The Pep Talk: A Football Story About the Business of Winning

Coach Jack Morris was at a complete loss. One week after being hung in effigy for leading the beloved Lincoln Lions to their twenty-fourth straight defeat, Morris was bracing for the Jacktown Giants. Gians by name and by record, they were heralded as the best prep team Ohio had ever seen. Coach Morris was just waiting for the axe to fall.

But something bizarre happened when a stranger requested permission to deliver the pregame pep talk. With nothing to lose, Coach Morris agreed. No one coul...