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Back Talk

Bill Crist ’73 says: I was a fish in Sqdn 4 the year we built the tallest Bonfire on record. I remember the bruises, the muscle pains, the cuts, the blisters, the pushups. It is all pale compared to the sacrifice our 12 brothers and sisters gave to our beloved school. Every Aggie Muster since that day I have said a "Here" for them. Their sacrifice is forever etched in our minds. Whether or not we ever see another official Bonfire does not matter; our traditions will survive. We are great. We are mighty. We are Texas Aggies. (November 5th, 2009 at 10:23am)

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Brian D. Sweany

Brian D. Sweany

Brian D. Sweany started out as an intern in the publisher’s office of Texas Monthly in January 1996 and was hired as a copy editor in the editorial department later that year. Born and raised outside of Dallas, Sweany earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of North Texas, in Denton, and a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Texas at San Antonio. In September 2008, he was promoted to editor, special projects.

Sweany has also served as an assistant professor in the journalism department at Ithaca College, in New York, and as a senior editor at D Magazine. He is active in a number of civic and volunteer organizations, including serving on the board of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas and coaching his daughter’s six-and-under soccer team.

Features

On our first-ever quest for the state’s best burgers, we covered more than 12,000 miles, ate at more than 250 restaurants, and gained, collectively, more than 40 pounds. Our dauntless determination (and fearless fat intake) was rewarded with a list of 50 transcendent burgers—and you’ll never guess which one ended up on top. Check out our Best Burger section. (August 2009)

(June 2009)

(June 2009)

The thirty Texans with the most iconic, unforgettable, eye-popping looks, from Davy Crockett to Beyoncé. (March 2009)

Our exhaustive, exhausting, strictly scientific (and lamentably fattening) survey of the finest home cooking around, from Maxine’s on Main, in Bastrop, to El Paraiso, in Zapata. (December 2008)

Eight years ago, the closest presidential election ever was settled in a political street fight. In this oral history of the Florida recount, the victors recall the unbelievable twists and turns that put George W. Bush in the White House. (December 2008)

Eighteen hungry reviewers. 14,773 miles driven/flown. 341 joints visited. Countless bites of brisket, sausage, chicken, pork, white bread, potato salad, and slaw—and vats of sauce—ingested. There are only fifty slots on our quinquennial list of the best places to eat barbecue in Texas. Only five of those got high honors. And only one (you’ll never guess which one in a million years) is the best of the best. (June 2008)

Summer vacation is right around the corner, but that doesn’t mean you should panic. We’ve rounded up 68 of our favorite things to do with your toddlers, teens, and every kid in between. Dance the hokey pokey. Rope a horse. Eat way too many hot dogs. Zip down a waterslide. And yes, feed the animals. (April 2008)

Elections disappear into the history books, but the buttons and matchbooks and posters that exhorted us to vote for one candidate or another live on in our memories—and in the personal collection of the state’s biggest political junkie. (January 2007)

And Saturday. And Sunday. The arrival of fall means weekends spent watching football, up close and on-screen, and yet another opportunity to love the greatest game on earth for all the usual reasons. Forty-nine of them, in fact. (September 2006)

From kayaking on Town Lake to mountain biking around Joe Pool Lake, from bass fishing on Lake Fork to horseback riding on the shores of Lake Whitney, here are some of our favorite things to do in, on, and around Texas lakes. (June 2006)

Staubach and Aikman, together at last. A Bum Phillips belly laugh. Jerry Levias, first and always. These and other heroes of Texas football, past and present, pose for a pigskin portfolio. (August 2002)

Will this be the year that the University of Texas Longhorns—the most talented college football team in the country—win their first national title since 1970? Yes. Hook ’em. (August 2002)

Passing the test. (September 2000)

Exclusive photos of four generations of Johnsons—from Lady Bird to little Claudia Covert, age two—and sixteen members of LBJ's inner circle, plus their remembrances of a man whose powers of persuasion were truly awe-inspiring. (August 2000)

Eleven years later, the Permian High School Panthers remember Friday Night Lights, the book that put them—and Odessa—on the map. (October 1999)

(April 1998)

Whatever happened to the 1971 Super Bowl–champion Cowboys? (August 1997)

Columns | Miscellany

In the ninth-largest city in America, boring is the new exciting. (August 2007)

When general manager John Hart arrived in Arlington last November, he promised to turn the Texas Rangers into winners. Then the team got off to its worst start in history. Some things never change. (June 2002)

Is the Dallas Mavericks' Mark Cuban a pushy billionaire with a lust for publicity, or is he an energetic owner who has saved the team? Do we have to choose? (March 2002)

The University of North Texas Mean Green Eagles had one of their most exciting football seasons ever last year. Too bad everyone was talking about UT. (February 2002)

When David Robinson opened a school for poor kids in September, he proved once again that he was San Antonio's most valuable player. (December 2001)

For almost four decades, G. A. Moore, Jr. has quietly gone about becoming the greatest high school football coach in Texas history. (November 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

(September 2001)

R. C. Slocum is the winningest football coach in A&M history. So why are some Aggies hoping he gets sacked? (August 2001)

Texas Tech didn't hire Bobby Knight to win games—it hired him to make money. He should score big as long as he doesn't choke. (June 2001)

Forget A-Rod's $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros has more important numbers to brag about. (April 2001)

An old cemetery. A deserted crossroads. A ghostly reflection—or a figment of our imagination? On the trail of a West Texas mystery. (December 2000)

LBJ, George Wallace, Selma: Eavesdropping on the making of history 35 years ago this month. (March 2000)

(November 2001)

(March 2001)

A tip of the hat to Tom Landry. (April 2000)

Reporter

Dave Campbell on covering football. (November 2009)

Ebby Halliday, real estate agent. (April 2009)

Hilmar G. Moore on being mayor. (October 2008)

A not-so-sleepy suburban haven. (October 2008)

Jeremy Wariner on being an Olympic sprinter. (August 2008)

The pall over Dallas City Hall. (November 2007)

Send in the clones. (May 2007)

So much for the border fence. (March 2007)

Beg the president’s pardon? (February 2007)

Alternative energy, my friend, is blowing in the wind. (December 2006)

A fix for political junkies. (November 2006)

G.W. Bailey on being a character actor. (August 2006)

Does incentive pay for teachers make the grade? (August 2006)

Mouth Paul Begala talks about … talking. (July 2006)

Is it okay to hate Exxon Mobil? (June 2006)

The Spurs versus the Mavs. (May 2006)

Everything I could ever tell you about Huston Street on pitching in the bigs. (April 2006)

Ann Wolfe pulls no punches. (October 2005)

Cat Osterman turns on the heat. (May 2002)

Olympian Todd Hays puts his opponents on ice. (February 2002)

Charlie Rose blooms in Dallas–Fort Worth. (August 1999)

(November 1998)

(September 1998)

Ann Richards ads it up. (August 1998)

(August 1998)

A widower’s search for justice (July 1998)

(July 1998)

(June 1998)

(May 1998)

(April 1998)

A slam dunk for San Antonio’s economy. (March 1998)

(March 1998)

(January 1998)

(December 1997)

(November 1997)

(November 1996)

Web Exclusives

Contributing editor Stephen Harrigan talks about his new book, Challenger Park, which was excerpted in this month’s issue. (April 2006)

LBJ’s most important election wasn’t the presidential race he won. It was the Senate campaign he lost. (February 2006)

Texas Monthly writer-at-large Kinky Friedman dresses up the January 2002 cover. (January 2002)

Novelist Salman Rushdie, whose new book, Fury, will be published by Random House in September, kicks off the twenty-first annual Margarett Root Brown Houston Reading Series on September 10 at the Alley Theatre. (September 2001)

Plano isn't just a plain ol' suburb of Dallas. It has parks, history, and much more. Honest. (July 2001)

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