RE: Could it be? Could it FINALLY be?
Sat down last night and read the entire thing. Every Huskie football fan should add it to his/her collection.
Divided mostly by decade, "NIU Football" does a nice job of chronicling more than 100 years of football in about 260 pages. Verdun amped up the coverage of the past 10 years, which is what the fans want. If you're looking for volumes of stats and specific game coverage, the book does not include much of that. It covers a lot of ground with profiles of individual coaches and players.
Many of the photos are ones we've seen before, but they're presented very well. The cardinal really pops out. Sure, the cover is mostly black, but Pantone 135 certainly is a nice shade of red.
It was fun to read about players like Fleck and Turner, who were lightly recruited but turned into stars. Ball State still must be kicking itself for not recruiting Chandler Harnish, who grew up close to Muncie. Many of NIU's finest were overlooked, and even though we hope success of the past few years leads to stronger recruiting classes, but it's still great to read about these diamonds in the rough. Too bad Verdun never mentions "The Hard Way."
My favorite part of the book is the interviews with the older players and coaches. Jack Dean, Bob Heimerdinger, George Bork, Tom Beck and others offer terrific insight about the days at a little school far removed from the university we all know. Many Dog Pounders may wonder why they should read about these old guys, but it really puts into perspective how far the program and the university have come. That being said, I would love to go back in time and watch the 1963 national champions (either on the sidelines of Glidden Field or in one of the rooms at Gilbert Hall). Bork must have been incredible, plus he had great receivers and a terrific defense. After watching Tyrrell, Robinson, Harnish and Lynch, watching Bork would have been awesome.
There's also a spirited discussion on which was the greatest 2003 win: Maryland or Alabama? I would choose Maryland, since I was there, but there are excellent arguments for Alabama, too. That chapter was fun to read. The book closes on a very cool note. All the greatest teams play each other in a computerized tournament. Who wins? Buy the book.
"NIU Football" isn't perfect, but there's no better history available. Kudos to Dan Verdun for making this happen. We should all be grateful to him, and to NIU football in general.
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Could it be? Could it FINALLY be?
![[Image: 455-2.jpg]](http://www.niupress.niu.edu/NIUPress/images/book_art/455-2.jpg)
