Many books have been written in the past few years about the importance of college football on the American cultural landscape. Some have addressed the postseason bowl games while others chose to tackle the traditions that thrive within individual programs.
No book before, however, has compiled every possible aspect of this golden game like Michael MacCambridge's College Football Encyclopedia presented by ESPN Books. Within the vanilla heaven that is its 1,623 pages lie some of the most amazing, mind-bending statistics and insights into the weekly grudge match that is America's truest game.
MacCambridge's book is wonderfully organized with a liberal mixing of essays, week-by-week polls, yearly conference standings and every Outland, Davey O'Brien and Rimington Award winner. Don't know what the Rimington Award is or even who Rimington was? Well guess what: I don't either. Why, you might ask? Because I have not been able to sift through the immensity of the book. Weighing in at just more than seven pounds, this book has everything.
The beginning of the book is chock-full of essays from ESPN commentators and others who dedicate their entire existence to writing about college football. What follows is the most extensive collection of individual-team information anywhere outside of individual university sports information departments.
Each team capsule is listed alphabetically and contains basic info about the whereabouts of campus and the capacity of each stadium. The most interesting aspect of these capsules are the listings of every conceivable element of each school. From each school's traditions and rivals to the origin of their mascot, the book has extensive descriptions of each team's greatest game and biggest disappointment.
For Ohio State, the greatest game is undoubtedly the 2002 National Championship game in Tempe. MacCambridge, who writes every team capsule, calls the OSU-Miami game "arguably the greatest college football game ever played." That's right: This guy knows his stuff, and he calls our school's brightest post-Woody Hayes moment as the greatest in the sport's illustrious history. At the end of each team capsule is a complete list of each receiving, rushing and passing leader from every year.
After the section of team capsules ends, the book follows with annual reviews that include yearly standings, bowl results, All-Americans, the top-10 Heisman Trophy candidates, statistical leaders and weekly poll results. Yet the most intriguing parts of the book are the histories of two largely ignored entities in college football: the historically black colleges and the Ivy League schools.
By dedicating a special section to each, MacCambridge gives credit where credit is due. He celebrates the importance of both leagues, one as an originator of the game and the other as a hotbed of talent and tradition.
Though much praise must be given to the effort and content of the book, it is still rife with editing mistakes and problems. OSU, for example, is credited with retiring Chic Harley's No. 22. Now, anybody that knows OSU football will know that Harley's number is 47. This nit-picking might be minuscule to those outside of OSU fandom, but it truly is a monumental editing problem.
Do not let this little bit of criticism keep you from buying this book or asking for it as a holiday gift. It is truly an invaluable resource for anyone serious about learning the history of college football and knowing where the game is going.
Ian Story is a senior in journalism. He can be reached at story.18@osu.edu.
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