Football U

by J. Douglas Toma

"It's the great debate again: who's winning, college sports or higher education? For anyone passionate to settle that score, Football U. presents a new direction - that maybe its time for the two sides to shake hands and call a truce." "Toma argues that football underscores the collegiate ideal, and highlights the unique forms in which some institutions express that ideal. He's trying to heal an old wound - the separation of town and gown. Spectator sports do this in part, he believes, by creating a "national brand" that adds distinctiveness to otherwise commonplace campuses. "Teams and games," he writes, "provide a convenient vehicle through which external constituents relate to institutions and thus identify with them - coming to think of the institutions as their own."" "Football U. may just breathe life into an old cliche: it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."--Jacket.