Season of Saturdays
Subtitle: a history of college football in 14 games
By: Michael Weinreb
Edition: First Scribner hardcover edition.
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9781451627817
Subjects: Football; College sports; History
Description: "Every Saturday in the fall, it happens: on college campuses, in bars, at gatherings of fervent alumni, millions come together to watch a sport that inspires a uniquely American brand of passion and outrage. It's a sport that so often hinges on the unpredictable: a hook-and-lateral, a Hail Mary, or a play so implausible that it is only known as The Play. It's a sport that, in these moments, feels a bit like life and death, if only slightly more important. This is college football: it has become one of the unifying cornerstones of American culture. Since the first contest in 1869, the game has grown from a stratified offshoot of rugby to a ubiquitous part of our national identity. Right now, as college conferences fracture and grow, as amateur-athlete status is called into question, as a playoff system threatens to replace big-money bowl games, we're in the midst of the most dramatic transitional period in the history of the sport. Season of Saturdays examines the evolution of college football, including the stories of iconic coaches like Woody Hayes, Joe Paterno, and Knute Rockne, and programs like the USC Trojans, the Michigan Wolverines, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Michael Weinreb considers the inherent violence of the game, its early seeds of big-business greed, and its impact on institutions of higher learning. He explains why college football endures, often despite itself. Filtered through journalism and research, as well as the author's own recollections as a fan, Weinreb celebrates some of the greatest games of all time while revealing their larger significance. Part popular history and part memoir, Season of Saturdays is both a look back at how the sport became so entertaining, yet fraught, and a look ahead at how it might survive another century"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [243]-245) and index.
Table of contents: title: Rutgers 6, Princeton 4 : November 6, 1869 : "You men will come to no Christian end"; title: Notre Dame 35, Army 13 : November 1, 1913 : "Like a prayer"; title: Minnesota 21, UCLA 3 (Rose Bowl, Ohio State votes to decline invitation) : January 1, 1962 : "An irascible man"; title: Notre Dame 10, Michigan State 10 : November 11, 1966 : "Kissing your sister"; title: Texas 15, Arkansas 14 : December 6, 1969 : "Does your conscience bother you?"; title: Michigan 24, Ohio State 12 : November 22, 1969 : "The leaders and the best"; title: Alabama 14, Penn State 7 (Sugar Bowl) : January 1, 1979 : "Bear's way"; title: Miami 31, Nebraska 30 (Orange Bowl) : January 2, 1984 : "The resolution will be televised"; title: Miami 58, Notre Dame 7 : November 30, 1985 : "In the air tonight"; title: Texas 41, USC 38 (Rose Bowl) : January 4, 2006 : "The ballad of Reggie Bush"; title: Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (Fiesta Bowl) : January 1, 2007 : "My blue heaven"; title: Texas Tech 39, Texas 33 : November 1, 2008 : "Jokerman"; title: Auburn 34, Alabama 28 (Iron Bowl) : November 30, 2013 : "Get behind me, Saban"; title: An epilogue : Penn State 14, Miami 10 (Fiesta Bowl) : January 2, 1987 : "The grand experiment".