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What's
often better than buying five different college football magazines
to prepare for the college football season? A copy of Chris Dortch's
Blue Ribbon College Football Forecast (384 pages, paperbound,
$21.95), which contains analysis of the strengths and weaknesses
of 117 NCAA Division 1-A teams. Dortch and his staff tear apart
college football like no other team of researchers. They look at
the coach, his experince and his program. They evaluate returning
players, quarterbacks, running backs; wide receivers, tight ends,
offensive line, kickers, defensive line, linebackers, defensive
backs, punters, and special teams. They delve into how well the
team recruited. And they give a grade from A to D on a team's offense,
special teams, defense and intangibles.
For
those who like to look into the future and try to prepare for it
there's a special section on all the bowl games that will be on
television and who will be eligible to play.
Dortch
and his crew have apparently talked to coaches and scouts; they've
culled sports information directors; they've read the printed page.
Then, they've drawn all the information they gleaned from these
sources together to provide a fine, in-depth preview of which teams
will surprise and which will remain stagnant for a variety of reasons.
There's no mention of a pointspread anywhere but there's plenty
of room to use a highlighter or underline key names-those worth
watching for improvement or those on their way eventually to the
NFL while noting their impact should they be missing from the starting
lineup.
THE
NFL RECORD AND FACT BOOK (736 pages, paperbound, $16.95), also
available now, has a new look (smaller size), but it's the same
solid, intriguing information this year as always. This includes
the scores of every NFL game ever played (no spreads or totals here
at all); stadium diagrams including an indication of which way is
North (for those looking for wind direction as a betting factor);
a list of who to call or write for tickets should they exist; team,
individual, league, seasonal and lifetime records; pre-season and
first-year player rosters; plus a look at every game played last
season.
Team
coaching histories; Players of the Week and Month for 2001 are listed;
longest winning streaks; 2001 cumulative scores by quarters; largest
trades in history; Super Bowl summaries; all overtime games; number
one draft choices; outstanding individual performers for a game
or season are all included.
Wondering
about the officials and who wears what number? It's here, along
with the hand signals of officials and what they mean; and a digest
of key rules. In fact, you'll probably find answer to questions
you never though of asking in this
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