Three up, three down ...

Special thanks to the Huntsville Quarterback Club

I just want to give a special thanks to the Huntsville Quarterback Club, especially president Roger Coe and board member Mark McCarter,  for having me as a speaker on Tuesday night in advance of the Iron Bowl.

The questions were great, the food was terrific and everyone seemed to have a great time. I know I did. I even learned quite about about my co-speaker James Crepea of Al.com. For example, I did not know that he's the "My Cousin Vinny" of SEC reporters.

I should have known that the first question my way would be about why I got in the boxing ring with Deontay Wilder. Actually, I still kind of ask myself that all the time, but this might have been the first time I told the whole, complete story to a group. Yes, seeing the "You're an idiot" look from smiling people wanting to hear more never gets old.

Thanks again, it was fun!

Two down, one to go ...

A look at Steve Spurrier's place in history

This University of Florida photo was used in Who's No. 1?

Steve Spurrier’s resignation as the head coach at South Carolina didn’t exactly come as a shock, but leaves us without one of the true icons of college football.

All week people have been sharing their favorite Spurrier zinger from over the years (mine is “You can’t spell Citrus without UT”), and he’s already considered a slam-dunk for the College Football Hall of Fame.

But as for his place in history, here’s a look using the same process I utilized for my book Nick Saban vs. College Football:

We’ll start with his championships as a head coach:

1 National (1996)

1 ACC (1989)

6 SEC (1991, 1993–1996, 2000)

8 SEC Eastern Division (1992–1996, 1999–2000, 2010)

Among active coaches he’s just one of seven coaches to have won a national crown.

Active coaches national championships

Nick Saban 4 (3 at Alabama, 1 LSU)

Urban Meyer 3 (2 at Florida, 1 Ohio State)

Larry Coker 1 (Miami)

Jimbo Fisher 1

Les Miles 1

Steve Spurrier 1 (Florida)

Bob Stoops 1

When the Gators won the crown in 1996, they faced six ranked teams, and three in the top 5. That’s about average. The record is eight by Les Miles and LSU in 2007, and four by Joe Paterno and Penn State in 1982.

Here’s the updated Saban-Spurrier comparison chart I used in the book. Note that I’m not including the percentages and ratios that go with it because we’re midway through a season and that would thrown them off a little (and if you have no idea what I’m talking about you’re just going to have to buy a copy).

Nick Saban vs. Steve Spurrier

(Statistics through six games of 2015 season)

Category                                                       Saban            Spurrier

Seasons                                                         20-x                  26

Consensus national championships               4                      1                     

Record in BCS title games                             4-0                   1-1                 

Record in conference title games                   5-1                   5-3                 

Top five finishes                                              5                      7                     

Top 25 finishes                                               12                    16                  

Overall record                                                182–60–1         228-89-2

Percentage                                                     75.1                 71.8

Losing seasons                                              0                      1

Bowl record                                                    8-8                   11-10

Percentage                                                    50.0                  52.3               

Conference titles                                            6                       7         

Conference record                                         110-41-1          142-61-1

Consensus All-Americans                              25                    16      

First-round draft picks                                    22                    17

Record against ranked teams                        58-38               64-57-1

Percentage                                                    60.40                52.86

Record against top 10 teams                        29-18                27-34-1

Percentage                                                    61.70                44.35

Spurrier will go down as one of the few coaches who had a winning record against Saban, 3-1. His Florida juggernaut beat him twice at LSU, and they split two games at Alabama.

“This guy is probably one of the best college football coaches over a long period of time, winning at various programs from Duke to Florida to South Carolina,” Saban said this week. “Not always in great situations for college football and we're certainly going to miss him.”

Here are a couple of update charts from the book:

Consensus All-Americans, active coaches

(Through 2014 season)

Nick Saban 25

Bob Stoops 23

Steve Spurrier 16

Urban Meyer 10

Bill Snyder 10

Les Miles 9

Mark Richt 8

Frank Beamer 6

Brian Kelly 3

(Note: Mack Brown had 25)

First-round draft selections, active coaches

(Through 2015 NFL Draft)

Nick Saban 22

Steve Spurrier 17

Les Miles 14

Bob Stoops 13

Mark Richt 12

Urban Meyer 11

Frank Beamer 8

Brian Kelly 4

Bill Snyder 2

First-round draft picks, all-time

(Minimum 15 years, through 2015 NFL Draft)

Joe Paterno 33

Bobby Bowden 32

Woody Hayes 27

Nick Saban 22

Mack Bown 21

Lou Holtz 20

Tom Osborne 19

Paul W. “Bear” Bryant 18

John McKay 18

Steve Spurrier 17

Frank Leahy 16

Barry Switzer 16

Ara Parseghian 14

Les Miles 14

Bo Schembechler 13

Bob Stoops 13

Mark Richt 12

… and a couple of charts I haven’t had a chance to update yet:

Record against ranked opponents, active coaches

(Through 2013 season)

Bob Stoops 50-23 (68.49)

Urban Meyer 25-12 (67.57)

Jimbo Fisher 9-5 (64.29)

Nick Saban 51-35 (59.30)

Brian Kelly 15-11 (57.69)

Les Miles 40-31 (56.33)

Steve Spurrier 63-52-1 (54.74)

Mark Richt 34-31 (52.31)

Frank Beamer 43-50-1 (46.28)

Mack Brown 45-61-1 (45.52)

Bill Snyder 21-42-1 (33.59)

Record against top 10 opponents, active coaches

(Through 2013 season)

Urban Meyer 12-5 (70.59)

Nick Saban 25-16 (60.96)

Bob Stoops 18-13 (58.06)

Jimbo Fisher 4-3 (57.14)

Les Miles 16-17 (48.48)

Steve Spurrier 26-31-1 (45.69)

Mark Richt 11-16 (40.74)

Brian Kelly 2-6 (25.00)

Mack Brown 11-32 (25.58)

Frank Beamer 7-32 (17.95)

Bill Snyder 4-29 (12.12)

Winning percentage against top 10 teams (minimum 20 games)

(Through 2013 season)

Frank Leahy 86.54

Nick Saban 61.36

Paul W. “Bear” Bryant 58.77

John McKay 57.69

Barry Switzer 57.14

Bob Stoops 58.06

Woody Hayes 52.08

Les Miles 50.00

Darrell Royal 46.25

Bobby Bowden 46.39

Tom Osborne 45.76

Bud Wilkinson 44.64

Steve Spurrier 45.69

Bo Schembechler 42.31

Ara Parseghian 41.67

Mark Richt 39.13

Lou Holtz 38.57

Joe Paterno 38.16-z

Shug Jordan 36.36

Mack Brown 25.58

Frank Beamer 17.95

Bill Snyder 12.12

z- Without NCAA penalties, Paterno’s percentage was 42.7

Finally, Spurrier’s record against teams ranked No. 1: 2-4.

As for the historical context, in the book I had as my Mount Rushmore of college football coaches: Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Knute Rockne, Bobby Bowden and Nick Saban.

My second team, if you will, was Frank Leahy, John McKay, Tom Osborne and Bud Wilkinson.

I also had a Mount Rushmore of the game’s pioneers featuring Fielding Yost, Walter Camp, Pop Warner, and Howard Jones (although Amos Alonzo Stagg is certainly deserving as well). 

Two more names have to be added: Joe Paterno and Urban Meyer. Since the book was published Paterno’s had his vacated wins restored and Meyer won his third national title. Where those two fit is a topic for another day, but they’re clearly in the mix. 

So that’s 15 names already and we haven’t gotten to Barry Switzer, Woody Hayes or Darrell Royal yet. 

If this was going to be a top 25 list, and that’s probably the next step for me to take with this, Spurrier would likely be listed among Ara Parseghian, Robert Neyland, Howard Jones, Red Blaik, Bernie Bierman ... but he'd definitely be on it. 

One down, two to go ...

So lots of new things ...

Things have been a little crazy for us the past few weeks, including a new addition to the house/family, Loki, the Dog of Mischief.

Handful would have been a good name, and we thought a little bit about Comet due to her having so much energy you often just see a white streak go by. Betty White was under consideration as well.

But addition to Loki there's a lot new things to finally report, including the following:

- Since this is a book blog I'll start with that. The Triviology series is being revived and I'll have three new editions out in time for the 2016 Major League season on the Cubs, Mets and Red Sox. If you have a favorite trivia question about any them shoot me a message and I just might use it. Also there are plans in the works to do more editions next year.

- New season in college football, which goes hand-in-hand with ...

- New/old job. I'm happily back with Bleacher Report covering Alabama and the SEC West minus Auburn. So that's Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. The better a team does and the more hits we get the more I'll cover that team.

I think that's enough for now. Needless to say I'm going to be a little on the extremely busy side for the next couple of months.

That other book about Nick Saban ...

Nick Saban during his press conference Thursday.

So Thursday I was at the University of Alabama for Nick Saban's press conference when he finished up by making a statement about the unauthorized biography that was just published about him. 

What I really loved was that it came right after he was asked about Bo Scarbrough's suspension and said he "shouldn’t comment because it seems like every time I make a comment about something it kind of gets taken out of context and gets blown up and all that, so I’m going to make less comments about things."

(In case you don't know it's totally true. The man could say the sky is blue and get criticized for it — but I digress.)

Saban was referring to Monte Burke's book, Saban: The Making of a Coach, which was released this week.

I haven't seen the book yet, and obviously haven't read it. The author interviewed some Crimson Tide reporters when putting it together and I was not among them. 

Here's what Saban had to say: “I just want everybody to know that I’m opposed to an unauthorized biography on anybody. If some person that you don’t even know (is) trying to profit by your story or someone else’s story. One of these days when I’m finished coaching at Alabama, I’ll write an authorized book because there’s only one expert on my life and guess who that is … me. And there won’t be any misinformation. There won’t be any false statements. There won’t be any hearsay. There won’t be any expert analysis from anybody else. It will be the real deal. And I’m not really ready for that to happen and it’s a little amazing to me that the timing of all this happening right when we’re starting camp. I just want everybody out there and all of our fans to know, it’s not going to be a distraction to us and it’s never going to get discussed again.”

“But since I’m not finished yet at Alabama, we’re not writing any books yet. But when we decide to write an authorized book it will have the truth ― the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Yes, I was in the room when he said it. No, I have no idea what might be in the book that has the coach so upset. It might not be anything specific. 

Of course last year I published Nick Saban vs. College Football, which was deliberately not meant to be a biography. Specifically, my publisher asked if I might be interested in doing a Saban version of the book Tom Brady vs. the NFL, which came out in 2012, and I said yes as long as I could change the format.

I liken it to being the equivalent of a long thesis paper in which I set out to try and prove who have been the best coaches in college football history, so it was about a lot more than Saban. Also, before agreeing, I went to some of his handlers and explained what it was about. No one voiced a concern (and if they had I might have declined the project), although I was told that Saban would not contribute to it at all since he was planning to write an autobiography someday. The figures I'm hearing for a possible advance are nothing short of staggering.

The coach and I have never had a conversation about the book I wrote. I felt his not contributing to it at all only added to its objectivity. As for his statement, I can see the point of view for both sides. But while trying to get Alabama fans to ignore Burke's book, he might have only helped fuel sales. So be it. 

13th Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture - Neil Gaiman 2015

Ok, for those who don't know I'm a huge fan of Douglas Adams, and this year Neil Gaiman gave the annual lecture for Save the Rhino International. Here's the link and the description, and if you have the time (the lecture is an hour, the Q&A 30 minutes) I highly recommend that you watch and listen ...

One of the words that most accurately describes Douglas Adams' works is "timeless". In his lecture on "Immortality and Douglas Adams", Neil Gaiman will speak about the enduring nature of Adams' vision and imagination, the impact of the internet and eBooks on storytelling as a whole, and why stories can sometimes outlive us all.

This is the 13th Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture in the series.

The Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture is held each year in honour of Save the Rhino founder patron Douglas Adams, who was a dedicated spokesperson for conservation right up until his death in 2001 at the age of 49.You can read more about Douglas and his interest in conservation here:

http://www.savetherhino.org/about/tru...

The lecture is held in aid of two charities, Save the Rhino and the Environmental Investigation Agency. You can help support these causes.

Donate today: 

Save the Rhino International: http://www.savetherhino.org/
Environmental Investigation Agency: http://eia-international.org/

Advice for young journalists

A special thank you to Lars Anderson and his sports journalism class at the University of Alabama for having me visit this week. It's always fun talking shop and they asked really good questions.

Thinking about it afterward I was reminded of a list I did for my book No Time Outs on my 12 rules of sports writing. I've never posted it before, so here goes:

1)    Read, read, read.
2)    Write, write, write.
3)    Never lie, cheat or fudge.
4)    Work hard. Then work harder.
5)    Keep it simple.
6)    Trust your instincts.
7)    Never forget your subject is a person.
8)    Don’t screw up a name in print.
9)    Always go to the top.
10) The desk is your friend.
11) Think ahead.
12) Always have higher expectations.

It's hard to believe No Time Outs was published in 2006, and since it was my second book that means 2015 is consequently my 10-year anniversary as an author. It amazes me how much the industry has changed during that time period, and I can't wait to see what happens over the next decade.

All good things ...

Thursday was my last day at Saturday Down South and I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the readers, etc. I appreciate you more than you'll ever know. 

With nothing much going on football-wise for a while except National Signing Day I wanted to do something to hold Crimson Tide fans over, so posted a 12-part "Crunching the numbers" series. When you're ready for a little more perspective on the 2014 season and where the Alabama program's at just hit one of the following links:

Freshmen

Sims vs. McCarron 

Quarterbacks

Receivers

Rushing

Tackles

Fumbles

Sacks

Interceptions

Offense

Defense

Mistakes

As for me, I don't know what's next, and for now I'm ok with that. Similar to a coach or player at the end of a long season my wife and I are going to take a little time, catch up on sleep and figure some things out. We firmly believe that every ending is a new beginning so we're looking forward to seeing what's next. 

Thanks again and take care ... 

Rough week ...

There's a manuscript sitting on my desk, and unfortunately the picture here is all you'll probably ever see of it.

One of the things I've had in the works for a while was a championship book if Alabama won the national title. The plan was for it to go to the printer the morning after the final game in Dallas, and be available almost immediately.

Literally, the thing was done except for the semifinal game, the title game and a short sidebar on the championship game MVP. I had spent a good part of December working on the manuscript, making sure it was worthy of being a keepsake, and I was pretty proud of how it turned out.

But then Ohio State upset Alabama at the Sugar Bowl, and that was that. Actually, it turned out to be the least of my worries last week (more on that in the near future), but it's the kind of thing that I thought some of you might be interested in hearing about. Over the years I've had a few books never see the light of day, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. Back to the drawing board ...