Customer Reviews

NFL Record and Fact Book 2009 (Official National Football League Record and Fact Book)

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why did the NFL eliminate the box scores from the previous season?

I know they saved about 40 pages by doing so, but that was one of the best parts of the book! Are these available anywhere else?

You would think announcers, reporters and other media types would want to know details of what happened in games played the previous season, especially between division rivals that meet twice a year.

Seriously - is there any other printed source for full-year box scores?

This is still a good reference, but I've got serious doubts about buying next year's edition.

Whatever you need to know about the NFL, it's in this book. Want to see the standings from any previous season (including the AFL)? It's in this book. Want to see the final score of any NFL game ever? It's in this book. Want to see this season's complete week-by-week schedule? It's in this book. Want to see the NFL's tie-breaking rules? It's in this book. Want to see how the Passer Rating is calculated? It's in this book. Want to see the 32 team rosters? It's in this book. Want to see the roster of NFL officials? It's in this book. Any NFL fan should buy this book every season.

If you love records and stats, this is the book for you! Need to look up an NFL record? They're all in here! Want to find out how your team has fared against your bitter rivals? It's in this book! This book will satisfy your inner stat junkie!

I buy the new edition of this book for my son (who is now 17) every year. Once again it was a hit.

This book is so awesome. For someone who loves to look up statistics for the NFL, this is a must have book.

This publication used to be incredibly informative, and still has more statistics on the NFL than any other sports almanac. I think, however, that this may be the last year I purchase a copy. Already eliminated from the publication years ago were the breakdowns of star players' performance against each team. I always liked seeing statistical proof that certain players really had some teams' numbers, but removing that was minor. Then, the individual game recaps were shortened, which was annoying but okay. Now, they've eliminated teh game recaps entirely. This has become just a collection of statistics, not much more than is available in an annual sports almanac, and not worth paying $20 for.

I've been purchasing the NFL Record & Fact Book for 25 years now, and it has been an invaluable reference that I use over and over again throughout the season. However, for the last 8 years, it has continually fallen victim to cost-cutting measures.

In 2002, they decreased the physical size of the book, going with smaller print and making it harder to read. In 2004, the quality of the paper used decreased noticeably. In both cases, it was a nuisance, but all of the information was still there.

This year, however, for the first time since I've been collecting the book, it contains less information than the previous year. In some cases this doesn't concern me; for instance, they've eliminated the "Tom Brady's (for example) Career Passing Against Each Opponent" section, which I always though was excessive, and the abstract nature of what a player had to do to get featured in that way was a little bothersome anyhow.

But what left me with that lingering feeling of disappointment was that they have eliminated the section that contains a scoring summary and a one-paragraph blurb about each regular-season game of the prior season. It has been replaced by a presentation of the scores and standings of each week, with an admonition that if we want complete box scores and game summaries, we can go to the NFL's website.

Fine and dandy, the age of high-tech information, blah blah blah. And I'm sure that if I went to the website today, they would have far more information about the 2008 games than was ever contained in previous editions of the Record & Fact Book. But I ask you this: will they archive this information online in an easily-accessible way forever? Or will they keep the last 5 seasons and allow anything before that to drift off into the digital nether-world? As an enthusiast for the history of pro football, I still refer to my Record and Fact Books from the 1980s with some regularity. 20 years from now, when I want to reference a game played in the 2008 season, how difficult will it to be find what I'm looking for?

Even in this age of cheap digital data storage (and if I'm a grouchy old man 34, so be it), there is something to be said for the permanence of having information that is important to you in a concrete, portable format. Two thumbs down on the NFL.

Just received it, better than ever! I was a little concerned this year because it has 96 less pages, but all the info seems to be there. A must have for any NFL fan! I have been purchasing it every year since 1998!