Editor’s Note:  The following is an article written by guest blogger Adam Jones from Jones Top Ten.  Although I think Adam is a great blogger and author, we are not related.  I urger visitors to check out a copy of his book, Rose Bowl Dreams: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Football which I reviewed here.  You can buy a copy of the book at the CFTT Book Store here.

Texas/Oklahoma Preview 2009

By Adam Jones, special to collegefootballtopten.com

Almost everything that could go wrong for the Oklahoma Sooners offense has during the first stretch of the season. Meanwhile, Texas rolls along mostly intact. So why are Longhorn fans nervous?

Click here to read more »

I wrote an article similar to this at Pegasus News which were only related to books about DFW area football.  For Collegefootballtopten.com, I am going to expand it beyond any geographic boundaries.  If you are compiling a “wish list” for the holidays, or if you are simply looking for a gift for your football-crazed fan, I am here to help.

1.  The Galloping Ghost by Gary Andrew Poole
This may be the best book I have read this year.  I have absolutely loved reading this book (I am not done yet) about a football player that most of us today do not know much about.  Poole has done a remarkable job of telling the story and the stories of Grange and the characters in his life such as his college coach Bob Zuppke and his agent C. C. Pyle.

2.  Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx
This book is about more than football.  It is about what it means to grow up and be a man and how that effects relationships.  Marx recaptured some of his youth when he went looking for members of the old Baltimore Colts team in which he was a ball boy.  Subsequently, he followed around Joe Ehrmann as he coached a high school football team and learned a few lessons for life.  It is a very inspirational book.

3.  Fourth and New Orleans by Benjamin Hochman and Chris Scelfo
What happens when one of the most devastating hurricanes in recent memory batters the town where you go to school and play football?  That is the story of the Tulane Green Wave football team in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.  Hochman along with then Tulane coach Chris Scelfo, recount the story which is heart-wrenching.

4.  Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls by Stewart Mandel
Want to know why we have this BCS mess?  Well Mandel answers the questions of the modern day dilemma in college football’s highest division.  He goes to great links to give you a historical perspective on the issues today which make Division I A football one of the most watched and controversal sports today.

5.  Meat Market by Bruce Feldman
Do you want to know how those top teams land those prized recruits?  Feldman takes us inside the “war room” of former coach Ed Oregeron’s Ole Miss program to see how he almost landed prize recruit Joe McKnight and several other stars.

6.  Twelve Mighty Orphans by Jim Dent
This is another inspiring story of how a high school football team made up of orphans who were undersized dominated North Texas football and regularly competed for a shot at the state title in the highest division in Texas during the 30′s and 40′s.  It reads like a story with short chapters.  Dent has captured the story so well that some have decided it should be a movie.

7.  Rose Bowl Dreams by Adam Jones
Jones tells the heartwarming story of how he went from growing up on the campus of West Texas State University to being one of the biggest Texas Longhorn fans in Austin.  Jones retells the story of Texas’ run from that of mediocrity to national champions under the guidance of one Vincent Young.  Substitute your team, and this could be your story.

8.  Tarnished Heisman by Don Yaeger
In the middle of one of the greatest runs in college football in recent history by the USC Trojans is the story of Reggie Bush.  Yaeger researched the story, and the results are published in this book complete with some transcripts and a website to boot.  Did Reggie Bush get paid to play?  Pick up the book and decide for yourself.

9.  Top Dawg by Rob Suggs
Instrumental in the return to power in college football for the Georgia Bulldogs is head coach Mark Richt.  Suggs recounts the downturn in the Georgia program following the years of Vince Dooley, and how Richt brought it back to national relevance.  Important to the story and to Rich is the inspiriation of his family and faith.  This is another good inspirational read.

10.  For Dallas Cowboy Fans
I will mention three books for Dallas Cowboy fans, two of which are recent releases.

A Cowboy’s Life by Bob Lilly
Hall of Famer Bob Lilly recounts his times as a football player for the TCU Horned Frogs and the Dallas Cowboys.  Rober Staubach writes the Foward.

Texas Stadium by Mac Engel
The 2008 season is the last for the Cowboys as Texas Stadium, and Engel captures some of its greatest memories.  Engel covers the Dallas Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and also is an adjuct professor at the Bob Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University.

Tony Romo by Mac Engel
This book earns the distinction of being the first ever book written about Romo after his rise to become the Cowboy’s new star at quarterback.  The recounts Tony’s journey from the small town in Wisconsin to the bright lights of the NFL.

As a Razorback fan, it might be blasphemous to read a book about an obsessed Texas Longhorn fan, but I enjoyed Adam Jones’ foray into the world of college football writing.  Jones is the humorous author of the Jones Top Ten blog, and someone had enough sense to recruit him to write a book.  The “official” title of the book is Rose Bowl Dreams:  A Memoir of Faith, Family and Football.  I discovered his site a year or so ago when I began entertaining the thought of securing a domain for my blog.  I was posting a blog, with a top ten, and my name was Jones.  It was natural I would come across his blog.  Interestingly, I had a high school classmate with the same name and wondered for about five seconds if it was him.  Of course not!

Some reviewers are uncomfortable with Jones’ use of faith, recording his conversations with God (real or imagined) and general recalling of church life.  However, for those of us who grew up in a culture in which faith was intertwined in all of life, we understand the importance.  Truth be known, those of us in Arkansas who are religious have our own belief about God being a Razorback.  After all, our coaches have been known for their great work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  Doesn’t that qualify?  While Jones grew up Presbyterian with a Baptist background, he is now a lay leader in the Methodist church.

Jones grew up in the West Texas town of Canyon.  Canyon was the home to West Texas State University, now West Texas A&M.  West Texas State was the beloved school of his family of whom his grandfather was a legendary coach and dean for the school.  The Buffaloes were known more for the emergence of professional wrestlers than football stars, however, with one last hoo-rah in Division I football, Jones retells of the upset of Oklahoma State in Stillwater.  But, Jones’ destiny was in Austin, TX.  After attending a game while visiting his brother who was a student at the University of Texas, Jones fell in love with the Longhorns.  Jones became a certified fan when he too, became a student at Texas.

While Jones became an obsessed Texas Longhorn fan, the football team did not understand the importance of winning a national title in his honor.  Year after year, the Longhorns suffered in mediocrity until Jones left for graduate school in “Nawth Kalina.”  Upon returning to Austin, Jones and his young son embarked on the long road of single dad and football fans.  Jones’ reason for optimism began to increase with the hiring of Texas coach Mack Brown.  However, the Longhorns continued to underachieve leaving Jones grasping for hope.

Then, with hope all but gone, a miracle showed up in the form of quarterback Vincent Young of Houston, TX.  Game after game matured Young as he became a fearless leader leading the Longhorns to a Rose Bowl victory over the University of Michigan with all the college football world watching.  Young unmistakenly predicted that the Longhorns would return to the Rose Bowl to play in the national championship game.  With all of his will and natural leadership ability, Young proved his prediction true leading the Longhorns to the long awaited national title game to play against the much heralded USC Trojans who sported two Heisman Trophy winners.  You know the rest of the story.

Is this book only for Longhorn fans?  One could argue that, but college football fans, while extremely different, have one thing in common.  They are passionate about their teams.  Adam could simply subsititute any team for the Longhorns, and the book would appeal to religious-type, church-going, college football fans anywhere.  Well, almost.  Maybe each college football team has an Adam Jones, and maybe he (or she) will share his story too.

Kudos. . . .  . Congratulations to the Texas Tech Red Raiders for their thrilling victory over the Texas Longhorns.  Most are saying that this win is the biggest win in Tech’s history.  Texas, of course, was ranked number one and Tech number five, six or seven depending on your poll of choice.  The Double T Nation was euphoric with the Raider win and stormed the field.  I even got a “guns up” symbol from a friend at church.  Ironically, this week, I was reading about another upset of Texas in Lubbock (2002) in the new book Rose Bowl Dreams by Adam Jones.  I hope Adam doesn’t think that I caused his Longhorns to lose.  Great win for Mike Leach and Texas Tech.  They did by stopping the run and running the ball, among other things.

BCS Busted. . . . . Another potential BCS Buster went down on Saturday.  I like to point this out because it was my Arkansas Razorbacks that knocked off the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Fayetteville, AR.  That was probably another win that fans didn’t expect to get, but I know it was a tough blow to the Tulsa fans.  Maybe next year, huh?

Thursday night thunder. . . . . . . All year, upsets have happened on Thursday night.  TCU has been a part one of them.  This Thursday night, TCU fans hopes it will happen again as the Horned Frogs travel to Salt Lake City, UT to take on the Utah Utes.  As it stands, Utah has the best chance of being a BCS buster.  The Utes are undefeated, and if they win out, will have beaten three top 25 ranked teams.  But, TCU and its fans are doing some dreaming of their own.  The Frogs have only played one bad quarter in a loss at Oklahoma while upsetting BYU a couple of weeks ago and routing Wyoming and UNLV in consecutive games.  Beat Utah on the road, and beat Air Force a couple of weeks later, TCU will be 11-1 with its only loss at Oklahoma and wins over two ranked teams.

Gator High. . . . . . The Florida Gators may be the hottest team in Football.  The Gators have made LSU, Kentucky and Georgia look silly in consecutive weeks.  The Gator offense has averaged 55 points against those three teams.  The defense has only given up 15 total points in the past two weeks.  When I did my most recent top ten update, I ranked Florida ahead of the other one-loss teams.  Now you know why.

Rankings

AP Top 10

1. Alabama (46)
2. Texas Tech (12)
3. Penn State (6)
4. Florida (1)
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
7. USC
8. Oklahoma State
9. Boise State
10. Utah

Coaches Top 25

1. Alabama (40)
2. Penn State (14)
3. Texas Tech (6)
4. Oklahoma (1)
5. Florida
6. USC
7. Texas
8. Oklahoma State
9. Utah
10. Boise State

I haven’t made a “Short, Short List” in a while.  I have read and reviewed a few books since my last one in May.  This list is not quite as short as I have reviewed a few more books.

1.  Tarnished Heisman: Did Reggie Bush Turn His Final College Season into a Six-Figure Job? by Don Yaeger and Jim Henry.  The authors delve into the controversy surrounding the potential gifts that Reggie Bush received his last two years as a student athlete at USC.  Here is my review of the book.

2.  Hero of the Underground by Jason Peter.  This book is a memoir by former Nebraska Cornhusker defensive lineman and Carolina Panther Jason Peter about his journey to heroin abuse and back to sobriety.  It is a tough book to read in which Peter describes the lifestyle in which he was entrenched, and I don’t recommend it for young teenagers.

3.  Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, a Journey to Manhood by Jeffrey Marx.  A good inspirational and encouraging book about a couple of high school football coaches who are seeking to make a difference in the lives of young men more than they are trying to win games.  But, they win the games too.  Here is my review, in two parts.

4.  Top Dawg: Mark Richt and the Revival of Georgia Football by Rob Suggs.  If you were watching Gameday on ESPN this morning, you saw the moving segment on Mark Richt and his wife who adopted two children from the Ukraine.  Mark Richt is one of the reasons that Georgia Bulldog football is a top ten program once again.  This book by Rob Suggs captures the unique revival that Richt brought to the ‘Dawg program.  Here is my review.

5.  Walk-On:  A Memoir by Thom Gossom, Jr. This book is a memoir by the first African American athlete to graduate from Auburn University.  Gossom went on to excel in many aspects including a film and TV career.  Gossom does a terrific job of describing the hardship he endured as one of the few African American students at the rural southern school.  Gossom holds memories of pain and joy from his days at Auburn.  Here is my review of the book.

Currently I am reading Rosebowl Dreams by fellow blogger Adams Jones (no relation), and I will be reading The Galloping Ghost: Red Grange, an American Football Legend by Gary A. Poole shortly.  I will do reviews of these books in the next couple of months.  At that point, I am thinking of reading something Christmas through the holidays.  What do you think?

Previous Short, Short Lists

Short, Short List number one
Short, Short List number two