steelcitygator's review
4.0
Great book that follows changes in CFB through teams though don't let that get you to closely as the teams that show each chapter are a looser guid to who's being followed. Bill C. is one of the best CFB writers out there though and the book is an easy, enjoyable read.
defnotbirds's review
5.0
When I found out that Bill Connelly had created a Kickstarter to fund a new book, I instantly knew I was going to contribute. I absolutely do not regret that decision.
It's likely that you know Connelly from his work at SB Nation (or maybe Football Outsiders, or Athlon annuals, or. . . you get my point). He's the guy who achieves the herculean task each year of writing previews for every FBS team that are probably something like eight pages each if printed out. A single preview contains more information than what you'll get perusing entire annuals. Bill is essentially the king of modern college football analytics. S&P+ has staked its claim as the go-to measurement of a team. Bill writes many, MANY posts that are heavy on the stats and concepts. He, somewhat unfairly, can also write seriously on things that have essentially nothing to do with stats or even football. Or he can retain a sense of humor when it's sorely needed.
What I'm verbosely getting at here is that Connelly is a versatile writer. If you go into this book expecting a stats-heavy approach, you will be disappointed or at least confused. If you go in with an expectation of insight into the history of the sport and numerous interesting stories, you will be very pleased. This book is somewhat similar to what he did last summer in detailing short histories of each season dating back nearly fifty years. You get about 8 pages each about a specific team's season that Bill has deemed important in some way. Many are important for social reasons outside of football. Some are just wildly entertaining (looking at you, 2013 Auburn). My only real complaint about this format is that the number of teams and obvious length constraints don't really allow some of the chapters to breathe. That's the tradeoff we get when trying to cover as many teams as possible, I guess.
You can read the book as a cohesive whole or pinpoint chapters in which you're interested. Either way is valid and enjoyable. I would suggest as a highlight the late 1950s and 1960s era, as the intersection between college football and civil rights, always lurking, moved to the forefront.
Anyway, if you have even a cursory interest in the history of the bewildering institution that is American college football, I would strongly suggest this book. You won't regret it. My apologies for the long winded gushing that was this review.
It's likely that you know Connelly from his work at SB Nation (or maybe Football Outsiders, or Athlon annuals, or. . . you get my point). He's the guy who achieves the herculean task each year of writing previews for every FBS team that are probably something like eight pages each if printed out. A single preview contains more information than what you'll get perusing entire annuals. Bill is essentially the king of modern college football analytics. S&P+ has staked its claim as the go-to measurement of a team. Bill writes many, MANY posts that are heavy on the stats and concepts. He, somewhat unfairly, can also write seriously on things that have essentially nothing to do with stats or even football. Or he can retain a sense of humor when it's sorely needed.
What I'm verbosely getting at here is that Connelly is a versatile writer. If you go into this book expecting a stats-heavy approach, you will be disappointed or at least confused. If you go in with an expectation of insight into the history of the sport and numerous interesting stories, you will be very pleased. This book is somewhat similar to what he did last summer in detailing short histories of each season dating back nearly fifty years. You get about 8 pages each about a specific team's season that Bill has deemed important in some way. Many are important for social reasons outside of football. Some are just wildly entertaining (looking at you, 2013 Auburn). My only real complaint about this format is that the number of teams and obvious length constraints don't really allow some of the chapters to breathe. That's the tradeoff we get when trying to cover as many teams as possible, I guess.
You can read the book as a cohesive whole or pinpoint chapters in which you're interested. Either way is valid and enjoyable. I would suggest as a highlight the late 1950s and 1960s era, as the intersection between college football and civil rights, always lurking, moved to the forefront.
Anyway, if you have even a cursory interest in the history of the bewildering institution that is American college football, I would strongly suggest this book. You won't regret it. My apologies for the long winded gushing that was this review.
joshtweeterson's review
4.0
I am a huge CFB fan, so I liked going through the history to see teams that played a part in how the sport has been shaped, even if that didn't mean all of them won a national title (or even a conference title, in some cases). The one criticism I have is that some chapters felt like a literal recap of a season (in game 1 this happened, in game 2 this happened, etc.) vs. others that told us why they mattered in a big picture sense, while also hitting on what actually happened in the season. The best example of the latter is the Alabama team that went up against an integrated USC squad and how that changed things moving forward. That stuff was fascinating, while the season recap chapters were just meat and potatoes.
And as the book went on, I definitely enjoyed it more as it started becoming teams I either (a) knew more about or (b) had watched growing up. Would definitely recommend to any fans of CFB. 7/10
And as the book went on, I definitely enjoyed it more as it started becoming teams I either (a) knew more about or (b) had watched growing up. Would definitely recommend to any fans of CFB. 7/10
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