When approached with an opportunity to talk to Tony Meale about his book, The Chosen Ones, I was excited to interview an author, caring not so much about the book itself. Here was an opportunity to interview an established sports journalist and a newly christened author, something I couldn’t afford to miss out on.
As an aspiring journalist, I wanted to be thorough before interviewing Mr. Meale, so I took it upon myself to read this story.
“It’s about basketball”, I thought. “It can’t be too bad.”
From the first page, I was head-over-heels about the book. It took me just two days to finish, as I couldn’t put it down.
The Chosen Ones is the story of St. Bernard Roger Bacon High School and their 2002 State-Champion basketball team; the only high school team in the state of Ohio to ever beat LeBron James.
I was expecting a basketball book; one that took me through the ups and downs of the season and how they came to win the 2002 Ohio State-Championship.
What I got, instead, was the incredible tale of a team, a town, and a community that stretched far beyond the baseline and into the homes and hearts of those around Bacon basketball.
The book blew me away, and immediately my intentions of interviewing Tony for selfish reasons melted away, leaving a burning desire to interview the man who dove whole-heartedly into this community, taking a leap of faith, and ending up with the story of a lifetime.
After I flipped the last page, I was immediately on my computer emailing Tony. He responded almost immediately and after a couple of quick emails, Tony began to answer my seemingly endless list of questions.
He took each question and thought it through before answering. It was incredible to me just how kind, respectful, and willing Tony was, and how he took so much of his time answer my questions and give me his perspective on the book.
His thoughtfulness was truly something I will never forget, and I will never stop promoting this incredible book. I’m telling you, the readers, this is an absolute must read for anyone, not just sports fans.
It’s a book on the human experience, which is something we can all relate too. It just happens to be told through the channel of a high school basketball team.
Thanks again to Tony Meale for taking the time to talk to me and for supporting our vision here at More Than a Fan.
More importantly, thank you for telling this story. Had it not been told, who knows if anyone outside of St. Bernard, Ohio would be lucky enough to understand this tale. It is thanks to you that the world now understands the trials, tribulations, tragedy, and triumph that helped this story to be one of the greatest ever told.
Here is the conversation between Tony Meale and I, regarding “The Chosen Ones”:
HG: Take me through the process of getting the book started? Clearly, you had a keen interest in this story, but what made the book seem like the way to go?
TM: I came across something in March 2011 that made me think about Roger Bacon’s win, so I started researching, and the more I found out about the 2002 state final – and that season in general – the more intrigued I became. Then I realized the 10-year anniversary of the game was one year away, and I thought, ‘No one’s ever really told the true story of this team, so, if not now, then when?’” And literally within one hour, I decided I was going to resign from my job and write the book.
HG: If you don’t mind telling us, can you give us a little background as to what you were doing before the idea for the book came about?
TM: Sure, I was working for Enquirer Media in Cincinnati, covering mostly prep sports. I got out of grad school in 2008, started at the paper about six weeks later and spent almost three years there. It’s never easy to walk away from your paycheck, but this was a story that needed to be told.
HG: You said in the preface that you spoke with these people through many hours of interviews. How did you unravel such a tremendously long, detailed, and inspirational story?
TM: By asking a whole lot of questions. I interviewed more than 50 people for the book, and almost every interview was between two and four hours. A lot of times, someone would say something that would make me think of more questions for someone else, so I interviewed some people two, three, four times. It was just a matter of listening closely, connecting the dots and asking the right questions.
HG: Did everyone cooperate?
TM: Yeah, just about. As I stated in the preface, I was unable to speak with LeBron. I reached out to him, but his representatives declined on his behalf, which was fine. They were very nice about it, and LeBron has talked about that loss from time to time, so if people want to know his thoughts on it, they’re out there. That said, LeBron, to my knowledge, has not spoken about that loss since he won an NBA title. So I do wonder if his thoughts on that game have changed at all.
HG: Were there a few guys that were more helpful than others? Were some unwilling to say too much? Was there anyone who held back, or gave more away?
TM: Well, some people were more private than others – at least initially. So that’s when you, as a journalist, need to create a sense of trust with the interviewee and make him or her feel more comfortable. When you make people feel at ease, they’re much more likely to open up.
HG: You spent so much time with these people, the characters in the book. Are you now a part of their “family”, per say? In other words, are you an honorary member of the Bacon/St. Bernard community?
TM: I’ll say this: I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in the Roger Bacon community, and they’ve really made me feel at home throughout this process. Ironically enough, I attended St. Xavier High School, which is one of Roger Bacon’s rivals. I did a book signing at an X/Bacon basketball game a few months ago, and that was an odd feeling. Bacon wound up winning on a three-pointer in the final seconds, and I was pretty okay with that.
HG: In the book, it seemed as if Nate Wyrick had the biggest problem with Coach Brewer. Did you water down his attitudes on Brewer a bit, or was he really not as upset with him as he seemed to be?
TM: When it comes to human relationships, few things are black and white; there’s usually a lot of gray – and I think Nate and Bill are a prime example of that. And I can see where each side was coming from. Nate was an offensive player, and Bill was a defensive coach, so the fact that they butted heads a bit isn’t surprising. Would Nate have preferred a larger role on that team? Yeah, probably. But does that mean he didn’t fulfill the role he was given? No, not at all. If given the choice between sitting and winning or playing and losing, I think Nate would sit every day of the week.
HG: Coach Brewer had such a profound impact on the lives of these players and everyone around him. What are your thoughts on the man Coach Brewer was, on the court and off, through the stories you’ve heard?
TM: I think he always had good intentions. Some of the players, when they played for Bill, thought he was too tough. Whether he was or wasn’t is up for debate, but I don’t think Bill was unfair. I don’t think he ever did anything just to randomly be mean. I think, for him, everything served a purpose. Did he yell at those guys a lot? Sure. Did some of the players handle the criticism better than others? Sure. But I’d rather have a coach who’s emotionally invested in my improvement than a coach who says nothing out of indifference.
HG: Do you think he was too tough on his guys at times?
TM: At times, probably. But overall, I think he was doing what he thought was best for that team. And you have to remember, those guys perceived Bill through the eyes of 16- and 17-year-olds. Most people, especially at that age, don’t respond all that well to constant criticism. I definitely think Bill was tougher and more emotionally invested than the vast, vast majority of high school coaches, but if he was too tough, every player on that team would have quit or transferred. So, as tough as he was, I don’t think it was to the point where it became unbearable – not for the guys that stayed, anyway.
HG: Do you think that sometimes the strained relationships between player and coach hurt the team at times, rather than helping it?
TM: It’s possible. I think Josh had a rocky relationship with Bill, and because Josh was the best player on that team, I’m sure there were times when Bill’s style and approach may have gotten in Josh’s head a bit. But even if it did, I don’t think it affected things to a significant degree – at least not for an extended period of time. I mean, they won state, right?
HG: Speaking of Josh Hausfeld, he went on to a pretty successful career at Miami (OH). Do you think, however, had it not been for Brewer, that he could have played at a better school?
TM: Well, a couple of thoughts there. One, I don’t think Bill did anything to negatively impact Josh as a player or recruit. If anything, Bill prepared Josh for what he was going to encounter at the next level. Two, some of the people I interviewed said that when Josh was younger – maybe a freshman or sophomore in high school – they thought he had the potential to play for a Duke or a North Carolina. But Josh had repeated ankle injuries throughout high school that either kept him off the court or prevented him from playing at 100 percent. So, I think the ankles – more than anything else – may have prevented Josh from getting a lot of scholarship offers from the elite of the elite. But let’s keep in mind that he committed to Miami two years after Miami’s Sweet 16 run with Wally Szczerbiak. At the time, I think Miami had a strong Butler/VCU feel to it. The school hasn’t been back to the Sweet 16 since then, but I still think it’s one of the better programs in the MAC.
HG: You wrote about the parents at Bacon. You wrote that parents weren’t getting involved, weren’t allowed to ask about playing time, etc. With Coach Brewer’s sometimes abusive tendencies, was he ever approached by the parents about his demeanor toward their child? Were there every any incidents?
TM: No, not that I’m aware of. And I interviewed several parents for the book. Some of them definitely thought Bill was tough – maybe too tough. But at the same time, they’ve got memories that’ll last a lifetime. And just to be clear, Bill was never “abusive.” I think that word conjures images of Mike Rice. Bill was never, ever like that in any way. His toughness was more mental. He’d make you pay physically with sprints and things of that nature, but he was never physically abusive.
HG: To me it seemed as if these guys were playing as much for each other as they were for Coach Brewer. Who do you think they were playing for?
TM: Each other, Coach Brewer, the school, the community of St. Bernard – everyone. They were definitely playing for more than just themselves, that’s for sure.
HG: Before you began this story, did you think that such an inspirational story would be involved? Could you imagine all of these pieces coming together to form this intricate and complex storyline?
TM: I knew it was a great story – I wouldn’t have left my job otherwise – but I didn’t realize just how great it was. People may dismiss this as the biased author trying to drum up interest in the book, but I truly think this is one of the greatest stories in the history of American sports. How good is it? It’s so good that I gave away the ending in the title. That’s how confident I am in the compelling nature of the story. If the writing is one-tenth as good as the story, I’ll be happy – and I really mean that.
HG: I’m going to second that and say that this story is about much, much more than just basketball. Did you think it was going to be that way going in? How would you describe the story that you told?
TM: Well, the main storyline that I knew about – aside from the actual game and the Sports Illustrated cover and all that – was Bill Brewer’s death. USA Today ran a front-page story on Roger Bacon in June 2007 because LeBron had just advanced to his first NBA Finals, and it was a looking-back piece on “the prep team that beat LeBron.” Bill was interviewed for the story, but he passed away five months later at the age of 42. I knew nothing had been done on Bacon’s story since then, so I knew that was going to be a major storyline to explore.
But just about everything else that unfolds in the book, I had no idea. As you know, Bill’s death isn’t the only one in there. There’s also some racism. A lot of people have asked me if I knew Bacon’s players personally before I wrote the book. Honestly, I had never met or spoken to any of them. So all of the struggles and triumphs in their lives that they talked about, that was all new to me.
HG: Do you honestly believe that the loss to Bacon was a turning point in LeBron’s life? People have always said he refers to it often, but do you think that the loss truly changed LeBron the person and LeBron the basketball player?
TM: Yes, absolutely. Based on what he’s said in interviews, and based on what Brian Windhorst wrote in his endorsement, yes, absolutely. I mean, LeBron has put the pain of that loss in the same sentence as growing up without a father. So, it’s fair to say that loss affected him – and it probably still does. No matter how many NBA titles he wins – and I think he’ll win a bunch – I think that loss to Roger Bacon is always going to stay with him to some degree.
HG: What was your favorite part about the process? Was it gathering the info, learning the story, talking to the players, watching the games? What was it? Also, how did you get such specific play-by-play in the book? You obviously procured the games, how so? Take us through that process.
TM: Brian Neal got me copies of the games, and Matt Reed has an amazing scrapbook from that season that has just about every relevant newspaper article you could ever want on the team. So the game tapes and the game summaries gave me a nice framework. I definitely didn’t want to overdo the play-by-play because that can get really tedious for the reader, so I tried to only do that when necessary. Writing those parts involved a whole lot pausing and rewinding. I watched that state final probably 12 or 13 times.
But my favorite part of the process was probably the interviewing. Just getting to know those people to the degree I did was very rewarding, and I was humbled that they let me into their world the way they did. That’s the heart of the book right there. I’m a big numbers guy, and I love stats, but stats are sterile. People don’t read books for stats. They read books because they want to understand the human condition and experience what those guys went through. A lot of people have told me that they love how the book really isn’t about basketball and how basketball is kind of the side dish to the main course that is the human interest stories of those players and coaches. That made me happy because that’s exactly what I was going for.
In the end, it’s a great story. And I’m really glad I got to tell it.
Tony Meale is the author of The Chosen Ones: The Team That Beat LeBron, which tells the story of the St. Bernard Roger Bacon basketball team that beat LeBron James and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in the 2002 state final. Roger Bacon was the only Ohio team to ever beat LeBron, who finished 81-1 against in-state competition.
The book can be purchased at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
If you buy the book off Amazon, send an email with “MTAF” in the subject line to Tony at info@thechosenonesthebook.com to enter into a drawing to receive a free autographed copy of the book. The drawing will be held July 1.
The post One on One with “The Chosen Ones” Author Tony Meale appeared first on More Than A Fan.