Author: Dr. Randy White
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1543457363
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 126
Book Description
About sixty miles north of Houston on Interstate 45, a giant statue soars above the piney woods of East Texas. Its a white concrete image of General Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas. Like everything in this state, it is oversized, and at seventy feet tall, its the largest statue of an American hero in the country. The statue welcomes the traveler to Huntsvillea small sleepy college town that was the home of Sam Houston, and which now is the home of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and another Texas icon, the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). On one side of its wall, convicts struggle with the rigors of prison life, and on the other at the university, another group of youths struggle with the demands of college. The contrast between the two serves as a metaphor for modern American life. This story is seen from the point of view of a man who experienced events on both sides of the prison wall. On one side of the wall, Randy White was a guardknown as Boss White to the inmates. On the other side was Randy White, a college student in 1972 and the Bearkats (the SHSU basketball team) official statistician. He was part of the story when the Bearkats became a basketball legend in the early seventies. Football is the renowned culture of Texas. If one has any doubts, then look at the Dallas Cowboys and the popularity of its cheerleading. Now there are cheerleading squads in the NFL as well as on the college football scene. There is nothing new or unique about that. But none are as famous as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make the squad and wear the white short shorts and blue-and-white bolero jackets today is more prestigious than making the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes back in the forties. Such is the stature of football in Texas. So Texas is definitely football country. Basketball lives in the outskirts, something to be played in between football seasons. Sam Houston State Universitys basketball team had been lackluster for forty years. Nobody expected much from SHSU basketball in 1972, until the early seventies, back when a bunch of basketball players, intent on winning, burst on the scene like a perfect storm. Such is the one that brewed up one October day off New England, and it came out of nowhere. A confluence of different weather-related phenomena had combined to produce what was termed a perfect storm. That same perfect storm hit Huntsville. It was as if someone had put into a cauldron a unique combination of talent, coaching, spirit, camaraderie, and a new social awareness and mixed them upand out came a dream team, a dream season, a perfect storm. This is the story of that perfect storm, that dream season.
Archie’S Boys
Author: Dr. Randy White
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1543457363
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 126
Book Description
About sixty miles north of Houston on Interstate 45, a giant statue soars above the piney woods of East Texas. Its a white concrete image of General Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas. Like everything in this state, it is oversized, and at seventy feet tall, its the largest statue of an American hero in the country. The statue welcomes the traveler to Huntsvillea small sleepy college town that was the home of Sam Houston, and which now is the home of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and another Texas icon, the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). On one side of its wall, convicts struggle with the rigors of prison life, and on the other at the university, another group of youths struggle with the demands of college. The contrast between the two serves as a metaphor for modern American life. This story is seen from the point of view of a man who experienced events on both sides of the prison wall. On one side of the wall, Randy White was a guardknown as Boss White to the inmates. On the other side was Randy White, a college student in 1972 and the Bearkats (the SHSU basketball team) official statistician. He was part of the story when the Bearkats became a basketball legend in the early seventies. Football is the renowned culture of Texas. If one has any doubts, then look at the Dallas Cowboys and the popularity of its cheerleading. Now there are cheerleading squads in the NFL as well as on the college football scene. There is nothing new or unique about that. But none are as famous as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make the squad and wear the white short shorts and blue-and-white bolero jackets today is more prestigious than making the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes back in the forties. Such is the stature of football in Texas. So Texas is definitely football country. Basketball lives in the outskirts, something to be played in between football seasons. Sam Houston State Universitys basketball team had been lackluster for forty years. Nobody expected much from SHSU basketball in 1972, until the early seventies, back when a bunch of basketball players, intent on winning, burst on the scene like a perfect storm. Such is the one that brewed up one October day off New England, and it came out of nowhere. A confluence of different weather-related phenomena had combined to produce what was termed a perfect storm. That same perfect storm hit Huntsville. It was as if someone had put into a cauldron a unique combination of talent, coaching, spirit, camaraderie, and a new social awareness and mixed them upand out came a dream team, a dream season, a perfect storm. This is the story of that perfect storm, that dream season.
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1543457363
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 126
Book Description
About sixty miles north of Houston on Interstate 45, a giant statue soars above the piney woods of East Texas. Its a white concrete image of General Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas. Like everything in this state, it is oversized, and at seventy feet tall, its the largest statue of an American hero in the country. The statue welcomes the traveler to Huntsvillea small sleepy college town that was the home of Sam Houston, and which now is the home of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and another Texas icon, the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). On one side of its wall, convicts struggle with the rigors of prison life, and on the other at the university, another group of youths struggle with the demands of college. The contrast between the two serves as a metaphor for modern American life. This story is seen from the point of view of a man who experienced events on both sides of the prison wall. On one side of the wall, Randy White was a guardknown as Boss White to the inmates. On the other side was Randy White, a college student in 1972 and the Bearkats (the SHSU basketball team) official statistician. He was part of the story when the Bearkats became a basketball legend in the early seventies. Football is the renowned culture of Texas. If one has any doubts, then look at the Dallas Cowboys and the popularity of its cheerleading. Now there are cheerleading squads in the NFL as well as on the college football scene. There is nothing new or unique about that. But none are as famous as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make the squad and wear the white short shorts and blue-and-white bolero jackets today is more prestigious than making the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes back in the forties. Such is the stature of football in Texas. So Texas is definitely football country. Basketball lives in the outskirts, something to be played in between football seasons. Sam Houston State Universitys basketball team had been lackluster for forty years. Nobody expected much from SHSU basketball in 1972, until the early seventies, back when a bunch of basketball players, intent on winning, burst on the scene like a perfect storm. Such is the one that brewed up one October day off New England, and it came out of nowhere. A confluence of different weather-related phenomena had combined to produce what was termed a perfect storm. That same perfect storm hit Huntsville. It was as if someone had put into a cauldron a unique combination of talent, coaching, spirit, camaraderie, and a new social awareness and mixed them upand out came a dream team, a dream season, a perfect storm. This is the story of that perfect storm, that dream season.
Southern Studies
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Louisiana
Languages : en
Pages : 510
Book Description
An interdisciplinary journal of the South.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Louisiana
Languages : en
Pages : 510
Book Description
An interdisciplinary journal of the South.
The Perfect Storm
Author: Sebastian Junger
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393040166
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
A true story of men against the sea.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393040166
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
A true story of men against the sea.
THE FORGOTTEN DECADE
Author: Roger Gordon
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663266271
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 166
Book Description
CONTENDERS? NO. COMPELLING? YES. The Cleveland Browns in the 1970s were, for the most part, an average team. Their 72–70–2 overall record during that period proves that. They qualified for the postseason just twice and had no playoff wins. The low point came in 1974 and 1975 when they posted 4–10 and 3–11 records, respectively. The 1970s Browns, however, still managed to draw the attention of their fans. They still attracted large crowds to their home games. Their rivalries with AFC Central Division cohorts Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were as strong as ever. The ’70s Browns had some intriguing players such as Brian Sipe, Doug Dieken, and Joe “Turkey” Jones. They also had memorable head coaches like Sam Rutigliano and Forrest Gregg. Despite being a so-so team in this timespan, the Browns nonetheless provided many moments that will live forever such as Billy Andrews’s interception return for a touchdown off a Joe Namath pass that clinched the win in the first Monday Night Football game, Mike Phipps’s touchdown pass to Fair Hooker that had Browns fans thinking upset in a Christmas Eve playoff against the undefeated Dolphins, and Thom Darden’s pick-six off a Roger Staubach pass that helped lead to a shocking rout of the Cowboys on Monday Night Football that impressed even Howard Cosell. The Forgotten Decade is a collection of tales from the 1970s that will bring back memories —good and bad—for longtime Browns fans and will give younger fans a glimpse into what the 1970s Browns were all about.
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663266271
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 166
Book Description
CONTENDERS? NO. COMPELLING? YES. The Cleveland Browns in the 1970s were, for the most part, an average team. Their 72–70–2 overall record during that period proves that. They qualified for the postseason just twice and had no playoff wins. The low point came in 1974 and 1975 when they posted 4–10 and 3–11 records, respectively. The 1970s Browns, however, still managed to draw the attention of their fans. They still attracted large crowds to their home games. Their rivalries with AFC Central Division cohorts Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were as strong as ever. The ’70s Browns had some intriguing players such as Brian Sipe, Doug Dieken, and Joe “Turkey” Jones. They also had memorable head coaches like Sam Rutigliano and Forrest Gregg. Despite being a so-so team in this timespan, the Browns nonetheless provided many moments that will live forever such as Billy Andrews’s interception return for a touchdown off a Joe Namath pass that clinched the win in the first Monday Night Football game, Mike Phipps’s touchdown pass to Fair Hooker that had Browns fans thinking upset in a Christmas Eve playoff against the undefeated Dolphins, and Thom Darden’s pick-six off a Roger Staubach pass that helped lead to a shocking rout of the Cowboys on Monday Night Football that impressed even Howard Cosell. The Forgotten Decade is a collection of tales from the 1970s that will bring back memories —good and bad—for longtime Browns fans and will give younger fans a glimpse into what the 1970s Browns were all about.
The Fall of an American Rome
Author: Quentin R. Skrabec Jr.
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 162894062X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
This is the story of the de-industrialization of America, written by a Business professor with a background in steel company management who grew up in the city of Pittsburgh and loved its manufacturing environment. The book is based on the facts and aims to avoid any partisan political viewpoint -- which is not as difficult as it may seem, since both U.S. political parties support free trade economics. The story does not single out the union, the workers, management, politicians, or American voters and consumers, since there is plenty of blame to share. Even the economic policy of the country since 1945, which clearly must carry a large portion of the blame, was accepted for all the right reasons. Free trade was to promote world peace and democracy. No one foresaw the ancillary effects of the 1970s on the United States. Yet this approach has brought destruction upon our cities, workers, managers, and country. The author's perspective is one of a love for American manufacturing and those once-robust cities such as Detroit, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Akron, and so many others, that drove forward the American economy.
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 162894062X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
This is the story of the de-industrialization of America, written by a Business professor with a background in steel company management who grew up in the city of Pittsburgh and loved its manufacturing environment. The book is based on the facts and aims to avoid any partisan political viewpoint -- which is not as difficult as it may seem, since both U.S. political parties support free trade economics. The story does not single out the union, the workers, management, politicians, or American voters and consumers, since there is plenty of blame to share. Even the economic policy of the country since 1945, which clearly must carry a large portion of the blame, was accepted for all the right reasons. Free trade was to promote world peace and democracy. No one foresaw the ancillary effects of the 1970s on the United States. Yet this approach has brought destruction upon our cities, workers, managers, and country. The author's perspective is one of a love for American manufacturing and those once-robust cities such as Detroit, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Akron, and so many others, that drove forward the American economy.
Watergate: The Hidden History
Author: Lamar Waldron
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 1619022672
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 487
Book Description
A groundbreaking investigation into the events of the Watergate Scandal, complete with fascinating new material, all “exhaustively researched” in the author’s customary style (The New York Observer) While Richard Nixon's culpability for Watergate has long been established, what's truly remarkable is that after almost fifty years, conventional accounts of the scandal still don't address Nixon's motive. Why was President Nixon willing to risk his reelection with so many repeated burglaries at the Watergate—and other Washington offices—in just a few weeks? What motivated Nixon to jeopardize his presidency by ordering the wide range of criminal operations that resulted in Watergate? What was Nixon so desperate to get at the Watergate, and how does it explain the deeper context surrounding his crimes? For the first time, the groundbreaking investigative research in Watergate: The Hidden History provides documented answers to all of those questions. It adds crucial missing pieces to the Watergate story—information that President Nixon wanted, but couldn't get, and that wasn't available to the Senate Watergate Committee or to Woodward and Bernstein. This new information not only reveals remarkable insights into Nixon's motivation for Watergate, but also answers the two most important remaining questions: What were the Watergate burglars after? And why was Nixon willing to risk his Presidency to get it? Watergate: The Hidden History reexamines the historical record, including new material only available in recent years. This includes thousands of recently declassified CIA and FBI files, newly released Nixon tapes, and exclusive interviews with those involved in the events surrounding Watergate—ranging from former Nixon officials to key aides for John and Robert Kennedy. This book also builds on decades of investigations by noted journalists and historians, as well as long–overlooked investigative articles from publications like Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 1619022672
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 487
Book Description
A groundbreaking investigation into the events of the Watergate Scandal, complete with fascinating new material, all “exhaustively researched” in the author’s customary style (The New York Observer) While Richard Nixon's culpability for Watergate has long been established, what's truly remarkable is that after almost fifty years, conventional accounts of the scandal still don't address Nixon's motive. Why was President Nixon willing to risk his reelection with so many repeated burglaries at the Watergate—and other Washington offices—in just a few weeks? What motivated Nixon to jeopardize his presidency by ordering the wide range of criminal operations that resulted in Watergate? What was Nixon so desperate to get at the Watergate, and how does it explain the deeper context surrounding his crimes? For the first time, the groundbreaking investigative research in Watergate: The Hidden History provides documented answers to all of those questions. It adds crucial missing pieces to the Watergate story—information that President Nixon wanted, but couldn't get, and that wasn't available to the Senate Watergate Committee or to Woodward and Bernstein. This new information not only reveals remarkable insights into Nixon's motivation for Watergate, but also answers the two most important remaining questions: What were the Watergate burglars after? And why was Nixon willing to risk his Presidency to get it? Watergate: The Hidden History reexamines the historical record, including new material only available in recent years. This includes thousands of recently declassified CIA and FBI files, newly released Nixon tapes, and exclusive interviews with those involved in the events surrounding Watergate—ranging from former Nixon officials to key aides for John and Robert Kennedy. This book also builds on decades of investigations by noted journalists and historians, as well as long–overlooked investigative articles from publications like Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
Tribe
Author: Sebastian Junger
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 145556639X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 103
Book Description
We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding--"tribes." This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival. Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lamented that English settlers were constantly fleeing over to the Indians-but Indians almost never did the same. Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life. The loss of closeness that comes at the end of deployment may explain the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by military veterans today. Combining history, psychology, and anthropology, Tribe explores what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging, and the eternal human quest for meaning. It explains the irony that-for many veterans as well as civilians-war feels better than peace, adversity can turn out to be a blessing, and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. Tribe explains why we are stronger when we come together, and how that can be achieved even in today's divided world.
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 145556639X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 103
Book Description
We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding--"tribes." This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival. Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lamented that English settlers were constantly fleeing over to the Indians-but Indians almost never did the same. Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life. The loss of closeness that comes at the end of deployment may explain the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by military veterans today. Combining history, psychology, and anthropology, Tribe explores what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging, and the eternal human quest for meaning. It explains the irony that-for many veterans as well as civilians-war feels better than peace, adversity can turn out to be a blessing, and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. Tribe explains why we are stronger when we come together, and how that can be achieved even in today's divided world.
Home Team
Author: Robert F. Garratt
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496214072
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
In 1957 Horace Stoneham took his Giants of New York baseball team and headed west, starting a gold rush with bats and balls rather than pans and mines. But San Francisco already had a team, the Seals of the Pacific Coast League, and West Coast fans had to learn to embrace the newcomers. Starting with the franchise’s earliest days and following the team up to recent World Series glory, Home Team chronicles the story of the Giants and their often topsy-turvy relationship with the city of San Francisco. Robert F. Garratt shines light on those who worked behind the scenes in the story of West Coast baseball: the politicians, businessmen, and owners who were instrumental in the club’s history. Home Team presents Stoneham, often left in the shadow of Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, as a true baseball pioneer in his willingness to sign black and Latino players and his recruitment of the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues, making the Giants one of the most integrated teams in baseball in the early 1960s. Garratt also records the turbulent times, poor results, declining attendance, two near-moves away from California, and the role of post-Stoneham owners Bob Lurie and Peter Magowan in the Giants’ eventual reemergence as a baseball powerhouse. Garratt’s superb history of this great ball club makes the Giants’ story one of the most compelling of all Major League franchises.
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496214072
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
In 1957 Horace Stoneham took his Giants of New York baseball team and headed west, starting a gold rush with bats and balls rather than pans and mines. But San Francisco already had a team, the Seals of the Pacific Coast League, and West Coast fans had to learn to embrace the newcomers. Starting with the franchise’s earliest days and following the team up to recent World Series glory, Home Team chronicles the story of the Giants and their often topsy-turvy relationship with the city of San Francisco. Robert F. Garratt shines light on those who worked behind the scenes in the story of West Coast baseball: the politicians, businessmen, and owners who were instrumental in the club’s history. Home Team presents Stoneham, often left in the shadow of Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, as a true baseball pioneer in his willingness to sign black and Latino players and his recruitment of the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues, making the Giants one of the most integrated teams in baseball in the early 1960s. Garratt also records the turbulent times, poor results, declining attendance, two near-moves away from California, and the role of post-Stoneham owners Bob Lurie and Peter Magowan in the Giants’ eventual reemergence as a baseball powerhouse. Garratt’s superb history of this great ball club makes the Giants’ story one of the most compelling of all Major League franchises.
A People Under Siege
Author: Aaron Edwards
Publisher: Merrion Press
ISBN: 1785373021
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 411
Book Description
Since the Brexit referendum of 2016, extraordinary uncertainty has hung over the future of the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, creating a crisis for the unionist community. A referendum that began on the question of sovereignty quickly degenerated into cries of betrayal over a redrawn border in the Irish Sea, and has led to unionists becoming more insular again, resurrecting ethnic and nationalist notions of what constitutes the Union. In A People Under Siege, historian Aaron Edwards, a native of Belfast, explores the profound challenges facing the community and, in the process, articulates what is really meant by unionism. He explains key developments within unionism over the past turbulent century and examines how a people who believe themselves to be once again under siege are viewed by others beyond their community. In doing so he confronts the narrow, sectional beliefs and prejudices of unionists and loyalists, as well as outlining their more positive and forward-thinking aspects. By embracing these, Edwards explains how divisions could be healed and a position reached of mutual acceptance, tolerance and understanding that will benefit the entire population.
Publisher: Merrion Press
ISBN: 1785373021
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 411
Book Description
Since the Brexit referendum of 2016, extraordinary uncertainty has hung over the future of the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, creating a crisis for the unionist community. A referendum that began on the question of sovereignty quickly degenerated into cries of betrayal over a redrawn border in the Irish Sea, and has led to unionists becoming more insular again, resurrecting ethnic and nationalist notions of what constitutes the Union. In A People Under Siege, historian Aaron Edwards, a native of Belfast, explores the profound challenges facing the community and, in the process, articulates what is really meant by unionism. He explains key developments within unionism over the past turbulent century and examines how a people who believe themselves to be once again under siege are viewed by others beyond their community. In doing so he confronts the narrow, sectional beliefs and prejudices of unionists and loyalists, as well as outlining their more positive and forward-thinking aspects. By embracing these, Edwards explains how divisions could be healed and a position reached of mutual acceptance, tolerance and understanding that will benefit the entire population.
The Fall of 1972: A Season for the Perfect Storm
Author: Dr. Randy White
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 149316922X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
About sixty miles north of Houston on Interstate 45, a giant statue soars above the piney woods of East Texas. It's a white concrete image of General Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas. Like everything in this state, it is oversized, and at seventy feet tall, it's the largest statue of an American hero in the country. The statue welcomes the traveler to Huntsville a small sleepy college town that was the home of Sam Houston, and which now is the home of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and another Texas icon, the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). On one side of its wall, convicts struggle with the rigors of prison life, and on the other at the university, another group of youths struggle with the demands of college. The contrast between the two serves as a metaphor for modern American life. This story is seen from the point of view of a man who experienced events on both sides of the prison wall. On one side of the wall, Randy White was a guard known as Boss White to the inmates. On the other side was Randy White, a college student in 1972 and the Bearkats' (the SHSU basketball team) official statistician. He was part of the story when the Bearkats became a basketball legend in the early seventies. Football is the renowned culture of Texas. If one has any doubts, then look at the Dallas Cowboys and the popularity of its cheerleading. Now there are cheerleading squads in the NFL as well as on the college football scene. There is nothing new or unique about that. But none are as famous as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make the squad and wear the white short shorts and blue-and-white bolero jackets today is more prestigious than making the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes back in the forties. Such is the stature of football in Texas. So Texas is definitely football country. Basketball lives in the outskirts, something to be played in between football seasons. Sam Houston State University's basketball team had been lackluster for forty years. Nobody expected much from SHSU basketball in 1972. Until the early seventies, back when a bunch of basketball players, intent on winning, burst on the scene like a perfect storm. Such as the one that brewed up one October day off New England, and it came out of nowhere. A confluence of different weather-related phenomena had combined to produce what was termed a perfect storm. That same perfect storm hit Huntsville. It was as if someone had put into a cauldron a unique combination of talent, coaching, spirit, camaraderie, and a new social awareness and mixed them up and out came a dream team, a dream season, a perfect storm. This is the story of that perfect storm, that dream season.
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 149316922X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
About sixty miles north of Houston on Interstate 45, a giant statue soars above the piney woods of East Texas. It's a white concrete image of General Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas. Like everything in this state, it is oversized, and at seventy feet tall, it's the largest statue of an American hero in the country. The statue welcomes the traveler to Huntsville a small sleepy college town that was the home of Sam Houston, and which now is the home of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and another Texas icon, the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). On one side of its wall, convicts struggle with the rigors of prison life, and on the other at the university, another group of youths struggle with the demands of college. The contrast between the two serves as a metaphor for modern American life. This story is seen from the point of view of a man who experienced events on both sides of the prison wall. On one side of the wall, Randy White was a guard known as Boss White to the inmates. On the other side was Randy White, a college student in 1972 and the Bearkats' (the SHSU basketball team) official statistician. He was part of the story when the Bearkats became a basketball legend in the early seventies. Football is the renowned culture of Texas. If one has any doubts, then look at the Dallas Cowboys and the popularity of its cheerleading. Now there are cheerleading squads in the NFL as well as on the college football scene. There is nothing new or unique about that. But none are as famous as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make the squad and wear the white short shorts and blue-and-white bolero jackets today is more prestigious than making the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes back in the forties. Such is the stature of football in Texas. So Texas is definitely football country. Basketball lives in the outskirts, something to be played in between football seasons. Sam Houston State University's basketball team had been lackluster for forty years. Nobody expected much from SHSU basketball in 1972. Until the early seventies, back when a bunch of basketball players, intent on winning, burst on the scene like a perfect storm. Such as the one that brewed up one October day off New England, and it came out of nowhere. A confluence of different weather-related phenomena had combined to produce what was termed a perfect storm. That same perfect storm hit Huntsville. It was as if someone had put into a cauldron a unique combination of talent, coaching, spirit, camaraderie, and a new social awareness and mixed them up and out came a dream team, a dream season, a perfect storm. This is the story of that perfect storm, that dream season.