One of the best ways to learn and stay excited about Texas football during the summertime is a little activity we like to call "reading books." Thus, for your enjoyment, here are our top 5 Longhorn football-related books to get you through the next 96 days:
- Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming: Texas vs. Arkansas in Dixie's Last Stand. As a piece of scholarly work, this is far and away the best Texas football book out there. Author Terry Frei gives you an in-depth look at both the Longhorns and Razorbacks of 1969, along with all the social, political, and athletic context in which that classic game was played. Plus: we won.
- Backyard Brawl: Inside the Blood Feud between Texas and Texas A&M. W.K. Stratton spins a pretty good yarn and he's a pro in terms of his writing. It's a lot of fun reading about a series that the Longhorns have so thoroughly dominated through most of its history (we'll just pretend the 80's never happened. And not just because of Whitesnake). The bad news about this book is that Stratton focuses a lot on, and seems to sympathise with, the ridiculous "traditions" that the Cult of Reveille is known for. The good news is, that gives you some insight into their crazy.
- Longhorns' Perfect Drive: Texas' 2005 National Championship Season. This Austin American-Statesman recap of the 2005 season has Vince Young on the cover. And it's about the 2005 national championship team. So, you should read it. Again.
- One Heartbeat II: The Road to the National Championship. We haven't read this book. But it's by Mack Brown, and it's updated to include the 2005 national championship. How can it be bad? Plus, Corn Nation liked it.
- Runnin' With the Big Dogs: The True, Unvarnished Story of the Texas-Oklahoma Football Wars. The unvarnished truth is, you should probably only read this one if you've gotten through the other four on this list and it's still July. It's not particularly well-written and it's largely anecdotal. But, most of the anecdotes are pretty entertaining, so it's worth a little time if you've got it.