Customer Reviews

Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming: Texas vs. Arkansas in Dixie's Last Stand

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having spent 4 years as a manager for the Longhorns, I search out books on UT sports. Imagine my surprise in finding one with my picture (in the team photo) on the back of the dust jacket! Seriously, a well-researched, well-written book. How do I know? For starters, I was there at some of those conversations, both as an observer & participant. Many of the incidents Frei describes brought back many memories. I knew the Texas players & coaches very, very well. Some of them I still see on occasion.

I particularly enjoyed Frei's delving into more than just the game itself. For those of us in college during the late 60's, it was a tumultuous time. Sports often was a "safety-valve release" for the on-campus tensions that raged around us. Gathering in stadiums across the country was one way of forgetting about the social unrest threatening to tear our country apart. Frei made all of those memories come alive.

I commend Terry Frei for his book. Sure, he could have gone for pumped-up sales by getting into the "dirt" (& every sport has it!), but instead he chose to do a more serious work. I congratulate him for that. The book both gets across the intensity of the game - & of the rivalry between UA & UT - & its connection with the times. I heartily recommend "HHNC" to all sports fans. It will be enjoyed by all who love college athletics, especially football.

Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming is a book that even non sports-fans will enjoy tremendously: it made a convert of me. I received this book as a gift, reluctantly. College football ranks very low on my list of things I enjoy: even lower still are Baby-Boomer nostalgia books. Terry Frei's writing lifts Horns, Hogs far above the level of typical testosterone-drenched sports tomes and Big Chill-style self-importance. With restraint and skill, Frei shows how the strands of social issues and the trajectories of many human lives intersected to produce a memorable weekend both on and off the football field. Frei does not claim that one college football game changed history. He does show how that one point in time served as a stage where humans displayed courage, intelligence, idealism, administrative cowardice and even vanity. Terry Frei did not forget Freddie Steinmark's courage; neither will the readers of this book. Buy it if you enjoy true tales of humanity well told.

A very well-written book on one of the truly classic games in college football. Sadly, not surprising to see a still-bitter PSU fan whining about the '69 national title rightly won by the Longhorns. This famous qoute by a much-beloved Texas player says it all: "We could never figure out why they didn't choose to settle it on the grass in Dallas, rather than from a soapbox in Pennsylvania."
-- Freddie Steinmark on the protestations of Penn State and Joe Paterno that they deserved the MNC in 1969, after they refused the invitation to play the Horns in the Cotton Bowl.

This is an inside look at one of the most important college football games ever played, written by someone who obviously knows his stuff and who developed the sources that allowed him to bring this game alive in the book. There's plenty of inside football to satisfy the fan, with the bonus of a look at the visit of a President as well as some of the key social issues facing the country at that time. It's a unusual idea that produces a terrific read. The interviews with the players are fascinating and in some cases troubling. As a fan, it was interesting to see how the game has changed over this relatively brief time. I understand the workings of a college program better after reading this book. I'm very glad I read it.

Finally all of the lore and myths surrounding the Big Shootout and set straight--on the record. Terry Frei produced a fine book, a fine accouting of the Game of the Century. I enjoyed his profiles of the players, the coaches, and the times. A first-class read that I would recommend to any college football fan. Frei's first effort ranks him right up there with Mike Corcoran as a writer who can bring to life a sports event that happened more than a quarter-century ago. Buy it!

Frei has an amazing way with words. He has been able to paint a picture that with such clarity that I could almost smell the Fall air... This book falls into the category of books that makes you lose sleep as it becomes impossible to put down ("... I'll just read one more chapter... and THEN I'll turn off the light...")

Any football fan or anyone who is a student of the 60's will appreciate "Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming." If you're both, you'll be twice-blessed!

Mr. Frei, thank you for an exciting and well-painted story! Please continue to supply us with historically accurate sports-related stories.

P.S. I felt compelled to provide a review about this book after reading the one and only "yawn" review written about this book. I'm certain this review was provided by someone whom thinks he/she is an avid Denver sportsfan and didn't appreciate one of Frei's columns or something. I'm doubtful that "reviewer" ever opened the front cover to the book...

Unlike reviewer Star (who for some reason felt compelled to slam the book because he didn't like the teams involved) I found this to be a great book about a unique era in college football. The book is well researched and the author doesn't take sides. The detail of the game itself and the coaches thinking is very interesting for those who weren't watching college football in those days.

Obviously Texas fans will enjoy it more than those from Arkansas, but they still might be interested all the same. After all, it was an epic game. For those Penn State fans who are still bitter about finishing #2 to Texas, answer this: Why did Penn State avoid playing Texas in the Cotton Bowl? Notre Dame was the bowl committee's second choice. If you don't want to play #1, you don't get to be #1.

I was seven years old when Texas and Arkansas met in their 1969 battle. While I remember little of the game, my father was a big college football fan and I do recall sitting down with him to watch it and seeing shots of President Nixon arriving at the game. As a typical seven year old, the game was all I cared about and I had virtually no appreciation for what our country was going through. The author does a great job of describing the social setting including war protests, the draft lottery and racial unrest (as reflected by a controversy surrounding the playing of "Dixie" by the University of Arkansas band). Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming is a great recipe mixing one part football and one part history to create a gourmet masterpiece. If you have any interest in football or American History you will enjoy this book. If you like both subjects, it surely will be one of the best you have ever read.

If you are a Texas Longhorn or Arkansas Razorback fan, you'll enjoy this book (with Longhorn fans enjoying it more since Texas won this "game of the century"). There were some great players in that game, but for those who are not Longhorn or Razorback fans, you have to wade through details of just about every Texas and Arkansas starter to get to the write up of the game itself.

Excellent book not only for the coverage of the players and the game, but also for reminding us of the social issues of the time. A must read not only for college football fans, but anyone interested in the era.