Rockne of Notre Dame: The Making of a Football Legend - Hardcover

Robinson, Ray

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195105494 ISBN 13: 9780195105490

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999

Synopsis

To say that Knute Rockne was the best coach who ever lived is to understate his importance to football. True, in a mere twelve years, his "Fighting Irish" won 105 games, including five astonishing undefeated seasons. But Rockne was more than the sum of his victories--he was an icon, a legend on a par with Babe Ruth, a sports giant who, more than anyone, made football an American obsession.
In Rockne of Notre Dame, Ray Robinson delivers a memorable portrait of one of the great American sports figures. The book gives us colorful descriptions of such Rockne teams as the undefeated 1924 eleven led by the illustrious Four Horsemen, and the 1930 squad, Rockne's last and greatest. Here too are vivid accounts of some of the great games in Notre Dame history, including epic battles with arch rivals Army, Nebraska, Carnegie Tech, and USC. But the heart of the book is Rockne himself. A renowned motivator whose "Win one for the Gipper" is the most famous locker-room speech ever, Rockne was also football's most brilliant innovator, a pioneer of the forward pass, a master of the psychological ploy, and an early advocate of conditioning. Though Robinson doesn't pull punches, Rockne emerges as an exemplary and complex figure, a fierce competitor who was generous in victory and defeat, an inspiring father figure to his players, and a man so revered nationwide that when he died in a plane crash in 1931, at the height of his career, he was mourned by the entire country.
A feast for all Notre Dame grads and for subway alumni everywhere, this engaging biography is the finest portrait we have of the man who changed football in America.

About this title

About the Author

Ray Robinson is a noted sports writer and magazine editor whose previous books include "Oh, Baby, I Love It" (which he wrote with Tim McCarver); Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time; Matty, An American Hero; and Yankee Stadium, 75 Years of Drama, Glamour, and Glory. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

Veteran sportswriter Robinson (Iron Horse, etc.) debunks several myths about the Notre Dame football coaching legend. Knute Rockne (1888-1931), he explains, didn't invent the forward pass (although he did increase its use, both as a player and a coach), and it's unlikely that George Gipp, a Notre Dame player who died in 1920, ever told Rockne to utter the famous words, "Win One for the Gipper." Rockne was one of the products of the 1920s, a golden age for sports in the U.S. that produced such stars as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. He became a spokesman for Studebaker cars and a confidant of New York Mayor Jimmy Walker. Robinson takes a light hand to this controversial figure, who helped build a nationwide following for his school and college football as a whole, noting that his attitudes and behaviors, such as telling jokes that would today be considered racist and his use of professional players in the college ranks, were common at the time. After a childhood sketch, Robinson briefly touches on Rockne's playing career before devoting most of the book to a game-by-game description of Rockne's 12 years as coach, during which his Notre Dame teams, with the help of Rockne's motivational techniques and coaching tactics, won an astounding 105 games while losing only 12. To Robinson's credit, the book is cleanly written and mainly free of sports jargon. But while he does a good job of describing the football culture of the time and, to a lesser degree, American culture in general, Robinson never quite digs deep enough to reveal the man behind the coach. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The life and achievements of legendary college football coach Knute Rockne are retold in a humdrum biography. From 1918 to 1931, with an overall winning percentage of .881 (105 victories, 12 defeats, and 5 ties), Rockne helped revolutionize the way college football is played and created a devoutly loyal following for Notre Dame. Here magazine editor and sportswriter Robinson (Matty: An American Hero, 1993) rehashes familiar information. While he does discuss some of Rockne's pioneering moves, particularly the forward pass (a tactic Rockne and Gus Dorais used as players against a heavily favored Army team), most innovations, such as spring football practice and daily conditioning drills which included dance, are glossed over, and the games themselves are recounted in a dull and unimaginative way. The mythical Notre Dame figures of George Gipp (``Win one for the Gipper'') and the Four Horsemen backfield are discussed, of course, and Robinson does try to give a clue to Rockne's time with background information about the history of Notre Dame, the anti-Catholic bigotry that was long prevalent in the US, the birth of famous sports rivalries such as Notre Dame and Army, and the phenomenon of sports celebrity. But while Rockne the coach, whose untimely death in 1931 caused nationwide grief, is examined, one wishes for more insight into Rockne the erudite man with a pugilist face. Rockne was a master at pumping up his team with speeches and psychological manipulations, but there are not enough direct quotes or meaty anecdotes to give proof of the coach's oratorical skills and magnetic personality. A basic overview for die-hard followers of Notre Dame football, but the Rockne spirit is lacking. (24 b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Knute Rockne coached Notre Dame to 105 football victories in just 12 years before his death in a 1930 plane crash. It was a short career, but his legacy is perpetuated by the coaching innovations he brought to the game, by the continued success of the Fighting Irish football program, and, of course, by the charming movie starring Pat O'Brien and a guy named Reagan. Rockne became one of this nation's first sports celebrities in the years following World War I, and he shrewdly used the available media to increase his fame and the success of his program. Robinson, the author of biographies of Lou Gehrig and Christy Mathewson, presents Rockne as a man driven to succeed and willing to cut a corner or two to do it. Longtime Notre Dame followers won't find any revelations here, but as a serious study of Rockne's place in football history and in American popular culture, it deserves a place in active sports collections. Wes Lukowsky

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195105494
• ISBN 13: 9780195105490
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304