Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football - Hardcover

Mandel, Stewart

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470049170 ISBN 13: 9780470049174

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2008

Synopsis

Sports Illustrated columnist Stewart Mandel tackles the 10 issues that most confound and infuriate college football fans

With millions of avid, rabid fans, college football is the nation’s third most popular spectator sport. Based on thousands of letters to his SI.com "Mailbag" column, Stewart Mandel identified the 10 issues that get all college football fans riled up, no matter which team they root for, and explores what these issues mean for the game. Insightful and entertaining, Mandel examines the BCS; the increasingly loony world of recruiting; the public lynchings of overpaid head coaches; the clunky conference expansion craze; the NCAA’s futile struggle to police the nation’s cheaters; and more.

Stewart Mandel (New York, NY) is the lead college football columnist for SI.com and a bylined columnist for Sports Illustrated. His "Mailbag" column and his college football blog draw hundreds of thousands of readers each week. Mandel has been a featured guest on hundreds of radio sports talk shows and has appeared on CBS, ESPN2, ESPN News, and CNN Headline News. He previously worked at ABC Sports Online and ESPN the Magazine.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Sports Illustrated columnist Stewart Mandel tackles the ten issues that confound college football fans

If your heart beats faster on Saturday afternoons as your team takes the field, this book will give you new insight into the fanaticism and chaos that characterize college football today. Stewart Mandel takes a provocative, hard–hitting look at the hot–button issues: the controversial BCS; the polls and their largely arbitrary rankings; the ego–inflating recruiting craze; cheating and recent scandals; the huge pressures and salaries heaped on coaches; the Heisman hype–fest; the NFL draft; the clunky conference expansions; privileged Notre Dame, college football′s greatest juggernaut; and the proliferation of bowl games. You′ll getbehind–the–scenes insights on how the issues evolved and why some are almost impossible to resolve.

You′ll see how tradition, politics, and money influence college football today. You′ll discover that, while the rules of the game are hard and fast, the rules governing college football are blurred and pliable. And you′ll find a book that′s as entertaining, passionate, and thought–provoking as the game itself.

"Stewart Mandel writes about college football′s major controversies with a wit and depth of knowledge that will impress even the most obsessed fans. And because he′s both fair and objective, there is something in this book to infuriate nearly everyone."
—Warren St. John, author of the bestselling Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania

"In a book dripping with sarcasm, Stewart Mandel plays tour guide on an interesting ride through the college football nuthouse."
—Bruce Feldman, author of Meat Market and senior writer for ESPN the Magazine

About the Author:

Stewart Mandel is a bylined columnist for Sports Illustrated and the lead college football columnist for SI.com, where his "College Football Mailbag" and other columns received tens of millions of page views in 2006. Mandel has been a featured guest on hundreds of radio sports talk shows and has appeared on CBS, ESPN2, ESPN News, and CNN Headline News. He previously worked at ABC Sports Online and ESPN the Magazine.

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0470049170
• ISBN 13: 9780470049174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272