Globe Pequot Press / Lyons Press
Pages: 328
Trim: 6 x 9
978-0-7627-9177-4 • Hardback • July 2014 • $25.95 • (£17.95)
978-1-4930-0952-7 • Paperback • September 2015 • $16.95 • (£10.95)
978-1-4930-1292-3 • eBook • July 2014 • $15.99 • (£10.95)
Dave Revsine has been the lead studio host of the Big Ten Network since its inception in 2007. Before that, he spent more than a decade as a studio anchor at ESPN. He lives in suburban Chicago with his wife and three daughters.
[A] stirring survey of malfeasance, meticulously brought to life by Mr. Revsine.... The Opening Kickoff is a first-class account of football's turbulent origins, one that helps explain how a collision sport became the most conspicuous part of American higher education.
— The Wall Street Journal
A new must-read book for fans of college football...[a] fascinating look at the origins of the game.
— Forbes
[A]n eye-opening and compelling lesson for those looking for the complete story of the game.
— Chicago Tribune
[A] fascinating, well-researched college history [that] shows how money, eligibility, powerful coaches and bad actors corrupt.
— Sports Illustrated
Revsine has written a rich and thorough book, backed by ample research. But he’s also a college football fan, who’s served up a tale laced with humor and suspense.
— Boston Globe
[I give] the strongest recommendation possible to The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation.... It is fascinating - the best book [I have] read this summer... Revsine is a wonderful storyteller... If you like football and want to know how to first began its rise to become a national preoccupation, this is a must-read.
— Pat Forde, national columnist for Yahoo Sports
[Setting] -
1890--1915, Ivy League and Midwest colleges like Wisconsin and Michigan
By the lead studio host of The Big Ten Network, the story of college football from 1890 to 1915--the intense media coverage, new sports superstars, fraud, scandals, violence, and how an Ivy League sport went west to form a college football nation