Jeff Carroll (1)

Since my father passed away a couple of years ago, I've been slowly reading through all my books that are connected to him, as a way of remembering him. He took me with him to pick up this book at an author signing. He became a fan after auditing Carroll's Texas History course at Blinn Jr College. I remember him telling me how, as the only old fart in a class full of teenagers, he probably got much more out of it than the kids that were simply getting their required credits out of the way. Knowing my dad, he probably stayed after every class, BSing with the professor and probably making him late for supper on the regular. My dad did love to tell tales, and he had a passion for local and family history.

About the book: This book is intended to be used as supplemental reading for middle school Texas History classes, and it does it very well, given the constraints. It uses simple language in a direct, storytelling style, meant to both entertain and to reinforce historical facts. The scope is broad enough to satisfy diversity requirements and the prose carefully dances around the kind of scientific and historical facts that tend to annoy the bible thumpers, nationalists, and alt-righters that populate the state textbook selection committee and various schoolboards. I do wish he'd cited his sources for historical fact, or at least provided a reference list at the back, in addition to the facilitator's guide.



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I have read quite a few Notre Dame books over the years, but this one REALLY got my blood boiling. I was never old enough to experience the great rivalry with "The U" during the 80s, but my father would always tell me great things about it (with a heavy bias towards Notre Dame of course).

I was shocked to learn many things about both squads during this nasty rivalry. Carroll does an excellent job of explaining the historical pasts of both institutions' football programs that help lay the groundwork for the tremendous clashes that helped changed the face of college football. My intense hatred for the Hurricanes was fueled by my father's when I was growing up, but after reading this book, I have to admit that it has been tempered. I have a respect for Miami now because of the intense hatred they faced during their rise for simply being who they were. Miami revolutionized college football in the 80s, and they should be forever thanked and praised for that.

On the other side, I learned that Notre Dame isn't the saintly program that my father always cracked it up to be as well. I already knew that Notre Dame wasn't perfect, but some of the stuff they did during the late 80s and into the 90s is suspect at best. However, Notre Dame also revolutionized college football during the same time by signing en exclusive contract with NBC. They have always been innovators in a business savvy way, and this is no different. Any other program would have done the same thing if they had the foresight and means necessary.

Overall, this is a VERY interesting book that explores one of the most heated and intense rivalries of all-time. Although it was brief, the Notre Dame-Miami rivalry helped bring college football into the forefront in terms of ratings and passion for sports. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in sports, and my last parting shot is: GO IRISH!… (más)