Heartland. Keith O'Brien.

Heartland.   Keith O’Brien.

A Forgotten Place, An Impossible dream and the Miracle of Larry Bird.

If you are a basketball fan, even a young one, chances are good that one has heard of Larry Bird.    Author Keith O’Brien decided to write about the basketball legend in his latest book with the surprising title “Heartland”.   Although the NBA finals have finally ended it really is never a bad time to read about basketball stories and biographies.   This rendition of Bird, who did not participate in the creation of this manuscript, is worth the effort to read. 

The first thing I want to address is the title of the book.    It is not necessarily a bad choice, but the word Heartland is a broad term that does not directly connect to Larry Bird or necessarily conjure images of basketball.    It is true that Bird grew up in rural southern Indiana and we can consider that middle America.    It seems like the publishers of this work could have been more creative with their book title selection.    How about the Everything You Wanted to Know about Larry Bird’s Unlikely College Basketball Experience?  Of course, that would not work because the title is lengthy. Perhaps readers have a better idea. 

Readers should be aware O’Brien only covers Bird’s youth and college days while growing up in French Lick and West Baden, Indiana and how he spent a few weeks at the premier basketball program in the state and then reluctantly made his way to Indiana State.  The stories are detailed.  Some content is grim and perhaps even hopeless.   The author included many characters in the story to support the protagonist.   At times, it seemed like the supporting cast, including his teammates, coaches, administrators, overshadowed the star of this story.  O’Brien did not come out and say it, but this may have been intentional because Larry Bird was notorious for saying little if nothing at all during public appearances or in many social encounters.  

O’Brien, who authored Charlie Hustle, a book which was reviewed on this blog, (https://richardcampsie.blogspot.com/2024/08/charlie-hustle-keith-obrein.html ), set up Heartland similarly by shaping the essay into four lengthy parts.   The most important and one of the most interesting sections was found in part IV.   This section was about one hundred and ten pages and unpacks Larry Bird’s final season at ISU when they went undefeated all the way through the season and up to the NCAA championship game where they faced Irvin “Magic” Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans in March of 1979.   Another section of intrigue occurs earlier in the book when the author explains in elicit details how Bird first enrolled at Indiana as a freshman to play for Bobby Knight and Dave Bliss, the assistant Hoosier coach that brought him to Bloomington in the mid 70’s.   What many fans might wonder and not be aware is that, as O’Brien reports, Bird was not happy wearing the red and white at IU.  He entered the program with 75 dollars in his pocket, little clothing and very humble roots.    Bird did not fit in well with his peers, including his teammates.    The lure of being coached hard by legendary but gruff head coach Bobby Knight was not enough to keep him at Bloomington.         

For many this is where the story could have ended and Bird would have been a footnote of many cautionary tales around the country.     Somehow, as the author writes, the stars aligned for a struggling assistant coach newly hired at ISU and for Larry Bird to be found and convinced to give college basketball another chance.  This is where the book turns from Bird’s humble southern Indiana roots to his sometime awkward college experiences in Terra Haute, Indiana.  Introduced are his coaches there, teammates and even an intellectual college president, with a penchant for producing many quoted lines, that nearly stole the story at times, whether O’Brien intended to do so or not.   The rest is history and the impetus of the book. 

A book of two hundred and eighty-four pages is a fairly easy book to navigate given the many breaks and pauses that are provided by the publishers.    It is a great opportunity to garner insight into how Larry Bird came to be long before his lengthy career with the Boston Celtics in the 1980’s and early 90’s.  While this book would have been even more sagacious had Bird agreed to contribute his thoughts to the story, the writer still does a credible job of taking many existing pieces and organizing them into an intriguing story worthy of unpacking from the annuls of college basketball history.   Even though the title may not directly capture the essence of this story, it is easy to remember and brings back memories of a magical season that time could easily forget.    

Discussion questions to consider for this book:

What does the title of the book mean?

What alternative title would you consider appropriate for this book?

Why were the odds stacked against Larry Bird to become a college basketball success?

Was Larry Bird right to not talk to the media during his college playing days?

Why was Larry Bird perpetually guarded about his background?  

What kind of impact did Larry Bird have on college basketball?

 

You might like to read this book if you are a fan of Larry Bird.

You might like to read this book if you are a college basketball fan.  

You might like to read this book if you are a fan of reading about well-known basketball fans.

You might like to read this book if you seek to learn more about college basketball history.   

Read more about the author on X:  https://x.com/KeithOB