by Bob Halloran Crime, drugs and gang violence confront teenagers in Chelsea, Massachusetts every day. In his new book, BREAKDOWN: A Season of Gang Warfare, High School Football, and the Coach Who Policed the Streets, Bob Halloran presents a vivid look at how youth in this troubled neighborhood turn to football and an inspiring coach to escape the dangers they constantly face. A silver-haired man in a yellow windbreaker stood among the small bleacher crowd looking out over a high school football field on a cool, September evening. Beyond the field where the lights yielded to the darkness, the leaves were dropping much like the children of Chelsea, Massachusetts, pulled down by forces they couldn’t control, drifting aimlessly. But for the first time in a long time, the clean, crisp spring-like air carried a whisper of hope. It was faint, but it was obvious, because in the tiny city of
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