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The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation
Lyons Press
August 2014
On Sale: July 29, 2014
320 pages
ISBN: 0762791772
EAN: 9780762791774
Kindle: B00MO88GF2
Paperback / e-Book
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Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction History
Itโs Americaโs most popular sport, played by thousands, watched by millions, and generating billions in revenues every year. Itโs also Americaโs most controversial sport, haunted by the specter of life-threatening injuries and plagued by scandal, even among its most venerable personalities and institutions. At the college level, we often tie footballโs tales of corruption and greed to its current popularity and revenue potential, and we have vague notions of a halcyon time--before the new College Football Playoff, power conferences, and huge TV contracts. Perhaps we conjure images of young Ivy Leaguers playing a gentlemanโs game, exemplifying the collegial in collegiate. What we donโt imagine is a game described in 1905, not today, as "a social obsession--this boy-killing, man-mutillating, education-prostituting, gladiatorial sport." In The Opening Kickoff, Dave Revsine tells the riveting story of the formative period of American football (1890-1915). It was a time that saw the gameโs meteoric rise, fueled by overflow crowds, breathless newspaper coverage and newfound superstarsโincluding one of the most thrilling and mysterious the sport has ever seen. But it was also a period racked by controversy in academics, recruiting, and physical brutality that, in combination, threatened footballโs very existence. A vivid storyteller, Revsine brings it all to life in a captivating narrative.
 Media BuzzNews at 4: Wednesday Reads - November 26, 2014
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