Natural Enemies

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 9 AUG 2004

This lively survey serves as a history not only of competition between rival schools, but also of the sport the teams have come to define (in terms of tradition) and to lead in nearly every major statistical category: college football. Because Michigan and Notre Dame's meetings on the gridiron have been relatively scarce, Kryk notes that fans, looking for archenemies, naturally associate USC with Notre Dame and Ohio State with Michigan. But, he points out, when Notre Dame and Michigan first played in 1887, neither the Ohio State nor USC teams among many others even existed. Kryk, a journalist and a confessed Michigan fan, presents a fair, detailed account of the often incendiary yet grudgingly respectful relationship between these landmark programs. From the early friction between Michigan legendary coach Fielding Yost and Notre Dame's Knute Rockne to modern disputes like whether or not there was a "gentleman's agreement" that both teams would open their seasons against each other without the benefit of a prior contest, Kryk captures behind-the-scenes politics, the dramatic twists of individual games and the evolving nature of football itself. While the book will surely appeal most to fans, others will find a work that's crisply written, thoroughly reported and infused with a reverence that never compromises the telling of a fascinating tale.