Louisville residents—according to the Wall Street Journal—watch more college basketball than any other city in the world. Each year, the summer-long Dust Bowl draws crowd upon crowd to watch a series of high-stakes games. Comprising stories and memories from those who were around since the first Dust Bowl all the way back in 1969 to those who learned to play in this millennium, I Said Bang! encapsulates one city's love of the sport. Hear from Louisville natives, past star players, and barrier breakers as they describe what basketball and their city means to them.

— Simon Traub-Epstein, International Library of Young Authors 🏀

From the publisher: “In 1969, amid the turmoil of the civil rights era, two college students started the Dirt Bowl, a summer-long basketball tournament in Louisville's Algonquin Park. By the end of that summer, thousands of people packed the park every weekend to connect with one another and to watch high-level basketball featuring the best players in the region. It was the biggest event of that year for a great many people in the nation’s most basketball-obsessed city. The rest is history. Generations of people have bonded, reunited, competed, laughed, shown off, and celebrated one another at the Dirt Bowl.
I Said Bang! is a book written by dozens of people who have contributed to and been shaped by the Dirt Bowl tradition: organizers, players, spectators, announcers, referees, vendors, and coaches. This book weaves together their stories and experiences to paint an impressionistic portrait of the Dirt Bowl and the community that nurtures and sustains it—the first book ever to document any city's playground basketball ecosystem so richly.”