MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 02172cam a22002777a 4500
001 2010032233
003 DLC
005 20110829151227.0
008 100806s2011 nyuaf b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2010032233
020 $a9780061744501
040 $aDLC$cDLC
043 $an-us---
050 00 $aGV950$b.M55 2011
082 00 $a796.332$222
100 1 $aMiller, John J.,$d1970-
245 14 $aThe big scrum :$bhow Teddy Roosevelt saved football /$cJohn J. Miller.
260 $aNew York :$bHarperCollins,$cc2011.
300 $axi, 258 p., [8] leaves of plates :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
520 $aThe never-before-fully-told story of how Theodore Roosevelt helped to save the game that would become America's most popular sport. During the late nineteenth century, the game of football was a work in progress that only remotely resembled the sport of today. There was no agreement about many of the basic rules, and it was incredibly violent and extremely dangerous. Numerous young men were badly injured and dozens died in highly publicized incidents, often at America's top prep schools and colleges. Objecting to the sport's brutality, a movement of proto-Progressives tried to abolish the game. President Theodore Roosevelt, a vocal advocate of "the strenuous life" and a proponent of risk, acknowledged football's dangers but admired its potential for building character. In 1905, he summoned the coaches of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to the White House. The result was the establishment of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as well as a series of rule changes that ultimately transformed football into the quintessential American game.--From publisher description.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [227]-245) and index.
505 0 $aThe killing fields -- Creation stories -- Game time -- Camp days -- The capacity to inflict pain -- The virile virtues -- Let them be men first -- Rough riding -- Football is a fight -- The air war.
650 0 $aFootball$zUnited States$xHistory.
650 0 $aCollege sports$zUnited States$xHistory.
650 0 $aFootball$zUnited States$vRules$xHistory.
600 10 $aRoosevelt, Theodore,$d1858-1919.