Cowboys Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan! [Hardcover]

Frank Luksa (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential: Everything You Need to Know to be a Real Fan | Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Cowboys Essential is for fans who think they know everything about the Dallas Cowboys. It’s also for fans who know they don’t but want to discover as much as they can about America’s Team in a fun and entertaining way. Amusing anecdotes, compelling stories, and rich details about pivotal games and players all make Cowboys Essential the one book every Cowboys fan should own.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The Cowboys Essential approach is different from reviews devoted too often to dull play-by-play. All key games are here, from Super Bowl to Ice Bowl and Hail Mary, to be sure. But the emphasis is on what those involved said and thought. That’s what makes this book different. It’s about people. "It unfolds as personal anecdotes from players, coaches, and opponents that range from high humor to lowbrow drama. There’s as much fun as facts in these pages." —from the foreword by Roger Staubach

From the Inside Flap

Any football fan can tell you who America’s Team is. But how many know the origin of the Dallas Cowboys’ famous nickname? Or what the temperature was at the start of the famous Ice Bowl, how much Clint Murchison Jr. paid for the Cowboys in 1960, or which Cowboy was first to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? If you know the answers to all of these questions, then you’re probably a die-hard Cowboys fan, and you will certainly enjoy the engaging stories and anecdotes featured in Cowboys Essential. If you stumbled over most or all of the questions, this book is your chance to learn about the rich and colorful history of the Dallas Cowboys—and to upgrade your status to that of a real fan. The Dallas Cowboys, consistently voted the most popular team in professional sports, have been blessed with more marvelous players and moments in their 45-year history than most pro teams with histories twice as long. Cowboys Essential delivers fascinating, useful, and informative nuggets of Cowboys’ history and lore in an easy, accessible format that allows you to browse at your convenience. From Too Tall Jones to Jerry Jones, this handy reference includes everything you ever wanted to know about America’s Team—and then some. The Super Bowls. The 0–11–1 maiden season. The Kicking Karavan. The CCC. The Ring of Honor. It’s all here. Tom Landry, Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, and Troy Aikman are here, too, along with the oddballs, flakes, and one-hit wonders. And there’s trivia, special top-10 lists, dozens of archival photos, and much more, all contained in this handy reference that tells the story of football’s flashiest franchise.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572438614
• ISBN-13: 978-1572438613
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Texas

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy read -- covers the essentials of Cowboys history (Sep 3, 2008), September 3, 2008

By 

Fred Goodwin "Old school Cowboys fan" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cowboys Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan! (Hardcover)

Review: Cowboys Essential by Frank Luksa

Luksa, Frank. Cowboys Essential: Everything You Need to Know to be a Real Fan, Chicago: Triumph Books. 2006. HB, 180p, illus. list: 19.95, ISBN: 978-1-57243-861-3

Like the title says, this book covers just about everything the true Cowboy fan needs to know about America's Team, like (for example) how that nickname came about (no, it wasn't coined by the late GM Tex Schramm). This is Luksa's latest book about the Cowboys (Time Enough to Win, In Control, Hail Mary), but his first that isn't a player biography.

The book begins with the founding of the franchise, and the start of the rivalry between the Cowboys and Redskins. It ends with the arrival of WR Terrell Owens.

In between, Luksa covers everything from the career of Mr. Cowboy, DT Bob Lilly, the "man in the funny hat", longtime coach Tom Landry, rivalries with the Redskins, Packers, Steelers, and `Niners, the trade for Tony Dorsett, how the Cowboys became "America's Team", the retirement of "Captain America" QB Roger Staubach, their fall from grace, the arrival of Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson, the team of the `90s, and decline into mediocrity in the latter `90s and early 2000s.

It's a lot of ground to cover in 180 pages, but Luksa does so in a conversational style that is very easy to read. Unlike so many sports reporters-turned-author, Luksa does not overdo his use of metaphor and simile. He sticks to the facts, but weaves them in such a way that his chapters read more like locker-room stories (without the R-rated language).

It is hard to fault this book, but as a long-time fan, I got the feeling, especially in the first 23 chapters (the Schramm-Landry era), that I had heard all of these stories before. With so many books having been written about the Cowboys, it is hard to find fresh material to write about. So while it is true that I knew most of these stories by heart, it was also fun to read them again.

Even the last nine chapters (which cover the Jones era) basically repeat stories that most Cowboys fans will be familiar with. But new fans, those who were not around during the Landry or Jimmy Johnson eras, will appreciate this compilation of facts, personalities and stories. The book ends with the all-time Cowboys roster as of 2005.

An interesting feature of the book is the use of trivia facts and questions every few pages. It would have been nice if the answer section repeated the question, rather than making you turn back to see what the question was.

A bigger fault is that Luksa gives no references or citations. It's possible Luksa can recall every fact in his book directly from memory, but it's more likely that he drew from other sources like newspaper articles, books, magazines, interviews, etc. Without a bibliography, its hard to know the sources for his facts.

That minor issue aside, I recommend this book to both new and longtime Cowboy fans.

© Copyright Sept. 3, 2008 by Fred Goodwin, [e-mail]

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Cowboys Knowledge, November 15, 2011

By 

Matthew Dodd (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cowboys Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan! (Hardcover)

This book is a great, fact-filled history of the Dallas Cowboys. Full of interesting details, vignettes, trivia, and personal insights from players, coaches, reporters, and front-office folks who know and have contributed to the Dallas Cowboys experience since the team's founding in 1960, the book was easy to read and hard to put down.

I bought this book for my ten-year-old son, who is growing up to be a big Cowboys fan like his dad. Thumbing through it, I realized my knowledge of Cowboys history left a lot to be desired - including, but not necessarily limited to the founding of the Cowboys (Murchison, Schramm, Brandt, Landry); the birth and history of the rivalry with the Redskins; "Mr. Cowboy," "Captain America," "Hawkeye," "America's Team," "The Mad Bomber," "The Playmaker," "The Big Tuna," "The Triplets;" "The Ice Bowl;" "The Kicking Karavan;" "The Hail Mary;" "The Catch;" "The Run;" "The Great Train Robbery;" "The Bounty Bowl;" The Ring of Honor; the Jerry Jones era; all the Super Bowl appearances - things every Cowboys fan would want to know (through the 2005 season). Mixed in with all the stories and accounts were trivia questions, an All-Time Cowboys roster, lists of the All-Time players by position (quarterbacks, defensive and offensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs, and receivers), the Silver Season All-Time Team (1960-1985) as voted by fans, and a couple "by the numbers" features of Coach Landry's and Emmitt Smith's statistics.

The only drawback to a book like this is that it quickly gets out-of-date. I would hope that the author considers publishing a revised version every ten years or so.

Sharing this short, easy-reading history of the Cowboys with my son has given the book extra special meaning to us. I highly recommend this book to any Cowboys fan of any age.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cowboys Essential, January 13, 2009

By 

Joanne E. Ryan "goodfriend" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cowboys Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan! (Hardcover)

A must for any true Cowboy fan! It is brought out often in many conversations.