Description:
As the leaves turn to gold, so do thoughts turn from summer games to--you guessed it--football. Perhaps Chris Schenkel said it best: "What a way to spend an autumn afternoon!" ABC Sports began covering a full season of college football in 1966. Since then many Americans have spent autumn Saturdays gathered around the television listening to Schenkel, Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, Brent Musberger, and more as they call the play-by-play. These broadcasters--along with 25 of their colleagues--made up a blue-ribbon panel to select the greatest college players from 1966 to 1999. The result is ABC Sports College Football All Time All-America Team, a visually stunning, lavishly illustrated book. It opens with two chapters on the history of the game, from the afternoon at Rutgers where football was born to the rise, demise, and resurgence of the two-platoon system and the effect World War II had upon college ball (for example, 31 players took the oath of enlistment into the Naval Air Corps at halftime of the 1942 Cotton Bowl). Then comes the heart of the matter: their picks for the All-America Team, first string, second string, and third string. Number one QB? John Elway. First team RBs? O.J. Simpson, Herschel Walker, and Archie Griffin. Wanna fight about it? Good--debate is welcomed. Old-schoolers may be put off by the graphically heavy layout (the ESPN generation will love it), but there's plenty of substance behind the style. This book is a handsome addition to the football fan's coffee table. --M. Stein
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