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Rating: 
Summary: A Time Well Spent!
Review: Cotton Bowl Days is an account of the early days of the Dallas Cowboys and of one family's love affair with the gridiron giants. As a lifelong Cowboy fan, this book provided information about their pre-America's Team days when they struggled with civil war(against cross-town rival the Texans) and with a lackluster response from fans (free tickets, no sellout).This outstanding novel is jam-packed with in-depth interviews from the players themselves which prove that John Eisenberg did his fair share of investigating and didn't just sit down one day and decide to write a book. Whether a die-hard fan or simply a book lover, Cotton Bowl Days will be a time well spent for you as it was for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: Cotton Bowl Days" is the story of the EARLY Dallas Cowboys, well before the franchise became known as "Americas Team". We read how they suffered as an expansion team during those early seasons in the distinctly unglamorous, blue collar, beloved, inner city Cotton Bowl. Cowboy fans will remember the guys from the early days: Billy Howton, Don McIlhenny, L.G. Dupre and a "messenger quarterback" system featuring veteran Eddie Le Baron and, fresh from the SMU campus, Don Meredith. Of particular interest is the early 60s battle between the NFL Cowboys and the AFL Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs) for the limited supply of local football fans. We suffer as the new franchise struggles. It proceeds to suffer the double edged sword blessing of attaining success in the late 60s, only to lose 2 NFL Championship Games to the Green Bay Packers, 2 Eastern Division Titles to the Cleveland Browns, and Super Bowl 5 to the Baltimore Colts. In the course of the 1971 season, the franchise moves to the distinctly more upscale Texas Stadium- with prices to match- and finally wins a big one, Super Bowl 6. "CBD" ends here, with the albatross of "losers" removed. The author, a Dallas native, is plainly dismissive of yuppified Texas Stadium and its, unrowdy, sedate, suburban fans. They probably drank white wine instead of Lone Star! Any New Yorker who remembers the old Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue will identify. "CBD" is fine as far as it goes, but contains a few weak points: There are too many tales of the Eisenberg family. The narrative often has the feel of newspaper clippings accurately and timely researched but coldly strung together. I would have enjoyed reading where more of the early guys are today. Eisenberg's failure to secure an interview with Don Meredith, or to even mention his Monday Night Football Days, is a huge minus. The author also fails to cover the arrest of receiver Bob Hayes. What happened to him in the joint? Does the author care? Could one write of the Kennedy Administration and leave out Jackie and Robert? This reviewer could still honestly recommend "CBD" to a limited audience of football junkies, those who crave sports tales from the 60s, and most natives of "Big D". For them, there is much tradition between the pages of "CBD". Others should think twice. The author, now a Baltimore native, may have proven that you can't go home again. His forthcoming history on the Baltimore Orioles may be more to his calling.
Rating: 
Summary: Paging Eddie Le Baron !
Review: Cotton Bowl Days" is the story of the EARLY Dallas Cowboys, well before the franchise became known as "Americas Team". We read how they suffered as an expansion team during those early seasons in the distinctly unglamorous, blue collar, beloved, inner city Cotton Bowl. Cowboy fans will remember the guys from the early days: Billy Howton, Don McIlhenny, L.G. Dupre and a "messenger quarterback" system featuring veteran Eddie Le Baron and, fresh from the SMU campus, Don Meredith. Of particular interest is the early 60s battle between the NFL Cowboys and the AFL Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs) for the limited supply of local football fans. We suffer as the new franchise struggles. It proceeds to suffer the double edged sword blessing of attaining success in the late 60s, only to lose 2 NFL Championship Games to the Green Bay Packers, 2 Eastern Division Titles to the Cleveland Browns, and Super Bowl 5 to the Baltimore Colts. In the course of the 1971 season, the franchise moves to the distinctly more upscale Texas Stadium- with prices to match- and finally wins a big one, Super Bowl 6. "CBD" ends here, with the albatross of "losers" removed. The author, a Dallas native, is plainly dismissive of yuppified Texas Stadium and its, unrowdy, sedate, suburban fans. They probably drank white wine instead of Lone Star! Any New Yorker who remembers the old Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue will identify. "CBD" is fine as far as it goes, but contains a few weak points: There are too many tales of the Eisenberg family. The narrative often has the feel of newspaper clippings accurately and timely researched but coldly strung together. I would have enjoyed reading where more of the early guys are today. Eisenberg's failure to secure an interview with Don Meredith, or to even mention his Monday Night Football Days, is a huge minus. The author also fails to cover the arrest of receiver Bob Hayes. What happened to him in the joint? Does the author care? Could one write of the Kennedy Administration and leave out Jackie and Robert? This reviewer could still honestly recommend "CBD" to a limited audience of football junkies, those who crave sports tales from the 60s, and most natives of "Big D". For them, there is much tradition between the pages of "CBD". Others should think twice. The author, now a Baltimore native, may have proven that you can't go home again. His forthcoming history on the Baltimore Orioles may be more to his calling.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Hard as it is for me, Mr. Cowboy-hater, to admit it, this was an absolute joy to read. Much of the book comes across as Eisenberg's autobiography, but his writing skill and journalist's eye combine to provide a wonderful insight into the Cowboys-and the NFL-of the 1960s, as well as what it was like to be a fan. For those who mourn the passing of pro football's greatest decade, and weep over what the game has now become, this is an easy book to warm to, one of the best I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I was never a Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm too young to remember the 1960s and the Cowboys playing in the Cotton Bowl. The superior, upper-crust image they took on after moving to the posh and expensive Texas Stadium in 1971 is what brought on the America's Team moniker, and which has caused so many fans to hate the Cowboys. But I wish I'd been around in the '60s because the 'Boys of those years were a team of real men, a blue-collar, hard-scrabble, hard-luck team. Eisenberg does an excellent job detailing the formation and early years of the Dallas Cowboys. I especially found interesting the three-year inner-city battle against the AFL's Texans, as well as the impact of JFK's assassination to the psyche of the city. His interviews with former players and fans also gives a good feel of what the team and the fans experienced. Eisenberg does focus a bit too much on his own personal and family experiences, in my opinion, which hurts the flow and continuity of the story, but that's the only knock I have against the book. It's definitely recommended reading for fans of football during the Golden Age of pro football when players and fans could relate to each other so much better than today.
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