Saturday Rules: A Season with Trojans and Domers (and Gators and Buckeyes and Wolverines)

I have recently got back into reading after many years away. This one I bought years ago and lost in a flood in 2018. I saw it at a goodwill near the beach and had to get it. It’s crazy to remember the old BCS ways, the big east, 12 teams in the SEC, I can go on. Great read if you remember that era or want go remember 2006. Can’t go wrong!

The run up to the NCAA national championship always has many stories about the difficulties and travails of the athletes, coaches and fans who all seek the elusive Number One ranking. There may be a few souls out there that know more about the X's and Os of college football but none of them can match Austin Murphy's dry wit, keen insights and the human stories behind the scenes. This book explains that we don't need a Playoff System because we already have more than enough drama. Like everything that this veteran SI Road Warrior puts out there, we have laughed more and are a bit wiser than before we started. Keep it coming!

Great running commentary on the 2006 season, mostly from the perspective of USC and ND, but great insights into Ohio St, Michigan, and Florida. I would definitely enjoy reading a similar book about any season.

Not the most fascinating subject but Murphy's writing rises above the fairly mundane topic. The premise that the college game beats pro football ignores four hour bowl games that carry into mid-January. That said, Murphy finds the humor in anything and has a real knack for people that comes across in his writing. His earlier books are five star efforts so this is, as they say, wide left.

I was excited to see Austin Murphy had written a book about the 2006 college football season. His college football articles in SI are solid, typically containing cool backstories that you would not find anywhere else. I also read his earlier book on D3 fooball in Minnesota (St. John's I believe) and found it very funny and insightful. As a Buckeye homer I didn't get everything I wanted. Obviously Austin did not write this for me, and the 2006 season did not end well for tOSU, so I'd still rate this a 'strong buy'. If Coach Tressel ever allows it, Austin Murphy would be the writer I'd want to write the book on Buckeye football. He makes Charlie Weiss human for goodness sake! If a writer can take the most egotistical and foul mouthed coach in football and make him somewhat of an interesting person then that's quality writing. The Michigan program is portrayed as expected: paranoid and ill tempered. Columbus is going to miss you Llllloyd! I'd have preferred more of the stories behind the stories vs. game recaps. I understand why the game summaries were needed however as they are the spine of the book. If you are a college football fan you will enjoy this book. If you are a true fanatic (Go Bucks!) it won't be exactly what you want because it's not about a single team. SC and Domer fans will enjoy it the most as they get the best treatment from the writer. Again, it's likely deserved as their Sports Information Departments appear to embrace this project and hook the author up with the necessary access. Finally from what I can discern in the text, if you ever get the chance to have a drink with the author definitely take him up on it. He's experienced some great college football moments and some stories he shares from when his brother played for BC are tremendous.

This super eye-opener of a book transports its readers into the midst of the inner workings of some of the top-notch NCAA football powers. The author's ability to translate the excitement, tenseness, electricity and sheer fun of the college game onto the written page is outstanding. Amidst tales ranging from great hilarity to those of mind-numbing disappointment, he paints vivid pictures of why "Saturday Rules." This is a great read for football lovers of all ages.