Book Reviews: Volume I
by AutumnSpectacle.com staff    E-mail

As spring practice winds down across the country, the wait begins. Over four months (and it'll seem like much longer) before a new college football season finally kicks off.  Want to make the most of the  off-season? There are many books available which can help pass the time until those autumn Saturdays return. 

This is the first installment of a series of book and movie reviews by AutumnSpectacle.com to help you make it through the dog days of summer and into the fall.  We have reviewed five books, below - more will follow. 

RITES OF AUTUMN: The Story of College Football, Richard Whittingham, with Foreword by Roger Staubach. 
Whittingham brings us the history of the game, in a summary - yet - detailed fashion - from its origins through the 1999 season.  He tracks the  game’s evolution over 286 pages, including players, coaches, greatest moments, greatest games, greatest teams, color and pageantry, conflict and change, dynasties, rivalries, bowl games and individual awards - featuring the Heisman.

With over 250 photographs and a factual, flowing style, Whittingham's work serves as a reference source, while painting the scene that has illuminated college campuses across the country every autumn for over 130 years. An indispensable addition to any college football fan's library.

RAMMER JAMMER YELLOW HAMMER: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania, Warren St. John, 272 pages.
St. John is an Alabama native who graduated from Columbia of the Ivy League, and is now a reporter for the New York Times. He chronicles a season following the Alabama football team as a member of the community of RVers who suffer with the Tide from one battle to the next. As he rides the roller coaster of ‘Bama fortunes, he studies fans in general, seeking the answer to the question: why do they care?   

A must read for all. From the calm detachment of those in denial, to the proclaimed die-hards and on to those who are totally obsessed - St. John feels your pain. His descriptions left me laughing and nodding in agreement. He nails it – the passion and commitment of college football fans.  With a style that displays a razor sharp sense of humor and an exceptional command of the language, his accounts of Tide fan behavior are often absurd, hilarious, and no doubt - right on the money.   

KNUTE ROCKNE, MAN BUILDER, Harry A. Stuhldreher, 335 pages. A journey back into the 1920's - The Golden Age of Sports - with a look at the legendary Knute Rockne, as seen through the eyes of one of his players - Harry Stuhldreher, quarterback in the fabled backfield known as the "Four Horsemen".  A vintage work, written shortly after Rockne’s tragic and untimely death by plane crash in 1931, and containing an up-close study of the man often heralded as the greatest coach of the 20^th century. 

The book is a poignant and insightful trip behind the scenes, as Stuhldreher describes "The Rock" in Notre Dame practice sessions, then takes us into the locker room for pre-game speeches and strategy, and on through game action.  In addition to Rockne's accomplishments on the field as a great innovator, motivator, strategist and the coach with the highest winning percentage of all time, the author expounds on Rock's contributions off the field - in promoting and marketing the game nationwide, and defending college football when under attack from detractors.  The book reveals Rockne as a man of many talents, and a strict disciplinarian who possessed tremendous energy, ingenuity and ability as a teacher, entrepreneur and businessman.

HORNS, HOGS AND NIXON COMING

Televised nationally, the contest took on a carnival atmosphere, and Frei paints it, vividly.  The game was surrounded by civil rights conflict and anti-war protests. President Nixon attended - arriving by helicopter at kick-off - with Congressman George Bush of Texas, and U.S. Senator William Fulbright, of Arkansas, among others. Frei describes the game action in detail - with quotations from players and coaches - examines crucial coaching decisions, and follows the President into the victors' dressing room, afterwards.

CATHEDRALS OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL, Michael and Joseph Irwin. 314 pages. 
The authors visit 25 on-campus college football  stadiums across the nation - cathedrals - where the faithful return on autumn Saturdays to partake in time-honored rituals, in pursuit of victory. The Irwin brothers explore the history and tradition of each program, tracing the road to glorious championships and bitter disappointments - and the coaches and players who have achieved legendary status, along the way. They also look at the color and pageantry at each place - the marching band, fight songs, mascots, colors, battle cry, game day rituals - and the stadium.

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