In the early 1970s, the United States was much the same as in the radical '60s; Americans dying in Vietnam, anti-war demonstrations on college campuses, conflict between blacks and whites in most major cities. In predominantly white Dolton, a south Chicago suburb, busing had come to Thornridge High School. Black students from nearby Phoenix now attended school with whites from Dolton and South Holland. They were not warmly received. Then, the Thornridge basketball team started winning... Fans in black and white communities came together as Thornridge captured consecutive Illinois...

In the early 1970s, the United States was much the same as in the radical '60s; Americans dying in Vietnam, anti-war demonstrations on college campuses, conflict between blacks and whites in most major cities. In predominantly white Dolton, a south Chicago suburb, busing had come to Thornridge High School. Black students from nearby Phoenix now attended school with whites from Dolton and South Holland. They were not warmly received. Then, the Thornridge basketball team started winning... Fans in black and white communities came together as Thornridge captured consecutive Illinois...

You probably had a childhood idol-that one special person who meant the world to you. It might have been a family member, a teacher or a coach. It's also quite possible you were first drawn to a professional athlete you saw on television or read about in a magazine or newspaper. Many of us once dreamed of becoming a pro athlete just like our first childhood hero. But, do the athletes we idolize have someone they considered to be extra special when they were kids? In Sports Idols' Idols, nearly 150 past and present athletes-including dozens of Hall of Famers-share stories about their very...