A funny, funny book about the Texas/OU rivalry

[footballfanatic]

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060852771/Runnin_with_the_Big_Dogs/index.aspx


My apologies is speaking about this book is old news here, but I just finished "Runnin' with the Big Dogs
The True, Unvarnished Story of the Texas-Oklahoma Football Wars"
By Mike Shropshire.

If you haven't read it, it is very entertaining. Rather than being an offical history, the writer concentrates on some of the funniest stories throughout the years. Someone mentioned Joe Don Looney, whom the writer speaks about at length. Anyway, apologies again if this has been written about here, but the book is very enjoyable.

[BASSooner]

Pardon me for being rude, but anything that goes on between OU and texas is not really "funny". Everything is serious business in this rivalry.

[King Crimson]

Texas sucks

[soonerboomer93]

Oh, it's got some interesting stories. It's definitely pro Texas and was written/published to capitalize on their NC.

[JohnnyMack]

Pardon me for being rude, but anything that goes on between OU and texas is not really "funny". Everything is serious business in this rivalry.

You forgot the winkie face.

[soonernation]

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060852771/Runnin_with_the_Big_Dogs/index.aspx


My apologies is speaking about this book is old news here, but I just finished "Runnin' with the Big Dogs
The True, Unvarnished Story of the Texas-Oklahoma Football Wars"
By Mike Shropshire.

If you haven't read it, it is very entertaining. Rather than being an offical history, the writer concentrates on some of the funniest stories throughout the years. Someone mentioned Joe Don Looney, whom the writer speaks about at length. Anyway, apologies again if this has been written about here, but the book is very enjoyable.



You get one of these http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/images/reputation/reputation_neg.gif for saying Texas/OU. It's OU/Texas you friggin whorn.

[Seamus]

You get one of these http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/images/reputation/reputation_neg.gif for saying Texas/OU. It's OU/Texas you friggin whorn.


I'd http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/images/reputation/reputation_neg.gif you if I weren't such a n00b. It's OU-saxet, you effin' hillbilly ;)

[theboz44]

Oh, it's got some interesting stories. It's definitely pro Texas and was written/published to capitalize on their NC.

so is this book actually just a camouflaged bunch of horn crap???...i was actually gonna go out and buy it before i saw this post

[goingoneight]

I'd http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/images/reputation/reputation_neg.gif you if I weren't such a n00b. It's OU-saxet, you effin' hillbilly ;)


Surely he's thinking "Awwww, go http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/images/reputation/reputation_neg.gif yourself... :D

[Fraggle145]

so is this book actually just a camouflaged bunch of horn crap???...i was actually gonna go out and buy it before i saw this post

My gf works at borders... I scanned thru it. Looks like whorn crap. I couldnt bring myself to by anything that had texas/ou on the cover.... ITS OU/Hook 'em!!!!

[Frozen Sooner]

See, you're all wrong.

It's the OU/**** those guys series.

[SoonerTerry]

negspek dogpile the whorn..

[Desert Sapper]

I read the book, and even though Mike Shropshire is a UT grad, I was surprised at how evenly balanced his discussion was. Sure, it is clear from his writing who he was supporting at all the OU-saxet games he went to, but he does a decent job of giving the OU side of the story, too (sometimes more so than the saxet side). He was friends with Joe Don (Dallas drinking buddies from his stories), and he talks at length about him (and his various exploits). The blasphemy in the title and the whornish tendencies aside, I actually thought it was pretty good. An example is his discussion of the 2001 RRS, "The blitzing Williams slammed Simms as he threw a pass, the ball fluttering into Lehman's hands for an easy but very memorable Oklahoma touchdown. Bob Stoops's mastery of Mack Brown in the Big D mind-game was now in place and it was something that the Sooners coach sustained for six years." If nothing else, it's worth it for the side stories. It's more a tribute to the game and it's importance on the national scene than a tribute to the whorns. The discussion of the 2005 national champeenship is a side note to the discussion of Brown finally winning the RRS after 5-years of Stoops' PWN4G3.

[soonerboomer93]

I read the book, and even though Mike Shropshire is a UT grad, I was surprised at how evenly balanced his discussion was. Sure, it is clear from his writing who he was supporting at all the OU-saxet games he went to, but he does a decent job of giving the OU side of the story, too (sometimes more so than the saxet side). He was friends with Joe Don (Dallas drinking buddies from his stories), and he talks at length about him (and his various exploits). The blasphemy in the title and the whornish tendencies aside, I actually thought it was pretty good. An example is his discussion of the 2001 RRS, "The blitzing Williams slammed Simms as he threw a pass, the ball fluttering into Lehman's hands for an easy but very memorable Oklahoma touchdown. Bob Stoops's mastery of Mack Brown in the Big D mind-game was now in place and it was something that the Sooners coach sustained for six years." If nothing else, it's worth it for the side stories. It's more a tribute to the game and it's importance on the national scene than a tribute to the whorns. The discussion of the 2005 national champeenship is a side note to the discussion of Brown finally winning the RRS after 5-years of Stoops' PWN4G3.

Considering that the 2005 MNC is the focus of the entire first chapter, including him calling the Rose Bowl the greatest football game ever played, then it's hardly a side note. After the first chapter it does improve a great deal and is more even handed. The entire first chapter is well, horse****

[Desert Sapper]

Considering that the 2005 MNC is the focus of the entire first chapter, including him calling the Rose Bowl the greatest football game ever played, then it's hardly a side note. After the first chapter it does improve a great deal and is more even handed. The entire first chapter is well, horse****

I'll give you the first 6-7 pages, but I've got the thing in front of me, and after those first few pages in the introduction talking about how all the saxet "fans" went from thinking Mackie Mack sucked @$$ to thinking Mackie Mack was the $h!t, it talks about how he HAD to put together the best team in the country just to beat Bob in the RRS.

He uses the 2006 OB happy pukeorange love fest to segue into a full-on discussion of how Mack was owned by Bob for five straight years and HAD to beat him in RRS or he was fired. By putting together a team capable of beating the Sooners, the whorns could beat anybody in the country. I like his logic, and he doesn't come off nearly as whornish or self-congratulatory as I expected him to. He basically credits the 2005 whorn MNC to Bob Stoops.

It may glance over the 2000 and 2003 beat downs, but it does mention them, and it isn't as if either of those games (from a neutral standpoint) was all that great anyway. We basically beat the snot out of them and that was it. The only thing significant about the 2005 beating we took was that it broke our 5-game streak and got everybody off Mack's back. Shropshire as much as says that. I personally think this book is worthwhile for anybody that loves the RRS. TUCKHook emFEXAS!

[olevetonahill]

Im gonna see if the Library has it .
aint spending My money on a :texan: book .

[stoopified]

Considering that the 2005 MNC is the focus of the entire first chapter, including him calling the Rose Bowl the greatest football game ever played, then it's hardly a side note. After the first chapter it does improve a great deal and is more even handed. The entire first chapter is well, horse****I think Bevo **** is the term you were looking for.I bought the book when it first came out,still don't know if I will keep it.Too much Orange love.

[TexasLidig8r]

That would be...


TEXAS -- ou


:D :D

[Big Red Ron]

I never understood why media types call it texas/OU. I mean alphabetically it isn't right and we are clearly the better football program. The title alone would prevent me from reading it.

[footballfanatic]

Yes, it is a lot of fun, and it is very even-handed. there are great chapters on the OU Fifteis teams, plus Switzer's teams are discussed at length. And as the writer states, his focus is not on recent history, but rather the Fifties and Sixties. Plus, the stories about the abuses at high school level are priceless. It's fun to hear about legendaryHS football games, like the Texas state championship in 1968. Best of all, he writes in a jocular way that makes fun of everyone and everything. Anyway, get it from the library and you won't have to pay for it, unless you return it late.

[soonerboomer93]

I'll give you the first 6-7 pages, but I've got the thing in front of me, and after those first few pages in the introduction talking about how all the saxet "fans" went from thinking Mackie Mack sucked @$$ to thinking Mackie Mack was the $h!t, it talks about how he HAD to put together the best team in the country just to beat Bob in the RRS.

He uses the 2006 OB happy pukeorange love fest to segue into a full-on discussion of how Mack was owned by Bob for five straight years and HAD to beat him in RRS or he was fired. By putting together a team capable of beating the Sooners, the whorns could beat anybody in the country. I like his logic, and he doesn't come off nearly as whornish or self-congratulatory as I expected him to. He basically credits the 2005 whorn MNC to Bob Stoops.

It may glance over the 2000 and 2003 beat downs, but it does mention them, and it isn't as if either of those games (from a neutral standpoint) was all that great anyway. We basically beat the snot out of them and that was it. The only thing significant about the 2005 beating we took was that it broke our 5-game streak and got everybody off Mack's back. Shropshire as much as says that. I personally think this book is worthwhile for anybody that loves the RRS. TUCKHook emFEXAS!

Actually, from a neutral standpoint the 2000 game was probably as important, as the 2005 game. At that time OU was ranked, but no where on the radar for the NC. While the games with KSU, NU, and A&M were harder fought and tougher victories, the 2000 OU/UT game was basically a bomb dropped on the college football world that day. While it only moved us forward 2 spots in the AP poll (from 10 to 8) it also dropped the longhorns 14 spots in the AP. We actually did move up more with the KSU win, then the UT win. But the over all impact, was to make the major press take a second look at how good OU was that year.

[Big Red Ron]

Actually, from a neutral standpoint the 2000 game was probably as important, as the 2005 game. At that time OU was ranked, but no where on the radar for the NC. While the games with KSU, NU, and A&M were harder fought and tougher victories, the 2000 OU/UT game was basically a bomb dropped on the college football world that day. While it only moved us forward 2 spots in the AP poll (from 10 to 8) it also dropped the longhorns 14 spots in the AP. We actually did move up more with the KSU win, then the UT win. But the over all impact, was to make the major press take a second look at how good OU was that year.!00%

[SoonerDood]

Actually, from a neutral standpoint the 2000 game was probably as important, as the 2005 game. At that time OU was ranked, but no where on the radar for the NC. While the games with KSU, NU, and A&M were harder fought and tougher victories, the 2000 OU/UT game was basically a bomb dropped on the college football world that day. While it only moved us forward 2 spots in the AP poll (from 10 to 8) it also dropped the longhorns 14 spots in the AP. We actually did move up more with the KSU win, then the UT win. But the over all impact, was to make the major press take a second look at how good OU was that year.

and when 45-12 is one of the "Greatest Games" and 63-14 is not, it's definitely a :texan: rag.

[goingoneight]

I never understood why media types call it texas/OU. I mean alphabetically it isn't right and we are clearly the better football program. The title alone would prevent me from reading it.


Yeah, and we're still on top gawdammit!!! :mad:

[Desert Sapper]

Actually, from a neutral standpoint the 2000 game was probably as important, as the 2005 game. At that time OU was ranked, but no where on the radar for the NC. While the games with KSU, NU, and A&M were harder fought and tougher victories, the 2000 OU/UT game was basically a bomb dropped on the college football world that day. While it only moved us forward 2 spots in the AP poll (from 10 to 8) it also dropped the longhorns 14 spots in the AP. We actually did move up more with the KSU win, then the UT win. But the over all impact, was to make the major press take a second look at how good OU was that year.

I can agree with this. The 2000 RRS game completely erased all of the lingering shadows of the Boo era. It was the Bob show after that and it set the stage for the next 5 years. It was also the spring board into one of the greatest Octobers in OU history.

[goodonya]

My wife got this book for me to read over spring break and it was excellent. I will, when I have time, cite some of the incidents the author relates from the October games in Dallas. I laughed until I cried.