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What: “The Fighting Irish on the Air”

Author: Paul F. Gullifor

Publisher: Diamond Communications, South Bend, Ind.

Price: $29.95

Much has been written about the legend and lore of Notre Dame football. And now there is a book about the rich history of the broadcasting of Notre Dame football.

This well-researched, 225-page hardcover book goes back to the days before radio, when Western Union telegraphs were used to provide game reports. The reader is taken through the early days of radio, to Joe Boland and the Irish Radio network, Mutual’s exclusive radio deal, the birth of television, Lindsey Nelson and tape-delayed telecasts, the NCAA and the College Football Assn., and finally to Notre Dame’s current and controversial contract with NBC.

But the book covers more than just Notre Dame broadcasting. In the foreword Dick Enberg writes: “While this book is about Notre Dame, in a broader sense, this is really about the evolution of sports broadcasting in America.”

The author, a native of South Bend, Ind., attended Indiana State and earned a Ph.D. in communications from Missouri. He is an associate professor at Bradley University, where he teaches courses in electronic media.

Gullifor interviewed dozens of the principals involved in the various broadcasting deals, and also talked with those who have broadcast Notre Dame football.

He may overdo it in his praise of Notre Dame announcers, particularly Tony Roberts, but mostly Gullifor takes an objective look at his topic.

There is no question he is a Notre Dame fan, but that doesn’t prevent him from presenting the negative side of some of the school’s deals, particularly the NBC deal.

In 1990, Notre Dame broke off from the CFA, whose members were schools outside the Pacific 10 and Big Ten, to make a deal on its own worth nearly $40 million over five years. The NBC contract is currently worth about $50 million over five years, 2001-2005.

Orders: (800) 430-3717. Web site: www.diamondbooks.com.

Larry Stewart