OFD Book Club: “Shake Down the Thunder” #1

Graphic by Brendan McAlinden / @verypirateyI can only imagine Murray Sperber’s excitement as he brushed aside mouse droppings in the sub-basement of the Hesburgh Library.

Sperber, an associate professor at Indiana University, found in cardboard boxes — unmolested for almost 60 years — the Notre Dame athletic department’s office files from 1909 to 1934, including the daily correspondence of legendary football coach Knute Rockne.

Sperber was attempting something no previous author had tried, as he explained in the introduction to the book, “Shake Down the Thunder,” that resulted from his research (Amazon, B&N, IU Press, eBay):

“‘Shake Down the Thunder’ is an explanation of how and why the games…