Thaddeus D. Matula
2021Pony Excess
Thaddeus D. Matula
Eric Dickerson, Skip Bayless
From 1981-1984, a small private school in Dallas owned the best record in college football. The Mustangs of Southern Methodist University were riding high on the backs of the vaunted "Pony Express" backfield. But as the middle of the decade approached, the program was coming apart at the seams. Wins became the only thing that mattered as the University increasingly ceded power of the football program to the city's oil barons and real estate tycoons and flagrant and frequent NCAA violations became the norm. In 1987, the school and the sport were rocked, as the NCAA meted out "the death penalty" on a college football program for the first and only time in its history. SMU would be without football for two years, and the fan base would be without an identity for 20 more until the win in the 2009 Hawaii Bowl. This is the story of Dallas in the 1980's and the greed, power, and corruption that spilled from the oil fields onto the football field and all the way to the Governor's Mansion.
Pony Excess
Brian and the Boz
Thaddeus D. Matula
Brian Bosworth
In some ways, Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth were made for each other. The Oklahoma coach and the linebacker he recruited to play for him were both out-sized personalities who delighted in thumbing their noses at the establishment. And in their three seasons together (1984-86), the unique father-son dynamic resulted in 31 wins and two Orange Bowl victories as Bosworth was awarded the first two Butkus Awards. But then Bosworth's alter ego: "The Boz," took over both their lives and ultimately destroyed their careers. In "Brian and The Boz," Bosworth looks back on the mistakes he made and passes on the lessons he learned to his son. It's a revealing portrait of a man who had and lost it all, and a trip back to a time when enough just wasn't enough.
Brian and the Boz
