The Fall of 1972: A Season for the Perfect Storm: (The Story of a Dream Season)

Dr. Randy White

Mar 2014 · Xlibris Corporation

About this ebook

About sixty miles north of Houston on Interstate 45, a giant statue soars above the piney woods of East Texas. It’s a white concrete image of General Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas. Like everything in this state, it is oversized, and at seventy feet tall, it’s the largest statue of an American hero in the country. The statue welcomes the traveler to Huntsville—a small sleepy college town that was the home of Sam Houston, and which now is the home of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) and another Texas icon, the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). On one side of its wall, convicts struggle with the rigors of prison life, and on the other at the university, another group of youths struggle with the demands of college. The contrast between the two serves as a metaphor for modern American life. This story is seen from the point of view of a man who experienced events on both sides of the prison wall. On one side of the wall, Randy White was a guard—known as Boss White to the inmates. On the other side was Randy White, a college student in 1972 and the Bearkats’ (the SHSU basketball team) official statistician. He was part of the story when the Bearkats became a basketball legend in the early seventies. Football is the renowned culture of Texas. If one has any doubts, then look at the Dallas Cowboys and the popularity of its cheerleading. Now there are cheerleading squads in the NFL as well as on the college football scene. There is nothing new or unique about that. But none are as famous as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make the squad and wear the white short shorts and blue-and-white bolero jackets today is more prestigious than making the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes back in the forties. Such is the stature of football in Texas. So Texas is definitely football country. Basketball lives in the outskirts, something to be played in between football seasons. Sam Houston State University’s basketball team had been lackluster for forty years. Nobody expected much from SHSU basketball in 1972. Until the early seventies, back when a bunch of basketball players, intent on winning, burst on the scene like a perfect storm. Such as the one that brewed up one October day off New England, and it came out of nowhere. A confluence of different weather-related phenomena had combined to produce what was termed a perfect storm. That same perfect storm hit Huntsville. It was as if someone had put into a cauldron a unique combination of talent, coaching, spirit, camaraderie, and a new social awareness and mixed them up—and out came a dream team, a dream season, a perfect storm. This is the story of that perfect storm, that dream season.

Ratings and reviews

The Fall of 1972: A season for the Perfect Storm (The Story of a Dream Season), by writers Dr. Randy White and Michael Valentino, is a powerful account of a historical time period when the game of basketball reshaped the course of life for many at the Sam Houston State University. This book is a standalone manifesto of the then Sam Houston University’s basketball squad and how the Bearkats made history as the NAIA Champion. The Bearkat’s journey from early recruiting to winning a title in the fall of 1972-73 is extraordinary. Dr. White and Valentino give a full spectrum of information regarding this so-called storm created by the Bearkats. The beginning of the book gives readers a brief overview of the game of basketball and its situation in the South, especially with African American basketball players. How the coaching staff recruited such a talented group of young players from all over the country and how the team charged ahead to bring the perfect storm is beautifully portrayed. This book can be an excellent read for any sports enthusiast, especially basketball fans. This book flows at a good pace with organized chapters and simple language. The interview chapters give readers an in-depth look at things and how the people felt as history was being made. The authors are successful in showing a bird’s eye’s view of the spectacular victory of Bearkats with so much authenticity and passion. Reading about the players, their hard work, and how they played as a team for the love of the game is beautiful. In addition, the authors have given a good introduction of everyone involved in the 1972/73 Bearkats team with photographs and their whereabouts. The Fall of 1972: A season for the Perfect Storm (The Story of a Dream Season) is a beautiful memoir of the grit and grind of the young players of Sam Houston State University. This inspirational story tells how they paved their way to success for their team and for many generations of basketball players to come. This is a memoir that I highly recommend.