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Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football
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Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football
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by Richard Whittingham and Roger Staubach
Sales Rank: 339557
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$2.98
At Amazon
on 12-5-2008
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Hardcover: 312 pages
Publisher: Free Press September 25, 2001
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743222199
ISBN-13: 978-0743222198
Product Dimensions:
10.6 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
Product Review
Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football, the companion book to the ESPN series of the same name, is an attractive, broad, yet detailed history of college football, from the first game through the latest bowl victories. Not only does author Richard Whittingham include comprehensive rankings of the top teams, players, and coaches throughout the last century-plus (such as Heisman Trophy winners or the greatest team rivalries), he highlights the choice games and plays, as well as the coaches and gridiron legends that have put their indelible stamp on this truly American sport.
Timelines and photographs complement the text, providing a deep sense of how the sport has evolved. Moreover, the author uses a variety of sources, giving readers bits of poetry, fight-song lyrics, and famous or insightful quotes, along with play-by-plays and a lively narrative. Whittingham put careful thought into his selections, readily admitting the difficulty of winnowing down the lists, and he even includes notes on those that barely missed the cut.
As Whittingham summarizes, "The game itself--violent, tactical, demanding of skills, strength, and endurance--evoked the very essentials of classic drama: conflict, suspense, excitement, competition, triumph, and failure. It is hardly surprising then that it became such a fertile ground for the cultivation of legends." The roar of a crowd, the sense of place or destiny--all of the factors that have led to greatness are described, with statistical support, in this informative, oversized book. Rites of Autumn is for football fans everywhere. --Michael Ferch
From Library Journal
College football fans who long for a simpler time when the men on the field and the sidelines were all noble will enjoy Fields of Honor, which is authored by a football brat whose father and uncle were coaches. Those who favor the glitter of today's high-stakes major college game will prefer veteran writer Whittingham's book, which will be published to coincide with a ten-part ESPN special in October. Texans might disagree with Pont's thesis that Ohio was the axis upon which the football world spun from the late 1940s to 1980s, and older fans might feel that college football's golden age came a few decades earlier. Still, few can argue that Miami University in Ohio has been a cradle of coaches or that the men of whom she writes Woody Hayes, Bob Schembechler, Ara Parseghian, and others helped shape the sport. However, in idealizing an era and these coaches, she ends up sanitizing and apologizing, asserting, for instance, that Ohio State's Hayes slugged an opposing player only because the irascible coach was diabetic and "deep in a hypoglycemic daze"at the time.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football
Available from Amazon
Price: $2.98
Updated on 12-5-2008
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Last Modified : 12-5-2008
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