The Wow Boys: A Coach, a Team, and a Turning Point in College Football | 
 enlarge | Author: James W. Johnson
Publisher: Bison Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $9.00
You Save: $7.95 (47%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 187509
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 220
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 080327632X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332630979473
EAN: 9780803276321
ASIN: 080327632X
Publication Date: November 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In 2002 ESPN rated football’s shift to the modern T-formation offense as the second best sports innovation of all time—just behind baseball’s free agency. The story behind the move to the T-formation is also the story of a season unparalleled in the annals of college football—the year Stanford’s new coach, fresh from seven dismal seasons with the University of Chicago, deployed an out-of-favor offense to take a team of talented underdogs to a Rose Bowl victory. The Wow Boys (the title refers to the nickname the team earned at its very first game) chronicles Stanford’s miraculous 1940 season, from the surprise hiring of coach Clark Shaughnessy and his marshalling of the previously untapped talents of left-handed quarterback Frankie Albert, runners Hugh Gallarneau and Pete Kmetovic, and fullback Norm Standlee, to his reintroduction of the T-formation and its profound and enduring effect on football. James W. Johnson gives a game-by-game rundown of this dramatic season as well as an in-depth account of Shaughnessy’s accomplishment in the face of overwhelming criticism and skepticism. This story is one of tenacity, character, and radical ideas prevailing against formidable odds—a sports revolution engineered one play at a time.
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| Customer Reviews:
Stanford, the T-formation and the Rose Bowl February 16, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a football-mad kid growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1950s, Frankie Albert, Norm Standlee and Bruno Banducci were heroes on the earliest 49ers teams. Unknown to this kid was the fact they had been teammates before, on the Stanford team that won the Rose Bowl in 1940. Their story, and the part they played with their new coach, the innovative Clark Shaughnessy, in introducing (more properly re-introducing) the T-formation offense to college football is artfully told by James W. Johnson in "The Wow Boys." It's a sparkling gem of a book that will please football fans of all ages, from those who remember to single-wing offense that the T replaced, to others simply interested in the history of the game, as well as some of its formative personalities like George Halas, Pop Warner, Buck Shaw. The author, who was raised in the Bay Area as a fan of the 49ers and who worked as a reporter for the Oakland Tribune and other newspapers before teaching journalism for many years, did plenty of research to produce lively accounts of each game in Stanford's undefeated season, as well as chapters on college football recruiting, campus life, and the "Big Game Fever" surrounding the annual season-ending game with the University of California. The authoritative and wholly entertaining book is among the best written on football at any level.
great book. great story. January 26, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
'The Wow Boys' tells the story of the 1940 Stanford Indians (Stanford's mascot was the 'Indian' until 1972) football team. Coach Clark Shaughnessy arrived at Stanford in 1940 and installed the "T" formation. The result was to change football forever. Most teams ran a single wing offense at the time - the "T" was considered an outdated formation that had died in the 1890's, but Shaughnessy's T included innovations such as the 'man in motion' and deception plays such as the counter.
The 'The Wow Boys isn't about coaching football - missing are play diagrams and technical information about the "T" as it differed from the standard single wing offense of the time. Instead it tells the story of the team through game by game accounts of what it was like to be playing football in 1940 as a member of the Stanford Indians. Detailed are the exploits of quarterback Frankie Albert, running backs Hugh Gallarneau and Pete Kmetovic, and fullback Norm Standlee.
Did you know that in 1940 it was against the rules for a player who'd been substituted to speak in the huddle until after he'd been in for a play? Or that once he was substituted, he couldn't be taken out until the start of the next quarter? Ever heard of card stunts? What about the cheers the crowd did? How did college football's status compare among other major sports of the time? The book touches on each of these, giving the reader an excellent view of what college football was like in 1940.
Nebraska played their first bowl game, the 1941 Rose Bowl, against the Stanford Indians. The book does a great job of capturing the Rose Bowl fervor that swept Nebraska, the reason as to why it was Nebraska's first bowl game, and the action of the game itself.
If you're someone who enjoys watching the History Channel or you'd like to know more about the history of football, you'll love 'The Wow Boys'. It is an easy read and truly transports you back to 1940, leaving you with a a deeper respect of the game.
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