I happened to stumble upon “Forever Red” by Steve Smith at the website for the University of Nebraska Press.  (By the way, if you enjoy books on sports history—including memoirs—this university publisher puts out an array of books.  You might want to check it out.)

”Forever Red’ was originally published in 2005; a new edition with additional stories was published a few years ago.  I posted a very favorable review at Amazon which you can see below if you should consider reading this book.  The bottom line: I think any diehard college football fan can relate to and will enjoy his stories.

In any event, what I would love to know: is anyone here aware of any book that has been written about Ohio State football from the fan’s perspective? Thanks.

“I am not a Nebraska football fan—I have never even set foot in the state—but, as a reader of a number of memoirs and sports books, I absolutely enjoyed this. I should also add that I am an Ohio State football fan and an author of a recent sports memoir myself, ‘FRED FROM FRESH MEADOWS: A Knicks Memoir’ (The Strickland Press), so I am offering my perspective from that particular vantage point as well.

Steve frames his story using specific games as a starting point; and, while naturally there are certain details about the individual games, the games are used more to illustrate or make broader points about the various experiences of being a diehard fan, starting with early childhood. And, while Steve points out along the way different characteristics that he feels make Nebraska—the program and the state—distinctive from many others, there are unquestionably universal aspects that any passionate fan can identify with.

The bottom line (borrowing from that old Levy’s Rye Bread commercial): you don’t have to be from Nebraska to find this book entertaining. (OK, I am giving away my age and roots of having grown up in the the NYC metro area in referencing that ad campaign.)”