Shake Down the Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football
Sperber (English, Indiana Univ.) chronicles Notre Dame and its football dynasty, from the institution's early days as a small school founded by French priests to the hiring of coach Frank Leahy in 1941. He covers not only the university's football program but the anti-Catholicism and the academic/athletic issues of the period. For the most part, however, he focuses on one man and his tremendous influence upon American sports: Knute Rockne. Sperber skillfully compiled this work by poring through previously uncataloged archival papers, which included Rockne's personal correspondence. Other vibrant personalities, such as Father John O'Hara and Grantland Rice, are also examined, as are the discrepancies between reality and myth in such campus legends as the "win one for the Gipper" speech and the Notre Dame victory march. This volume is destined to become a sports classic. For most collections.- Albert Spencer, Coll. of Education, Univ. of Nevada, Las VegasCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.