Season of Saturdays: A History of College Football in 14 Games

Great history of college football and a perfect introduction.

Really informative and interesting

This was such a neat book, and it's deceptive how informative it is not just about college football but how college football fits into, and molds our culture.By deceptive, I mean that author Michael Weinreb has a very breezy, essay-ish tone that makes this easy to read and it can seem un-serious at first glance, like it's "only" a sports book. But I think once you read through a chapter or two you will realize what a good job he did at using the game as just a jumping-off point for a larger discussion about culture.So - for example - the 1961-62 decision by Ohio State to decline a Rose Bowl invitation is presented as a clash of cultures, academic vs. athletic, personified by Woody Hayes of Ohio State. To Hayes, football seemed the necessary path of manhood in a conservative culture, while the academics tried to hold the line against costs of bowl game travel. While for that one year, that cost-saving mentality 'won,' obviously the larger 'war' was won by college football.The Notre Dame-Michigan State 10-10 tie in 1966 is an excellent way to explain the clear racism of the 1960s, when many teams were not yet integrated. As Weinreb argues, Michigan State, with more black starters, needed to defeat Notre Dame to be voted champions - while Notre Dame could tie, and conservative voters would reflexively accept them as the national champions (I'm simplifying Weinreb's excellent analysis).All the 14 games are presented in similar ways - the events of the game are just the jumping-off point for something much more significant. In fact, there's little play-by-play at all, which I appreciated...I'm not a fan of sports books that give a blow-by-blow repeat of game action. Here, Weinreb saves specific detail for the most important moments.I didn't read the book in order at first, and I jumped around before starting from the beginning. This is fine, since I believe several of these chapters began as essays for Grantland. It has that style that makes it a light read, like I said, with the information deftly woven in.There are a few flaws, I suppose. Weinreb does a great job using the Notre Dame legend of George Gipp as a comparison to Manti Te'o, and he makes fun of how certain myths take hold. But then in other chapters, he uncritically accepts certain claims and statements as truth. It's not really a flaw, as much as it shows how it's difficult in sports to separate myth from reality.Another review noted that Weinreb is very biased toward Penn State - well, yeah. I think that's a necessary ingredient to make this book work, the author's investment with a major team like Penn State. So that's not a problem, it's a benefit.Is this a five-star book in the same way an epic history of world-changing history? Maybe not? But it's certainly a five-star sports book, and in the way Weinreb connects sports to history and culture, it qualifies in that first way too.

The pros and cons of college football as an amateur sport, and the arguments by proponents and opponents of the sport, are fairly presented. The author clearly identifies whether facts or opinions are being presented. I would have liked the author to include more discussion of games in what I believe were college football growth and glory years, say the mid-1960's to the mid-1970's, and fewer games from the 2000's. Throughout the book, the author identifies Notre Dame as the school and the team that created the glory of college football. The author concludes, like it or not, that college football needs a school and a team like Notre Dame. At the very least, the public needs to perceive that the game is an "honorable" endeavor in order to survive. The book acknowledges that the game has changed, and many of those changes have been an attempt, a mostly unsuccessful attempt, to preserve amateurism. Throughout the book, the author presents information that shows that the game has been, and always will be under fire and at odds with itself. By way of example, a common theme running throughout the book is the importance of naming a "national champion" and the evolution of the current play-off system and how this has effected change, both good and bad, in the game. The author questions whether or not present-day leaders and organizers of the game will be able to successfully maintain clear differences between the college game and the pro game. The author, like me, hopes that they will.

Nice description through different football games in different eras.

I have lost interest in football over the years. No political or moral stand, just less interested in the game itself than baseball or basketball.Recently stoking the flames of my childhood love of college football, to learn more about the history, culture, and traditions.This book was the perfect start. Learned so much and really enjoyed the ride. The author weaved through the many stories seamlessly and in my opinion, is quite funny.

A Season of Saturdays by Michael Weinreb is a book with some history of college football, a lot of emotion, and a lot of personal stories - many of them about the author. As such, it is a kind of autobiography with college football the pivot around which Mr. Weinreb's life turned. This is fine IF that is what you thought the book would be; however, I thought I was buying a book about college football and an analysis of some of the most exciting games ever played.The book does have some analysis, and some stories about the great people of college football. Mr. Weinreb is an accomplished writer and keeps the reader's attention, but the book itself is a kind of unfocused trip into the world of college football often as seen through the eyes of the author.A Season of Saturdays explores the contradictions of college football throughly. On the one hand we expect the players to be academics and on the other hand they are supposed to be excellent athletes that achieve miracles on the field through normal practices and workouts. Most people who have followed the college game know the athletes who are recruited by many teams couldn't pass a college class without a load of tutors and maybe a ringer or two to take the tests. In at least one case when a college football player ran out of playing time without graduating he went from receiving nearly straight A's to straight F's. Without looking behind the curtain we can't know, but one is suspicious that 90 percent of the players might not pass a college history test if given unannounced and at a college level (explain Karl Marx's theory of capitalism and why he thought it was doomed to fail). But most fans don't care. Just play the game.We also expect the athletes to be paragons of virtue. Upstanding young men who represent their school's finest in behavior, academic achievement, and devotion to fairness. Mr. Weinreb exposes this myth, where it may have originated from, offers an explanation as to why it is still around, and why the playoff system may kill it, although Miami may have already accomplished the feat. All good reading and thinking material; however, little game analysis is contained in these myths and contradictions.What I wanted was a book about how the teams planned the games and played the games. Why were certain in game decisions made? How did the games change the course of college football on the field? For explanations of the wishbone offense and other ideas the reader will have to go elsewhere. The in-game explanations and decisions, the development of various styles of play, the formations - offensive and defensive - are not here.A good book for an emotional look at a great sport, if that is what you want.AD2