The Crimson and the Gray reviews the sports history of Washington State University from its very first athletic contest, which resulted in a shutout victory for its baseball team. Learn about early WSU football, including the miracle team of 1906, which was undefeated, untied, and unscored upon. Read about the exploits of Hack Applequist, Biff Bangs, Bobo Brayton, Hugh the Phantom Campbell, Bull Durham (who later became an admiral), the two Docs, Froggy, Ike, the Moose of the Palouse, the Silver Fox, and hundreds of other sports greats.

Washington State University (WSU) is a remarkable place, over the years educating hundreds of thousands, conducting innovative research in a wide variety of disciplines, and earning numerous intercollegiate athletics titles. Originally named The Agricultural College, Experiment Station and School of Science of the State of Washington, the school first opened on a wintry 1892 morning with six professors. Today, the institution has more than 2,600 faculty positions and annually awards over 7,000 degrees on multiple campuses--now exceeding 260,000 total since its first graduating class of seven. In Leading the Crimson and Gray, multiple authors chronicle the lives and legacies of those who served in one of WSU's most visible roles--president. These executives were responsible for raising funds, shaping strategic visions, addressing faculty and student concerns, attending to fiscal issues, and interacting with lawmakers and business leaders. There were early bitter battles over the Pullman location and curriculum. Other eras brought student unrest and social upheaval, wars, protests, and severe economic depression and recession. Their accomplishments were substantial. Early presidents launched the college, expanded the academic program beyond agriculture and science, established general education requirements, and took key steps toward eventual university status. Later presidents supported athletic achievement, vastly strengthened enrollment, obtained favorable legislative budgets and support for a capital construction bond referendum, increased research grants and contracts, completed major construction projects, effectively faced massive state allocation cuts, and won bipartisan state legislative backing for a new medical school. Combined, George W. Lilley, John W. Heston, Enoch A. Bryan, Ernest O. Holland, Wilson M. Compton, C. Clement French, W. Glenn Terrell, Samuel H. Smith, V. Lane Rawlins, and Elson S. Floyd left a legacy that makes the Cougar Nation proud.

Yearning to escape her life of prostitution in 1870s London, Sugar finds her fate entangled in the complicated family life of patron William, an egotistical perfume magnate.

The Crimson and Gold is a comprehensive narrative detailing the struggle for integration in Athens, Georgia, in the context of highly competitive football as experienced by athletes, their fellow students, teachers, journalists, and school administrators at (predominantly White) Athens High School and (African American) Burney-Harris High School and eventually Clarke Central High School—formed after the two legacy schools were forced to merge. The proud sports traditions of two high schools—both adored by their respective communities—eventually become inextricably linked with the larger battle for equal rights during the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s. In addition to the relatively well-known stories of the University of Georgia’s integration in 1961, Mark Clegg details “Freedom of Choice” transfers in the early 1960s, desegregation of businesses like the iconic Varsity restaurant, the violence perpetrated by the local chapter of the KKK, the first athletic competitions between Burney-Harris and Athens High, the resistance by large portions of both the Black and White communities to the phasing out of their beloved schools, and the tense and often violent first several years of Clarke Central’s existence. Finally, Clegg recounts the Athens High football team’s remarkable state title run—in its last year of existence in 1969. Clegg conducted extensive interviews with a number of Black and White Athenians who lived through the era, including Horace King, Richard Appleby, and Clarence Pope (Burney-Harris and Clarke Central football players who were three of the first five Black football players at UGA); former Athens mayor and Athens and Clarke Central High School football player Doc Eldridge; current DeKalb County CEO and former Georgia labor commissioner (and Burney-Harris and Clarke Central football player) Michael Thurmond; the first Black scholarship athlete at UGA and Athens High School alumnus Maxie Foster; and local writer, journalist, and publisher (Flagpole magazine) Pete McCommons.

A story about Butch T. Cougar and his excitement for WSU Cougar Football Game Day. Join young Butch and his Dad as they set out on an adventurous Cougar Football Saturday around Pullman, WA to enjoy all the things the best college town around has to offer.

The Crimson Dream, written by a former support staffer (2002-2006), takes reader off the field of Bryant-Denny Stadium and gives a faith-filled account of what it means to have the F.O,G, even though medical issues tried to slow me down. Yes, Alabama football is the backdrop, but it is about so much more than that.While many books just give just a field analysis, I give you a peek, beyond what is seen on Saturdays...all from my perspective 40% of all book sales,will go straight to storm-ravaged Tuscaloosa, which is still rebuilding, after the April 27, 2011 tornado.