Backyard Brawl : Inside the Blood Feud Between Texas and Texas A & M

Rating:
Summary: Could've spent less time on OU, but good book nonetheless
Review: "Backyard Brawl," should not have been titled "Blood Fued Between Texas and Texas A&M." Texas A&M itself seemed to have been forgotten in the original draft, and the various bits and pieces added later. They should have called this book "Inside the Blood Feud Between Texas and OU, oh, and A&M." But it was a good book, excellently written, and I laughed, cried, and fervently wished at times that the author would mention full names and addresses of a few people interviewed at the tailgate in Austin. The editing was absolutely horrid, but we can't blame the author for that. I didn't count exactly how many typos and grammatical errors there were, but I would expect better from a division of Random House. All in all, I enjoyed the book. It will make a great gift for all college football fans, but I don't think it will lessen the animosity, however variable, between the students and former students of Texas A&M and that other school in Austin.

Rating:
Summary: Could've spent less time on OU, but good book nonetheless
Review: "Backyard Brawl," should not have been titled "Blood Fued Between Texas and Texas A&M." Texas A&M itself seemed to have been forgotten in the original draft, and the various bits and pieces added later. They should have called this book "Inside the Blood Feud Between Texas and OU, oh, and A&M." But it was a good book, excellently written, and I laughed, cried, and fervently wished at times that the author would mention full names and addresses of a few people interviewed at the tailgate in Austin. The editing was absolutely horrid, but we can't blame the author for that. I didn't count exactly how many typos and grammatical errors there were, but I would expect better from a division of Random House. All in all, I enjoyed the book. It will make a great gift for all college football fans, but I don't think it will lessen the animosity, however variable, between the students and former students of Texas A&M and that other school in Austin.

Rating:
Summary: About much more than a football game
Review: A tremendous look into not just a football rivalry, but the two clashing cultures of Texas and A&M. This book is about much more than simply a football game. It's about rural v. urban. It's about conservative v. liberal. It's about all the things that make Texas v. A&M one of the best rivalries in college athletics.

As a native of Austin, I understand the fervor created by the annual game between the Horns and the Ags. This book does a remarkable job of capturing that spirit. You don't have to be from Texas to enjoy this book. The real-life characters which encompass the Texas/A&M rivalry are on full display and make for a great read.

Rating:
Summary: More than just a football book
Review: I'll be honest...I bought this book because a friend of mine wrote it. I don't usually buy sports books. I think the only other one I've read is "Seabiscuit". Granted, "Seabsiscuit" was a terrific book. It's just that I tend towards fiction most of the time. That said, this was a really fun book to read. I grew up 20 miles from the UT campus and have never lived more than 90 miles from UT or A&M. Kip's done a great job capturing the spirit of both schools and explaining just why people get so rabid about a football game. There are also some very moving descriptions of the '99 Bonfire disaster and the amazing red, white and blue-out of Kyle Field the first game following 9/11.

If you are a native Texan, buy this book because you'll love reading about all the familiar sights and sounds. If you're not a native Texan, buy this book...maybe you'll understand why we love this place so much. (By the way, the author was born an Okie, but seems to really know what Texas is all about).

Rating:
Summary: Backyard Brawl
Review: If you have ever been involved in the on-going rivalry between Texas A&M and the University of Texas, than this is a great book to read. Backyard Brawl written by W.K. Stratton is about the rivalry starting at its roots. Most peoples view of the rivalry is skewed because of the biased views people have depending on their school of choice, but this book is an unbiased view of the great rivalry. Even though the rivalry is based on a football game held every year, the traditions go far beyond the football field. The game between A&M and UT has become one of the biggest if not the biggest rivalries in the nation. Both schools have many traditions leading up to the big game every Thanksgiving weekend that have been intact since the first couple of years. Backyard Brawl is a great book to read if you have any affiliation with either school.

Rating:
Summary: It's As Striking As The Bugles' "RECALL" !
Review: It goes without saying that the culture at A&M is vastly richer than the one at that school in Austin. The A&M traditions and spirit, demonstrated by its nucleus of genuine Aggies -- the Corps of Cadets -- imbue A&M with with a collegiate experience better than any other in the world. That place in Austin prides itself upon liberalism, upon not adhering to any sorts of standards (might cause stress, you know), and propagating an "anything-goes" atmosphere replete with pantywaist frat rats and air-headed cookie pushers. I'm sure the kids in Austin, who in effect are experiencing an additional four to six years of high school, are having a lot of fun -- and once they depart, they pretty much never think about the place again. That is definitely NOT the case at Texas A&M, the crown jewel of Lone Star State institutions.

Rating:
Summary: Texas vs. Texas A&M. What the hell else do you want?
Review: My disclaimer - I graduated from Texas some 10 years ago.

Does't really matter because this book is fair to both sides and I learned something about the history of this storied rivalry.

I was also surprised at how fun this book turned out even with the cloud of 9/11 and lingering effects of the tragic A&M Bonfire accident. Stratton acknowledges both respectfully, but keeps things moving. Make no mistake, Texas and A&M football are center stage here, but the culture and image both carry almost upstage them.

Stratton, an admitted transplanted "Okie", takes you through a season the tumult each team sees (at different times) and leaves the reader on the other side having experienced and learned what this whole damn thing is all about.

Must read for Longhorns, Aggies, and any fan of football and good writing.

Rating:
Summary: Culture war
Review: W.K. Stratton undermines his argument a little bit -- or perhaps just reinforces the paradoxical nature of the "blood feud" between the University of Texas and Texas A&M -- by noting that these days, the hick-versus-city slicker stereotypes no longer really apply. Both schools recruit the same kinds of high school students, graduates of both are, in turn, headhunted by the same companies, and relatively few A&M students really even have any contact with anything "agricultural" any more.

But despite that demographic fact, the truth remains that U.T. versus A&M is a Big Thing in the Lone Star State. As a Texan with family connections to both schools (I attended a neutral third-party university in San Antonio myself) as well as to Stratton's native Oklahoma, I really enjoyed his exploration of this feud that transcends mere football and has become a true Texas culture war.

I came away from this title with a sense that Stratton focused more on the distinctives on Texas A&M and its unique culture than he did on the U of Texas. Aggies would have an obvious explanation for this, and maybe it's just a false impression on my part, but his descriptions of A&M -- often funny, frequently insightful, and occasionally moving -- were very memorable. And while the author injects himself into the story fairly regularly, it's not a distraction.

On the whole, this book would be a fun read, I'd imagine, for any fan of college football and its classic rivalries. For a Texan, however, I think it becomes something even more than that. Texans who are neither Horns nor Aggies will recognize quite a bit of their beloved homeland here. And partisans of these two schools will find their allegiances strengthened and pride reinforced, even while the other side becomes, maybe, a bit more human, a bit less caricature. And everyone will have a good time. I don't think you can ask a lot more from a book than that.