In 1975， CBS decided to do something different for its pregame shows on Sundays when the network would be telecasting professional football games。 Instead of a brief pregame show that informs viewers about the two teams that are about to take the field， the programmers at CBS Sports decided to do an hour-long live show from their New York studio with multiple hosts。 This decision led to one of the most revolutionary changes in televised sports and its genesis is described in this excellent book In 1975， CBS decided to do something different for its pregame shows on Sundays when the network would be telecasting professional football games。 Instead of a brief pregame show that informs viewers about the two teams that are about to take the field， the programmers at CBS Sports decided to do an hour-long live show from their New York studio with multiple hosts。 This decision led to one of the most revolutionary changes in televised sports and its genesis is described in this excellent book by Rich Podolsky。When this decision was made by the network， this was something that was completely "out of the box" thinking。 Not only did the show， titled "The NFL Today"， go to live coverage in a studio， it showed highlights of other games in a "whip around" format and also had the first woman （Phyllis George） and Black man （Irv Cross） as studio hosts of a sports program。 The main anchor who drove the on-camera performance was Brent Musburger and later， they were joined by well-know sports bookmaker Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder。 Each of these four on-air personalities have a chapter on their professional and personal lives which make for great reading and information。 Not only these people， but others who were involved in the ground breaking production such as Robert Wussler （president of CBS Sports at the time） and Mike Pearl （producer） get good write-ups in the book as well。The book is not limited to short biographies of the personnel – there is plenty of great writing about the ins and outs of sports broadcasting as well as the specifics of the show。 Some of the more notorious events during the show's years on the air （and it's still going strong） are also described in an objective manner。 Two of them that made headlines was the firing of Jayne Kennedy， who took over for Phyllis George after she left for a few years （and returned when Kennedy was let go） and the friction between Musberger and Snyder。 Snyder later was also fired for making racially insensitive comments and Musberger was as well for other reasons。 The book then ends with how Musberger's replacements， Greg Gumble and later Jim Nantz kept the show going。This book reads at a very fast pace， much like the show has when watching it。 The stories and personalities are fascinating and anyone who remembers when NFL Sundays had to start with watching Brent， Irv， Phyllis and "The Greek" will want to pick up this book。 I wish to thank the author and Lyons Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review。https://sportsbookguy。blogspot。com/20。。。 。。。more