Territorial: The History of the Duel in the Desert

by Shane Dale

Dating back to 1899, the football rivalry between the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils is the best in the West – and regretfully, most college football fans outside the Grand Canyon State aren’t familiar with its great history. On and off the field, the rivalry between the Sun Devils and Wildcats is tumultuous for athletic, geographical, political, and personal reasons. The winner of the annual football game at the end of each season receives the Territorial Cup, the oldest collegiate rivalry trophy in the United States. Learn about what makes this rivalry one of the most heated and emotional in the country – and read about the behind-the-scenes moments that have come to define the rivalry – straight from over 150 former and current players, coaches, and analysts who were interviewed for Territorial.

Genres: History

360 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2013

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shane Dale is really passionate about the Duel In The Desert series, as evidenced by this 325-page book. He really gave readers an expansive look at a college football series that isn't that popular outside of the Grand Canyon State. Moreover, the fact that Arizona (UA) and Arizona State (ASU) haven't been contenders outside of the Pac-10/Pac-12 conference for many years, is a big reason why the Duel in the Desert series is ignored outside of the state of Arizona.

When I found out (on page xii of the Preface section of the book) that the author was a UA grad, I thought Territorial was gonna be a complementary book on UA football since the late 1890s. Boy, I was dead wrong. Dale weaved through this book with an objective lens on both Arizona and Arizona State football like a good sports journalist is supposed to.

My favorite part of this book was the discussion of the 1980 through 2011 Duels, or the 54th through 85th editions of this series. Dale helped boost the analysis of those 32 games with testimonies from players, coaches, and journalists who covered those games.

I found out later in this book that Dale interviewed 150 people for this book. That's means he labored through a lot of begging/coaxing for interviews, he conducted a lot of phone calls, and he had to do a lot of listening.

Pros of this book: He could have just ran down a whole bunch of stats, game scores, and generic analysis of 86 games (he studied the 1899-2012 Duels; a couple of years there were no Duels because of wars, suspension of seasons, and etc.). But he chose to write pages and pages on just about all the 86 games of this Grand Canyon State series.

Cons of the book: I know how hard it is to get interviews with sports figures, but I just wish the author would have got some interviews with: Sun Devil head coach Bruce Snyder before he died in 2009; defensive back Chris McAllister (UA); linebacker Marcus Bell (UA); defensive lineman Tedy Bruschi (UA); defensive back Brandon Sanders (UA); defensive lineman Rob Waldrop (UA); defensive lineman Terrell Suggs (ASU); and running back Trung Candidate (UA).

All in all, Territorial is a book any football fan can enjoy. But the main demographic for this book is those fans who have experienced many or a few Duels in the Desert.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for all Sun Devil fans. Even though the author is a Wildcat, he does a great job of keeping his bias at bay. Plus, you can't ever cover up the sheer dominance of Arizona State football over its lowly rival, no matter how biased you may be.

[John M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for all football fans. I was intrigued from the start and enjoyed all the good history and great interviews. #BeardownArizona #GoWildcats #HouseDivided...

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of the UA-ASU football rivalry. Bear Down!