Feinstein's The Ancient 8

[rss77]

Have long been an admirer of John Feinstein's writing but in my view his recent book on Ivy League football is not one of his better efforts. Too much play by play and not enough insights. There is some good material on former Cornell coach Dave Archer though so from that vantage point the book is worth a read.

[underskill]

Have long been an admirer of John Feinstein's writing but in my view his recent book on Ivy League football is not one of his better efforts. Too much play by play and not enough insights. There is some good material on former Cornell coach Dave Archer though so from that vantage point the book is worth a read.

It also repeated a lot of stories chapter to chapter. It felt unedited

[arugula]

Don't leave us hanging. stories about Archer?

[rss77]

He was offered an Assistant Athletic Director position which he turned down. The book puts him in a positive light which I concur having met him a few times and hearing him speak on numerous occasions.  Just couldn't get the program in a winning direction.

[billhoward]

Have long been an admirer of John Feinstein's writing but in my view his recent book on Ivy League football is not one of his better efforts. Too much play by play and not enough insights. There is some good material on former Cornell coach Dave Archer though so from that vantage point the book is worth a read.

It also repeated a lot of stories chapter to chapter. It felt unedited

You're a really good writer, you get to command a big advance, you can write a couple so-so books and you'll still make money. You can't milk that cow forever.

Assistant athletic director would have been an okay job. He may well fare better as "Archer Coaching LLC [where] I have the privilege of connecting with people through many different mediums – executive coaching, football recruiting consulting, public speaking, and application coaching." No 25-second clock on that.

[Chris H82]

How far back in time does he cover Ivy football? Any mention of the 20s and 30s when Ivy and Cornell football were nationally relevant?

[David Harding]

How far back in time does he cover Ivy football? Any mention of the 20s and 30s when Ivy and Cornell football were nationally relevant?

Here's one review https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-ancient-eight-college-footballs-ivy-league-and-the-game-they-play-today.  Form this and others, it's clear that the emphasis the 2023 season.  The history is only mentioned to provide some context to the current culture.

[Trotsky]

You're a really good writer, you get to command a big advance, you can write a couple so-so books and you'll still make money. You can't milk that cow forever.

"Mitch Albom?  White courtesy telephone please!"

[billhoward]

Focusing on one recent season of Ivy football lets Feinstein go to the games and talk to coaches and players. He's really good at this. Ivy football and big time football have diverged when the NCAA created the FBS and FCS in 1978, and even more this century with the torrent of money spent on FBS teams, the ability to hop among schools (gig economy for jocks) and now NIL money. If Feinstein spent significant page writing on the single wing and old-timey games, he'd be rewriting other people's work. Everybody who played the Fifth Down game (1940) against Dartmouth is about 105 years old now.

[underskill]

https://nypost.com/2025/03/13/sports/john-feinstein-famed-sports-author-dead-at-68/

[upprdeck]

has a story published the last day or so as well.

[George64]

Have long been an admirer of John Feinstein's writing but in my view his recent book on Ivy League football is not one of his better efforts. Too much play by play and not enough insights. There is some good material on former Cornell coach Dave Archer though so from that vantage point the book is worth a read.

It also repeated a lot of stories chapter to chapter. It felt unedited

I have to agree, some interesting anecdotes, but too much repetition.  I finally finished the book last Sunday, returned it to the library on Tuesday, he died on Thursday.
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