Sports Illustrated: The College Football Book (Hardcover)

by Editors of Sports Illustrated (Author)
Key Phrases: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Woody Hayes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Continuing its series of spectacular coffee-table books for the holiday season, Sports Illustrated presents The College Football Book, the ultimate gift for America's most passionate fans.

SI launched this series in 2005 with The Football Book, devoted to the professional game. A New York Times best-seller that year, the book has taken root as a perennial, selling more than 200,000 copies to date. Now the editors of Sports Illustrated return to the gridiron, this time to serve the most avid football fans of all.

With the best words and pictures SI has to offer, The College Football Book, brings to life the game's unparalleled excitement and pageantry, its legendary players, historic teams and epic rivalries.

In 288 pages of the greatest photography and writing available anywhere, The College Football Book spans the sport's history, from its infancy in the 1800s right up to the postseason showdowns of 2008. The book is packed with stunning pictures, award-winning stories, original stats, decade-by-decade all-star teams and iconic artifacts photographed exclusively for this book at the College Football Hall of Fame--the same exciting mix of elements that makes each book in the SI series a must-have for sports fan.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 28 pages
• Publisher: Sports Illustrated (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603200339
• ISBN-13: 978-1603200332
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 10.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,899 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #4 in	Books > Sports > Football (American) > College & University
  #9 in	Books > Reference > Encyclopedias > Sports
  #21 in	Books > Sports > Miscellaneous > Essays

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful coffee table book from Sports Illustrated, November 2, 2008

By	Joseph C. Sweeney (Portland, Maine) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great gift idea for the college football fan in your life. Some wonderful new essays by SI staff to go along with many classic SI articles, and, of course, dozens and dozens of terrific photos. I read this book in just a few hours, and enjoyed every minute of it. Can't wait for what I hope will be a book on college basketball. All the recent SI books, such as the ones on pro baseball, pro football, pro basketball, and this one have been well worth the money....

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever Wanted To See The First Football Helmet?, March 19, 2009

By	M. Warren (Arizona) - See all my reviews

Well now you can! In picture! (It's still exciting!) Please be forewarned, this is not a book for people who want stats, game scores, leaders, records, anything that resembles numbers. If you want that, take a look at 50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport, which is so exhaustive it belongs as a reference book. However, if you want fun readings, big pictures from all eras (heck, the helmets on the cover are fun to look at), and tribute the game itself, then this book is for you.

Even with the lack of information regarding my personal favorite team, there still is plenty of stuff. The pictures here are glossy, huge, and very colorful (or a very vibrant black and white). There's collisions, running, plays in action, some field storming, and pictures of Steve Spurrier when he was in college (!!!). The artifacts section is very cool, spanning helmets (the very first helmet is a scream), nose guards, and even the dirt of the first college football game played. On a side note, I also like the scoreboard of that Georgia Tech Vs. Cumberland game (220-0!). If you haven't noticed already, this book has a lot of perks. College football fans will appreciate all this book has to offer.

As far as writing goes, each era (20's to 00's, plus an "pre years" or something of that nature), which includes information about the era, dynasties of that time, Heisman winners, All-decade Teams, and "epic games". Scattered throughout are columns and essays written by various writers, on such topics like Herschel Walker, Steve Spurrier, OJ Simpson, Bear Bryant, Joe Paterno, Woody Haynes, Archie Manning (Why no Peyton Manning?), and Vince Young. They are nothing but well written, especially evident when you going for somebody like Rick Reiley. There's also a lengthy introduction.

This is really just a beautiful designed coffee table book. They do update this book every year, too, but that still doesn't deter anything from it. College Football fan? Bar none, own it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Picture Book, March 25, 2009

By	M. H Furlong (Centerville, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has great photography, as you would expect from SI, but also some great writing, also not a surprise from SI. For the price, this was a steal and I would recommend it for every college football fan.