Football Books

This was the story of two tough and popular football players who find themselves attracted to each other. In their rough and, I guess, brash football world, they develop an infatuation as old as time. They attend football camp together and come to terms with their feelings for each other.
The language is coarse and some of the descriptions are gross, but this is what my football and basketball playing brothers and their friends were like in high school. I think that S. Krol Joseph does an excellent job portraying these characters as real, tough football players. He also captures their sensitivities and their growing affection. I think the build of emotion is realistic and the self-doubt and denial is handled in a subtle and completely natural way. Also, the romantic suspense was beautiful. I could have hoped to hear more about Vinnie and Vuch after football camp, but I have to admit the ending was satisfying. I read the book in one sitting! If you like gay teen stories or romance, I think this is a must have and it will hold a nice place in my collection.

A brash but sensitive [young adult] novel set in the all-male world of football camp. [gay men][fiction]

This is a fine overview of the Northwestern University Football program. Larry LaTourette provides a concise historical account of the formative years of college football in Evanston and concludes with a summary with the 2004 campaign. It takes a good deal of editorial precision and skill to compress almost one hundred and twenty-five years into an almost equal number pages (including footnotes and top quality archival photographs), but the author carries off the task successfully.

Skeptics may not accept the fact that Northwestern was once a ranking power in the Big Ten Conference and nationally (the team narrowly missed being named the National Champion by the sportswriters twice, including an inexplicable decision to award the honor to second place Minnesota -- a team that first place NU had beaten that same year!), but it is the truth. Northwestern enjoyed a full decade of success beginning in the Twenties and which continued into the Thirties as the Wildcats captured four Big Ten titles. A surprise Rose Bowl triumph occurred in 1949. The program maintained respectability through the Sixties, but languished thereafter and soon became a laughingstock that did not have a winning record for twenty-four consecutive years.

Not much time is allotted to discussing the constant difficulties faced by Northwestern as the dominant state sponsored universities grew larger and more powerful which put Northwestern at a huge competitive disadvantage, in terms of athletic budgets, marketing, recruiting, television and radio coverage and in on field competition. Moreover, Northwestern has always required that its student athletes conform to high academic standards. Not all college football programs can make that same claim. To repeat a quotation from Henry Ward Beecher cited in the text: "Victories that are easy are cheap. Those only are worth having which come as the result of hard fighting."

Conference officials may have been prepared to sacrifice Northwestern, a charter member of the Big Ten, and remove the team from the league, but the scrappy Wildcats began to win consistently at the same approximate time. How politically astute would it be to remove a recent conference champion for being uncompetitive? The book concludes by describing the miraculous storybook revival of the program under the talented (and controversial) Gary Barnett and his immediate successor, the late Randy Walker whose untimely death occurred shortly before the 2006 season. Hollywood could not have scripted movies to equal the heroics of the dramatic 1995, 1996 and 2000 seasons.

LaTourette does not miss a key play in this last chapter. I know this to be true since, as a season ticketholder since 1995, I attended all of the memorable home games, several of the road games and four of the postseason bowl games described in these pages. I have not missed a home game in thirteen years and can still recall when the new head coach Pat Fitzgerald was an outstanding linebacker!

Among the entertaining anecdotes from the Golden Era recounted here is an account of the irate NU fans who spotted Al Capone in the stands at Dyche Stadium. Their subsequent serenade of Bronx cheers caused the notorious gangster to make an impromptu exit. The campus newspaper followed up with an editorial demand that Capone not return!

This book would make a great gift for ANYONE who enjoys spending Saturdays following college football. The text is well written and it is fun to read.

If you follow Northwestern football, you will love getting the complete history of the program. I had no idea we had won 4 Big Ten championships in the '30's and twice almost won the national championship. This book is very well researched and extrememly thorough in its presentation.

I bought this book this year at commencement weekend for my son (ND A&L Class of 2007), but read it first before I gave it to him. It's a wonderful book with some really inspiring stories gathered from distinguished ND alumni. Any one story is worth the price of the book, but I especially enjoyed the one about the rabbi and also the one about Regis Philbin.

For the ND grad, this book is indeed inspirational and the photos are superb, both from the present and the past. For the subway alum, the book would work well--it's a fast read, and the subjects who give their inspirations are both recognizable and amazingly well spoken Hannah Storen (Storm) has done a great job with her editor of pulling together a collection of stories, each filled with some key prhases, that will be a motivational uplifting experience for anyone who reads it and wants a positive moment that could last a lifetime.

Bob Griese was my hero growing up, but reading this book provides more than getting to know my hero a little better. Griese was a master teacher at teaching the proper way to hold a football, as well as throw a tight spiral. I'm not the biggest, strongest guy, but the lessons in this book helped me throw some spirals that belied my size and apparant strength (or lack of it). Gale Sayers also does a fine job teaching some of his techniques. They alternate chapters. It's the perfect first book for how to play offensive football.

Bob Griese was my hero growing up, but reading this book provides more than getting to know my hero a little better. Griese was a master teacher at teaching the proper way to hold a football, as well as throw a tight spiral. I'm not the biggest, strongest guy, but the lessons in this book helped me throw some spirals that belied my size and apparant strength (or lack of it). Gale Sayers also does a fine job teaching some of his techniques. They alternate chapters. It's the perfect first book for how to play offensive football.

This book is one of the best sports reference books ever written. Byron Butler has assembled a season-by-season analysis of the Football Association Challenge Cup, dating right from the start(1871). Every final(and replay) gets covered with team-listings, attendance figures, photographs, and statistics. There are also lots of photogarphs and advertisements from down the years, lots of interesting related material(info on star playes, the men who founded the competition, the giant killers etc. etc.) This, added to the fact that Mr Butler is obviously a devout fan, passionate about the game, make this a must buy for any fan of football("soccer" to Americams).

This book is one of the best sports reference books ever written. Byron Butler has assembled a season-by-season analysis of the Football Association Challenge Cup, dating right from the start(1871). Every final(and replay) gets covered with team-listings, attendance figures, photographs, and statistics. There are also lots of photogarphs and advertisements from down the years, lots of interesting related material(info on star playes, the men who founded the competition, the giant killers etc. etc.) This, added to the fact that Mr Butler is obviously a devout fan, passionate about the game, make this a must buy for any fan of football("soccer" to Americams).

THIS IS ABOUT THE OHIO STATE FOOTBALL TEAM THAT WON THE BIG TEN, ROSE BOWL AND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. THE BOOK BRINGS BACK SEVERAL GREAT MOMENTS DURING THAT SEASON, BY HAVING FORMER MEMBERS OF THE TEAM AND COACHING STAFF DISCUSS GAME BY GAME STATEGY AND HIGHLIGHTS. SOME OF THE PLAYERS AND COACHES INVOLVED ARE REX KERN, LARRY ZELINA, JIM OTIS, EARLE BRUCE AND LOU HOLTZ. THIS BOOK BROUGHT BACK ALOT OF GREAT MOMENTS FOR ME. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL OHIO STATE FANS. GO BUCKEYES.

I got the video version for Christmas. I am only 38 years old and was always curious about the full story of the '68 Bucks. For scarlet and gray fanatics this is bread and butter with some sugar on top.

Great detail, personal stories and game footage.

This is, by far, the most imaginative and compelling collection of Buckeye football trivia and memorablia around. This has provided endless hours of joy and is the PERFECT gift for any Buckeye fan. The same "vault" series is also available for Michigan and Notre Dame fans --- but why would you ever be caught buying that?!!!!

GO BUCKS!!!!

This is an interesting collection of Buckeye memorabilia that you will see nowhere else but a museum.

If you're a die hard Sooner fan (and God knows - we all should be), this book will take you back to the beginning of it all. Very interesting. I highly recommend for every true Sooner fan.

We bought this book for my brother-in-law (who is a die hard OU fan) for Christmas and he absolutely loved it!!

This is one of the most wonderful books that I have ever read.
I must admit, Brook Berringer was a hero to me growing up.
I have always liked him as a Quarterback, but after reading the book, I realize that the way Brook lived his life and accepted God as his savior and higher Power.. it's the way I want to live my life. He was the most wonderful, caring, kind hearted person.
The way he held his head up high when the chips were down was amzing. He will always be a great hero to me and I absolutely recommend this book to everyone who is wanting to have someone to look up to.

I can't believe nobody reviewed this book so I'll take a crack at it. Brook Berringer was one of the greatest Nebraska quarterbacks ever and he was really considered a back up. Sadly his life was cut short in an airplane accident. I haven't talked to anyone here in Nebraska that doesnt know where they were when they heard, he had that much of an impact on everyone. The book does talk about his football days but I think more importantly it shows how he came to find God and how his faith helped him through trying times. It is a very moving book and it is very inspirational, it will bring a smile to your face and make your eyes well up in tears. I hope you'll read this book if only to learn how good of a man he was and maybe you'll find a little comfort in knowing God will always be there when you are ready to accept him.

This book was about the terrible season in 2005 when the Volunteers never made it to a bowl game. It was a season that was expected to end with a birth in one of the BCS bowl games with a strong possibility of playing for the national championship. At the beginning of the season, the Vols were ranked 3rd in most magazines. The book was originally started to document the victorious season, but ended up discussing the downfallof the powerhouse. The book is an interesting read as it details a inside look into the malfunctions with the team. There was a controversy about the quarterback, there was discipline problems with the players, and maybe too much confidence which lead to a lack of focus on practice. It is a great read for a true Vol fan, it is not about the high but a low in the program. Hopefully, this season will hold a bright future as the team completes for another national title. Mostly I want to see the Tide lose, too bad Sonny, Dale, Bobby, and Leon, there will be tears this year on October 25 I believe. So far, the Vols recruiting is strong this year and there are a ton of play-makers returning too. The starting quarterback looks to be strong as well.

Courageous Reporting

Often sports teams expecting great things want it chronicled for prosperity. The University of Tennessee wanted just such a tome when they asked Mr. Epps, a sports reporter in Chattanooga, to write a book about the widely anticipated Vols run to the NCAA football championship before the 2005 season began. But, things went terribly wrong. The team finished under .500 and even lost to Vanderbilt - usually an automatic win. Thus a season full of promise turned into a disaster - totally unexpected and accepted by the highly competitive and charged "Vol Nation."

Now faced with writing about a losing campaign, rather than the highlights of a championship season, Mr. Epps could have taken the easy way out and offered up a litany of excuses for the Vols sub-par season. To his credit, he did not.

Harking back to an earlier axiom of sports reporting, long before Mr. Epps tapped on a keyboard (after all he is only in his 20s), and not always practiced today by his veteran colleagues, Mr. Epps "Called it as he saw it." He took head coach Fullmer to task for rotten decision making, and wasn't afraid to chronicle the misdeeds and lack of effort of the players.

While Mr. Epps may have suffered the slings and arrows afterwards from the mighty Vols alumni - he is not a Tennessee grad - he can look at himself in the mirror and know he wrote an honest account of a very trying season.

I look forward to reading more straightforward, honest reporting by Mr. Epps.