Rating the OU football books
Seems like a new OU football book is published every few months or so. The latest is Then Bud Said To Barry, Who Told Bob: The Best Oklahoma Sooners Stories Ever Told, written by Jeff Snook, who will be on campus today to promote the book. Later this season, a books-signing is planned before an OU game.
Last week, I rated my favorite baseball books ever. This week, I’ll list my favorite OU football books. Heck, I’ll just rank all that I have, which is a ton but not every book that’s been published.
For instance, I haven’t grabbed the latest, written by OU media relations director Kenny Mossman, The Oklahoma Football Vault, which contains some rare jewels, like a letter written by John Harts to OU historian Harold Keith. Harts was OU’s only winless coach; he led the school football team for one game in 1895.
I also, for some reason, never have read The Boz, Rick Reilly’s tale of Brian Bosworth. And I can’t find When All the Laughter Died In Sorrow, Lance Rentzel’s account of his fall from grace with the Dallas Cowboys.
Maybe some day. And maybe even next week for Walk-On, by D. Mikels, a novel about OU football. I haven’t read it yet. But I’ll take it to Seattle next week and give you a report.
I still have 28 books on the list, which means there are at least 32 books available on OU football. Let’s get started.
1. Oklahoma Kickoff, by Harold Keith, 1948. Absolutely priceless history of the early days of OU football, 1895-1920. Great stuff on Norman and campus life and dusty football days. Not bogged down with football details, although Keith does provide a page diagramming plays. If you ever wondered what Bennie Owen was like, this book’s for you.
2. Bootlegger’s Boy, by Barry Switzer with Bud Shrake, 1990. The Switzer autobiography is a wild read. It doesn’t answer every question you ever had for Switzer, but it answers most, in an entertaining way.
3. Presidents Can’t Punt, by George Lynn Cross, 1977. A true inside look at how the OU football monster developed. George Cross was OU’s president from 1943-68 and writes a very readable account of how Jim Tatum and Bud Wilkinson and Gomer Jones were hired; of how OU regents determined to get good in football; of constant head-butts with the Big Seven Conference.
4. 3rd Down & Forever: Joe Don Looney & the Rise & Fall of an American Hero, by J. Brent Clark, 1993. Before the Boz came the original OU wild man. Brent Clark superbly captures the saga of Joe Don Looney.
5. The Courting of Marcus Dupree, by Willie Morris, 1983. Not really an OU football book, but enough Sooner stuff to keep fans interested and regardless, a wonderful book about a fascinating section of this great country. Compares the civil rights unrest in Philadelphia, Miss., with the recruiting of its legendary football star two decades later.
6. The Undefeated, by Jim Dent, 2001. A controversial look at the Wilkinson era, focusing on the players who helped fashion the 47-game winning streak. Dent doesn’t always portray Wilkinson in a flattering light, which turned the old Sooners against him. But the book is a good read and a mostly sentimental look back to a half century ago, when Oklahoma unquestionably ruled college football.
7. An Autumn Remembered: Bud Wilkinson’s Legendary ‘56 Sooners, by Gary T. King, 1988. In the 1960s, King was a Norman High School football hero. But in the ’50s, he was a kid who worshipped Wilkinson’s legendary Sooners. King catches up with those heroes of his youth as he looks back at the halcyon days of growing up in Norman.
8. Bud Wilkinson, An Intimate Portrait of an American Legend, by Jay Wilkinson, 1994. Yes, this is a son’s view of his father, but Jay tackles some unpleasant subjects, like his father’s decision to end his first marriage. Any Sooner fan who wants to know more about this mythic man should read this book.
9. Sooner Century, by Brent Clark, 1995. A coffee table book that has the best collection of Sooner photos. The text is solid — in full disclosure, I wrote some of the wishbone-era stuff for Brent — but the pictures provide the greatest value.
10. I Remember Bud Wilkinson, by Mike Towle, 2002. One of a series of “I Remember” books by Towle — Al McGuire, Jim Valvano, Walter Payton, Pete Maravich, Arthur Ashe, Ben Hogan, Vince Lombardi, Bobby Jones — in which he lets people speak in their own words about an American sporting icon. This kind of sports literature comes from The Glory of Their Times, Lawrence Ritter’s majestic look at early-20th century baseball. The Wilkinson book is not as good as “Glory,” but it’s still worth the read. And go back and look at that list of people Towle wrote about. Bud Wilkinson is on that list.
11. 100 Greatest Sooners, produced by Sooners Illustrated, 2004. I don’t know if this qualifies as a book; it’s more like a big, thick magazine. But it’s a heck of a compilation, if I do say so myself, since I was one of the voters and contributors to the project, which ranks the best Sooners, 1-100.
12. Down and Dirty: The Life & Crimes of Oklahoma Football, by Charles Thompson & Allan Sonnenschein, 1990. Thompson’s account of his fall from grace is at times outrageous but often revealing. Some well-known Sooners don’t come out looking very good, and even though CT’s credibility was minimal, you end up believing him.
13. The Die-Hard Fan’s Guide to Sooner Football, by Jim Fletcher, 2008. You know, it’s not a half-bad book. The premise is weak — one more catch-all book about OU football – but it contains a few nuggets, including some Q&A interviews that includes stuff you’ve never seen before.
14. Forty-Seven Straight, by Harold Keith, 1984. A year-by-year look at the Bud Wilkinson era, with game details that are hard to find and occasional stories about the Sooners of that era. A solid resource.
15. The Game of the Century, by Michael Corcoran, 2004. A look at the 1971 OU-Nebraska game. It’s OK.
16. What It Means To Be A Sooner, by Jeff Snook, 2005. Another interview book, written in first-person style. Generally speaking, these are great if the old players are talking about campus and coaches and other players, and these stink if they’re just talking about games. This one has a little too much games.
17. Seasons To Remember, by Curt Gowdy, 1993. The Hall of Fame sportscaster spent a few years at WKY radio in Oklahoma City calling OU football and OSU basketball in 1946-49. Gowdy doesn’t really offer anything new on Sooner football, but his entire career was fascinating.
18. The Sooners, by Jim Weeks, 1974. This formulaic book has special meaning, for two reasons. One, it’s the first OU book I ever read and is perfect for someone who wants to learn Sooner history. It covers it all, from territorial days to the advent of the wishbone. Other books provide more detail, but this lays a groundwork. Plus, Jim Weeks got me started in the business, hiring me when I was 17, to be a sports flunky at the Norman Transcript.
19. Game Day: Oklahoma Football, by Athlon Sports, 2006. A minitature coffee-table book that is a lot like Athlon’s preseason magazine every year. Great photos, not great text. But let me repeat. Great photos.
20. Echoes of Oklahoma Sooners Football, edited by Mark Stafford, 2007. A collection of great stories from newspapers and magazines about the Sooners over the years. I guess they’re great. I’ve got one piece in there, a 1999 story I did about Greg Pruitt. I don’t even remember writing it. Hope The Oklahoman got some money off this deal.
21. Tales From the Sooner Sidelines, by Jay C. Upchurch, 2003. Another collection of anecdotes and stories, this one by the editor of Sooner Spectator magazine. All kinds of interesting stuff, as long as perspective and balance don’t matter. The 1957 OU-Notre Dame game, which ended the 47-game winning streak, gets nine paragraphs. A 1975 story in which Chez Evans faked sick so he could get a weekend party started? Seven paragraphs. Of course, I know all about the Notre Dame game. I’d never heard the Chez Evans story.
22. The Road to Glory, by Josh Heupel, 2001. Not exactly Willie Morris, but it’s not supposed to be. If you’re a Heupel fan and can’t get enough about the 2000 season, this book’s for you.
23. Going Public, by Ken Farris, 1994. The long-time OU athletic department business manager’s account of his decades-long numbers-crunching and people-dealing. The action doesn’t jump off the page, but it’s interesting for anyone drawn to the ins and outs of running college athletics. 24. Sooners Handbook: Stories, Stats and Stuff About OU Football, by Jim Weeks, 1996. Sort of a condensed version of my mentor’s original book. This one is notable for the photos on the back cover. Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and John Blake.
25. Prelude to Greatness, by Jay Smith and Jim Wallis, 2003. The story of Smith, who in the 1990s played for four OU head coaches. Great premise, and some occasional insight, but not a great read.
26. How Dr. Death Became Dr. Life, by Steve Williams, 2007. The former OU guard and heavyweight wrestler tells of overcoming cancer.
27. The Sooner the Better, How Attitude Matters on the Way to the Top, by John E. Tatum, 2006. A player from the 1960s, Tatum recalls a poor upbringing in eastern Oklahoma but how OU football launched him to a successful life.
28. University of Oklahoma Football Trivia, by Jim Weeks, 1988. Only the hard-cores should pick up this one. But if you’re road-tripping to College Station or Waco with some other Sooner fans, this will pass the time nicely. But the Stoops era is not included.
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Have you read “Runnin with the Big Dogs” by Mike Shropshire? It’s a very entertaining read about the OU Texas rivalry. Has a texas leaning, but still worth reading.