Saturday Rules: Why College Football Outpasses, Outclasses, and Flat-Out Surpasses the NFL

by Austin Murphy

Does the NFL have better athletes than the college teams? Yes.
Does it ensure more direct flights? Undoubtedly.
Which game is better, more entertaining, less predictable?
It's not even close. Austin Murphy firmly believes that college football—with its rich traditions and deep passions, its marching bands and menagerie of living, breathing animal mascots, its arm-long lists of ancient blood grudges—is far more captivating, fan-friendly, and, frankly, more fun than the corporate, clinical, hermetically sealed game they play on Sunday. In this rich and raucous celebration of America's real greatest game, Murphy criss-crosses the country during the 2006 season to interview players and coaches (and yes, the USC Song Girls), take part in the sublime off-field mayhem, and otherwise immerse himself in the raw nerve and glory of the gridiron contests waged by the nation's most beloved football schools. Long before the final chapter, one truth becomes abundantly when it comes to football, Saturday rules!

352 pages, Paperback

Published August 26, 2008

About the author

Austin Murphy is an American author and journalist who wrote for Sports Illustrated for 33 years before corporate downsizing made him an Amazon.com delivery truck driver. After working for Amazon, Murphy was recently hired as a writer for the Santa Rosa (Calif.) Press Democrat.