For more information:
Frank R. Scatoni
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"No Kill Date"

Venture Literary Sells ESPN.com Journalist’s Inside Look at University of Georgia Football to Thomas Dunne Books

On May 5, 2008, Frank R. Scatoni of Venture Literary sold the rights to Glory, Glory: A Season of Football and Faith at the University of Georgia to Pete Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

Only a few moments after the University of Georgia football team finished its first spring practice of 2008, a reporter hit Bulldogs coach Mark Richt as hard as a defensive end: Did the Bulldogs look like a national championship team? “We have a new saying here at Georgia,” Richt answered. “It’s ‘focus on the moment.’ That’s what we’re going to do.”

The moment has never been better for the Bulldogs as they enter the 2008 season. Buoyed by an 11-2 record and a 41-10 thrashing of previously unbeaten Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl at the end of last season, Georgia enters 2008 ranked No. 1 in most preseason polls. The Bulldogs have a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates and a head coach who has been applauded as much for how he lives his life off the field as for what his teams have done on it.

In Glory, Glory: A Season of Football and Faith at the University of Georgia, award-winning journalist Mark Schlabach, a national college football columnist for ESPN.com, uses the 2008 season as a prism for telling the remarkable story of the Bulldogs program and its fascinating history.

Coach Richt, a modest, born-again Christian, seems destined to become the next college football coach to win a national championship. Grounded by his strong values and morals, which have become increasingly rare in a sport dominated by millionaires and pious hypocrites, Richt has transformed the Bulldogs into a national powerhouse. During his seven-year tenure, the Bulldogs have won two SEC championships and three SEC East titles.

In addition, the Georgia program drips with rich tradition and history, having produced two national championship teams, two Heisman Trophy winners, and dozens of players who later became NFL stars, such as Herschel Walker, Fran Tarkenton, Champ Bailey, and Hines Ward. But never before have the Bulldogs been on the cusp of such greatness as this coming season.

Mark Schlabach is one of the most widely read columnists in the country, with more than 20 million unique visitors and 190 million total users visiting ESPN.com each month—and no journalist knows the Bulldogs as much as he does. His weekly “On the Mark” column is one of ESPN.com’s most popular attractions during the college football season, and he is a regular contributor to ESPN television programming, including weekly appearances on College Football Live and ESPN First Take.

To learn more about Venture Literary, visit: www.ventureliterary.com.
To learn more about Thomas Dunne Books, visit: http://www.stmartins.com/
To learn more about Mark Schlabach, visit: http://sports.espn.go.com/keyword/search?searchString=Mark_Schlabach