The Big Shootout
The Untold Story of the Game of the Century
The Most Famous College Football Game Ever Played
Book Includes a FREE DVD - THE BIG SHOOTOUT: The Life & Times of 1969 and a FREE digital download featuring an exclusive NEVER BEFORE seen interview…
Former Arkansas Head Coach Frank Broyles, tells us why the University of Arkansas really left the
Southwest Conference for the SEC.
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Illustrated with over 400 color and black & white pictures that will make you feel a part of the story.
First 100 copies ordered signed by Mike Looney
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A perfect gift for the sports fanatic!
It all started when…
The original plan was not to make a documentary on The Big Shootout but write a screenplay for a feature film. Never mind that the cost to make a documentary, though far from inexpensive, falls shorter than the Razorbacks last drive when compared to the expense of a major motion picture. I wanted to make a movie about those times—still do.
My screenplay would encompass not only the Big Shootout but would also cover other historic events of the times—a story telling style reminiscent of the movie Forrest Gump. During this time period, race riots broke out in Los Angeles and Detroit. Elvis came out of retirement, we lost JFK, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy to assassinations. The year 1969 also brought us Joe Namath, the moon landing, Chappaquiddick with Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne, Woodstock and the lowly Mets victory in the World Series. Manson went on his murder spree. The Vietnam War raged on and on. Civil rights and anti-war protests were breaking out across college campuses with the regularity of Horn and Hog touchdowns.
Once I finished the screenplay I decided to take one more dive like Street going for the end zone and penned a hardcopy book for Arkansas and Texas fans, and every lover of football to enjoy. I maintained a diary throughout the countless hours of interviews and the all-night editing sessions and found that people loved hearing the stories behind the interviews. I also created an image folder with over 400 color and black and white images related to the book. This labor of love allowed me to experience what it must have been like as Royal and Broyles watched film and prepared their game plans for the Big Shootout.
The book tells the story and illustrates the life and times in 1969. My hope as you read the book and look at the pictures that you will enjoy the journey as much as I did.
—Mike Looney