Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s
Press
New York
2006
In
the autumn of 1966, as the world teetered on
the brink in a variety of ways, Paul "Bear"
Bryant's University of Alabama Crimson Tide
pursued the most elusive prize in college football—a
third consecutive national championship. But
something happened on the way to the history
books. In an imperfect world, perfection on
the field was not quite enough.
The
Missing Ring is the story of the
one that got away, the one that haunts
Alabama fans still.
Led
by the electrifying force of quarterback
Kenny “Snake” Stabler and
one of the most punishing defenses in
the storied annals of the Southeastern
Conference, the Crimson Tide cruised
to a magical season. But Alabama finished
with a dubious distinction: Undefeated,
untied and uncrowned.
Native
Alabamian Keith Dunnavant takes readers
deep inside the Crimson Tide program
during a more innocent time, before
widespread telecasting, before scholarship
limitations, before end-zone dances.
Meticulously revealing the strategies,
tactics and personal dramas that bring
the overachieving boys of 1966 to life,
Dunnavant’s insightful, anecdotally
rich narrative shows how Bryant molded
a diverse group of young men into a
powerful force that overcame obstacles
large and small to become one of the
most dominant college teams of all time.
Set
against the backdrop of the civil rights
movement, the still-escalating Veitnam
War, and a world and a sport teetering
on the brink of change in a variety
of ways, The Missing Ring tells
an important story about the collision
between football and culture. Ultimately,
it is this clash that produces the Crimson
Tide’s most implacable foe, enabling
the greatest injustice in college football
history.
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Praise
for The Missing Ring
“Absolutely
stunning. The Missing Ring left me breathless. Keith Dunnavant has proven
again why he is one of America’s greatest sports authors and historians.
With so much having been written about Bryant and Alabama, I had my
doubts going into this book there was something I didn’t know or
hadn’t read. Yet, Dunnavant has managed to strike gold with The
Missing Ring in every way and shape imaginable. His quiet prose goes
down as effortlessly as bourbon and branchwater. Fans of college football
will marvel at his painstaking research. Dunnavant turned the clock
back 40 years and it was 1966 all over again. The pain and the glory,
the pride and the prejudice, all brought to life in the pages of this
extraordinary book.”
—Paul Finebaum, Finebaum Radio Network
“Keith Dunnavant’s triumph is that he takes us into the heart
of Alabama, into the darkness and the light, and there we see Joe Namath,
Kenny Stabler, Ray Perkins, and their band of brothers play football
for Bear Bryant the way life should be lived, at full throttle, indominatably.”
—Dave Kindred, author of Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives,
One Fateful Friendship
“Keith Dunnavant nails it: All the sacrifices the 1966 Alabama
team made to win three national championships in a row and how we were
robbed at the ballot box.”
—Jerry Duncan, one of the boys of 1966
“Dunnavant infuses reportage and passion into a tale that every
Alabamian of a certain age knows: for all the crying about Penn State
in 1969, Penn State in 1994, or Auburn in 2004, no team ever got shafted
the way the 1966 Crimson Tide did. They conquered their opponents on
the field, but proved to be no match for the politics of the day off
the field. The ’66 Tide is still waiting for The Missing Ring.
Thanks to Dunnavant, we don’t have to.”
—Ivan Maisel, senior writer, ESPN.com, co-author, A War in Dixie
“Keith Dunnavant has written yet another fabulous book about the
fabled Alabama football program. You will be amazed at how one of the
great injustices in college football cost them their rightful place
in history. And you just thought the system was screwed up now.”
—Jim Dent, author of The Junction Boys
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