Every Week a Season : A Journey Inside Big Time College Football

Rating:
Summary: Great idea, very well-written
Review: Curtis hits all the marks with this book. I was a little skeptical going in, wondering what I might learn, as I'm a pretty big college football fan. I was surprised because I didn't know most of what he reveals. He talks about the world off the field in a way that ESPN, SI, etc. never fully explore, in my experience.

Very well-written book, I definitely recommend it for casual or serious sports fans. It shows so much of the real game that you hardly ever see or hear about.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic, Inside look at the College Football Week
Review: If you love college football...you'll love this book. The writer spends a complete week with each of several major college football programs during the 2003 season. This gives a real insiders look at what goes on duting the whole week in preparation for the game on Saturday. I came away from this with a real respect for how much time the players and especially coaches put in.

Rating:
Summary: More than a Game, a Love Affair with the Teams
Review: This book is a high tribute to the Great American Sport of Football. It is based on visits to nine of the top names in college football. The author, Brian Curtis, spent a week at each school. The result is a report, not of just the games, but of the essence of the teams. He reports on the practice, the personalities, the tone of the school and the team. The tone varies a good bit depending if the last game was a win or a loss. He reports on the 'intelligence' I guess you'd call it about what the team can expect in the game plan expected from their opponents next week. And on the ways to counter the oponnents expected game.

Coming through on each page is the fascination, the love that the author feels for the game and the teams. Delightful book.

Rating:
Summary: Wide Right
Review: This book reads like a journal. It's a good comparative look at how different coaches run their programs; however, it's basically the same 15 page story chapter after chapter. Based on the author's access to the programs and coaches, he does begin to explore some interesting stories regarding assistants, family, boosters, academincs, and recruiting but gives those ideas a paragraph or two and moves on to the next thing. Had those ideas been further explored the book could have delivered what I expected; however, I felt like I was reading the fragmented journal of an author trying to keep a book to a certain length.

Rating:
Summary: A look beyond the football field
Review: This book was great. Curtis spent a week at 10 major college programs which included teams from the ACC, SEC, WAC, Big 10 & Big East, including the week leading up to LSU's Sugar Bowl victory over the Sooners in the Championship game. I found it a great read on two fronts: 1) You get a look at how each coach prepares for his game, some are completely hands on while others have great trust in their assistants and just overlook everything. 2) The part I enjoyed most about the book was how different schools/coaches look at their players. Some of the coaches it was win at all costs having no regard for classes or much else. Fortunately there were more coaches who went along the lines of caring about the student will promote winning. Alot of people think big time colleges are just football factories, but after reading this book you realize more schools care more about there students beinging students first and athletes second.

A must read for any college football fan!