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One Night, Two Teams: Alabama vs. USC and the Game That Changed a Nation
In the sweltering heat of September of 1970 on Legion Field, the USC Trojans and the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide played a game that defined the emancipation of the South from its sordid history of racial segregation. When USC's black running back Sam “The Bam” Cunningham ran roughshod all over the all-white Crimson Tide, more than a football game was won. Based on interviews with many of the game's participants and thoroughly researched this book presents sports as a metaphor for one of the most profound social changes in history.
- GenresNonfiction
416 pages, Hardcover
First published August 20, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 27, 2023
RICK ““SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “THIS BOOK IS MORE FOR ANCIENT WORLD HISTORY “BUFFS” THAN FOOTBALL FANS.”
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On September 12, 1970 a powerful integrated USC Football Team came to Alabama to play a segregated University Of Alabama Football Team in a game that would be considered a landmark to many in future generations. USC led by two black, future NFL players Sam Cunningham and Clarence Davis, stunned Alabama with a crushing defeat on it’s home field. One of legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant’s assistants said, “Bam’ Cunningham did more for integration in an hour than has been done in the last one hundred years.” Holy cow!
Since I was a loyal USC Football fan growing up in Los Angeles during that time, when I heard about this book, I was excited and looking forward to its release. I’m sad to say that as a football fan I was disappointed when I read it. This book reads more like an ancient world history text book, with much less actual football action than I anticipated. The author not only quotes Socrates and Plato, but discussed Thucydides and the “HISTORY OF PELOPONNESIAN WAR”, detailing Athens’s losing battle with Sparta from 431 to 404 BC. Rome’s loss to the Barbarians, the Spanish Inquisition, books by Fareed Zakaria intertwining Western civilization embodied by the Christian Church, the Greeks, the Roman Senate, the Magna Carta, and Oliver Cromwell’s England... and on.. and on.
The periodic interview/statements by sportswriter’s, players, etc at the end of chapters, while well intentioned, seemed to ramble and meander away from the main points.
If you’re looking for a hard hitting sports oriented book, this may not be the book for you.
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On September 12, 1970 a powerful integrated USC Football Team came to Alabama to play a segregated University Of Alabama Football Team in a game that would be considered a landmark to many in future generations. USC led by two black, future NFL players Sam Cunningham and Clarence Davis, stunned Alabama with a crushing defeat on it’s home field. One of legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant’s assistants said, “Bam’ Cunningham did more for integration in an hour than has been done in the last one hundred years.” Holy cow!
Since I was a loyal USC Football fan growing up in Los Angeles during that time, when I heard about this book, I was excited and looking forward to its release. I’m sad to say that as a football fan I was disappointed when I read it. This book reads more like an ancient world history text book, with much less actual football action than I anticipated. The author not only quotes Socrates and Plato, but discussed Thucydides and the “HISTORY OF PELOPONNESIAN WAR”, detailing Athens’s losing battle with Sparta from 431 to 404 BC. Rome’s loss to the Barbarians, the Spanish Inquisition, books by Fareed Zakaria intertwining Western civilization embodied by the Christian Church, the Greeks, the Roman Senate, the Magna Carta, and Oliver Cromwell’s England... and on.. and on.
The periodic interview/statements by sportswriter’s, players, etc at the end of chapters, while well intentioned, seemed to ramble and meander away from the main points.
If you’re looking for a hard hitting sports oriented book, this may not be the book for you.
September 13, 2016
Most of the book is dedicated to rehabilitating the image of of the Republican Party and conservatism. Revised the history of slavery, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the post-Civil Rights era record of the South. Declares racism over. Declares Reagan the best president of the 20th century (apparently FDR was a footnote). Says that the Dems were the PR arm of al Qaeda. If you wanted a book about a football game, look elsewhere.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews