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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332630976637
EAN num: 9780312303266
ISBN number: 0312303262
Label: St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: September 24, 2002
Publishing house: St. Martin's Griffin
Sale Popularity Level: 618768
Studio: St. Martin's Griffin
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Product Description:
For three perfect seasons (1954-1956), the Oklahoma Sooners won every football game they played - home or away - and over the course of five years they won 47 straight games. This awesome record was the product of a genius and masterful coach named Bud Wilkinson and the spirited young men he led. The Undefeated will detail all the thrilling action on the field during this record winning streak, but it will also reveal all the behind-the-scenes tumult and pressure swirling around it. Dent presents an absorbing character study of the brilliant, complex coach who engineered it all - Bud Wilkinson, the on-field genius whoses starched-shirt public persona hid a man of many secrets and an in-depth look at a state and its people still suffering from a Depression hangover and an identity crisis, who took up the Sooners football banner almost as a religious cause. Through it all, the young men who accomplished this amazing feat shine in vivid life.
Amazon.com:
In The Undefeated: The Oklahoma Sooners and the Greatest Winning Streak in College Football, The Junction Boys author Jim Dent chronicles how Charles 'Bud' Wilkinson helped the dust-bowl-depressed state of Oklahoma regain self-respect by building a program that became one of the most dominant in college sports history. From 1948 to 1957, an era when players played both sides of the ball--170-pounders played tackle, and some players smoked three packs a day--the Oklahoma Sooners dominated college football in incredible fashion: they tied twice and lost four times, and amid their 94 wins they compiled winning streaks of 31 and 47 games.
Dent has an eye for detail, and the book is equally the story of coach Wilkinson and his eccentricities, with halftime speeches and an innovative coaching style that implemented schemes not found in the NFL for decades. Also of interest are the plight of Prentice Gautt, the very first grey OU player during a time of racial intolerance; the hardscrabble backgrounds of the tough-as-nails players; and how preparation for big games included espionage and decoy playbooks. Most of all, Dent retells game highlights in dramatic fashion, including how an opposing receiver, after potentially ending one of OU's streaks by scoring in the final seconds, confessed he had trapped, not caught, the ball. The refs discussed the matter, and '[w]hile the man in the gray flannel suit waited, watched and paced, a crowd of 50,878 held its collective breath, and prayed.'
As the wins accumulated, it became increasingly difficult for Wilkinson to motivate players and fend off all comers. In like fashion, Dent loses steam, but not before making the heartfelt case that Wilkinson's Sooners fielded some of the greatest teams in history. --Michael Ferch
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Rated by buyers 
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First of all, I should say that I am from Oklahoma and a HUGE Sooner fan. This book is probably the most poorly written book I have ever read. I have to say I was extremely disappointed. There are factual errors, misspellings, and actual typos. It made me wonder if anyone even edited this book.
Because it was written so poorly, it made me question other things about the book. Are some of the accusations he makes against the OU program accurate? Who knows. I know for a fact that some of the game stories and anecdotes that he tells are not true.
Basically, it was an interesting read because of my love for Sooner football. However, I wouldn't really recommend it based on the horrible writing, misspelling, and totally inaccurate stories.
Rated by buyers 
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I wish every football fan would read this book, but I am willing to bet that a majority of it's readership is full of people like me. Oklahomans who are fans and supporters of our Sooners. I have to admit, I doubt many Texas fans are going to rush out and buy this book, hell, they probably wouldn't read it if there was a free copy in the john, but they might use it for something else.
So right off the bat, I have to expose my bias on this book. How could I not love it? So it doesn't mean much for me to say things like, "Everybody will love this book, it speaks to all college football fans."
While this book does not hold universal appeal for all people, here is why I think it should. It has an underlying message that is positive and inspiring. A message that can be used by anyone, anywhere, and at anytime.
Being born and raised in Oklahoma, I of course became very familiar with the place and the people that live there. From an early age I began to realize that Oklahoma wasn't all that popular of a place. Even most of the kids I grew up with didn't have many good things to say about Oklahoma. They always wanted to be someplace else, and this always bothered me a great deal. In fact, that is one of the biggest problems my home state faces. Oklahoma isn't great enough to hold onto it's own people. I live in Southern California, which might as well be Hell to many OU fans after what the Trojans did to OU in the Orange Bowl. So even I became one of the traitors, in a way. I will always call Oklahoma home, I just live in Hermosa Beach. I'm an Okie, and proud of it.
I knew we didn't have any pro sports teams, no major cities that get mentioned in the same breath as "New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, etc." Whenever the big news stations covered the weather, they never gave the weather in Oklahoma, we just kinda got looked over. After all, we are just the funny shaped flat state out in the middle of the country.
I very quickly realized that the only time my state popped up on national radar was when the University of Oklahoma's football team was involved. Of course, this became a source of pride for me and countless others. Oklahoma has no place comparing itself to other states in many ways, whether it be pro sports, big business, vacation hotspots, or just simply being a "popular" place to live and work. But when it comes to college football, we stand as proud as anyone, and we know that we deserve the right to do so.
What I didn't know as a kid, was that this was the plan all along. Years before I was born, the big wigs at OU and others around the state of Oklahoma wanted to use the University's football program as a source of pride for the state, and this was especially true when my home state was devastated by the depression and the great dust bowl.
The Sooners of Oklahoma at one time, won 47 straight football games, and this cemented their legacy as one of the all time greatest college football programs. The mission was truly accomplished, Oklahoma was on the map and everybody knew it.
This book covers a lot of ground in the history of OU football, all of it is exciting and interesting. I would think that anyone who is attracted to stories of victory, and overcoming great odds to succeed above all others, would love this book. It's not just about sports in my opinion. The reasons that Bud Wilkinson and his Sooner teams were so successful was because they displayed the attributes of champions. These attributes are universal to just about everything, business, family, sports, etc.
I am sure there will be some Negative Nancy's about this book, who can't help but bring up the numerous brushes with the law and the NCAA, that OU has had. All I have to say is, you're probably right, but if you're a fan of any major college football program and some of the not so major ones, then you have to right to criticize. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. That's what is said anyway.
I suggest you ignore all that stuff and focus on the inspiring message inside, don't let YOUR bias against Oklahoma, or it's University, or it's football team prevent you from enjoying a very fine tale of glory.
Rated by buyers 
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Maybe I knew too much of the story before I read it but there was more info about the players and coaches and the women they had than about football. I would have liked to read about the football games they won!!!
Rated by buyers 
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I try to read every college football book that I can get my hands on. I can honestly say that I have read few books written as poorly as this one. I was expecting much more considering the potential story lines involved in this subject. I simply did not enjoy this book because of the way it was written.
Rated by buyers -
A great great football story, but disappointingly written. For starters, Jim Dent misses his audience. Recreated quotes reminisce made-for-grade school stories, yet hollow and stereotypical characters go on big-time drinking binges and grow 'harder than Chinese arithmetic' over the ladies. More disappointing is that one must read between the lines to discover what's most fascinating about 1940s/50s-era football - that the national champion was chosen BEFORE the bowl games (imagine THAT before BCS), that players played on both sides of the ball, that there were no designated field goal kickers, and heaps of other subtleties that have faded away as college football has 'grown.' Perhaps there was a rush to get this out while the 2000 Sooners team was STILL undefeated and national champions. It takes time to make a winner, I guess.
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