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The Ohio State Football Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

Jack L Park (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)


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Book Description

October 8, 2001
As one of college football's most fabled programs, The Ohio State University has consistently produced some of the greatest players and coaches in NCAA history. Archie Griffin, Vic Janowicz, Les Horvath, Woody Hayes, Sid Gillman, John Cooper, Hopalong Cassady -- the list goes on and on. Few football programs can boast 36 first-team All-Americans, six national championship teams, and 13 Rose Bowl appearances. Now, after much anticipation, comes The Ohio State Football Encyclopedia -- the most comprehensive review of Buckeye football ever produced. This book examines the rich history and tradition of Ohio State football, and the coaches and players who made it happen.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 683 pages
  • Publisher: Sports Publishing (October 8, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1582610061
  • ISBN-13: 978-1582610061
  • Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 2.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,265,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate bible of Ohio State football!, May 30, 2002
By 
Eric Kaleal (Westlake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ohio State Football Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
In the great state of Ohio, football is a year-round fixation. Especially for fanatics of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who measure each season's success with the ghosts of its legendary past. When not anticipating the current team's fortunes, they're busy mining for factual nuggets reaffirming the program's glory years.

Buckeye enthusiasts have struck gold with the latter. THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA is an informational jackpot, a whopping 683 pages of pure pigskin bliss, chronicling the entire history of one of sports most storied traditions. Either a lifelong follower or an Ohio State alumnus could architect such a massive undertaking; fortunately, it fell into the able hands of Jack Park, who is both, in addition to his duties as a commentator and columnist. With over four-hundred college football games to his credit--including nearly every OSU home contest since the late-1940's--he is simply the foremost authority on Buckeye football.

Unlike most proverbial encyclopedias with the A to Z format, this one is chronologically recorded, from their humble beginnings in 1890 through the modern-day mania of the 2000 campaign. Amazingly, not one season or game slips through the cracks; each one is vividly recalled with various accounts and statistics.

What really distinguishes the book from the typical almanac, though, is Park's inclusion of the many colorful anecdotes scattered throughout. Within the gray-shaded blocks lie some wonderful tales involving famous and little-known individuals whose passion and spirit have helped to shape the Buckeyes' saga as much as the many great coaches and All-American players. If the myriad of information isn't enough, the appendix offers twenty-four more pages of records and statistics, while the feast concludes with an alphabetical listing of every letterwinner in their illustrious 111-year history.

Bringing the sea of words and numbers to life are the visuals, beautifully arranged with scads of archived photos, newspaper headlines, game programs, and ticket stubs. Rather than clutter the path, they perfectly enhance its charm, balancing the formality of a textbook with the casualness of a scrapbook.

Park's warm but direct approach works effectively. Although his own experiences with OSU date more than a half-century, his reports on each season prior are equally as fresh and seamless, as though he were actually there. These recollections also subtly echo the sentiments of true Buckeye loyalists while still remaining neutral, a deft touch for a work of this type. That personal flair ensures that it's not just compiled by some factory or computer; it makes the whole experience less like a rigid research and more similar to a batch of stories told by a friendly old neighbor.

An essential bible for Buckeye nuts, THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA should be required reading for even the remote sports fan curious to gain insight into the history of a major collegiate athletic program, and in Ohio State University's, one of the nation's proudest.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I finally got a touchdown on a gift for my OSU husband., December 15, 2001
By 
"long_tall_sally" (Elkridge, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ohio State Football Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
My husband Lance went to Ohio State and wathches football and follows his alma mater, of course. I bought one of these books for him and for his dad. Wow...I finally bought a gift they both like, which meant a lot to me.

He likes different parts about the book, especially reviewing the years from when he attended OSU up through the most recent football campaigns. His father most enjoyed reading the section on Paul Brown, whose success at Ohio State was just part of a great coaching career.

They both liked the abundant photos throughout the book. My husband gets into sports stats, and this book was full of information on the teams and the individual players and coaches.

They both liked reading about Woody Hayes, Ohio State's legendary coach. My husband, who was a journalist at OSU, said he was able to interview Woody twice and the famous coach was extremely cordial both times. Of course, my husband said he never had to interview Woody after an Ohio State defeat.

So thank you for helping me make this holiday season successful and memorable.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate bible of Ohio State football!, May 31, 2002
By 
Eric Kaleal (Westlake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ohio State Football Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
In the great state of Ohio, football is a year-round fixation. Especially for fanatics of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who measure each season's success with the ghosts of its legendary past. When not anticipating the current team's fortunes, they're busy mining for factual nuggets reaffirming the program's glory years.

Buckeye enthusiasts have struck gold with the latter. THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA is an informational jackpot, a whopping 683 pages of pure pigskin bliss, chronicling the entire history of one of sports most storied traditions. Either a lifelong follower or an Ohio State alumnus could architect such a massive undertaking; fortunately, it fell into the able hands of Jack Park, who is both, in addition to his duties as a commentator and columnist. With over four-hundred college football games to his credit--including nearly every OSU home contest since the late-1940's--he is simply the foremost authority on Buckeye football.

Unlike most proverbial encyclopedias with the A to Z format, this one is chronologically recorded, from their humble beginnings in 1890 through the modern-day mania of the 2000 campaign. Amazingly, not one season or game slips through the cracks; each one is vividly recalled with various accounts and statistics.

What really distinguishes the book from the typical almanac, though, is Park's inclusion of the many colorful anecdotes scattered throughout. Within the gray-shaded blocks lie some wonderful tales involving famous and little-known individuals whose passion and spirit have helped to shape the Buckeyes' saga as much as the many great coaches and All-American players. If the myriad of information isn't enough, the appendix offers twenty-four more pages of records and statistics, while the feast concludes with an alphabetical listing of every letterwinner in their illustrious 111-year history.

Bringing the sea of words and numbers to life are the visuals, beautifully arranged with scads of archived photos, newspaper headlines, game programs, and ticket stubs. Rather than clutter the path, they perfectly enhance its charm, balancing the formality of a textbook with the casualness of a scrapbook.

Park's warm but direct approach works effectively. Although his own experiences with OSU date more than a half-century, his reports on each season prior are equally as fresh and seamless, as though he were actually there. These recollections also subtly echo the sentiments of true Buckeye loyalists while still remaining neutral, a deft touch for a work of this type. That personal flair ensures that it's not just compiled by some factory or computer; it makes the whole experience less like a rigid research and more similar to a batch of stories told by a friendly old neighbor.

An essential bible for Buckeye nuts, THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA should be required reading for even the remote sports fan curious to gain insight into the history of a major collegiate athletic program, and in Ohio State University's, one of the nation's proudest.

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