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58 reviews for:
The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football
Armen Keteyian, Jeff Benedict
3.94 AVERAGE
58 reviews for:
The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football
Armen Keteyian, Jeff Benedict
3.94 AVERAGE
I think this is a matter of taste, but I do prefer to have my long-form journalism make SOME kind of an overriding argument. It's not that I don't see the value in having a series of vignettes for readers to make up their own minds with the evidence presented, I just think that's not what I'm drawn to for my leisure reading, you know?
Excellent book and a must read for College Football fans. Very detailed and up to date. It seems like a very long book, but in fact the book itself is broken down into various shorter articles that cover the different aspects of college football i,e, the life of coaches, college administration, role of boosters.
It's a fascinating read about the inner workings of some of the big-time college football programs. It shows both the good and bad of programs (dealing with rape allegations at BYU, the practice of using "Hostesses," focusing particular attention on U of Tennessee during the Lane Kiffin era, to give just a few examples). The book sheds light on boosters, athletic directors, college presidents, coaches, support staff, and finally the athletes themselves. It is a big ambitious sweeping narrative that covers a large chunk of the last five years or so of college football, highlighting the scandals (Ohio State tattoo scandal, Mike Leach's ousting from Texas Tech) and uplifting stories (the walk-on journey of Ezekiel Ansah at BYU).
The one knock I had against this book was that it barely touched on the largest scandal in NCAA history, the Penn State/Sandusky scandal. About a page and a half is devoted to it. I am assuming the authors made a decision not to focus too much attention on it, but if you are writing a book on "The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football," I felt a little more time and effort should have been devoted to the largest scandal in the history of the sport.
I am assuming the authors made a conscious decision not to focus too much time on Penn State. They seemed to have been more focused on the less known stories, and I commend them for that. But at the same time, I wanted more than just a page and a half.
Other than that one minor issue, the book is a great read for anyone who enjoys college football.
The one knock I had against this book was that it barely touched on the largest scandal in NCAA history, the Penn State/Sandusky scandal. About a page and a half is devoted to it. I am assuming the authors made a decision not to focus too much attention on it, but if you are writing a book on "The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football," I felt a little more time and effort should have been devoted to the largest scandal in the history of the sport.
I am assuming the authors made a conscious decision not to focus too much time on Penn State. They seemed to have been more focused on the less known stories, and I commend them for that. But at the same time, I wanted more than just a page and a half.
Other than that one minor issue, the book is a great read for anyone who enjoys college football.
Would have been higher if not for a glaring error about a Rice!s bowl history, which left me wondering what other errors were involved
I really enjoyed this book, despite the fact that it took me forever to finish it. This was my gym book, so I pretty much only read it at the gym. That should tell you how often I went to the gym during that time. Regardless, I thought the inside look on college football was fascinating. Benedict looked at the good and the bad of the programs he looked at, including BYU. He went into the rape scandals that happened under Gary Crowton, looked at how Bronco Mendenhall ended up getting the head coaching job, and followed the careers of both Ezekiel Ansah and Kyle Van Noy. I was quite surprised at how many of the chapters had some tie to BYU. The first page of the book occurs at BYU, in fact, in looking at where Mike Leach started and how he got into coaching. I also really enjoyed learning about Nick Saban and the rise of Alabama to college football greatness. If you're a fan of college football, this is a definite must-read.
An excellent behind the scenes look into the world of big time college football.
Although I did not plan it this way, I finished reading The System just the day before The University of Oregon and Ohio State University played for the first college football playoff national championship (won easily by Ohio State 42-20). I am a fairly avid fan of college football, but watching the playoff system at work while reading this particular book seemed to put much more of a human face on the players and coaches by whom I was being so entertained. Both aspects of the book’s subtitle, The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football, were on display during the playoffs.
Authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian have done their homework, and it shows in the way that The System covers just about every aspect of big-time college sports (which, by definition, automatically means football, with basketball a distant second). The book takes a frank look at just about everything that happens on the field – as well as what happens off the field of play. And it is what happens away from the spotlight that will probably prove most interesting to readers/football fans. Hard looks are taken at the programs of schools like Alabama, BYU, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Washington State, and others. Some programs and their coaches come out looking better than others, of course. This is particularly true of BYU, a school at which the morals and character of student athletes is at the top of the coach’s, and the school administration’s, priority lists.
Benedict and Keteyian do spend extensive time on recruiting scandals and claims by athletes and their parents that they have been “abused” by coaches (Mike Leach’s problems at Texas Tech and Washington State are covered in detail, for instance), but they also look closely at problems caused by over-the-top boosters and alumni, female tutors hired by the programs to keep player grades up, and a subclass of recruiters known as “closers.” “Closers,” by the way, are the beautiful female students who volunteer to show potential high school recruits around campus and town when they make their official recruiting visits to the schools. As might be expected, what happens off the field can greatly impact, be it negatively or be it positively, the win-loss record a team achieves on the field.
The most disturbing aspect of what the authors describe, however, regards the percentage of “student/athletes” who are also “student/criminals” and how these particular players are often protected by the schools for which they play football. Keep in mind that the crimes with which these players have been charged are not exactly white-collar crimes. Instead, they most often involve robbery, both armed and otherwise; rape; other violence against women; or drug abuse. In way too many instances, football comes first, and justice a distant second.
The System, although it covers incidents and other aspects of college football that more avid fans might already be familiar with, offers insights and additional details that will be new to most readers. I recommend the book for fans, parents of players, and parents of girls headed to college. There’s a lesson, and a warning, there for all of them.
Authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian have done their homework, and it shows in the way that The System covers just about every aspect of big-time college sports (which, by definition, automatically means football, with basketball a distant second). The book takes a frank look at just about everything that happens on the field – as well as what happens off the field of play. And it is what happens away from the spotlight that will probably prove most interesting to readers/football fans. Hard looks are taken at the programs of schools like Alabama, BYU, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Washington State, and others. Some programs and their coaches come out looking better than others, of course. This is particularly true of BYU, a school at which the morals and character of student athletes is at the top of the coach’s, and the school administration’s, priority lists.
Benedict and Keteyian do spend extensive time on recruiting scandals and claims by athletes and their parents that they have been “abused” by coaches (Mike Leach’s problems at Texas Tech and Washington State are covered in detail, for instance), but they also look closely at problems caused by over-the-top boosters and alumni, female tutors hired by the programs to keep player grades up, and a subclass of recruiters known as “closers.” “Closers,” by the way, are the beautiful female students who volunteer to show potential high school recruits around campus and town when they make their official recruiting visits to the schools. As might be expected, what happens off the field can greatly impact, be it negatively or be it positively, the win-loss record a team achieves on the field.
The most disturbing aspect of what the authors describe, however, regards the percentage of “student/athletes” who are also “student/criminals” and how these particular players are often protected by the schools for which they play football. Keep in mind that the crimes with which these players have been charged are not exactly white-collar crimes. Instead, they most often involve robbery, both armed and otherwise; rape; other violence against women; or drug abuse. In way too many instances, football comes first, and justice a distant second.
The System, although it covers incidents and other aspects of college football that more avid fans might already be familiar with, offers insights and additional details that will be new to most readers. I recommend the book for fans, parents of players, and parents of girls headed to college. There’s a lesson, and a warning, there for all of them.
An entertaining, thought provoking, and clearly well researched book about college football. It starts on the very darkest parts of college football. The sexual assaults, the gang rapes, the money. My goodness, all the money. The strictest coaches and the borderline criminal ways they treat their athletes at times. The inappropriate payments to athletes and families, the strip clubs, the insane recruiting process, the young women who are designed to close the deal (on the up and up and otherwise) - this part of the book is enough to make a college fan with a conscious a little bit ill. It really makes you realize, just at the tip of the iceberg, what it is we are all supporting every time we as fans attend a game, watch a game, or buy merch. The other half of the book is more of the lighter and fun stuff. Things like how a billionaire can turn a program around with the right investment. (I gotta tell you, it does make me wish I had that kind of money b/c how fun it would be to lift up one of my favorite young programs, UTSA, in a similar way. If only. Hey, a guy can dream). How players can go from the gangs of Compton to a life changing opportunity. How a promising athlete can forego the pros to make sure he gets his education. How College Gameday is one of the most special sports programs on television. How the greatness of Alabama of the mid 2000's rises above all the other programs. How a coach is recruited by a school and why. It's all there. The good, the very bad, and the super interesting behind the curtain. As an investigative book it's pretty strong. I do like that it touches on many different facets of college football. But I did find myself wanting more out of the most interesting stories found within. If the book fails anywhere it's in that none of these stories go to the fullest possible detail - it's basically a glimpse of many different aspects of the game. Too many of the stories felt unfulfilled - I wanted even more. But as an all-encompassing glimpse into college football as a whole, it's pretty strong. Even ten years on it doesn't feel horribly dated - the biggest thing probably being Mike Leach, who is heavily profiled within, has recently died unexpectedly. Beyond that, it holds up. I can't imagine many serious college football fans wouldn't get some enjoyment out of the book at worst. At best, perhaps they might question if it's all worth it or not.
An interesting look at college football, but nothing really shocking or new. Well-reported, but I didn't care for the structure of the book, and found it confusing to follow. If you are a college football fan, you will have no problem because the names will all be familiar, but if you aren't, the book jumps around from school to school and it's a bit disorienting.