Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy That Reign Over College Football

"(NFL) scouts are to football what the third base coach is to baseball - an excuse for a whole bunch of old-timers to stay a part of the fraternity and collect a paycheck to boot." - Stewart Mandel There are two U.S. sport seasons: Football and No Football. As far as I'm concerned, it's even a finer point than that: College Football and No College Football. BOWLS, POLLS & TATTERED SOULS tells me more than I thought I wanted to know about the collegiate game. But, now that I've read this book by "Sports Illustrated" writer Stewart Mandel, I'm so very glad that I did. It's a completely absorbing volume that I devoured over two days. I wish it was longer. Mandel examines ten of college pigskin's greatest ongoing controversies, one per chapter: 1. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) - how we got to this impasse, who supports it and doesn't, and why it's not likely to change dramatically anytime soon. 2. The team ranking system - its evolution, politics, and how it's affected by the BCS. 3. The Heisman Trophy - its history, and why it's become a media exposure contest not necessarily based on playing ability. 4. The hiring and firing of coaches, particularly the latter - the growth of their salaries and the precariousness of their tenures (or "What have you done lately?"). 5. Notre Dame - what makes this independent university so damn special that it has BCS equality with the Pac-10, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big East? 6. The recruiting of top high school players - the stand-alone spectacle it's become, and the impact of the Web. 7. The formation of, and school re-alignments with, conferences - it's all about money, particularly TV revenue $. (Say it ain't so, Joe!) 8. Post season bowls - their history, why there are so many, and the team motivation (or not) to participate. 9. NFL recruiting - the joke that it's become. 10. Scandals - who the perps are and why the NCAA doesn't necessarily have jurisdiction (much less care). Mandel being an ultimate insider himself, his book should be required reading for all the insider-wannabe fan(atic)s who populate the off-field margins of the sport and who come off their couches in droves to demonstrate vociferously with torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers whenever their favorite teams, coaches, or players are perceived to have been criticized unfairly or gotten a raw deal in the polls or BCS standings. While BP & TS won't make such partisans more reasonable, it will perhaps raise their stridency level and make the collegiate football season even more deliciously confrontational and loud than it already is. I love it! I myself have followed USC on and off - mostly off - since the late 60s when I numbered among my friends several who graduated from the university and got me interested in the Trojans' game at the time OJ was still a hero and not a bum. I've never been a fan(atic), but rather now follow the extraordinary career of Coach Pete Carroll and his gridiron squads much a

I have been reading Mandel's columns and Mailbags for 3 years now and love his writing style. His book BP & TS has all of what makes his writing great on [...] plus even more detail than you can get into an online column. The book provides a wonderful inside look at the politics of college football. You understand (kind of) the motivations of the bowl system after reading this book. It makes for fascinating reading. I really like the snarky asides he puts into the book. The footnotes are almost more entertaining than the regular text. Overall, an excellent buy and a good Christmas present for anyone on your Christmas list that loves college football.

Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls is the definitive guide to the current state of College Football. Featuring a comprehensive break down of the BCS, Rankings, Recruiting, Notre Dame and Cheating, Stewart Mandel explains the state of the game so that anyone from a die hard war eagle screaming fanatic to a casual observer is engrossed in the maelstrom that is college football. Mandel brings a previously unheard of objective approach to the madness that is college football. This book is a must read for both the oil tycoon with the hundred dollar handshake as well as the ivory tower academia that is infuriated that the uncouth behemoths paid for his proton accelerator.

I thought I knew most of the politics, etc involved in bowls, polls, BCS, etc just by reading Stewart's column (among others)...but the book offers clear & detailed explanations on all subject matter covered, and made me realize I knew very little about college football's inner-workings & politics....geez, hard to believe there were so few bowl games just 11 yrs ago. Love the chapter on ND & how they became so popular - with the explanation stemming from their exploits 80+ years ago.

Thanks to my profession, I know about Mickey Mouse. But I never knew about all the Mickey Mouse shenanigans in college football until I read this book. For example, the author writes about how, in the 1960s, the Notre Dame publicity director changed the pronunciation of quarterback Joe Theismann's last name so that it rhymed with "Heisman" -- even though the family had always pronounced it "thees-man." But there's much, much more. Mandel uses his behind-the-scenes access and years of experience to shed light on some of the most controversial, confusing and downright Goofy topics in the sport. Specifically: * The Bowl Championship Series, and how it works -- or doesn't! * The often arbitrary and unfair way voters rank teams in the polls * How the Heisman Trophy winner is picked, and when the system first jumped the shark * How FireRonZook.com changed how coaches are fired * Why Notre Dame occupies its holier-than-thou spot above all other teams * The influence of the Internet on college recruiting * Why the Big Ten has 11 teams * The plethora of post-season bowl games, and their weird and wacky names * The unpredictability of the NFL draft * Why one school's tawdry scandals catch the NCAA's notice, while others gets off scott free I devoured every page. As a Florida State fan, my soul has been tattered many times in the past few years, but it wasn't that long ago that the bowls and polls just loved us (just ask Notre Dame). To sum up. I think any college football fan will love this book. Mandel's affection for the game is obvious, and his stories are consistently enlightening, entertaining and funny.