Nevertheless, the school's principal who wanted a teacher first and someone who put the students first, and Ladouceur who worked part-time as a probation officer and wanted to help troubled kids, found one another.and the building of a legacy was underway.Īuthor Hayes had unfettered access while writing 'When the Game Stands Tall' to present and past DLS school officials, coaches and players, opposing players and coaches. (35 miles northeast of San Francisco) at the age 25 with of one year of coaching experience was not popular. Ladouceur's arrival at the Christian Brother's De LaSalle High School in Concord, CA. Houston was a blood and guts coach that forced players to make a choice.'those who remained were dedicated and believed in what they were doing.' Houston taught discipline, fundamentals, and that the game was hard and had to be played agressively - attributes that would become hallmarks of Ladouceur's programs. He played high school football under the legendary Fred Houston at Danville, CA.'s San Ramon High. He left college football with a sour taste for football, feeling that it 'used him up then spit him out.' Ladouceur, who played college football at Utah State then San Jose State, was an unlikely candidate for establishing himself as one of the premier high school coaches in the U.S. Hayes interweaves three stories - the school's football program which won 151 consecutive games ('The Streak') over twelve seasons, the life and maturation of DLS's head football coach Bob Ladouceur, and an intimate view of the 2002 game-by-game preparation and execution which led to the 11th consecutive undefeated season. 'When the Game Stands Tall' by sports reporter and author Neil Hayes traces the storied football program at De LaSalle (DLS) High School (Concord, CA) from its roots to becoming one of today's most highly regarded in the U.S. What results is a timeless and inspirational story of struggle, tragedy, and triumph. In this revised edition, Neil Hayes catches up on the lives of the main characters and takes listeners through the final tumultuous year. The Streak had become a national story long before it ended in September 2004. The audiobook, which also features interviews with major sports figures like Bill Walsh and John Gruden, is a revealing portrait of the coach who believed above all in instilling basic life skills where winning is not the goal, but merely the byproduct of playing the game. In this revised edition of When the Game Stands Tall, author Neil Hayes, who had unrestricted access to the De La Salle team, writes from the inside about the games, the players, and their visionary coach, Bob Ladouceur, who managed to amass the highest winning percentage in football history (.995) through standing for something greater than winning. By 2002, The Streak-a historic 13-year run of consecutive wins by the Spartans, a high-school football team from Concord, California, that couldn't be beat-was still going strong.

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