Mike Pressler walked into the bottomfloor meeting room of the
Murray Building and, as he had done hundreds of times over a
sixteen-year career at Duke University, prepared to address his
men's lacrosse team. Forty-six players sat in theater-style chairs,
all eyes riveted forward.
It was 4:35 P.M. on Wednesday, April 5, 2006. The program's
darkest hour had arrived in an unexpected and explosive
announcement.
Pressler, a three-time ACC Coach of the Year, informed his team
that its season was canceled and he had "resigned," effective
immediately. While his words reverberated off the walls, hysteria
erupted. Players cried, confused over a course of events that had
spun wildly out of control. What began as an off-campus team party
with two hired strippers had accelerated into a rape investigation
-- one that exposed prosecutorial misconduct, shoddy police work,
an administration's rush to judgment, and the media's disregard for
the facts -- dividing both a prestigious university and the city of
Durham.
Wiping away tears, Pressler demonstrated the steely resolve that
helped him win more than two hundred games. For the next thirty
minutes, Pressler put his personal situation aside and encouraged
his players to stick together. He also made a bold promise: "One
day, we will get a chance to tell the world the truth. One day."
This is that day.
Pressler, who has not done an interview since the saga began, has
handed his private diary from those three weeks to New York Times
bestselling author Don Yaeger, exposing vivid details, including
the day Pressler was fired, when the coach asked Athletic Director
Joe Alleva why the school "wasn't willing to wait for the truth" to
come out. "It's not about the truth anymore," Alleva said to the
coach in a signature moment that said it all. In addition to
Pressler, Yaeger interviewed more than seventy-five key figures
intimately involved in the case. The result is a tale that defies
logic.
"It is tough to be one of fifty people who believed a story when
fifty million people believed something else," Pressler said. "This
wasn't about the truth to many of the others involved. My story is
all about the truth."
General
Imprint: |
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2008 |
First published: |
June 2008 |
Authors: |
Don Yaeger
|
Dimensions: |
208 x 137 x 25mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
320 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4165-5149-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
True stories >
Crime
Promotions
|
LSN: |
1-4165-5149-2 |
Barcode: |
9781416551492 |
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