odessa to write Friday Night Lights and got to witness firsthand every high and every low of every player and coach on that team. And it shows in the writing. You're talking about maybe the greatest sports book of all time. I was only 16 when Roger Bacon won state. I wasn't at the game, and even if I had been, I wouldn't have been taking notes. I wouldn't have been in the locker rooms or present for any of the behind-the-scenes stuff that can potentially add so much to a book. 

DI: What was the most fun aspect?

TM: As much as I would have loved being there for the practices and pregame speeches and postgame celebrations, it was really rewarding to sit down with those guys one-on-one and to listen to them tell their story and share their recollections. Most of the time, people were sharing memories from five to ten years earlier, but there were times when it was 25 to 30. Over time, the mind gets a little fuzzy, but it's amazing how much the memories aligned from person to person. Some people might read the book and think, "Did things happen exactly the way they're being portrayed? Is this quote from a decade ago verbatim to what was actually said?" And those are fair questions. But truthfully, I think the memories make the book special. When you really get down to it, what's more important: the way something happened, or the way someone remembers it happening? The memories are what people take with them.

DI: "The Chosen Ones" was the first book you ever wrote.  What did you take away from the process?  Do you have any advice for aspiring authors who might want to take the plunge?

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On the day that Stony Brook university and Kent State University punched their cards to the College World Series, Tony Meale released his book “The Chosen Ones: The Team that Beat LeBron.”  The 372 page book chronicles the improbable run by Roger Bacon Spartans that ended in a defeat of LeBron James and St. Vincent St. Mary in the 2002 state title game.  

One thing is clear about “The Chosen Ones” and that is that a lot of time and hard work was put into writing the book.  Much of the book is done in an oral history style and is centered around first-hand encounters of the players and coaching staff of the Spartans.  There is a good balance of first-person narratives, description of gameplay, background info and explaining what makes all of the characters in the book function the way that they do.  In this sense, it reminded me of Terry Pluto’s great book “Forty-Eight Minutes,” which chronicles a regular-season game between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers in 1987.  In addition to statistics, Meale gives thorough descriptions of the feel of the games played and what is going through the mind of each player.  Reading the segments that outline gameplay is not like reading a box score.  

Much of the story centers around the late Roger Bacon coach Bill Brewer.  A tough-nosed and no-nonsense coach, Brewer took the fledging Spartans program and turned it around using his brand of Xs and Os coaching and personal accountability.  Brewer was a family man and that extended to the way he approached his coaching career.  He was very tough on his players, but it was only done so out of love.  Bill Brewer pushed his players to the edge only because he believed in them and wanted them to succeed as much as they possibly could.  

Every good story has a highs and lows.  An example of that paradox is that Bill Brewer passed away about five years after the Spartans won the state championship.  Tony Meale sets the table by starting the book off with the story of Bill Brewer’s life leading up to his death.  As the reader, you get a feel for what he meant to the community, team and most importantly, his family.  

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As we try to keep our mind on our own goals, we know there are plans for the future, but certainly not the immediate future.  Positively consumed by the events of the present day, fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and even casual observers around Northeast Ohio cannot look past these NBA Finals.  For some, it's a crusade to never let go of the bitter, but for many it's a time to move forward.  Then again, it might just be about watching some quality basketball before the Association takes its summer hiatus.

It doesn't matter why the people watch, nor their motives for caring, but the NBA got a desirable match up.  Whether it's about a city, an individual, or an actual team; people are going to watch, they're going to react.  The talking heads at ESPN will frustrate the savvy fan, and perhaps brainwash the less knowledgeable observer of the game with knee-jerk reactions and melodramatic analysis.  All of the craziness is reserved for the fans, the media, and that special demographic of talk radio and its callers; basically, the hype only applies to the people who don't matter.

The Heat and Thunder just have to worry about playing 48 minutes of quality basketball every night until one of the teams has won four games.  In a way, that's the bottom line, even if it isn't necessarily the juiciest story to be told, especially with these two teams that are just action-packed with back stories.  We find that the fans are empowered as part of the story, hence their viewpoint is suddenly relevant if not paramount.  So, we're asking three questions about this much anticipated series.  River Burns will be addressing the hyped point of view, while Demetri Inembolidis is the prevailing cooler mind, offering truth from a basketball perspective. (Demetri's answers appear in italics)

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So… who are you rooting for in the NBA Finals?

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