Greetings from lovely Baltimore, Maryland where the city motto is, "At least we're not Detroit!" Actually the Inner Harbor and the area immediately surrounding the convention center seem pretty nice. Not that I've seen much of the city what with the 14 hour days and all. Since I knew I wouldn't get to see many games I thought I would give you a review of one of my favorite books about college football. But first just let me say I was waaayyyyy off about the defense of the Native American Peoples of the District of Columbia.

So without further ado, I give you Big Ten Country.

In the fall of 1988 author Bob Woods set out to live the dream of every football fan in the Midwest: He would take in a football game at every Big Ten school. His book "Big Ten Country: A Journey Thought One Football Season" captures the essence of Big Ten football. Close your eyes and you'll see the autumn leaves along the banks of the Red Cedar in East Lansing; you'll feel the Lake Michigan winds whipping across the campus of Northwestern. You'll experience Breakfast Club at Purdue and see the I dotted at Ohio State. He even has a sit down with the man that invented Wisconsin's 5^th Quarter.

Woods picked a perfect time to write this book. He was able to interview a man who actually saw Red Grange's four touchdown first quarter on the day that Memorial Stadium opened. He meets with fans that remember the enthusiasm of Minnesota football when it was played on campus. He wrote this book at a time when it seemed Indiana was going to emerge as a contender and Wisconsin fans would celebrate a 40-7 blow out loss with chants of "We scored first!" Does anybody remember when college games would end in a tie? Well before each game Woods gives us the updated Big Ten standings, and there were a ton of ties in 1988. Eight of the ten schools had at least one tie on the year, and Iowa finished the year with three!

He covers the bases of all the rivalries, the traveling trophies, and the origins. You'll learn the history of the Little Brown Jug, the Old Oaken Bucket, and not just who hates Iowa, but why. He covers all the bases at each campus with a breakdown of the best bar, best breakfast, and best burger. The

Woods was at a breakfast for the Iowa boosters when Hayden Fry told a story truly captures the love we Midwesterners have for our football, and shows where two of today's top coaches got their drive:

--------This one was about a funeral from which he and some of his assistant coaches had just returned, the funeral of the father of three of Hayden's players, all of whom had worn the number 41 black and gold of Iowa. One of the boys, Mark Stoop, still played at Iowa. Another, Mike Stoops, still coached there. The third, Bobby Stoops had gone to two Rose Bowls with Iowa. Hayden talked about the man, Mark's and Mike's and Bobby's father, Coach Stoops, who'd died the week before. He told the story of how he'd died-on the sidelines of a Youngstown High School football game. He told how, even though Coach Stoops was hurting, he'd refused to leave the game. How he'd coached his team till the final whistle of their overtime victory. How he'd called the game's last defensive play, then walked to the end of the bench and collapsed into a coma. He also told us of Coach Stoop's life. It was the story of a man who never missed a game for twelve years while his sons participated in the Hawkeye program. A man who every fall coached his Youngstown team on Friday, loaded the family into the car, and drove through the night to get to Iowa City. He told us how early Sunday morning after the Iowa game, he'd load everybody up again and make it back in time to grade the high-school films. He talked with great respect about a man dedicated to his team and to his family.

"The funeral," Hayden said to a very quiet I-Club, "was the most beautiful I've ever seen. Thirteen priests and all the nuns were present...." People had lined up outside in rainy 40-degree weather to attend. "It really was beautiful."

Even so, the Iowa coach solemnly revealed, after the ceremony, something was wrong. Mrs. Stoops wasn't satisfied. Hayden told us why: "As honorary pallbearers, we had the opportunity to be present when Mrs. Stoops told us something just didn't seem right. Not until we'd walked in with an Iowa jersey, black and gold, a number forty-one on it. The number that each of her kids had worn...." The number that Coach and Mrs. Stoops had religiously followed for twelve years across the Midwest. Hayden handed that jersey to Mrs. Stoops.

"Ladies and gentleman, he continued, "she had her children prop Coach Stoops up and put that jersey on him. Right there. Bobby Stoops took his Rose Bowl ring off, he had two... and he put one on Coach Stoop's finger. And that's the way the gentleman was buried."

Hayden paused and reflected for a moment. "The family was so happy, so delighted that they knew that their father was at peace. That he was comfortable. Mrs. Stoops told her husband. ‘Now you'll always be warm....' " He paused again. "Afterwards she had a smile on her face. She told us, ‘Now everything's all right!' "

We all took a long deep breath. Hayden finished up. "I told you this because I wanted you to know there are a lot of people out there that love Iowa football." And he stepped away from the microphone. The quiet crowd, still envisioning that number 41 jersey being pulled over Coach Stoops, stood. Everybody clapped. The band broke into one last rendition of the fight song. Recovered, the loyal I-Clubbers said their goodbyes and headed off to work, a Hawkeye jersey and a coach in a casket on their minds for a long time to come. Hayden Fry stayed and shook hands. He was the last one out the door.-----

I love Big Ten football and believe we truly do have the best fans in America, but don't take my word for it just listen to the words of some folks Woods ran into at Illinois. They're transplants from Arkansas and have traveled to games all across the SEC, but they love Big Ten football. They said, "Here's it's friendly rivalries. It surely isn't down south. SEC rivalries are hard core. We've got Michigan people parked next to us. Hell down there they'd get killed. The rivalries are nastier down there. I mean we love Alabama football, but I've seen people break windows in their own house when Alabama lost. In the Big Ten people just have a good time!"

I recommend this book to anyone that believes the best way to take in a football game is on a Saturday afternoon. Whether you're a life long fan of the Big Ten or just enjoy college football in general this book is for you.

That's it for now,

Until next time, Boiler Up!