Sarah Palin and the Wasilla Warriors: The True Story of the Improbable 1982 Alaska State Basketball Championship

Shropshire (The Last Real Season) offers an unabashed paean to Sarah Palin (née Heath) in the guise of a sports triumph. Palin, relegated to the junior varsity team her junior year, returned to be elected co-captain and play point guard her senior year, even though she was “not overwhelmingly gifted with raw basketball talent.” The prose is weighted by effusive testimonials for Palin, who was “part bearcat” and “tougher than the filet mignon that they served at Mel’s Diner,” and leaves the impression that Palin alone should be credited with the championship. Game-by-game replays are intermixed with historical sketches such as basketball in Alaska, the coach, the junior high school coach, and the Alaska pipeline. Some sketches provide insight; others are baffling in their presence. A tendency toward inane metaphors—Alaska was a “gelid hell on earth,” and “the hay was not in the barn yet,” referring to an uncompleted game—further contribute to an erratic narrative. Photos. (Mar.)