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PITTSBURG —
Joe Windscheffel, Pittsburg State University Gorillas linebacker, knows enough about being on winning football teams to write a book, but somebody else did it.
“Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen” by Joe Drape has been selected as the “Kansas Reads” title for the year. The statewide reading and discussion project is sponsored by the Kansas Center for the Book at the Kansas State Library.
The Pittsburg Public Library will kick off the observance of “Kansas Reads ‘Our Boys’” with a light meal at 6 p.m. Thursday. Following the meal, Windscheffel will discuss his experience of playing on four championship Smith Center teams, though his years at Smith Center High School were before the time period covered in the book.
The Redmen gained national attention for a phenomenal winning streak of 79 games. Windscheffel was on the team for 54 of them, but football was a big part of his life even before that.
“I lived in the same house by the stadium my whole life in Smith Center,” he said. “I grew up as team water boy. My brother was my idol, and I played the same position he did and wore the same number he did in high school.”
The winning streak started in his freshman year. Windscheffel was a four-year started in football and basketball, and also lettered in track for four years. He received all-state selection honors in football his sophomore, junior and senior years. An honor student all four years, he graduated from Smith Center High School in 2008.
The winning streak ended in the fall of 2009 when they were defeated in a state championship game.
“I made it back for the game,” Windscheffel said. “As they got beat the crowd gave them a standing ovation. It was kind of a moment of reflection.”
He gives much credit for the teams success to coach Roger Barta.
“Coach is a master motivator,” Windscheffel said. “He wants you to do the best for yourself. He’s very patient, very soft-spoken, and he really believes in getting better each and every day, taking small steps to make a larger goal.”
He added that Barta focuses on much more than football.
“Coach talks a lot about life values every day before practice, and always keeps football in perspective,” Windscheffel said. “He’s a teacher at life more than a football coach. I can’t tell you how many times a day I think about lessons he’s taught us.”
Joe Windscheffel, Pittsburg State University Gorillas linebacker, knows enough about being on winning football teams to write a book, but somebody else did it.
“Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen” by Joe Drape has been selected as the “Kansas Reads” title for the year. The statewide reading and discussion project is sponsored by the Kansas Center for the Book at the Kansas State Library.
The Pittsburg Public Library will kick off the observance of “Kansas Reads ‘Our Boys’” with a light meal at 6 p.m. Thursday. Following the meal, Windscheffel will discuss his experience of playing on four championship Smith Center teams, though his years at Smith Center High School were before the time period covered in the book.
The Redmen gained national attention for a phenomenal winning streak of 79 games. Windscheffel was on the team for 54 of them, but football was a big part of his life even before that.
“I lived in the same house by the stadium my whole life in Smith Center,” he said. “I grew up as team water boy. My brother was my idol, and I played the same position he did and wore the same number he did in high school.”
The winning streak started in his freshman year. Windscheffel was a four-year started in football and basketball, and also lettered in track for four years. He received all-state selection honors in football his sophomore, junior and senior years. An honor student all four years, he graduated from Smith Center High School in 2008.
The winning streak ended in the fall of 2009 when they were defeated in a state championship game.
“I made it back for the game,” Windscheffel said. “As they got beat the crowd gave them a standing ovation. It was kind of a moment of reflection.”
He gives much credit for the teams success to coach Roger Barta.
“Coach is a master motivator,” Windscheffel said. “He wants you to do the best for yourself. He’s very patient, very soft-spoken, and he really believes in getting better each and every day, taking small steps to make a larger goal.”
He added that Barta focuses on much more than football.
“Coach talks a lot about life values every day before practice, and always keeps football in perspective,” Windscheffel said. “He’s a teacher at life more than a football coach. I can’t tell you how many times a day I think about lessons he’s taught us.”
He was recruited by the PSU Gorillas, but was forced to sit out his first two seasons at PSU because of injuries. First came an Achilles injury, then in July 2009 came an encounter with a belligerent zebra that resulted in Windscheffel getting a compound fracture of his forearm that required a plate and six pins to repair.
“That was a long couple of years,” he said.
Now healthy, he has lettered the two seasons he has played with the Gorillas.
“I love it here and have no regrets at all about coming here,” Windscheffel said. “I’m proud to say I’m a member of the championship team.”
The support of the Pittsburg community and Gorillas fans means a great deal to him.
It’s cool bringing joy to people you don’t even know, and making memories for them,” Windscheffel said.
A PSU senior, he is studying chemistry with a pre-pharmacy emphasis and hopes to attend pharmacy school.
Copies of “Our Boys” have been purchased by the Friends of the Library and will be distributed after Windscheffel’s presentation. A discussion over the book will be held at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the library.
