I'll Tell You One Thing

Get ready to have some fun! This great book is a love song to 1930s football, filled with outstanding photos and a superb text. In addition, it's a riot! This book is about as politically incorrect as it's possible to be, yet hardly anyone could be truly offended because it's all done in such high spirits. It's a wonderful reference book for football fanatics, an insightful look at what's "wrong" with today's world and a tremendous read. It may be the best football book of all time. As Jenkins himself would say: "I could be wrong. But I'm not."

Mr. Jenkins' lastest work delves into his love, passion, and fondness for the now defunct Southwest Conference in big-time college football.His book starts with the birth of the Southwest Conference as a national powerhouse in the 1930's to its death in 1995.This book also covers the fifty greatest games in all of college football history (note: authors preference), best college fight songs, "Poll Bowls", All-American lists, and other interesting tidbits from some of his familiar "fictional" cohorts in crime (Billy Clyde, T.J., Tommy Earl).This book reminds the reader of when college football was played for school, city, and state pride instead of having the chance to do the cabbage-patch-dump-shuffle in the endzone with your helmet off so your four girlfriends and five kids could see you on national TV.

I found this book to be enjoyable and I agree with many of Mr. Jenkins observations. Being an avid arkansas razorback fan, i especially enjoyed his part of the book about the great arkansas-texas rivalry in the 60's and 70's. I remember my grandfather talking about the 1969 arkansas-texas shootout and his heartbreak at the hogs losing in the minutes of the game.Mr. Jenkins talks about the end of the SWC and I can feel his sadness at the passing of what was once a great conference. i think that arkansas' leaving was the final death knell brought on by probation, poor attendance.I especially liked his section about why college football is better than pro. I like pro football, but it is no contest at all. Despite some bad press from time to time, college football is greatest, most pure team sport. Just ask any diehard longhorn, aggie, razorback, crimson tide , volunteer, etc fan. The spirit and the emotion are unmatched. I feel sorry for people who don't get it.Mr. Jenkins like myself knows how addictive and wonderful college football is with its traditions (hook em horns, woooo pig sooie,) and strange mascots (horned frogs?. Nothing else can touch it.Thank you for a terrific book.

In all honesty, I've only skimmed through and read bits and pieces of the book, but that's more than I had planned to read. It sounded like something my dad would like, but after I read the foreword by his daughter, I couldn't help but read more. It has neat color illustrations, old photos, lots of fun football lists, and very funny writing. This seems like a very different kind of book. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying reading something I had bought as a gift.

It took me a while to figure out what Jenkins was trying to do with this book. I guess you could say that this is "real fiction" because fictional characters from his previous books talk about their favorite real topic -- college football. If you love college football and Dan Jenkins, then you will fall head-over-heels in love with this book.