Chris Ballard is an American sports journalist and senior writer for sports illustrated. He usually writes basketball books. Hoops Nation was named one of the booklists top ten sports books in 1998. Ballard joined sports illustrated in September 2000 after leaving his job as an American sports journalist in Camden, New Jersey.

One Shot at forever is based on a true story about a baseball team from a city called Macon, Illinois. Since there was no classification based on enrollment back in 1971, this small school was going up against teams bigger and better than them. No one thought they had a chance. Their brand new coach, Lynn Sweet took the job because no one else wanted it and he made an extra $130 by doing so. The kids loved him from the beginning and he taught them a lot as they progressed and became better ball players throughout the year. This small city school ends up making it all the way through playoffs and goes to the state championship.

This book was a fairly easy read. I enjoy playing baseball so these kind of books appeal to my interests. Its great to see a coach with not much motive take a small town like Macon through a magical baseball season. Coach Macon doesn't just teach the boys how to play some solid baseball but he also teaches about life and how to grow up and become good, respectful men. I can relate to this coach because I've been through many years of baseball with plenty of great coaches that stress respect.