Football's Stars of Summer: A History of the College All Star Football Game Series of 1934-1976 (American Sports History Series)

Football's Stars of Summer, by Raymond Schmidt, provides a long overdue historical examination of the College All-Star football games series that lasted from 1934 to 1976. For those who may be unfamiliar with or have only hazy recollections of this series, the College All-Star game was played each August at Soldier Field in Chicago, and pitted a team made up of the senior All-Stars from the colleges and universities against the previous year's National Football League champion. Chicago Tribune Charities sponsored the game, and for many decades it was one of the most eagerly anticipated sporting events of the summer.The author provides a year-by-year history of each of the All Star games, giving the reader a run-down on the hoopla surrounding the event, the important players participating in the game, the politics and disputes surrounding the game, a discussion of the game itself, and a wrap-up that gives the reader what the contemporary views of the game were and comments on what some of the All-Stars achieved later in their careers. The author makes considerable use of sportswriters' comments, before and after the game, to enliven his narration.Schmidt wisely understood that his history had to be more than a mere chronicle of the games, and both in the introduction and throughout his text shows how the All-Star Game was used by the National Football League to first lend legitimacy to the professional game and to help foster its growth. For sport historians this is the author's more valuable contribution. Librarians will find that Football's Stars of Summer fills an important gap in their coverage of football in their sport history collections.Football fans, on the other hand, will enjoy reliving the exploits and exciting games of this annual event, which the author brings to life with his sparkling prose and astute insights. There is a small 20-photo section that illustrates some of the most famous teams, coaches, and All-Stars; a note on sources; an index; and appendices that provide a all-time game results, the most valuable player awards, All-Star captains, and most valuable of all, the All-Star team rosters.