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Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football
 
 
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Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football [Hardcover]

Brian Curtis (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)


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Book Description

August 31, 2004
“Brian Curtis tells the stories behind the stories. He brings the meetings, practice sessions, recruiting calls and game day experience to light like never before. Fans who want to know what goes on behind the scenes will find out in this book.”
–RON ZOOK, head football coach, the University of Florida

In Every Week a Season, acclaimed sports reporter and author Brian Curtis takes readers on an unprecedented whirlwind tour of NCAA Division I football. It’s a world that breeds great drama, a world that millions watch but few understand. It is a multibillion-dollar business. It is an obsession.

To get to the beating heart of college football, Curtis embarked on a breakneck itinerary that took him where all red-blooded college football fans long to be: behind the scenes at nine big-time programs. In nine weeks, Curtis visited Colorado State University, the University of Georgia, Boston College, the University of Tennessee, the University of Maryland, the University of Wisconsin, Louisiana State University, Florida State University, and Arizona State University. He braved the rain to watch Wisconsin pull off the upset of the year; he was at Neyland Stadium to see Tennessee manage a thrilling overtime victory; he was in Tallahassee to witness Florida State’s dramatic double overtime battle for the ACC title. As added bonuses, he was with Georgia when the team fought for the SEC Championship, and on the LSU sideline when the boys from Baton Rouge defeated Oklahoma to capture the BCS National Championship. At each stop, he brings us inside the game’s inner sanctum: in team meetings and scouting sessions; on the field and on the sidelines, during scrimmages, practices, and games; at pre-game traditions, meals, and religious services; in the locker room before the game and at half-time. Virtually nothing and no one was off-limits.

Along with the players, Curtis got to know the coaches–from the young guns to the legends–spending time with them in their offices and on the road. We see firsthand the challenges of running a major college football program–when called on, coaches must serve as CEOs, PR gurus, lawyers, politicians, and policemen. We also learn of the sacrifices made by wives and children that enable coaches to keep the numerous young athletes under their supervision focused, secure, and happy.

Brian Curtis gives a no-holds-barred insider’s account that will rank as one of the most honest and accurate books on big-time sports in America. Short of strapping on a helmet, you’ll never get closer to the game.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In college football's short season, a single game can make or break a team's fortunes. As the weeks rush by and put increasing pressure on the schools, fans and coaches tend to forget the contests are played by young men barely out of their teens. Curtis (The Men of March), who has done reporting for Fox Sports Net, takes advantage of amazing access to evenhandedly analyze the intense burdens on nine of the sport's biggest teams to maintain their positions. He examines the different routes taken toward the same goal by the various personnel involved in the process. Coaches, for example, don't just design plays; they dissect game films, deal with media and chat up recruits. Curtis tracks several perennial powerhouses, like Colorado State and Florida State, over the course of the 2003 season and also discusses Boston College, to illustrate a team out of the running. The mind-boggling formulas that go into computing the rankings often seem to defy logic and can lead readers to much head-scratching. Curtis looks past the numbers and focuses on the people who make up the game, from players and coaches to alumni and fans. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Curtis, author of Men of March (2003), about college basketball coaches, now turns to football. During the 2003 season, he spent a week each at observing nine college football programs. He watched films with coaches, interviewed players, worked the locker rooms, and attended practices. Curtis' dominant theme is that the modern coach functions like the CEO of a corporation. The coach's work is public view, and if the stock doesn't pay dividends in the form of wins and bowl games, he is accountable. Sometimes the week Curtis spent at a school was the prelude to triumphs; other times, not. His stay at Wisconsin with coach Barry Alvarez culminates in a stunning upset of then top-ranked Ohio State, but his trip to Colorado State ends with the loss of a close game to archrival Colorado. Curtis doesn't offer much criticism--if anything, he comes to identify too closely with his subjects--but he does provide an appreciation for the preparation and emotional investment at the foundation of every college football game. Legions of fans will savor every word. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (August 31, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345470141
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345470140
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,147,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:    (0)
2 star:
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1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, very well-written, October 7, 2004
This review is from: Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football (Hardcover)
Curtis hits all the marks with this book. I was a little skeptical going in, wondering what I might learn, as I'm a pretty big college football fan. I was surprised because I didn't know most of what he reveals. He talks about the world off the field in a way that ESPN, SI, etc. never fully explore, in my experience.

Very well-written book, I definitely recommend it for casual or serious sports fans. It shows so much of the real game that you hardly ever see or hear about.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars More than a Game, a Love Affair with the Teams, September 21, 2004
This review is from: Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football (Hardcover)
This book is a high tribute to the Great American Sport of Football. It is based on visits to nine of the top names in college football. The author, Brian Curtis, spent a week at each school. The result is a report, not of just the games, but of the essence of the teams. He reports on the practice, the personalities, the tone of the school and the team. The tone varies a good bit depending if the last game was a win or a loss. He reports on the 'intelligence' I guess you'd call it about what the team can expect in the game plan expected from their opponents next week. And on the ways to counter the oponnents expected game.

Coming through on each page is the fascination, the love that the author feels for the game and the teams. Delightful book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A zebra's wife checks in, July 28, 2007
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My husband is a D-I FB official and I bought him this book as a gift. He thoroughly enjoyed this well-researched, behind-the-scenes look at big-time college football. The author captures the intensity and drama which unfold each week during the season.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
College football is not a game. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
offensive meeting room, pregame chapel, national title game, special teams meeting, kick coverage, great field position, offensive staff, defensive staff, wipe board, kickoff coverage, bowl officials, team buses, recruiting calls, football offices, very next play, football staff, offensive coaches, offensive coordinator, signing day, defense steps, good football team, national championship game, position meetings, full pads, highlight tape
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
South Carolina, Boston College, Florida State, Ohio State, Van Pelt, Colorado State, Nick Saban, Arizona State, Sugar Bowl, Baton Rouge, Matt Mauck, New Orleans, Bobby Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, Notre Dame, Penn State, Mark Richt, Michael Clayton, Barry Alvarez, Big East, Chris Rix, Fred Gibson, Phillip Fulmer, Tom O'Brien, West Virginia
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