The Obscene Diaries of a Michigan Fan

This wild comic rant about sports is also startlingly original. For hard core sports fans, the book is packed with the kind of fresh insightful analysis of football strategy that is so completely missing from the work of the paid media pundits. (College coaches are already taking this book very seriously, because it shows why they should go for it on 4th down way more than they do.) But for non sports fans, this is also a great book, because Craig Ross really talks more about life than he does about sports -- and he's a fabulously witty writer.

I join my fellow alum Mr. Heston in giving high praise to Obscene Diaries. At college I became quite interested in football, and particularly enjoyed Northwestern's successful skirmishes against the University of Michigan. Mr. Ross successfully reveals football as a particularly American blend of theatre and sport, personal drama and statistical analysis, quarterback thrill and coach agonistes.

As packed as it is with painstakingly researched sports statistics and wild, wonderful analyses, this book is a humorous and delightful read. Attorney Ross argues the facts, argues the law, AND attacks the opposition, entertaining us all the way.

As an alum of Northwestern, a school whose original nickname was The Fighting Methodists, I can appreciate the quasi-religious fervor of Wolverine fans. Craig Ross joins the ranks of Voltaire and Jonathan Swift in effectively (and humorously)skewering this (large) slice of American culture.

I hate lawyers I cringe at the sound of "The Victors"! I still loved this book.