MEDIA KIT Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win by John Rosengren Sourcebooks, November 2003 hardcover, 368 pages ISBN: 1-4022-0046-3 6 x 9 " Black and white photos $22.95 U.S./$36.95 CAN CONTENTS schedule an author interview or appearance press release cast of characters issues and excerpts author Q & A reviews author bio author photo cover shot
John has appeared on ESPN-TV's "Cold Pizza," ABC Radio's "Syndicated Sisters," WNYC's "Leonard Lopate Show," and Bloomberg Business Radio, in addition to three dozen local radio shows across the United States and Canada. SCHEDULE AN AUTHOR INTERVIEW OR APPEARANCE To schedule an author appearance or interview, please contact Sourcebooks publicist Heather Otley at (630) 961-3900 ext. 334 or heather.otley@sourcebooks.com. PRESS RELEASE BLADES OF GLORY SCHEDULED FOR NATIONAL RELEASE IN NOVEMBER 2003 Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win by John Rosengren Sourcebooks, November 2003 hardcover, 368 pages ISBN: 1-4022-0046-3 6 x 9 " Black and white photos $22.95 U.S./$36.95 CAN The average teenage boy thinks about sex once every seven seconds; in Minnesota, he thinks about hockey the other six. The state obsession arouses colorful dreams that culminate in the state high school hockey tournament, the nation's largest. U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks, who led his high school team to the 1955 title, claimed winning the Tournament was a bigger thrill than the 1980 Miracle on Ice. For many kids, the dream's a wild fantasy, about as likely as taking Britney Spears to the prom. But for the boys of Bloomington Jefferson High, the Tournament's considered a birthright. Tradition's their ticket. Jefferson, led by the winningest active coach, has gone to the Tournament more often than any other school in the past two decades and
returned home champions five times. Minnesota native John Rosengren, an awardwinning writer whose articles appear in magazines ranging from Sports Illustrated to Reader's Digest, joined the 2000-2001 Jefferson Jaguars team on its quest to reach the Promised Land. Rosengren was granted unlimited season-long access to the Jefferson hockey program. He watched the boys cry in the coaches' office when they got cut, tried to keep up with the players in practice drills, bantered with them on the team bus, observed the boys passing out ephedrine in the locker room, heard the coaches' threats at closed door team meetings, gossiped with parents in the bar after games and traded private thoughts one-on-one with the main subjects. He chronicles what's at stake for these boys and their families in pursuit of their dream. In the style of Friday Night Lights (H.G. Bissinger's bestselling book about Texas high school football that documented the Permian Panthers' 1988 season), Blades of Glory offers an in-depth look into the hidden hockey culture as revealed by one of the state's storied powerhouses. The fervor with which Minnesotans celebrate hockey raises issues about sport and society that transcend Minnesota and reach into communities across the country, wherever kids play and parents cheer them to victory. There's glory to be won but a price to be paid. The Jaguars' dramatic story, personalized through the experiences of five players and their coach, illuminates issues endemic among the 30 million children participating in organized youth sports and the 6.5 million teenagers playing high school sports. With frankness and compassion, the narrative draws into sharp focus these issues that have dominated the news and parents' concerns of late, from the use of performanceenhancing drugs to teen suicide. Sports can provide great highs and happy memories, and they can cause emotional scrapes and psychological scarring. The Jaguars' story runs the full gamut. Blades of Glory: The True Story of a Young Team Bred to Win is hockey's Friday Night Lights, the first book to examine youth sports issues through the Minnesota obsession-a sports book with crossover appeal among parents. To schedule an author appearance or interview, please contact Sourcebooks publicist Heather Otley at (630) 961-3900 ext. 334 or heather.otley@sourcebooks.com. CAST OF CHARACTERS Blades of Glory focuses on the stories of five kids and the coach; their hopes and dreams for the season provide the book's emotional hook. Team captain Tommy Gilbert, an NHL prospect, staggers under the pressure of his role and suffers nightmares about losing. Matt Duncan, the team's clutch player, could end up in the NHL or prison--he's already been busted twice for drugs. Nick Coffman, the alternate captain with limited talent, labors under the critical eye of his father, a college hockey star, and aches to prove himself. Timm Lorenz, the goalie, moves to Minnesota to play high school hockey in memory of his deceased father. Michael Bernhagen, the greatest talent ever to play for Jefferson, battles his short temper, which almost cost him his hockey career--and still could. Finally, there's Tom Saterdalen, the coach addicted to winning who says he's in it for the kids. The spotlight on these five players and their coach personalizes the issues of youth sports that culminate in high school athletics.
Tommy Gilbert doesn't want to be captain. Understanding the pressure inherent in leading the Jefferson tradition, he's the only player who casts his vote for someone else. A doer, not a talker, he tries to lead by example, letting his abundant skills speak for him. "Big players play big in big games," the coach tells him, and that's how Tommy starts, scoring four goals in the first game. But in the biggest game of his high school career, he stumbles and fails to carry the team. Matt Duncan's father tells him before each game, "Give me something to remember." Duncs and his father both want to forget the pain and shame caused when Matt got busted for drinking and chewing. After serving his suspensions, Duncs matures from a troubled punk to a caring young man who's there for his teammates. He has a senior season he will be proud to remember. Watching Duncs walk off the ice after his final home game, his father feels himself overflowing with love for his son that spills out into a letter he writes him. Nick Coffman's father tells him after games how Nick has screwed up. Nick wants to follow in his father's footsteps to play Division I college hockey, but he's a step behind in his skills. Nick resolves to become a contributor his senior year. By midseason, he emerges as a key player who attracts the attention of scouts. His confidences soars, and he gains a measure of independence from his father's opinion. Timm Lorenz turns to hockey as the tonic for his grief. Before games, he closes his eyes and visualizes his father in the stands. When he returns home to Colorado for Christmas, he visits his father's grave and tells him all about the season so far. Four years after his father's death, Timm understands he can't go back; hockey helps him go on. Michael Bernhagen finds hockey can't fill his void. Abandoned by his father before he was born, then again eleven years later by the only father he knew, Bernie bears a scar not even his enormous talent can soothe. He vacillates between violent outbursts and bursts of vast greatness. The team's fortunes undulate with his moods. The coach arranges an emotional intervention late in the season. Bernie keeps the fans guessing which way he'll take the team down to the final thirty-eight seconds of the season. Tom Saterdalen enters the penultimate season of his career having won more games than any other coach he'll face yet hungry to win one more title. Having grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, he's still trying to prove himself in Prestigious West Bloomington as he sneaks up on his sixtieth birthday. Though already a legend, he is troubled by two footnotes to his success--a championship season in '01 would secure his reputation. He has the talent on his team to do it if he can keep the kids together emotionally.
They're joined by a supporting cast of alumni, parents and colorful community members, like T.J., the mentally challenged rink attendant who motors the Zamboni through the McDonald's drive-thru--if local legend is to be trusted. There's the dropdead gorgeous mother who straps on goalie equipment so her sons can practice shooting before tryouts and another mother who removes her son's goalie equipment when he wears it to bed. There's the father who walks out on his wife and kids, then fights the court order that banishes him from the rink, and the father who beats up the coach after his son is cut from the team. And so on.
Several supplemental chapters tell the stories of key characters in the context of larger issues. The coach of the Jefferson Peewee A (ages 12-13) state champions exhorts his "warriors" to do "battle," sowing early the seeds of violence and success in the competitive high school feeder program. A former Jefferson youth coach now at a rival Catholic high school pleads guilty to lesser charges when investigated for recruiting, taboo even under the state's permissive transfer laws that transform student hockey players into free agents. A star on the Jefferson girls team hits bottom after breaking up with the boys' goalie, then turns her life and her team's season around with an unselfish gesture that nets the girls the state championship but falls short of winning the boys' respect. These chapters examine issues endemic to youth sports in America. ISSUES AND EXCERPTS The Jaguars' dramatic story, personalized through the experiences of five players and their coach, illuminates issues endemic among the 30 million children participating in organized youth sports and the 6.5 million teenagers playing high school sports. They include: Tryouts and cuts Adults question the message coaches send when they cut seniors. One boy killed himself when the coach extinguished his dream to play varsity hockey. "This is high school and this is a game, but is winning everything?" his mother asked. "If anybody would get to the point of doing what Dougie did, what have you really won? People are more valuable than winning a state championship." --from Chapter 2: Judgment Day Youth programs that serve as varsity feeder programs The Booster kids bent under the weight of their hockey bags pass nearly daily through the Bloomington Ice Garden's Hall of Fame. The Jaguar teams hanging on the wall keep before them the youth program's ultimate objective. "It's what you're bred for," explained one Jefferson alumnus. "From the first level all the way up, you're here to play in the state tournament for Jefferson--and to sacrifice everything to get there." --from Chapter 6: A Jaguar Is Bred Transferring and recruiting High school students become free agents who transfer schools to play for a better team. Coaches want them to pick their school and will do almost anything to get them there. One coach bullied the school's administration to accept a senior transfer star hockey player after the school had reached its capacity. The coach's team won the state title the following season. The Minnesota State High School League spent over $10,000 investigating allegations of illegal recruiting, but settled for the coach's admission to a lesser charge. Chasing scholarships Up to two dozen Minnesota hockey players a year leave home to play junior hockey or in the USA developmental program. Others commute hundreds of miles in the fall and spring to play junior hockey on the weekends. No other high school sport took kids away from home the way hockey did. In
response, Dave Stead, the MSHSL executive director, admitted that Minnesota high school hockey may not serve its best players, but pointed out that playing elsewhere was not always in the students' best interests. "There are some kids who will probably do better not playing at the high school level, just like anyone who gets a promotion for a job. But there are people promoting kids for their own purposes, misrepresenting their skill level." --from Chapter 16: Playing to the Next Level Performance-enhancing drugs "I think all of these kids are using this stuff (ephedrine)," says a Minnesota State High School League tournament physician. "It's not a question of whether they're using it, but a question of is it good for them?" --from Chapter 15: Brother's Little Helper Pressure to win "Maybe there's too much emphasis on winning, since the beginning," one mother reflected after her son's senior season had ended. "Before we got wrapped up in this (hockey) twelve years ago, I was not sure this was the way kids should be. I thought life should be more relaxing, not do or die. Now, I can't even remember that attitude." --from Chapter 6: A Jaguar Is Bred The addiction of winning "Everyone I know has gotten into coaching because they care about their kids, but winning is a drug--it does things to you," confesses on high school hockey coach who has won a state tournament. --from Chapter 12: Cursed to Be No. 1 Parental pressure Bob Lange feared his son had gotten off to a late start--B. J. Lange didn't start playing hockey until the ripe age of nine. His father wanted to help him make up for lost time. The Bloomington personal injury attorney hired Dennis Maruk, a former North Star, to put B. J. on a crash course to catch up to the other kids. Lange rented early morning ice at BIG, where Maruk gave B. J. private skating lessons. Summer vacation and weekends during the school year, Lange had his son on the ice at 4:30 a.m. "Everybody thought I pushed him, but the little guy wanted to do it," Lange said. "He would wake me up." --from Chapter 6: A Jaguar Is Bred The cost of commitment to excellence "Sure, they don't have a whole lot of time for anything other than homework and hockey, but that's the sacrifice you have to be willing to make to play at the A level," said Denny Connelly, Jefferson's Peewee A coach. When their son is picked for the team, parents sign a consent form agreeing to have him at all the games unless he is sick or has a church function. Several years back, when one Peewee A player missed a Thanksgiving tournament to attend a family reunion, the coach, one of Connelly's predecessors, made the boy perform community service. --from Chapter 6: A Jaguar Is Bred Violence and injuries Holt Bennington was paralyzed in a junior varsity hockey game.
His was a freak accident, not the game's fault. Yet, his accident wouldn't have happened on the tennis court. Holt played hockey rough, but he didn't play dirty. "I was out to kill, but I wasn't out to hurt," he explains. "Get the guy off the puck--that was my job." Holt bought into hockey's violent culture--and paid a heavy price. He doesn't begrudge the game's violence but believes some high school players push their aggression too far. "They feel they can do anything out there if it doesn't get penalized," the nineteen-year-old observes. "They don't just throw a check but say, 'You fuckin' pussy' and jam their stick to the crotch." "Players encourage that. They say, 'Nice hit, way to knock that guy down.' Kids will be kids, but coaches need to tell kids that if they throw sucker shots, they'll be benched. Teach them that's not the way the game is to be played. The coach is responsible. If he sees that kind of play, he has to stop it." --from Chapter 17: Somebody's Gonna Get Hurt Parental rage Fifteen minutes after Holy Angels hockey coach Greg Trebil called senior Kelly Kranz and cut him, Kelly's father Kevin pounded on the door of Greg Trebil's shop. "Open up! I want to talk to you!" Trebil was discussing the final cuts with his assistant Guy Olson. "Hang on a minute." He laid the phone down and unlocked the front door. According to the police report, Kranz pushed his way into the shop and started screaming, "You fucking cocksucker! You destroyed my family, my whole family! Over the open phone line, Olson could hear "thumping or hitting sounds." Trebil explained those sounds thus: the 6'2 , 245-lbs. Kranz tried to kick the coach in the groin but missed. Instead, Kranz's heavy boot connected several times on Trebil's left thigh and knee. Trebil later showed police the bruises. "I tried to defend myself without aggressively fighting back because I did not want to escalate the situation," reported Trebil, who goes about 6'4, 235-lbs. Kranz took a wild swing at Trebil's head. "I'm gonna rip your head off and shit in the hole!" --from Chapter 8: Fallen Angel Gender roles In the past decade, hockey has exploded in popularity among girls and women, but their game still lacks the same respect bestowed upon their hockey brethren. Female hockey is physical the way basketball is physical, yet the checking ban opens the ice to skating, stickhandling, and playmaking. The women rely on teamwork and fundamentals. Critics dismiss the differences as inferior. Ironically, women are playing hockey the way men used to, before size and strength supplanted grace and creativity. Girls and women resurrected the game rued as lost by the old guard purists, the game where finesse prevailed over force. Girls and women are not only redefining the sport, they are rewriting the definition of an athlete. That rankles those who believe jocks wear jocks--i. e., you can't be one if you don't need one. "Hockey represents a stereotypical male sport, one that's coded as a 'combat' or contact sport," says Mary Turco, a Dartmouth professor in women studies and author of Crashing the Net: The U.S. Women's Ice Hockey Team
and the Road to Gold. "Traditionally, we've viewed that athlete as a superior athlete. If you give credit to females for being excellent in that sport coded as male, then it becomes just human, and it's devalued. There's resistance to giving the same value to a sport if women do it." --from Chapter 19: She Got Game AUTHOR Q & A Q. How'd you come up with the idea for this book? A. I was watching the 1997 Minnesota state high school hockey tournament on TV. I saw these kids introduced before the game--trying to look cool before the cameras in their face--and knew they were nervous as hell. Growing up, I thought the tournament was the greatest thing in the world and idolized the guys who played in it. Suddenly, as an adult, I wondered, what are we doing to these kids? That's the question I set out to address in Blades of Glory. Q. How'd you pick Bloomington Jefferson as the team to follow? A. I figured I would find answers in the stories of the boys and coach of one team. There are many storied programs in Minnesota, but I picked Bloomington Jefferson because it had the winningest active coach at the time in Tom Saterdalen. He was about to retire but still had something to prove. Also, the program was at a sort of crossroads amidst the changing times of high school sports in general and of Minnesota high school hockey in particular. Q. Were you surprised by what you found? A. I knew I would find kids--and adults--with lots at stake personally. I didn't know the particulars of how their stories would play out. For a couple of the kids--Matt Duncan and Nick Coffman--the season was sweet. For a couple of others--Michael Bernhagen and Tom Gilbert--it was sad. For Timm Lorenz, it was bittersweet. As for some of the issues I encountered, that was sad for me. I saw that the expectations placed upon these kids--by their families, by their coaches and by themselves--robbed them of the joy of the game. Q. Sounds like this book's about a lot more than hockey. A. Just as Seabiscuit wasn't about the horse, Blades of Glory isn't about hockey. There's plenty there to satisfy the hockey fan, but the personal stories of what's at stake for these kids and their families transcends sports. What they go through in chasing their dreams happens in soccer and basketball, even in ballet and piano. Q. What conclusions did you draw? A. I'm still asking questions. As a parent of two small children, I haven't had to face some of the issues the parents I met have faced. But I have empathy for them, and I don't pretend to be an expert, not having been there myself. What do you do if your kid shows a strong interest and talent in a particular sport or activity? How do you provide them with opportunities to develop without pushing them unnecessarily? How do you nurture their passion without squashing it? I don't know, but I hope by raising some of these questions, we can talk about ways to do it better than many are now.
Q. What was the most surprising revelation you found while researching and writing the book? A. I was amazed to see half a dozen players on the team popping ephedrine in the dressing room. They kept their bottles of Ripped Fuel (containing ephedrine and caffeine--a potentially lethal mix) in the school locker room and in their hockey bags. When Sats exhorted them to put forth more effort, they turned to a performanceenhancement for help. Ephedrine is banned by the NCAA, U.S. Olympic Committee, International Olympic Committee--and since the deaths of Korey Stringer, Rashidi Wheeler and Steve Bechler--by the NFL and MLB in the minor leagues, because it is dangerous and believed to give an unfair competitive advantage to those who take it. Most recently, the FDA has said it would make ephedrine illegal. Yet the Minnesota State High School League tacitly endorses the use of ephedrine by its participants. It has not banned the substance nor educated coaches, parents and participants about the dangers of using it. Q. What was Coach Saterdalen's reaction? Is it what you anticipated? A. Before the season started, Sats scoffed at my question about the possibility of his players using performance-enhancing substances. He taught health classes for over 20 years. The posters on his classroom walls warned about the dangers of methamphetamine use (ephedrine is similar in its chemical makeup to methamphetamine). When I told him at the end of the season how I’d observed his players popping ephedrine, he claimed to be surprised. Now, the kids weren’t flaunting these pills under his nose, but the signs of their use were there to see for someone looking for them. Given his reaction before the season began, I’m not surprised he missed those signs. He didn’t want to see them. Q. What's been the most critical feedback you've received to the book? A. Sports Illustrated gave Blades of Glory a favorable review on its website but said Blades didn’t belong in the same class with Friday Night Lights because not as many people care about hockey. The StarTribune gave Blades a decent write-up and mentioned that I was “never much of a hockey player himself.” Those keep me humble. Otherwise, the hundreds of e-mails, letters and calls I’ve received from readers around the country have been overwhelmingly positive. I especially appreciate those that begin, “I don’t like hockey but I loved your book.” Q. You chronicle well in the book the success of teams like Bloomington Jefferson and other schools with rich hockey traditions. Which teams, in your opinion, stand the best chance to start their own dynasties in the next few years if they haven't begun already? A. Everyone seems surprised by Centennial’s success this year but those guys have won state championships at the Peewee and Bantam levels, so they seem the most likely new kid on the block to stick around and perhaps establish a dynasty. Holy Angels, I think, has already established itself as a power and has developed a young tradition likely to age. Of course, Trebil’s methods in getting there are suspect, something I detail in the “Fallen Angel” chapter of Blades. And my alma mater, Wayzata, has fielded strong teams over the past decade. If the Trojans can make that final leap to the state tournament, they might have some staying power as a strong program. Q. What are your thoughts on a two-class tournament for Boys hockey in Minnesota? Overall has it been successful or should there be serious consideration to returning to a one class format?
A. I’d like to see a return to a one-class tournament. Seems no one but the participants cares about the single A tournament--the arena’s empty for the A title game. If the purpose of a tournament is to determine the best team, put them all together and let the last one standing take home the trophy as the true champion. Also, even though you didn’t ask, I like the idea of putting all of the private schools into one section so that the tournament isn’t dominated by private schools who have the advantage of fielding metro all-star teams. And, if we’re talking about preserving the integrity of teams, I wish the MSHSL would toughen its stance on transfers and make kids open enrolling or transferring schools sit out half the season the FIRST time they transfer instead of waiting until the second time to do so. REVIEWS Sports Illustrated review that appeared on its website, SI.com. Minnesota native John Rosengren grew up a fan of high school hockey, which is nearly unavoidable in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. While watching the 1997 state tournament on television, Rosengren decided it would make an interesting subject for his next book. He was granted unlimited access to the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars for the 2000-01 season, getting the chance to follow legendary head coach Tom Saterdalen and his players as they pursued their sixth state title in 21 seasons. That turned into Blades of Glory, Rosengren's fantastic new book about the Jaguars' pressure to uphold the school's impressive legacy on ice. Jefferson is a hockey factory in suburban south Minneapolis that is the alma mater of SI columnist Steve Rushin. The school has produced notable hockey alumni like Islanders right wing Mark Parrish, Penguins minor league center Toby Petersen, 1984 Hobey Baker Award winner and 10-year NHL veteran Tom Kurvers, two-time Hobey finalist and NHL washout Mike Crowley and Wisconsin sophomore and Avs 2002 fourth-round pick Tom Gilbert. Rosengren is a veteran freelance journalist who has written for Sports Illustrated, Reader's Digest, Men's Health and numerous other publications. But the opportunity to pen a book about the greatest love of his home-state residents is clearly in his wheelhouse, as his passion and love for the sport of hockey jumps off every page. Blades of Glory goes beyond just the hockey played by the Jefferson Jaguars and delves into their personal lives and family issues. While the story of goaltender Timm Lorenz and his mother moving to Minnesota from Colorado after his father's death is touching, most of the other family stories are only mildly interesting. But the hockey action is engrossing and Rosengren's impressive narrative brings out emotions that any former high school athlete is sure to recall. While Rosengren's book is entertaining, it's tough to compare it to a classic like Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger's 1990 book about Odessa (Texas) Permian High School's football team was named the fourth-best sports book of all-time by SI last December. Rosengren's subject matter of Minnesota high school hockey is much more limited in its appeal to the masses than Texas high school football. But Blades of Glory is a breezy and enjoyable read for hockey fans, and it would be especially enjoyable for high school hockey players and parents who are likely to relate to the pressures and drama of balancing school work, dating and high-level athletics. Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for SI.com.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writers/jon_dolezar/11/21/pleau.waddell/index .html PAGES November/December 2003 issue On Thin Ice: John Rosengren goes back to high school for a season on the rink After caffeine, adrenaline may be the most popular drug pumping through the bodies of America's high-school students. And the long-term effects far outstrip the temporary tease of a Starbucks venti latte. Tap your internal reserve of adrenaline, mix it up with equal doses of testosterone and teen hormones, and you get a near-perfect recipe for local fame, parental approval, the envy of your peers, and the praise of your coach. All that's needed is a place to turn yourself loose: a football field, say, or a basketball court. Or an ice rink. Because as Minnesota author John Rosengren discovered, no highschool sport is immune to the hypnotic lure of a winning season. In his new release, Blades of Glory (Sourcebooks), Rosengren takes readers into the locker rooms and living rooms of the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars, a championship high-school hockey team in suburban Minneapolis. To most of the country, Bloomington is the home of the Mall of America. But for Minnesotans, Bloomington is the unofficial capital of high-school hockey. "The community's stake in hockey is huge," Rosengren says. "Winter dominates the climate, so hockey is what we do. The say, 'If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' Well, here, if the weather gives you winter, you play hockey." Rosengren spent a season following the legendary coach Tom Saterdalen and five of the leading players on the 2000-2001 team-immersing himself in their lives both on and off the ice-to present a firsthand look at the impact of high-school sports on players, parents, coaches, and fans. His inspiration was H.G. Bissinger's influential Friday Night Lights, which chronicled a season in the life of a high-school football team in Odessa, Texas. Other writers have followed Bissinger's lead-including Madeleine Blais (In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle) and Darcy Frey (The Last Shot)-but Rosengren believes that behind-the-scenes stories of high-school sports continues to be worth telling. "Many of the same issues troubling college and professional sports reach down to the high-school level and below," he says. One of those problems is drugs. "I once worked in an adolescent residential treatment center where kids were treated for alcohol and drug addiction," Rosengren says. "So I have my antennae up around drug use." Midway through the season, he got his first clue that adrenaline and Mountain Dew weren't the only stimulants keeping the Jaguars' championship dreams alive. In a make-or-break game against archrival Eden Prairie, one of the Jaguars was playing the game of his life. At 5'7" and just 135 pounds, "this little kid was slamming opponents 50 pounds bigger than him around the rink," Rosengren remembers. "This was after the coach had told them that they really needed to turn their season around." But it wasn't the coach's inspirational speech that had fired up this player. The fire was coming from ephedrine, the primary ingredient in Ripped Fuel, an over-the-counter body-building supplement and a drug that has subsequently been blamed for several deaths among college athletes. "I thought, Wow, this is huge. This kid, who was drawing NHL scouts to watch him play, didn't trust his abilities enough and thought he needed extra help-or felt so much pressure to perform that he had to 'up' his performance."
Rosengren didn't write Blades of Glory as an expose of teenage drug use or a trek through the dark side of high-school sports. But he couldn't help exploring the unique pressures at play in high-school athletics. "There's the glory and honor and drama and beauty and grace that play out on the ice," he says. "There's also the sadness and heartbreak of misplaced priorities. From what I saw-at their homes, parties, social events-I believe the parents involved started with good intentions, but somehow along the way they lost perspective. It's the same thing with the coaches. They get so close to it, so wrapped up in it, that they can't see what's happening." And, frankly, few of those in leadership positions want to see what's happening. No one is eager to chastise a player's over-the-top behavior if that behavior is what's helping to win games. Rosengren vividly recalls one conversation with a former Jaguar. "I wasn't looking for a hockey scholarship," the young man told him. "I was looking for a way to pick up chicks and be a tough guy. I played hockey because I could take out my aggressions in a public place and not get into trouble for it." That was a fairly common motivation for a Jaguar. What was unusual was the person describing it. "This kid spoke to me from his wheelchair," the author says. "He was a 19-year-old who was paralyzed after crippling himself for life by playing rough on the ice. He doesn't blame hockey, though. He says kids will be kids. But coaches need to teach kids how to play the game." Robert Bittner is a Michigan-based freelance journalist. His most recent book is an inspirational career guide entitled Your Perfect Job. AUTHOR BIO A native Minnesotan, John Rosengren developed an early love for hockey. He learned to skate as soon as he could walk and gained intimate knowledge of the game as a player, referee and fan. He still plays--though a little more slowly--once a week with other aging players and cheers the hometown Wild. An award-winning writer, Rosengren writes frequently about the drama that plays out in sports. His work has appeared in more than 75 publications, including Maximum Golf, Men's Health, Reader's Digest, Self, Sports Illustrated, and Tennis. He earned a master's degree in creative writing from Boston University. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Maria and their two children.