Big Green Machine, by Dr. Jim Poteet
My good friend, Dr. Jim Poteet, recently published “Big Green Machine”, which is a history of Pasadena College. The book is incredibly well researched and well written, as Dr. Poteet is a tremendous historian and story teller, as well as a terrific writer.
Today, Pasadena College is known as Point Loma Nazarene, yet the book focuses on the history of the college as a whole, and focuses on the basketball program, specifically. The book starts with the founding of the school, and discusses the founding of basketball.....and ends when the college purchased a spectacular plot of land in Point Loma, sitting on the Pacific Ocean (which is where Point Loma Nazarene sits today).
Dr. Poteet wrote about Dr. Naismith’s creation (the game of basketball, and how Christianity and basketball crossed paths, and how Muscular Christianity spread throughout the United States (although the concept was brought from England), and how basketball became pivotal in the growth of Muscular Christianity.
There are so many fascinating stories and characters, from Jim Bond to Ben Foster to Lloyd Higgins to the Firehouse Five to Coach Chalmer Cartwright- and even Dr. Poteet himself, as he played for Pasadena - and many others.
What a comprehensive history of Pasadena College! Congratulations to Dr. Jim Poteet!
