No matter what sport one enjoys, there are teams, stadiums and experience that every fan wants to experience at least once in his or her life. For football fans, this book is a guide to which ones to add to that list. “The Diehard Football Fan's Bucket List Blitz” is an all-encompassing list of places, teams and traditions that has been compiled by sportswriter Steve Greenberg.

This book covers all levels of football – from the Texas school that inspired “Friday Night Lights” to the Big House at the University of Michigan and the mammoth AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play home games, this book covers everything. Want to know the best place for a tailgate party? How about the best bands for college football halftime shows? Or how about great traditions like the Lambeau Leap or rubbing Howard’s Rock at Clemson? These are all included as well.

The best part of the book talks about must-see college football rivalries. Of course there are some that are well-known (Army vs. Navy, Michigan vs. Ohio State, Alabama vs. Auburn), but this includes some lesser known rivalries as well such as Lafayette vs. Lehigh. This is not a surprise as Greenburg was a writer on college football for several years and mentions in the book that he is a proud Wisconsin graduate who spent much time at Camp Randall Stadium.

Because he covers so many areas in all levels of the game, this book is one that football fans will want to review to time and time again to mark items off their bucket lists. What I liked best about this book is that even though I am not a “diehard” fan, I am interested in several of these items and just may have to add them to my own personal list. A book that can do that and make me aware of many of these treasures is certainly one to read.

I wish to thank Lyons Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summer is waning, a sad fact that is tempered by the knowledge that the end of summer means that football season is about to begin! If you are someone who counts the days to kickoff, you will enjoy counting up the list in Steve Greenberg's The Diehard Football Fan's Bucket List Blitz: 101 Rivalries, Tailgates, and Gridiron Traditions to See & Do Before You're Sacked.

Greenberg, a journalist who has covered football far and wide, definitely loves the game. He covers the top stadiums, rivalries, and sites around the country, as well as some "things to do." Most of the book is split between college and pros, but a few high school teams get some of his love.

As a Baylor fan, I was pleased to see the inclusion of McLane Stadium, a fantastic place to see a football game. (In just a few weeks, I will see my son marching at McLane in the drumline of the Baylor University Golden Wave Band!) Greenberg writes, "Battles on the Brazos are as pleasing as any, anywhere." Second the motion!

Many of the college stadiums Greenberg includes are notable for their sheer capacity, like Michigan's "The Big House," and Baylor's in-state neighbors, Texas and Texas A&M. I'm not a fan of these monster stadiums, but I have to agree with Greenberg's assessment: "Huge college games are, in many ways, better than anything else in football, including the NFL. The passion and pageantry of the college game at its highest level exists on its own plane. . . . There's something about the biggest college games that grips at the heart like nothing else." In context, he's talking about the College Football Playoff, but I thing it applies to big games in terms of numbers and rivalries as well. College football is just better.

Inevitably, some fans will feel slighted that their team was not included in Greenberg's bucket list. I think he does an admirable job of including some of the best rivalries and stadiums in the country. At the very least, his book will get you fired up for football season, just a few weeks away!


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Are you ready for some football?

As hard as it might be to believe, football season – college and NFL alike – are upon us. All over the country, men of varying degrees of largeness are preparing to spend the rest of 2017 giving it their all on the gridiron.

And we’ll be there to watch, of course. Football is king in these United States, after all. So many of us will tune in … but some of us will go much, much farther than a simple Sunday couch trip. But for those adventurous football devotees looking to venture forth – and looking for ideas for where they might venture to - author Steve Greenberg has something for you.

“The Diehard Football Fan’s Bucket List Blitz: 101 Rivalries, Tailgates, and Gridiron Traditions to See & Do Before You’re Sacked” is a book whose title says it all. Contained within its pages are breakdowns of all manner of football-related places and experiences that help encapsulate the grand arc of football fandom.

There’s a chapter on football meccas – stadiums that, for reasons of history or novelty or some combination therein, warrant special attention. Green Bay’s Lambeau Field is on the list. So too is the Rose Bowl, along with various other NFL and college (and even one high school) spots.

Greenberg offers up some museums to check out as well, including the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton – which just held its latest induction ceremony recently – and the Hall of Fame of my beloved Canadian Football League.

From there, he holds forth on rivalries that should be experienced firsthand. There are some strong NFL examples – Eagles-Giants is probably the most notable – but the real shine here is found amongst the dozen-plus college rivalries, from The Game (Michigan/Ohio State) to the Big Game (Cal/Stanford) to The (Other) Game (Harvard/Yale). He even throws some high school rivalries and a few neutral site classics into the mix.

There’s plenty of stuff that goes beyond the game on the field. Greenberg makes note of great places to sit and great things to eat; not only does he share some stadium food highlights, but he also makes mention of a few particularly interesting tailgating experiences. Various team/school fan traditions are introduced as well.

And all of it presented with wonderful photos, allowing the reader to get a visual sense of some of these iconic places and things from within the world of football.

Most football fans are going to be familiar with at least some of what Greenberg is presenting here. But there will be plenty of newness to be found as well. What this book does is put together a larger picture of football fandom, allowing the reader to fit a personal awareness of the game into a greater context.

It’s a fast read, content to provide brief capsules for each entry. And for good reason – lists like these can become overwhelming quickly if allowed to get overly verbose. With these capsule presentations, Greenberg essentially makes the introduction, giving the reader the appetite-whetting basics before moving on to the next potential area of interest.

“The Diehard Football Fan’s Bucket List Blitz” is fun, a good read for the casual football fan. It’s light and quick, a tasty appetizer for these last few weeks before football begins in earnest.

I really enjoyed this trip through a football bucket list. While most of the NFL related items weren't new to me personally, I loved the deep dives into some of the stadiums' histories. There were details I didn't know, such as the architectural details of the Vikings and Jaguars'' buildings.

What I really enjoyed were the college football sections, especially those related to the lesser known teams including FCS and HBCUs as that was new to me. I've been to West Point's Michie Stadium but didn't know its history and some like Neyland Stadium are on my personal bucket list and I might add a visit to the Cotton Bowl. While I'm not particularly interested in high school football, that was a nice layer.

I think this book might be a challenge for true die hards as a lot of the information is fairly well known. I'd expect a deeper dive for those who may have already done some or all of these. In that respect, the addition of Punt, Pass Kick and some lesser known games .

I'd have liked to see some of the author's direct impressions of the games he cataloged if he did things such as Roll Toomer's Corner or saw a game at the Cotton Bowl.