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Title: College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy by John Sayle Watterson ISBN: 0-8018-6428-3 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $36.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Bravo! (Pity about the editing though)
Comment: This enlightening book covers the history of college football from an interesting and neglected point of view. That is to say, it contains none of the usual lionisation of players and coaches, and no re-working of big games we're all familiar with. Rather, Watterson examines (and questions) the place of the game in American society and its role on campus. The book establishes quite clearly that the over-emphasis placed on gridiron is hardly a recent phenomenon or even (as I foolishly suspected) down to the evils of television - that schools have been fielding ineligible players, fiddling grades, and operating slush funds from the days of Walter Camp. Watterson details the various movements which have attempted to reform the game and how it is run, and explains lucidly why virtually all of them failed. A seemingly insatiable desire for victory and glory to the alma mater has resulted in a gradual yet steady erosion of the original purpose of sport on campus, to the point where today a college President can express a desire to "build a university the football team can be proud of" without a trace of irony.
The book's only real fault lies in some woeful editing, which results in a few stories being re-told, and several paragraphs being repeated almost word-for-word many pages later (not to mention some grammatical howlers which don't strike me as being the author's fault). I found myself able to to overlook this, though, and can unreservedly recommend it. It may not be one which the more avid Sooner, Fighting Irish, Crimson Tide, or Buckeye-backer will gravitate toward, but those who enjoy big-time football and yet abhor how tainted it has all become will find it difficult to put down.
Rating: 4
Summary: Should be a mandatory read for all college faculty -
Comment: This a dry read and takes some effort as it is essentially an academic tome that is concerned with the evolution of modern college football from a political, policy, and business standpoint. But it is quite thorough and hits the nail on the head. The final pages discuss how the game can be saved .... since reform is not an option. This is the weakest part of the book, but understandably so since it would take the wisdom of Solomon to fix this problem. I have always felt that a return to one platoon football makes a lot of sense regarding costs (less insurance, travel and equipment, scholarship dollars).
The editing in the book leaves something to be desired. There are a number of typos - and a few sentences that make contradictory statements. The author is not a well versed student of the game since there are several technical mistakes which indicate some deficiencies in research. Some of these are listed below as examples.
(1) Identifying Brian Bosworth as an Oklahoma lineman when he was a linebacker,
(2) Claiming All American status for 4 years (1982-1985)for a very average SMU running back,
(3) Confusing the major Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with the minor Rocky Mountain Conference,
(4) When describing the 1943 game between the College of the Pacific (COP) and USC attributing Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) membership to COP which was in fact an independent school during the 40's and never was a member of the PCC or its later version, the Pac 10.
That said I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the history of college football.
Rating: 4
Summary: Perfect.. but not for the beginners
Comment: A useful book for everyone who has a long-lasting interest and knowledge on the College Football, but it can be a little bit dazy and hard-to-understand for the beginners. College Football by Watterson is an analytical book which also solves the past-time football's problems according to the periods national crisis' and situations with huge acknowledgements. If you already have a good knowledge on College Football, then you will find a lot of interesting things in this book; if you have no or a little knowledge, then I will suggest you to read easier books to prepare yourself for this book. I really liked reading and learned a lot from this book though.
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Title: Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football by Richard Whittingham ISBN: 0743222199 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 25 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Stagg's University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago by Robin Lester ISBN: 0252067916 Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession by Mark F. Bernstein ISBN: 0812236270 Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Past Time: Baseball As History by Jules Tygiel ISBN: 0195146042 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics by John R. Thelin ISBN: 0801855047 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 1996 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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