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

Stewart Mandel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2007

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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

"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

From the Inside Flap

"Why is college football the lone remaining sport on the planet without a playoff? And while we're at it, why the need for thirty-two bowl games? Why does the Big Ten have eleven teams? Why is it that a team like undefeated Boise State does not even get the chance to play for the national championship? And, oh yeah—tell me again why we don't have a playoff?"

Whether it's from his seat in the press box at games every Saturday or his seat at his computer reading the thousands of messages on his college football blog and sent to his "College Football Mailbag" each week, Sport Illustrated columnist Stewart Mandel has a unique perspective on college football. He votes in the AP poll. He's a member of the Heisman electorate. He knows how the ballots are cast and how the game is played—on and off the field.

In Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls, Mandel gives you in-depth insight into issues that frustrate and perplex even the most passionate fans. He examines the conspiracy theories behind everything from who gets the Heisman to major schools setting up their archrivals for NCAA investigation. He explores the influence of television and the "ESPN Factor" on the college football landscape. He recounts how fickle the college coaching world can be, with fans posting "For Sale" signs in a coach's yard after an embarrassing loss or posting rants on message boards. He addresses recent scandals at schools like Alabama, Colorado, and Ohio State. He probes common violations, from players having phony jobs or getting academic favors to players facing criminal charges or major recruiting abuses with big money involved. He examines the role and powers (or lack of them) of the NCAA. And he tackles the top issue in the game today: the BCS, exploring its evolution and whether there should be a playoff instead.

No matter what team you root for, Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls provides you with a virtual insider's playbook on the game today—an insightful, entertaining, and essential read.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470049170
• ISBN-13: 978-0470049174
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mandel versus Mickey, August 31, 2007

By 

Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football (Hardcover)

Thanks to my profession, I know about Mickey Mouse. But I never knew about all the Mickey Mouse shenanigans in college football until I read this book. For example, the author writes about how, in the 1960s, the Notre Dame publicity director changed the pronunciation of quarterback Joe Theismann's last name so that it rhymed with "Heisman" -- even though the family had always pronounced it "thees-man."

But there's much, much more. Mandel uses his behind-the-scenes access and years of experience to shed light on some of the most controversial, confusing and downright Goofy topics in the sport. Specifically:

* The Bowl Championship Series, and how it works -- or doesn't!
* The often arbitrary and unfair way voters rank teams in the polls
* How the Heisman Trophy winner is picked, and when the system first jumped the shark
* How FireRonZook.com changed how coaches are fired
* Why Notre Dame occupies its holier-than-thou spot above all other teams
* The influence of the Internet on college recruiting
* Why the Big Ten has 11 teams
* The plethora of post-season bowl games, and their weird and wacky names
* The unpredictability of the NFL draft
* Why one school's tawdry scandals catch the NCAA's notice, while others gets off scott free

I devoured every page. As a Florida State fan, my soul has been tattered many times in the past few years, but it wasn't that long ago that the bowls and polls just loved us (just ask Notre Dame). To sum up. I think any college football fan will love this book. Mandel's affection for the game is obvious, and his stories are consistently enlightening, entertaining and funny.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific perspective on college football's inner-workings, September 3, 2007

By 

A. Huber - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football (Hardcover)

I thought I knew most of the politics, etc involved in bowls, polls, BCS, etc just by reading Stewart's column (among others)...but the book offers clear & detailed explanations on all subject matter covered, and made me realize I knew very little about college football's inner-workings & politics....geez, hard to believe there were so few bowl games just 11
yrs ago. Love the chapter on ND & how they became so popular - with the explanation stemming from their exploits 80+ years ago.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A glorious and uniquely American bar brawl, January 14, 2008

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football (Hardcover)

"(NFL) scouts are to football what the third base coach is to baseball - an excuse for a whole bunch of old-timers to stay a part of the fraternity and collect a paycheck to boot." - Stewart Mandel

There are two U.S. sport seasons: Football and No Football. As far as I'm concerned, it's even a finer point than that: College Football and No College Football. BOWLS, POLLS & TATTERED SOULS tells me more than I thought I wanted to know about the collegiate game. But, now that I've read this book by "Sports Illustrated" writer Stewart Mandel, I'm so very glad that I did. It's a completely absorbing volume that I devoured over two days. I wish it was longer.

Mandel examines ten of college pigskin's greatest ongoing controversies, one per chapter:

1. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) - how we got to this impasse, who supports it and doesn't, and why it's not likely to change dramatically anytime soon.

2. The team ranking system - its evolution, politics, and how it's affected by the BCS.

3. The Heisman Trophy - its history, and why it's become a media exposure contest not necessarily based on playing ability.

4. The hiring and firing of coaches, particularly the latter - the growth of their salaries and the precariousness of their tenures (or "What have you done lately?").

5. Notre Dame - what makes this independent university so damn special that it has BCS equality with the Pac-10, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big East?

6. The recruiting of top high school players - the stand-alone spectacle it's become, and the impact of the Web.

7. The formation of, and school re-alignments with, conferences - it's all about money, particularly TV revenue $. (Say it ain't so, Joe!)

8. Post season bowls - their history, why there are so many, and the team motivation (or not) to participate.

9. NFL recruiting - the joke that it's become.

10. Scandals - who the perps are and why the NCAA doesn't necessarily have jurisdiction (much less care).

Mandel being an ultimate insider himself, his book should be required reading for all the insider-wannabe fan(atic)s who populate the off-field margins of the sport and who come off their couches in droves to demonstrate vociferously with torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers whenever their favorite teams, coaches, or players are perceived to have been criticized unfairly or gotten a raw deal in the polls or BCS standings. While BP&TS won't make such partisans more reasonable, it will perhaps raise their stridency level and make the collegiate football season even more deliciously confrontational and loud than it already is. I love it!

I myself have followed USC on and off - mostly off - since the late 60s when I numbered among my friends several who graduated from the university and got me interested in the Trojans' game at the time OJ was still a hero and not a bum. I've never been a fan(atic), but rather now follow the extraordinary career of Coach Pete Carroll and his gridiron squads much as one would intellectually admire the craftwork of an expert glass blower or master stonemason. In the doldrum years of such head coaches as Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett, I couldn't be bothered. I'm a Fair Weather Adherent, and proud of it. (Would I switch allegiance to the UCLA Bruins if their new coach proves as succesful as Uncle Pete? Most assuredly not. Who can root for a team whose colors include powder blue for Chrissakes!) But even I found BP&TS enormously satisfying and interesting for the insider knowledge it imparts and will better appreciate the moment at the beginning of the 2008 season when USC charges onto the field to beat the Bandini out of its first opponent, Virginia.

Fight On!