The Diehard Football Fan's Bucket List Blitz: 101 Rivalries, Tailgates, and Gridiron Traditions to See & Do Before You're Sacked

by Steve Greenberg

Overview

A wild ride through football paradise ·From college to the NFL, coast to coast, and a touch of Friday Night Lights ·Major focus on college football’s heated, storied rivalry games ·High-impact football design with 150 color photographs and sidebars Take a full-color, full-speed ride through 101 must-see and must-do gridiron experiences—from the NFL to college football’s greatest venues and rivalries, from must-have eats to the game’s best seats, from the sport’s greatest meccas and museums to its rowdiest tailgate parties. This book—filled with spectacular color photos, sidebars, and loads of football attitude—is an essential, entertaining guide to any football fan’s fantasy (or real!) road-trip and To Do list.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493028238
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Steve Greenberg has written for the Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Times, The Sporting News, Inside Sports, and Basketball News. He has covered dozens of postseasons in college football, college basketball, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and Major League Baseball. Currently the national college football writer for the Sun-Times, from 2011–13 he was a national college football writer for The Sporting News. He has also worked for Football Digest and Hockey Digest, as well as being an on-air member of Inside Sports’ national radio show. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and three children.

Table of Contents

Introduction xii

Chapter I Meccas and Museums

Football Meccas

Lambeau Field 4

Soldier Field 6

Mercedes-Benz Superdome 8

Notre Dame Stadium 10

Rose Bowl Stadium 12

Ratliff Stadium 14

Must-See Museums

Pro Football Hall of Fame 16

College Football Hall of Fame 18

Canadian Football League Hall of Fame 20

NFL Rings of Honor 22

Lost to History

In Honor of Meccas Lost to History 24

Chapter II Bro Blood

NFL Rivalries

Bears vs. Packers 26

Cowboys vs. Redskins 30

Broncos vs. Raiders 32

Eagles vs. Giants 34

Ravens vs. Steelers 36

College Football Rivalries

Dirty Dozen: Major College Home-and-Homes

The Game: Michigan vs. Ohio State 38

Iron Bowl: Alabama vs. Auburn 40

Jeweled Shillelagh: Notre Dame vs. USC 42

Bedlam: Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State 44

Holy War: BYU vs. Utah 46

Paul Bunyan's Axe: Minnesota vs. Wisconsin 48

Palmetto Bowl: Clemson vs. South Carolina 50

Big Game: Cal vs. Stanford 52

Egg Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State 54

Civil War: Oregon vs. Oregon State 56

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate: Georgia vs. Georgia Tech 58

Golden Boot: Arkansas vs. LSU 60

Doing the Splits: Neutral Sites, 50/50 crowds

Red River Rivalry: Oklahoma vs. Texas 62

World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party: Florida vs. Georgia 64

Army vs. Navy 66

The HBCUs: Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Bayou Classic: Grambling vs. Southern 68

Florida Classic: Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M 68

Magic City Classic: Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M 68

Old School

The (Other) Game: Harvard vs. Yale 70

The Rivalry: Lafayette vs. Lehigh 72

High School Rivalries

Mater Dei vs. Servite (California) 74

Male vs. Manual (Kentucky) 74

Don Bosco Prep vs. Bergen Catholic (New jersey) 75

Canton McKinley vs. Massillon Washington (Ohio) 75

Jenks vs. Union (Oklahoma) 75

Chapter III No Place Like Home

The Eight Hundred Club: Over 100,000 Capacity, Only in College Football.

The Big House (Michigan) 78

Beaver Stadium (Penn State) 80

Ohio Stadium (Ohio State) 82

Kyle Field (Texas A&M) 84

Neyland Stadium (Tennessee) 86

Tiger Stadium (LSU) 88

Bryant-Denny Stadium (Alabama) 90

Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium (Texas) 92

One-of-a-Kind

U.S. Bank Stadium (Minneapolis) 94

Michie Stadium (Army at West Point) 96

McLane Stadium (Baylor) 98

Fargodome (North Dakota State) 100

Eagle Stadium (Allen, Texas) 102

Monument Valley Stadium (Monument Valley, Utah) 104

Stadium Bowl (Tacoma, Washington) 106

Sightseeing

The Scoreboard at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas 108

The Pirate Ship in Tampa

The Blue Turf at Albertsons Stadium 110

The Red Turf at Roos Field Eastern Washington 111

Walter Camp Gate at Yale Bowl 112

Chapter IV Seats … and Eats

Seats

Hawks Nest, Seattle 116

Dawg Pound, Cleveland 118

Black Hole, Oakland 120

Fanduelville, Jacksonville 122

Lambeau Leap Zone, Green Bay 124

Eats

Pizza Box Nachos, Phoenix 126

Texas Torta, Dallas 126

Jumbo Pork Tenderloin, Indianapolis 127

Anything from Primanti Bros., Pittsburgh 127

The Kitchen Sink, East Rutherford, New Jersey 127

Chapter V Tailgating … And Sailgating

Tailgating

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City 130

New Era Field, Buffalo 132

M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore 134

NRG Stadium, Houston 136

FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland 138

The Grove, Ole Miss 140

Cockabooses, South Carolina 142

House Parties, Wisconsin 144

Sailgating

At Tennessee 146

At Washington 146

Chapter VI Rites of Passage

Terrible Towels in Pittsburgh 150

12th Man Flag in Seattle 151

End Zone Militia in Foxborough, Massachusetts 152

Rolling of Toomer's Corner at Auburn 153

"Jump Around" at Wisconsin 154

The Rose Parade in Pasadena, California 155

Calling the Hogs-at Arkansas 156

Rubbing Howard's Rock at Clemson 157

Ralphie's Run at Colorado 158

The Haka at Hawaii 159

Chapter VII Just Do It

Go to a Super Bowl 162

Go to the Pro Bowl 164

Go to the NFL Draft 166

Go to the College Football Playoff 168

Spend a Weekend in a Las Vegas Sports Book 170

Take a Gatorade Shower 172

Play Fantasy Football 174

Do the Punt, Pass & Kick 176

Do It Yourself: The Combine 178

Coach a Youth Football Team 180

Chapter VIII I Love L.A.

Make Plans to Hit the New NFL Stadium There 182

A Directory of Footbal Destinations 186

Acknowledgments 194

Index 198

Photo Credits 214

About the Author 224

Editorial Reviews

This book is like a road trip through football’s greatest rivalries, stadiums, tailgates, and more. Steve Greenberg has nailed it. And I should know. I’ve seen and done a lot of these things.

Joe Theismann

We have always been told, ‘Well, you can’t do it all.’ But now you practically can. Enjoy this fun book depicting our greatest stadiums, rivalries, traditions, and more—all the things that make football an important part of who we are as Americans.

Phillip Fulmer