Part reference and part history, this first volume of the Pro Football Almanac collects the betting lines for more than 13,000 pro football games dating back to 1940, including complete NFL seasons since 1954. An opening essay on the history of the pointspread sets the stage for the data that follows. In a lively, flowing narrative, Wald traces the evolution of the pointspread from its beginning as a crude adjunct to betting odds to the standard betting option for football that it is today. Debunking myths and confirming others, Wald shines a spotlight on a subject that continues to be one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented in sports. Of course, the heart of Volume I is the data. Covering three professional leagues (NFL-AFL-AAFC) and over 40 teams, historians and data geeks alike could spend five years on a sandy spit with this tome before dog-earing the pages. Featuring lists of pro football's greatest coaches against the spread and top 5 games as favorite and underdog by team, the Pro Football Almanac, Vol I is the most thoroughly researched work ever published on the subject.