Act 1

That Championship Season opens in Coach's decaying living room. He is hosting a reunion of the high school basketball team he coached to a championship about twenty years ago. Tom Daley and George Sikowski are in the room, catching up. Tom has come from out of town for the reunion, while George is now the hometown mayor. Tom drinks heavily.

George worries about his upcoming reelection campaign, and derides his opponent, Norman Sharmen. They talk about the Coach, who recently had an operation. George believes that he owes his mayorship to the Coach's influence. The pair wishes that Martin would have come to the reunion. Martin was the best player among them, but he has never returned.

George tells Tom that Phil Romano, one of their teammates and a rich businessman, will be contributing a big sum to his campaign in return for a favorable land lease...