Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(11)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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...

I was a grade schooler in Colorado when this game was played but I still remembered it when I saw the book. I grabbed a copy, and much to my wife's dismay, I couldn't put it down. Finished it off in a couple of days and have loaned it to several friends, each of whom has thoroughly enjoyed it! While I remember the game and the subsequent tragedy involving Freddie Steinmark, this book provided interesting background and history on the coaches, the teams, and the game as well as great insight into the changing socials conditions of the late 60s and the seeds of integration into Southwest Conference football. For those of you who are true college football fans, this is a MUST READ. But for those of you who aren't football fans, the surrounding social events will be of interest to you as well. I've heard the author has another book coming out shortly on the Wisconsin football team and the members of that team who ended up serving their country in World War II. I will be watching for its release and recommend that after finishing "Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming," you look for his new one. Mr Frei is a talented author!

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.

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.

Does this guy conisder himslef a sports writer! One of the worst I've read.

Frei does a marvelous job of telling the story of what truly was the GAME OF THE CENTURY. You may be surprised as to who suggested tha the game be moved from it's normal date to become the last game of the year. It was a time when Arkansas and Texas dominated the old Southwest Conference. Much went into the preperation and much came out of it. Frank Broyles, AD at Arkansas and the head coach at the time of the 1969 game has NEVER watched the tape of the game.

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.

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.

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.