Tuesday, July 24, 2012

New and improved

I just got my first look at the new cover for the updated edition of "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die."

They pretty much just added the "Updated" logo that looks like a sticker, but the book is very different from the initial version -- I did a massive rewrite instead of just adding the 2009 and 2011 national championships.

Here'e the writeup from the Triumph Books website:

The Crimson Tide is one of the most storied and decorated football programs in NCAA history—since its inception in 1892, the program has claimed 14 National Championship titles, all of which are explored in this essential guide, along with the personalities, events, and facts that any and every Tide fan should know. The book zeros in on critical moments, such as when running back Mark Ingram became the first Alabama player to win the Heisman Trophy in 2009, despite the team being led to six championships from 1958 to 1982 by the celebrated coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, as well as key figures from the college's history that include coaches Gene Stallings and Nick Saban and players Joe Namath, Ozzie Newsome, and Derrick Thomas. More than a century of team history is distilled to highlight the absolute best and most compelling moments, identifying in an informative and lively way the personalities, events, and facts that have all come together to make Crimson Tide the powerhouse that it is. This updated version includes highlights from the 2009 and 2011 championship seasons and features key players from the past four years.


Look for book to be in stores within a couple of weeks. 

Monday, July 16, 2012

Hey look, a cover story

Ok, not the greatest photo, but I felt kind of weird taking a photo of a magazine that was on sale at Barnes & Noble.

Regardless, the first Alabama version of Lindy's "In the Huddle" is out and I have the cover story.

There's a couple of other things of mine as well, but I won't bore you with all that. Michael "Big House" Casagrande was in charge of the project before he left to cover the Miami Hurricanes for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and he enlisted not only my help but some of the other top Alabama beat writers too.

Just to warn you, though, the Barrett Jones feature is pretty long. Michael's only size limitation for the story was that there wasn't one. Like a quarterback, his refer was to "go deep."

One sale now ...

Saturday, July 7, 2012

A Blue-Ribbon kind of story ...



The Blue Ribbon preview, which I wrote the Alabama story for, is at the printer and should go out in about a week. (Sorry for the lousy photo - I'll try and get a better one)

The digital version is ready to go: http://BLUERIBBONYEARBOOKONLINE.COM/index.php?route=product/product&path=60&product_id=62

Here's the link for what they put on ESPN Insider: http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/page/BlueRibbon-Alabama/2012-blue-ribbon-preview-alabama-crimson-tide

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Offseason? What offseason?

Wow, things are getting hectic.

We're less than a month from the start of fall camp, and 12 days away from SEC Media Days;

I've started an online football database, which will slowly grow over time: www.ultimatefd.com;

Preseason publications are about to come out, including the preview I wrote for Blue Ribbon;

And the update version of 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die should be released before the end of the month.

Yikes.

I need a vacation. Oh wait, I just had one ...