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Sunday, December 14, 1997

Latest books take fresh look at Cowboys' history

By David A. Markiewicz / Knight-Ridder Newspapers

FORT WORTH -- Nothing softens our feelings toward an old menace more than the sight of one late in life, broken by the years, reliving past glories. Paunchy, slow, scarred.

It's as true in sports as anywhere in life.

Muhammad Ali, public enemy No. 1 to much of a fearful white society during his brazen youth now declawed by illness and age, is treated sentimentally by those who once feared him, or what he represented -- a threat no more.

So it's fitting, the timing of two reflective, almost-wistful accounts of Cowboys history currently vying for shelf space at the local bookstore.

Both "Cotton Bowl Days," by John Eisenberg and "Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes," by Peter Golenbock, take the reader on a sentimental journey that somehow seems to recall a simpler, better time, even though the franchise and its players apparently were as tortured then as today.

In recent years, with the Cowboys in the midst of winning three Super Bowls, most literary efforts about the franchise have read like exposs, hinting of lurid realities behind the goings-on at Valley Ranch. But with the Cowboys stumbling toward a losing season and upheaval in the air, the new books offer perspective and understanding of another troubled era.

As Eisenberg and Golenbock show, the teams of yesteryear were traumatized by events ranging from the Ice Bowl loss to the Packers, to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and to the fractious relationships between players and management, players and coach and players and players.

The authors go about their labor in different ways. Golenbock, a a best-selling writer of books about the New York Yankees, relies primarily on interviews with members of the Cowboys family from the inception of the franchise.

Eisenberg, a Dallas native now a Baltimore sportswriter, offers more of a personal memoir, recalling a youth spent watching the team as a fan with his father and his community.

Yet, they cross some of the same territory: racism in the locker room between black and white Southern teammates; puzzlement with conflicting personalities like Don Meredith and Tom Landry; and the personal tragedies of Lance Rentzel and Duane Thomas.

Both books reflect the times in America and in Texas; in particular, Eisenberg through his own eyes and Golenbock's through the recollections of others. They are wonderful companion pieces, even for the casual sports fan.

Each writer uncovers rather than covers over the seamier details in the team's history, yet neither book bears the sensational tone of "Hell-Bent," the most prominent 1996 Cowboys book, by Skip Bayless.

Which might seem odd, given that, as Golenbock amply illustrates, the Cowboys of the 1960s and 1970s were about as likely as modern players to abuse alcohol and drugs and generally run amok.

Could it be that 30 years from now we'll see books that portray the likes of Jones, Switzer, Irvin and company in a way that leaves us feeling as fond?

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(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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