Jack Lawyer is a gifted athlete. Alan Dionne is not. They are friends because of shoes: Alan thinks they are the best he has ever worn, and Jack because the manufacturers pay him to play. To Alan, athletic competition is a noble endeavor; he believes in the Olympic Creed, and that the most important thing is the trying. To Jack, playing ball is a ticket out of his decaying mill town home, and the path to the riches of a professional career. They meet at a time when manufacturers of sporting equipment are beginning to funnel huge sums of money into amateur and collegiate sports, and this story chronicles both boy's (and later men's) trials through college and beyond. Is sport a noble endeavor in itself? Or, is it high-dollar entertainment? Can it realistically be both?