The most heart-breaking thing in the book is the story of Boobie Miles. Boobie was a star. He was a great runner in high school football; though he wasn't a student by any stretch of the imagination -- Boobie didn't do much work off the field, and didn't spend much effort trying to -- colleges wrote him fawning letters on a daily basis, promising him the moon. If Boobie had applied as just a student, they'd have laughed him off. But that didn't matter. Because the kid could *run.*
This is what happened to Boobie Miles: he blew out his knee.
He got surgery and rehab, but he never came back to his best, never regained his fearlessness. And his chance at college evaporated, because all Boobie had were his legs -- and without them, he didn't stand a prayer of even getting in.
Other things in the book come and go; Boobie stays with you. I always wondered what happened to him. The movie's coming out, so now I know.
Dunno if the movie's any good. The book is fantastic.
