Eat 'Em Up Cougars: Houston Football by Jerry Wizig

Today's collectible is a book every freshman at UH should be required to read, and every alum should have a copy in their library. It is Eat 'Em Up, Cougars : Houston football by Jerry Wizig. This book provides a history of the University of Houston football program from inception to 1977.

While I was a student at UH, I went to every home football game, every home basketball game, tennis matches, volleyball matches, and others. I definitely wasn't your average apathetic student. But even doing all that, I didn't know the history of our football program. I knew we ran the veer in our heyday, but I didn't realize that Coach Bill Yeoman was the originator and how prolific the offense was. I didn't know the struggles of UH trying to join the Southwest Conference. The politics behind the struggles to join the SWC is still reflected today in the formation of the Big XII & university funding challenges. Growing up in Dallas, I was a huge Cowboys fan and Robert Newhouse was one of my favorite players. I didn't realize he went to UH until I started going to school there.

I found this book at the UH Library when I was a senior. It's getting harder to find a copy of this book although I see it on eBay every now & then. If you're a current UH student, you have no excuse not to read it since it is available at the UH library. The libraries for the city of Houston and city of Dallas both have non-circulating copies. It would be a pain to read it solely at the library, but if that's your only option, it's worth it. I'm guessing you could probably get a take home copy through inter-library loan.

Too many UH students and UH alum don't have the proper pride & enthusiasm for our university. One way to develop pride is to learn more about our school. Reading this book is a good first step. I just wish someone would do a book on Phi Slama Jama or the history of UH basketball.