Both Sides of the Line

Kevin Kelly's memoir, Both Sides of the Line, is a gripping, unforgettable story about a lower middle-class kid in the turbulent Boston of the 1970s whose football team, perennial losers, rise to championship level one season because of a charismatic young coach. Clyde Dempsey, a brilliant high school, college, and semi-pro player in his own right, inculcates his charges with a unique mantra ("technique, quickness, desire") that helps them overcome their weaknesses. He also has a warm spot in his heart for his "kids" and helps them find their way to college when otherwise their education would stop with high school graduation. The coach, however, has a very dark other side?he's a collector for the Boston mob. Eventually, his mob job, his anger, and his affinity for cocaine get the better of him. He brazenly commits a murder in a heavily populated Boston bar, disappears, and is only brought back to face charges when someone in Toronto recognizes him during an episode of "America's Most Wanted." Dempsey, and his championship season, become lifelong obsessions for Kevin Kelly, who tries to bring his teammates together to assess how such a good man could also be such a bad man, too.