If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer?: Philadelphia, Its Faithful, and the Eternal Quest for Sports Salvation » (REPRINT)

JerÉ Longman is a sportswriter for the New York Times. His three previous books for HarperCollins are the New York Times bestseller Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back; The Girls of Summer, The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World; and If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer: Philadelphia, Its Faithful, and the Eternal Quest for Sports Salvation. He also wrote The Hurricanes: One High School Team's Homecoming After Katrina, named by Slate magazine as one of the best books of 2008.

The last time a Philadelphia professional sports team won a championship, Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Return of the Jedi was number one at the box office. No city with all four major sports has gone longer without one. The local NFL franchise, the Eagles, has not won a title since 1960, putting its devoted fans through decades of futility and heartbreak.

Peppered with riotous anecdotes about the grandstand brawlers and football lunatics who make Philadelphia one of the most entertaining places in America to watch a game, If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? is the hilarious day-by-day account of the operatic passion of Eagles fans in the buildup to the team's first Super Bowl appearance since 1981. With outrageous detail and beer-on-your-shoes reporting, New York Times sportswriter and longtime Philly resident Jere Longman reveals what happens when the losingest sports town in America finally has a shot at winning it all.