Football Books

This series Zanbanger, Zanballer and Zanboomer are about a girl named Suzanne who is constantly told she can't play sports that are supposed to be "boy sprots" football etc. This one is about football and how does she take to the idea she can't play. Well she forms her own team and proceeds to prove a lot of people wrong. If you like stories about determination, hard work, and winners this is the series for you! - I also read this back 20 years ago and even still have my copies. Fantastic BOOK!

I read this book at 14 (1982) and I thought this heroine ROCKED! I think it's so unfair when a young girl, whether a little girl or a teen, wants to do something and some adult says "but young ladies don't do that." So, Zan Hagen, I felt your pain. I did kinda wish the author had given Suzanne a boyfriend, though, to show young girls that sports and sweethearts CAN mix. But I think it's an excellent book.

Zan, short for Suzanne, doesn't want to have take ballet and baton twirling lessons in her PE class. She wants to play football. The highschool coach tells her that no girls play on his football team. She starts up her own team. It is made up of girls who are just like Zan. They play the JV squad and WIN!!!!

I love it! Finally a cookbook written in "man" language. Nothing complicated about these recipes. Now I can pig out with a pigskin. I hope they do one for my favorite sport...NASCAR.

2 Regular Guys is a primer for those wishing to throw a great party-especially during the football season. Easy, fun and a fresh new idea. A great gift book and the food is really good for ordinary people. Jill Bertolet

This book is great for advanced coaching techniques. I would highly recommend it to all high school and college coaches. Great depth and visuals.

Having now attended a NIKE Coach of the Year Clinic I can say that the books are almost as good as being at the clinic. The information is timely and illustrations are included. If you want the input of the top coaches in the game this is the book to get!

Andy does a great job of capturing the essence of the World Cup in his book, 23 Days in Korea. The book was very easy to read (I actually finished it in one night) and brings back some of the greatest memories for any US soccer supporter. For anyone wanting to add to their collection of memorabilia, or simply get fired up for the World Cup in 2006, this is a great book to have. Well done Andy.

I met Andy over in Korea and he perfectly captured what it means to be an American Soccer fan. For many of us who attended the world cup, it has been difficult to share that experience with others because few words can adequately describe the passion that was shared amongst the Yanks in Korea. This is a great read for anyone who has fallen in love with the beautiful game and is a must read for anyone who was in Korea.

IT'S a great book ! if you love packer football you will love this book! you will relive the great moments of the 12 time world champions green bay packers! GREAT!

Absolutely fabulous recount of some of the greatest moments in the history of one of the greatest franchises playing in sports' most storied venue! I always liked Christl's and Hoffman's work and they do a terrific job capturing the essence of these moments. I'm buying one for each of my sibling's and my father for Christmas. This book is a treasure for any Packers fan, and really, any football fan! Oink, Oink, my good man!!

this books is very good!!!!!!!!!!!

I really like the "Coaching by the Experts" Series and this is my favorite so far. After two years of running an 8 man front, cover 3 defense we switched to the 4-3 because of its simplicity and flexibility. This book details how many different directions your 4-3 can go. From names like Jackie Sherill and George Perles to Dave Wannstedt. Though only one chapter was used to discuss any in-depth coverage philosophies, this is another excellent resource book showing how many different ways the 4-3 can be played.

For starters, the book 4th and Long The Odds: My Journey, is an inspirational story that clearly proves that if a person is willing to work hard enough, anything is possible. For a high training athlete like myself, getting to where I am today has not been easy. The book however has been that extra edge that has helped keep me focused and motivated to work even harder than ever before. I have faced many trials and tribulations and continue to face them with coaches and people who I meet that I like to call "haters". After reading this book, then Mr. Van Nodstram's comment, it is very obvious that Mr. Van Nodstram was a back-up player who never excelled past the high school level in sports. If Mr. Van Nodstram had any experience with becoming a collegiate or professional athlete, he would know that there is a great deal of adversity that one most overcome before excelling to these levels. Reading Mr. Van Nodstran's comment proves that the jealous "hater" who was the back-up in high school still exists today and to me that is the true comic masterpiece. The book 4th and Long The Odds: My Journey by Sean Stellato is an excellent book and I highly recommend it to people of all ages.

To be honest, I wasnt very interested in this book at first, thinking it was an autobiography. Once I realized that it was actually a comedy about a cheeseball that takes himself too seriously and blames his shortcomings on every coach he comes in contact with, I was hooked. The amount of self praise and incredible overuse of the pronoun "I" by the author makes this story a true comic masterpiece!

The 2004 college football season has come to an end with Pete Carroll's University of Southern California Trojans having completed the most perfect season in collegiate football history. There have been many "perfect" teams; that is, teams that went undefeated and untied en route to a consensus National Championship. USC itself has enjoyed their fair share of these kinds of wire-to-wire perfect seasons. But the stars have never been aligned for any team quite like the 2004 Trojans. First of all, they are the sixth team to be ranked number one in the nation from the pre-season polls through the bowl games. USC is the only team to do it twice. The 1972 Trojans, considered by many to be the greatest team of all time, accomplished the feat. But SC was also ranked number one from the end of the 2003 regular season through the bowls, and carried that right through 2004 without interruption.

The 2004 Trojans also boast the Heisman Trophy winner, two-time junior All-American quarterback Matt Leinart. His teammate, All-American sophomore running back Reggie Bush, was a New York finalist for the award. USC won a repeat National Championship, a feat rarely done. They are in the middle of a 22-game winning streak. They beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, a game that was previewed as the greatest game in college football history. The 1944-45 Army Cadets featured a similar winning streak and two Heisman winners, Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. There are other teams that compare, but nobody has done it quite the way Carroll's team is doing it.

A few came close. The 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers featured an undefeated regular season that included winners of the Heisman and Outland Trophies. They lost to Miami in the Orange Bowl. The 2003 Oklahoma Sooners looked to be on a similar path, but their Heisman winner, Jason White, faltered in the Big 12 championship game as well as the Orange Bowl.

In light of USC's recent dominance, it is worth considering their place in history. Not just the current Trojans, but USC's football program going back to the beginning of the 20th Century. It is time to take the mantel of "greatest program in the history of college football" away from the struggling Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and lay it squarely with the deserving new champions from USC. Furthermore, USC continues to lay claim to the greatest historical athletic program in college history, as well.

The two-time defending National Champions are a dynasty. If Leinart returns for his senior year in 2005, they will be better than they were this season. Leinart will be a senior, the Heisman favorite (as he was all of this year), and a three-time All-American. He will walk away from his career with more honors than any player ever; three National Championships (?), two Heismans (?), the Johnny Unitas Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Maxwell Trophy, the Davey O'Brien Award, et al. He will probably be the number one pick in the NFL draft.

The 2003-04 Trojans are very possibly the greatest two-year dynasty ever. If they win a third title in 2005, that will be a first. They lose a couple of linebackers, but aside from Leinart, Bush will be a junior, running backs LenDale White and Herschel Dennis return, the whole offensive line returns, the tight ends and receivers are back, and the defense will be, for the most part, experienced. The 2005 Trojans have the potential to be the greatest single-season team ever assembled, better even than the 1972 Trojans. Soph-to-be Jeff Byers was the nation's best lineman coming out of high school and could win the Outland Trophy before graduating. Soph-to-be linebacker Keith Rivers was the top prep at his position and may garner a Butkus trophy some day. If Leinart leaves for the NFL, USC will re-tool at quarterback with one of two blue chip recruits.

In 2005, John David Booty will be a red-shirt sophomore. He was the top prep quarterback in America at Louisiana's Evangel Christian High School. His competition? Mark Sanchez, the top prep quarterback in the U.S. at Mission Viejo High (the nation's number two team) in Orange County, California in 2004. USC has had the number one recruiting class in the country for three years in a row. Last year's was considered the greatest of all time. The 2005 class, which will be finalized in February, promises to be just as good. The pipeline is endless. In light of the fact that they will enter next season ranked number one, favored to win their third National Championship in a row, they are worthy of continued hype. Consider that if Troy runs the table in '05, their winning streak will probably be 35. With either Booty or Sanchez living up to the challenge, maybe with senior running back Bush winning the Heisman and starring with a cast headlined by juniors Rivers and Byers, the 2006 Trojans could challenge Oklahoma's 57-game winning streak of the 1950s. Now we are looking at four National Championships in a row, but wait, there is more. Booty could quarterback the team in 2006 and 2007. Sanchez would be a red-shirt junior and senior in 2008-09. Considering that the last two SC quarterbacks (Carson Palmer in 2002 and Leinart in '04) won the Heisman, USC could conceivably come away with four more of the trophies before the end of this decade. The scenario could be:

2005: Senior quarterback Matt Leinart, USC.
2006: Senior running back Reggie Bush, USC.
2007: Senior USC quarterback John David Booty, USC (Oklahoma running back Adrian Petersen will be a pro by then).
2009: Senior quarterback Mark Sanchez, USC.

Steven Travers is the author of the Best Selling "Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman". A graduate of the University of Southern California, he is currently working on a new book, "The Turning of the Tide", with former Trojan football stars Sam "Bam" Cunningham and John Papadakis. "The Turning of the Tide" documents how the 1970 USC-Alabama game ended segregation in the American South. In addition to the book, a film and documentary are in development. Steven can be reached at USCSTEVE1@aol.com.

having been to a couple of usc-ucla games i can tell you that springer and arkush have researched their topic well. from frank gifford to jackie robinson all the way to charles white and troy aikman this book is full of good interviews and insights into the best rivalry in college football.
they get the atmosphere right and being L.A. sportwriters they know what the fans want.
the usc-ucla game is a special game especially in person, there is nothing like it.

it is sad what has happened to the average russian as far as their living standards and the difficulties...but a select few(the oligarchs) like Abramovich have learned how to exploit the situation...although one oligarch(the richest one) did end up in a russian prison...this book details how abramovich achieved and how he has managed to keep the wealth by being apolitical and staying on good terms with Putin. A very good read.

This book is the only bio on the mysterious russian Abramovich. It gives the best glimpse you can get into the man and how he built his empire(although you never exactly get told how). Great read on an impressive figure. I strongly recommend to this read for the ambitious.

In the tradition of "Downfield" and "A Summer Up North...," Poling doesn't only let us poke our head in and take a look around, instead, he lets us tag along with him and go inside to see what's happened to some of our favorite players. While his writing makes you feel like he's sitting with you and telling you his story, his vivid descriptions will make you feel like you are at training camp and that Donald Driver just whizzed right past you. Or that you are sitting on the couch with Wayne Simmons' mother as she talks longingly about the son she misses so much. This one is a necessity for any Packer fan or anyone that wants to know what happens to the heroes after the lime-light fades.

Written by editor and columnist Jerry Poling, After They Were Packers: The Super Bowl XXXI Champs & Other Green Bay Legends is the true story of the 1997 Superbowl champions after they left the Packers. Some returned to ordinary lives; some tragically fell victim to powerful internal demons. Filled with career highlights and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the world of professional football, as well as a handful of black-and-white photographs, After They Were Packers is enthusiastically recommended for any Packers fan curious about what became of the ultimate winning team.