“Season of Upsets” includes stories and information about the rich history of LaPorte County basketball that most people have never known. Photos in the book show each one of the 15 high school teams in the county in 1950, and more. (Photo provided)
(Click on photos to enlarge)
UPDATE: Matt Werner will sign copies of his book on: Dec. 19 from 5:40 p.m. until tip-off of the second game between LaCrosse and Boone Grove at the LaCrosse High School gym; Dec. 20 from 9 to 11 a.m. at J-MART BP station on Highway 30 in Wanatah; and Dec. 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Scarby’s South Shore Pub, Franklin Street, Michigan City.
The new book “Season of Upsets,” which chronicles the unprecedented 1950 LaPorte County basketball season and more, is now available. Author Matthew A. Werner, who grew up in Union Mills, completed the book after three years of work.
Author Matthew Werner
Werner was inspired by an old 8×10 picture of the Union Mills Sectional championship team that he’s had for 30 years. One of the players in the photo was his uncle. “It started as a quest for family history to learn more about my Uncle Dean,” Werner said, “but one amazing fact led to another until I realized that was one very unique season.”
All 15 town and township schools that existed in the county in 1950 are included in one way or another in the book, which captures the experience of basketball during that era as well as the life and times of the people who lived it. It’s not just a story about basketball; those players were born into the Depression and grew up in the shadow of World War II. The coaches were young veterans. Sportswriters sparred on the pages of their rival newspapers. One school burned to the ground. Many people struggled to get by. But in the end, there were many happy memories.
For more information, visit www.seasonofupsets.com and www.facebook.com/seasonofupsets. Copies are now available at Amazon as well as at Dewey’s Auto Supply, Wanatah; Les & Pearl’s, Union Mills; LaPorte County Historical Society Museum, LaPorte; Scarby’s South Shore Pub, Michigan City; and from Union Mills Historical Society members.
The back cover of the book.