America Bowl: 44 Presidents vs. 44 Super Bowls in the ultimate matchup! (edition 2010)

In 2010, an historic collision of timelines happened in Southern Florida. Super Bowl XLIV was taking place in Sun Life Stadium while the 44th president was sitting in the White House watching the game. The line of presidents started in 1789 with George Washington. The line of Super Bowls started in 1967 with a battle between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Don Steinberg saw this collision coming and decided to have these two American institutions battle each in America Bowl. He mashed together the relative quality of each president with the relative quality of each Super Bowl. The result is odd mix of American history, sports history, presidential trivia and football trivia, as odd as the original inspiration.

As a kid, Steinberg had little plastic statues of the presidents. Since he was a boy, he of course pitted them in battles against one another, turning them into fighting action figures. He was destined to be a political science major in college. From there he found his true passion as a sports writer.

Steinberg finally found a way to combine his passions. "It's the most fun you can have learning about America's presidents and Super Bowls without having to read two separate books."

I won't give away the ending, but you can guess the one-sided start. It took a few years for the Super Bowl contests to become great games. Super Bowl III was a tremendous battle just before the merger of AFL and the NFL, pitting the Colts against the brash Jets. Unfortunately for the that football contest, it is lined up against Thomas Jefferson. The top of the presidential order is unstoppable: Washington, Adams and Jefferson.

I think the book is targeted to younger readers, filled with snazzy quips and graphics. Each contest is squeezed concisely into two pages. I was hoping to have more details on the games and the presidents. (But I'm not a young reader.) I had fun with it.

Originally published: http://dougcornelius.com/2010/12/44-presidents-versus-44-super-bowls/

(Mr. Steinberg kindly sent me a review copy of the book.) ( )