Legends Of Autumn The Glory Years Of Canadian Football

Posted In: Canadian Football

Alfredo Dick says...

The book is designed to present a behind-the-scenes account

of the various peculiar business decisions made by the modern-era CFL ...

with particular attention given to the expansion experiment into the USA.



The CFL exists today

because of -- or in spite of --

these decisions.



If you're interested in delving into that sort of thing,

then this book is a very interesting read.



If you're looking for player stats and/or game highlights,

then this is probably not for you.

Posted on November 9, 2011

Florrie Rode says...

Mr. O'Brien's book is an excellent analysis of how the CFL has been able to sustain itself over the years.Ultimately, though, this is a book about how the league has been able to define itself as an indelible piece of Canadian culture.



I was already a fan of the CFL when I picked this book up, but I came away from my reading of it with a new depth of respect for and awareness of the league's complexities.



I definitely commend Mr. O'Brien for his painstaking research and can't wait for his next installment on the league's history.

Posted on November 9, 2011

Shirlene Timothe says...

All due respect, the cover is the worst. This is supposed to be a book about the CFL. If you want to sell a book about football, even if it's a discussion of the backroom dealings of such a sport/league, put an action pic on the cover. Brutal marketing!



Next the focus seems to be mainly on the foolish expansion into the States. OK, maybe this is a book marketed at Americans but even so...talk about a too narrow focus.

Posted on November 10, 2011

Angila Ornedo says...

As a previous reviwer mentioned this is somewhat of a hard book to read.I did not know that the CFL per se was not formed until 1958.I did not know that until the last couple of decades that all the western teams (smaller cities) except Vancouver were community owned teams.



I watched the Grey Cup growing up in the 60s on ABC Wide World of Sports.I remember the 1962 Grey Cup which was fogged out.It was between Winnipeg (Bud Grant's team) and Toronto.Through the years I've always followed the CFL whenever I could get it on cable.



For a football fan the first 6 or 7 chapters are the most interesting.There much emphasis on the American expanison in the mid-90s.The last six chapters or so would be enjoyed more by a Canadian, as it talks more about their culture.



Apparently there was a lot of mismanagement by the league & owners.The books provides a lot of recall about the promoters and charlatans who bought franchises in new sports leagues or expansions.They had balls, though more often than not very limited funds.



I visited Canada several times, but never picked up on the psychology of their citizens.Canada basically has an inferiority complex when thinking of itself compared to the U.S.The BoSox Yankee rivalry, as is most rivalries, is due to Bostonians self-perceived inferiority to New York.

Posted on November 10, 2011

Jannette Fulling says...

Not only does this capture a time (1945-70) when the CFL was great but it really shows how truly a special part of Canadian sports culture the CFL once was. Sure, the CFL has never gone away but in the days before cable TV and the NFL being beamed into every Canadian home, the CFL was all we had. Although I only experienced the period after this, it reminded me so much of stories my father used to tell of the greats--Jackie Parker, Normie Kwong, Sam Etcheverry, etc. It made the CFL's rich history really come alive and wish I could have been alive to see it all in its glory.

Posted on November 13, 2011

Romaine Cremer says...

First of all, Mr O'Brien's book is truly informative about the last couple of decades of the CFL's long history. Thus, if you are familiar with the league's early years, the text supplies an excellent (though sometimes "heavy" in details) history of the venerable Canadian institution. Quite a few questions and hypotheses about the social and national elements associated with the sport are offered always in an intelligent and well documented manner. It is unfortunate a prequel book (especially for the years following WWII up to Mr O'Brien's study) does not exist although the author includes a condensed history of the sport in the first chapters.



However, it would have been nice if a number of pictures had been included in the book. I suspect marketing/price reasons must have prevented the author to do so.



I highly recommend the book and hope that much more titles regarding the CFL would be available.

Posted on November 13, 2011

Pat Mazzoni says...

For those who want to know the history of football in Canada this book might be for you. It borrows from Frank Cosentino's two books ("Canadian Football: The Grey Cup Years" and "A Passing Game, A History of the CFL"). However, there is enough original research to make this book worth the buy. I heartily recommend it.

Posted on November 16, 2011

Maxie Velthuis says...

Being a collector of books on team histories, I bought this book expecting to see a year-by-year history of the CFL, team by team, along with many great photos. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. After browsing through this book and not finding what I was expecting, I returned the book for a prompt refund.

Posted on November 17, 2011

Cortez Casado says...

The very good painstaking research that

Mr. O'Brien did on this fine (but some-

what flawed) book, was done to get his

History degree at the University of

Maine. The low rating and critisms of

the character B. Maitland are uncalled

for. I for one think, as being an Amer-

ican Sports Writer, who attends the Grey

Cup every year (for 13 in-a-row!), that

the CFL's expansion into the US was the

greatest thing that ever happended to

Pro Football! I was a season tix holder

for the two-time Grey Cup Baltimore Stal-

lions. We were the only team THAT WILL

EVER win the Grey Cup and am very happy

to have supported the League during it's

1993-95 US expansion. We Amer-I-can fans

probably saved the League (along with our

Canadian CFL fans)! Mr. Maitland, who cares

what the cover is like. I also disagree with

your synopsis that the book is mostly about

the 'ill fated US expansion'. Baltimore lead

the League in attendence for two years in a

row! Sacramento, who lost to Balt. in the So.

Final in 1995, probably would have won the

Grey Cup if they had not lost to the Stallions

then. There was one other US team that broke

even and didn't lose money. I wished the best

Pro Football League on planet earth would come

back to the US! Long live the CFL! And can't

wait for Steve's next book...Oh, the mistakes

Steve has are minor but don't take away from

the contents or context of the book's thesis.

Steve, when he reads this will know what we

talked about back in Nov. '04 in Ottawa, Ont.

Posted on November 19, 2011