BIG TEN COUNTRY: A Journey Through One Football Season

by Bob Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 11, 1989

Here, Wood writes entertainingly of how he spent one college football season following Big Ten teams in their home stadiums--duplicating a writing technique that he used successfully in his baseball-park guide, Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks. Waxing nostalgic, Wood--himself a Michigan State grad--puts his considerable talents to work highlighting the entire panoply of the college gridiron experience, including the differences between Saturdays then and now (then: Big Macs, Cokes, and fiat-house balcony music; now: elaborate tailgating parties); between colleges (Minnesota: the closest thing to a pro team, even playing in a ""bubble"" stadium; Wisconsin: the greatest fans in the Big Ten--enthusiastically supportive even of the worst teams; Illinois: where, unlike at other colleges where traditions have withered, frat and sorority sections, card blocks, and homecomings still reign); between the pro and college game (pro: boredom, changing franchises, high-tech stadiums; college: spontaneous emotion, school loyalty, and ""old shoe"" stadiums, where cute girls are passed up the stands for fun). Wood bisects each chapter, first essaying the school involved--its ethos, students, ambience--then chronicling the actual matchup with a keen eye not so much for the game itself as for what goes on in the stands. For grid fans, a touchdown.

Pub Date: Sept. 11, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION