Creating the Big Ten

Courage, Corruption, and Commercialization

Nonfiction, Sports, History, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Higher Education
Cover of the book Creating the Big Ten by Winton U Solberg, University of Illinois Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Winton U Solberg ISBN: 9780252050251
Publisher: University of Illinois Press Publication: March 21, 2018
Imprint: University of Illinois Press Language: English
Author: Winton U Solberg
ISBN: 9780252050251
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Publication: March 21, 2018
Imprint: University of Illinois Press
Language: English

Big Ten football fans pack gridiron cathedrals that hold up to 100,000 spectators. The conference's fourteen member schools share a broadcast network and a 2016 media deal worth $2.64 billion. This cultural and financial colossus grew out of a modest 1895 meeting that focused on football's brutality and encroaching professionalism in the game. Winton U. Solberg explores the relationship between higher education and collegiate football in the Big Ten's first fifty years. This formative era saw debates over eligibility and amateurism roil the sport. In particular, faculty concerned with academics clashed with coaches, university presidents, and others who played to win. Solberg follows the conference's successful early efforts to put the best interests of institutions and athletes first. Yet, as he shows, commercial concerns undid such work after World War I as sports increasingly eclipsed academics. By the 1940s, the Big Ten's impact on American sports was undeniable. It had shaped the development of intercollegiate athletics and college football nationwide while serving as a model for other athletic conferences.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Big Ten football fans pack gridiron cathedrals that hold up to 100,000 spectators. The conference's fourteen member schools share a broadcast network and a 2016 media deal worth $2.64 billion. This cultural and financial colossus grew out of a modest 1895 meeting that focused on football's brutality and encroaching professionalism in the game. Winton U. Solberg explores the relationship between higher education and collegiate football in the Big Ten's first fifty years. This formative era saw debates over eligibility and amateurism roil the sport. In particular, faculty concerned with academics clashed with coaches, university presidents, and others who played to win. Solberg follows the conference's successful early efforts to put the best interests of institutions and athletes first. Yet, as he shows, commercial concerns undid such work after World War I as sports increasingly eclipsed academics. By the 1940s, the Big Ten's impact on American sports was undeniable. It had shaped the development of intercollegiate athletics and college football nationwide while serving as a model for other athletic conferences.

More books from University of Illinois Press

Cover of the book The Revolt of the Black Athlete by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Framing the Black Panthers by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Four Theories of the Press by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Disruption in Detroit by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Jazz Internationalism by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book In Search of Belonging by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Beyond Bach by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Mere and Easy by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Newspaper Wars by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Becoming the Story by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Pigskin Nation by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Lost in the USA by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Pink-Slipped by Winton U Solberg
Cover of the book Archibald Motley Jr. and Racial Reinvention by Winton U Solberg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy