RivalryFootball.com » Books

Football Books

Admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 05:18:31 +0000

RivalryFootball.com will be featuring several articles about football books in the coming months. We work closely with The American Football Booklist (AFB) organization for reference material and ideas. The purpose of the AFB is to acquire, preserve and interpret books for a collection on the subject of football.

The collection started with a commitment of a donation of 500 books on the subject of American Football. Book sources, such as the Library of Congress and leading bookstores confirm that there are over 8500 titles that have been published with the keyword "football" in the title. We believe at Rivalryfootball.com that there are also several hundred other books about football where the word is not mentioned in the title. The AFB has a master list of all-time football books that continues to grow month to month and then a collection of books they add to on a regular bases. All books on the subject of American Football will be targeted for the AFB collection.

At such time when the collection has grown to a substantial number, the AFB will accept applications to find a permanent library, preferably at a university or sports museum. The AFB wants the public, students, teachers, sportswriters, researches, football writers, historians and football coaches to have full access to the collection.

Vintage Years (pre-1950)

How to Start an Antiquarian Football Book Collection

RivalryFootball.com’s 2009 College Football Book of the Year

Admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:14:18 +0000

RivalryFootball.com's

2009 College Football Book of the Year

More than a Coach, by David Lee Morgan, Jr. has been selected by the website group RivalryFootball.com as the Best College Football Book of the Year for 2009.

What it means to play for coach, mentor and friend Jim Tressel; the Head Football Coach at Ohio State, is a powerful and inspiring book. Former players and people who know Coach Tressel well, have offered never-before- told-stories of his unique coaching philosophy and the effect it has had on impacting their lives. David Morgan has used more than 50 interviews to write this dynamic book on Coach Jim Tressel.

Any student of the game of college football game and/or current or future football coach this book should be required reading. Any young high school football player evaluating where he might play in college should read this book first before making a life changing decision.

Coach Jim Tressel knows his goal is to win football games, but what he has decided is that his purpose as a head coach is to help prepare men to live meaningful lives well beyond football. Click the image below to learn more about or purchase this fantastic book!

More than a Coach

Author: David Lee Morgan, Jr.

Publisher: Triumph Books

ISBN: 978-1-60078-238-1

$24.95

STARS of an Earlier Autumn

Admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:17:40 +0000

STARS of an EARLIER AUTUMN

By Tex Noel/1^st-N-Goal

A PressBoxPublication

Stars of an Earlier Autumn is a Pre-1937 college football records book—as statistics became official in 1937.

Early college football (1869-1936) there was no divisional alignments which teams were assigned. This book incorporates all of college football that was played in the game’s first 68 years.

It includes Top 10 player statistical accomplishments in game, single-season and career; while team stats included game and all-time marks.

Another highlight is the actual polls and national champions; as selected by those who were an active part of the season in which a team was named #1.

To read reviews or purchase this excellent book click the image above or here. Any questions please email Tex at statwhiz@hotmail.com (Put STARS in the subject line) and let him know RivalryFootball.com sent you!

How to Start a Collection of Antiquarian Football Books

Admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:49:10 +0000

How to Start a Collection of Antiquarian Football Books

Let me start off with a little background history of my experience with collecting books and in particular antiquarian books. I do it for the enjoyment, not for any profit. I collect first editions, rare or scarce copies, signed copies and usually books in better condition and hopefully with a dust jacket. Again I do it for the fun of the search and acquiring a copy of a book to complete a particular section of a collection or just to grow the collection larger. In the past, I have collected golf books and have since donated over 500 books to the Oakmont Country Club for the Henry Fownes Foundation Library. I have what I believe is the largest and most complete collection of shotgun and shotgun shooting sports books in the world and continue to collect on a continuing bases strictly for the pleasure of enhancing my shotgun shooting. I love the game of GIN and have every book ever published on the game. I have a collection of every book on Ohio State football and it grows every year as new books are published. I am now very involved in developing a collection of football books with a target on college football and antiquarian books pre 1930s. I hope someday to donate this collection to a university library or sports museum whereby the public, students, teachers, coaches, sports writers, researchers, historians have full access to the collection. My best collection is my childhood books left to me by my mother. So I am different from what you might consider a typical book collector. But let me give you some further information to start and to enhance a collection of antiquarian football books in this case.

First, take a Saturday and go around and visit your local used book or antiquarian book dealer’s stores. Introduce yourself and get to know them a little bit as they will become a great source for information and books for your collection in the months and years ahead. You can buy plenty of books about collecting books, but only a few football books will ever become rare and or scarce and worth over $500.00. A good relationship with a bookseller will be more valuable. Remember enjoyment, not for profit. Second, learn about the conditions and rankings of book quality from your new friend… the used book store dealer. Learn and understand the difference between "poor", "fine" and "very good" condition, the value of an autographed copy, the physical condition of the book (torn pages or spine problems for example), what is a dust jacket. Ask about how to handle and take care of antiquarian books. If available, buy some plastic protective book jacket covers to be used later with your collection. A book in "poor" condition is generally worthless, but it can bring a lot of enjoyment to the collector and fill in a spot for your collection of say a certain coach or team if repaired and taken care of properly.

Next thing is to determine what you want to collect and only you can really make that discussion. There are hundreds of ways to just look at collecting football books. There have been over 8000 titles published with the word football in the book title and then there are several hundred more about football without any mention of football in the book title. This is part of the fun of building your collection.

But let’s get back to antiquarian football books. After you have visited your local used book dealer, now go to the internet which today has revolutionized book collecting. Here is the most valuable tip I will give you in this entire article; click on www.bookfinder.com and just put in a keyword about football or the word football alone. You will be amazed! It’s like the first time you go to New York City and see all the skyscrapers. Later as you become a more experienced collector, you will be putting in authors or coaches names to find books.Additional places to look are garage sales, estate sales, library sales, auction websites and Half-Price book stores. I personally do not go to EBay anymore as the internet booksellers you will find are much better to do business with in the long term. Check out www.Abebooks.com, www.Alibris.com and www.Bibliophile.com on the internet. Four major independent book stores I check with on an ongoing base are www.Betweenthecovers.com, Gloucester, NJ; www.TatteredCover.com, Denver, CO; www.Powells.com, Portland, OR and www.Strandbooks.com, New York City.

If you collect new or recently published books you can always go to Borders, Books-A-Million, Barnes and Noble and on the internet at Amazon. Take out accounts with all of them and use your discounts to the max to expand your collection.

My final personal thoughts are, try to support your local independent book stores wherever you have the opportunity; as they are having a very tough time in this economy to survive. Remember a book is always a wonderful gift to give and or receive and especially now if it is an antiquarian football book.

Brought to you by www.RivalryFootball.com

Vintage Years (pre-1950)

Admin — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:46:49 +0000

Our first feature is about the great collectable football books from the period we call the Vintage Years, pre-1950. Actually all the books are from the 1930s or before. The Modern Era (1950 and beyond) will be featured in other articles. Some articles will be only about coaching, some about famous teams and others about a particular Head Coach or personality. We will even have articles about how-to-collect football books and preserve them.

To kick-off our first article I am going to list several of the classic football books all collectors should try to obtain for their collection along with a short description. The books will be organized in alphabetical order by author (normally the coach).

Winning Football, Psychology, Strategy and Technique (1937)

By "Bernie" Bierman; Book has wide appeal as a textbook for coaches and players and instructive reading for football fans. Book is completely illustrated with action photographs and diagrams.

American Football (1891) Very Scarce

By Walter Camp; Without any question, one of the all-time classic football books written by the "Father of American Football." Includes 31 portraits and is usually only available today as a Print on Demand (POD) book.

Football for the Spectator (1911)

By Walter Camp; A continuation of the book above and again a must have for any football book collection.

Practical Football, A Manual for Coaches, Players and Students of the Game (1934)

By H.O. "Fritz" Crisler; Written by one of the greatest college coaches in the 1930 and 40’s, his book is an indispensable handbook for coaches, players and spectators who love the game of football.

Football, the American Intercollegiate Game (1911) Rare

By Parke H. Davis; 504 pages of football history, games, players and famous plays like the Wedge, Tackle-back, the shift, The V and many others. Lots of wonderful, detailed illustrations included in this must have book. Davis is one of my personal favorite authors in the collection.

Principles of Football (1922)

By John Heisman; Written while coach at the University of Pennsylvania and years before the naming of the Heisman Memorial Trophy in his honor. Coach Heisman believed in the principles as much as any football coach in the game.

How to Watch Football, the Spectator’s Guide (1935) Rare

By Lou Little; A fan’s guide to watching football in the pre-TV days of leather helmets and limited forward passing; illustrated with action photos and play diagram, etc. Little was the Head Coach at Columbia University.

The Four Winners: the Head, the Hands, the Foot, the Ball (1925) Scare

By Knute Rockne; Coach Rockne wrote several books before his untimely death. This one is probably his best as considered by many coaches and the fans of Notre Dame.

Coaching: The Way of the Winner (1925) Scarce

By Knute Rockne; Sportswriter Grantland Rice said it best, "I think it is one of the most interesting and instructive books on football I have ever read." Truly, a classic football book!

Winning Football (1920)Rare

By William W. Roper; …but as a splendid sort of preparatory school for life – the successful man is the one who can fight through adversity, who can take punishment and come up smiling, who’s never beaten till the whistle blows. Enjoy this book!

TOUCHDOWN (1927) Rare

By Amos Alonso Stagg & Wesley Stout; WOW! what a history of the game of football in America. For anyone who studies the game from the beginning, TOUCHDOWN is loaded with information and is a must read.

A Scientific and Practical Treatise on American Football for Schools and Colleges (1893) Scarce

By Amos Alonso Stagg and Henry Williams
Coach Stagg states in the opening, The game of football is fast becoming the national sport of American youth. That was in 1893. This is my personal favorite book in my collection. Need I say anymore?

Knute Rockne Man Builder (1931)

By Harry A. Stuhldreher; A biography on coaching great Knute Rockne from Notre Dame.

Football for coaches & players (1927)

By Glenn Scobey Warner; You probably know him as "Pop" Warner who coached Jim Thorpe, but this book was written after 33 years of coaching and while at Stanford University. It is a fabulous HOW TO book on coaching the game of football. It covers all aspects of the game.

FOOTBALL for Player and Spectator (1905) Scarce

By Fielding H. Yost; One of the best ever coaching football books ever written when you consider the time and that the game was still very early in its development. Coach Yost believed example is the very best teacher and he used that principle with photos and drawing throughout this book. A GREAT read!

Finally, the last suggested item to collect is not a book but an annual football guide. Spalding Sporting Goods published their annual Spalding’s Official Football Guide from 1891 to 1940 and then it became an NCAA publication. They are very scarce and in fact I’ve never owned one, nor do I recall ever seeing one. But if you come across one, don’t let it get away.

We hope you have enjoyed our introduction to antique football books and we would like to have your comments and post them on the rivalryfootball.com website. Any suggestions or ideas about football books will be greatly appreciated and acted upon.