Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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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?

TM: Tons. I could probably write a book on it, actually. But the bottom line is, you have to be incredibly passionate about your subject, and you have to be extremely disciplined. You have to want to get up early in the morning and write. If you need someone there pushing you and telling you to write, you're not a writer. There will be days when you want to take a break from it, and that's fine. There will be days when you question yourself and wonder if you have what it takes to get it done, and that's fine, too. But whatever you're writing about, you have to live it and breathe it and truly let it in. It has to be a part of you. And finally, you have to be patient. There's not much sprinting in writing a book. It's definitely a marathon.

 

DI: What is your impression of self-publishing?  

TM: Writing a manuscript is one thing; actually getting it published is a whole other story. My background is English and journalism, but if you become a publisher, you become a businessman, and you have to make business decisions. Hiring editors, hiring designers, hiring a printer, hiring an accountant, seeking legal advice – a lot goes into it. The actual writing of the book is by no means easy, but it'll probably be the easiest thing you do if you self-publish.

 

DI: Which player on the team would you say was the most nostalgic over the run that the Spartans had?

TM: I think every player was nostalgic in his own way, but one person whose emotion and conviction really struck me was Marcus Smith, who was a reserve on that team and didn't play a second in that state final. It might seem strange to some that it's a bench player, but once you know Marcus' story, it makes more sense. He was the last guy added to that team. He was a midseason call-up. And, as we see in the book, being on that team wound up changing his life.  

 

DI: LeBron James did not want to participate in the oral history aspect of the book.  I do not want to psycho-analyze a person I've only briefly met, but do you think that losses stay with him and fester more than your typical phenom?  

TM: It's probably not fair for me to say yes or no one way or the other – only because I've never met him or talked to him. But I have noticed he's mentioned that loss to Roger Bacon on a number of occasions over the years, which is understandable. That was probably the biggest setback of his amateur career. But he responded pretty well to it by winning the national title as a senior. 

 

DI: I believe LeBron hates losing more than your typical athlete, which creates unnecessary pressure.  An example of this is when he took a lot of flack for refusing to shake the hands of the Orlando Magic after they beat the Cavs in the 2009 conference finals.  There are times in his high school career where you can see a pattern developing that would follow him into the pros.  How much do you think the loss to Roger Bacon festers with him to this day?  

TM: I think it's definitely something he still thinks about, which is probably a good thing. As good as he is, as competitive he is, that loss serves as added motivation. When Michael Jordan didn't make varsity as a sophomore, I'm sure he felt angry and frustrated – and I'm sure he carried at least some of that anger and frustration with him throughout this career. That's probably why he's the greatest player ever. If LeBron doesn't still think about that game, something's wrong.

 

DI: There are parallels that can be drawn between LeBron's high school teams and the last two years LeBron James spent with the Cavs.  For example, James didn't bother going for the jump ball in the first match up between the two teams and appeared to not have any interest in what his coach had to say during the final game.  With the Cavs, he would lead the team in dance routines, intricate handshake routines and pre-game fake photos.  What do you think is the root of these characteristics that seem to follow him around in his playing career?

TM: As far as the handshakes and pregame routines and all that, I think that's just LeBron being LeBron. He's always struck me as quiet yet light-hearted. I think he's just trying to have fun and entertain people. But when you talk about not jumping for the ball, that's a pretty cocky thing to do. And I think that loss to Roger Bacon – probably more than anything in his life up to that point – taught him the importance of respecting your opponent.

 

DI: Do you think that LeBron's decision to team up with Wade and Bosh in Miami could have anything to do with his past as a high school basketball player?  

TM: It's certainly possible. Dwayne Wade is one of his best friends, and he had a lot of success in high school playing with guys who were best friends. I'm sure that LeBron – like a lot of players – enjoys being teammates with guys he's close to away from the court. When LeBron was in high school, St. Vincent-St. Mary was the "it" team. All eyes were on them. In Cleveland, LeBron was the "it" player, but the Cavs weren't the NBA's "it" franchise. Maybe LeBron missed that. When you look at all the attention he got that summer in 2010, all these teams were vying for him, and I think he enjoyed being recruited in a way. LeBron never got to taste that in high school. He had offers from various colleges, but no one seriously thought he would play college basketball. When it came down to it, I think LeBron decided he had a better chance of winning an NBA title with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh than with Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao. So he left.

 

DI: Overall, how does the Cincinnati community/Roger Bacon feel about LeBron James today?  

TM: Cincinnati isn't a big NBA city, so I don't want to say we're indifferent to him, but he's not someone a lot of people talk about on a regular basis. I'm sure there's pride on some level than LeBron is a native Ohioan, but we don't consider him one of our own like Akron and Cleveland do – and for obvious reasons. In the Roger Bacon community, in particular, it's a little different. Just talking to some of the players – and you see this come out in the book – some of the guys root for him, some guys aren't huge on him and some guys are indifferent. Deep down, I'm sure they all want LeBron to do well because it makes that win in 2002 that much more impressive. Some of the guys didn't like the way he left Cleveland, but as LeBron's legend grows, so does that state title.

 

DI: Not to take anything away from what LeBron James' high school coaches accomplished, but do you think this story would even exist had Bill Brewer been the coach of the Fighting Irish?

TM: If you're asking me if Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary would have won a state title in 2002 if Bill had been the coach, that's tough to say. Dru Joyce was put in an extremely tough situation that year. He inherited a team that had won two straight state titles, the team was getting national exposure all season, and even if he won state, people would've said it was just because he had LeBron and a bunch of other talented players. He's won two state titles without LeBron, so obviously he can coach. But I'm not sure Bill would have been a great fit for that Irish team. Bill was old-school. He was tough-nosed and would not have liked all the media attention and scrutiny. He would not have liked playing home games in a college arena. Bill was about showing up to the gym just after dawn and having his guys get after it. Would that approach have worked with the best prep player ever? It's hard to say. But Bill molded that Roger Bacon program into his likeness. It took time, and it took sacrifice, but he did it. And the result was something you won't ever forget.