Now this could be pretty neat ...

For those who don't know, my day job is covering Alabama football for the Tuscaloosa News. Well yesterday, I was asked if it would be ok if the paper did the 100 Things in "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Need to Know or Do Before They Die" as an Internet series.

Would it be ok? It would be more than ok, it would be great.

Not only could this be a huge plug for the book, but also a lot of fun.

I'm not sure which one we're going to do first (we're thinking of going in random order), but I'll let you all know and post a link.

P.S. Thanks to training camp I've fallen way behind schedule on the Notre Dame handbook. Time to pick up the pace.

August update ...

Greetings all, from the press box at Bryant-Denny Stadium, where I'm watching practice for Fan Day. We're not supposed to report on anything that actually happens, so I thought I would take a moment and give an update.

Unfortunately, I'm behind where I want to be on the Notre Dame handbook. After playing in a weeklong tennis tournament in 100-degree heat for work (yes, you read that correctly), there was SEC Media Days followed by a trip to River Falls, Wisconsin, where I spent a couple of days with the Kansas City Chiefs for a short series. The day I returned, Alabama reported for fall practices. So it's been a busy couple of weeks.

Things look good on the "100 Things" front. The marketing should kick in by the end of the month, and although I generally don't look much at the rankings on amazon.com, they've been higher than any of my other books. No signings scheduled yet, although I did turn one down in Mobile because of a scheduling conflict, but I did a radio show in Tulsa last week and my weekly appearances on a Tuscaloosa station (1420) will begin Wednesday.

Yes, football season is here.

See? I told you it was out

This is a photo taken today from my local Barnes & Noble, and yes, there it is, my new book. I also like how you can see two other books of mine on the shelf below (Hey B&N, how about my own shelf! - just kidding). I then signed every copy they had in the store.

FYI, I had to be careful taking this picture because I didn't want anyone thinking I was weird or an ego-maniac. I have enough problems as it is.

Today is the day

My understanding is that the book "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Need to Know & Do Before They Die," will start hitting stores today (July 15th - I'm posting this at 1 a.m. and the date at the top hasn't switched over yet) as this is the official release date.

When I called to check the local B&N, I was told that they have "a whole lot of copies" on order.

We're off and running. Excellent.

Also, the Giants handbook is done, except for updates from the upcoming season. Whew. It took a little longer than expected, but I really like the way it looks.

We're getting SOOOOOOOO close ...

Two things of note today before I get a rare weekend off away from work:

1) I'm putting the final touches on the Giants handbook, the lone pro edition we'll be doing in the initial year of the series. I'm very pleased with how it looks, and it'll probably be the best of the initial nine, which is great because if it does well we'll likely do some other pro teams the following season. That leaves six more to do in roughly six months. Next up, Notre Dame.

2) I received my copies of "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Need to Know or Do Before They Die," which means we're just days away from seeing it in stories. With so many fans starving for anything football-related, the timing couldn't be better. The book looks good, people seem interested and we're about to kick the marketing into high gear. Fun stuff.

... and then there were five

Ta da! Look at what arrived over the holiday weekend. My publisher was nice enough to send two early copies of the book, one of which I'll be hand-delivering to my mom at the end of the month (don't tell, but the book is dedicated to her).

I took one of the copies to a wine-tasting and dropped it on the counter to see the reaction. Just about ever person was, "Hey, what's that?" Very cool. Look for it to start hitting stores in a couple of weeks.

Every time I have a new book I always take a picture with the other covers. What on earth am I going to do next year when there nine new additions to squeeze into the frame?

Book update

There's good news on the book front. I finished the first handbook (well, except for everything I'll be updating from the upcoming season) on schedule, Michigan. Why Michigan? Simple, I figured it would be the most difficult to complete, and I was right. Next up, the New York Giants, which will be the lone pro team we'll do for next year while trying to gauge interest, followed by Notre Dame. Why Notre Dame? Why not?

Just as a reminder, the handbook series will debut this time next year, assuming I get all nine of them done in time. Two down, seven to go.

As for "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Need to Know & Do Before They Die," I hear they should arrive from the printer any day now. I'll then get my copies, and shortly thereafter start seeing it in stores. Always fun.

100 Things update

Here's what the full book jacket will look like. Notice instead of putting a picture of the author on the back, they went with a partial of some guy named Joe Namath.

Also, my understanding is that the book will hopefully start hitting stores in about a month. I'll let you know when I get my copies, which usually happens right before they get shipped out.

Book inspiration

This actually appeared first on my work blog, but thought it might interest some of you as well ...

When the Tuscaloosa News Best College Football rankings are published every year I always get a lot of questions about where the idea for it came from.
Well, I can finally tell the whole story now.
It began after my first book was published, "Crimson Storm Surge," in 2005. I had the idea to do a supplement to the book, something that could possibly be published on a regular or annual basis. Then came the thought about maybe doing something similar with other programs.
But which ones to do?
I started looking into which football teams had a lot of books written about them (and hopefully sell) and some marketing rankings in general. That led to wondering how many different ways a team could claim to be No. 1 in some respect.
"Funny," I thought. "Someone could put all those lists together and come up with their own rankings."
And so I did. The first year we did it was a countdown through the whole summer and it seemed to get a lot of attention.
But that's not where it all ended.
Shortly after turning in that first manuscript, I was approached about doing a book on the history of the Southeastern Conference. I liked it, but first wanted to get my book about sports writing published, and before long has a two-book deal for "No Time Outs" and "Where Football is King," which were both published in 2006.
That, in turn, led to "Who's No. 1? 100-Plus Years of Controversial Champions in College Football," which hit stores last November.
So what's next? We finally ironed out all the details on the "supplement" idea, with a number of handbooks that will be out prior to the start of the 2009 season.
Talk about an idea taking root.

1973 Ohio State

So you've seen all the categories and if you've been paying attention you might have noticed that one school in particular scored high in at least eight of the 10 categories. Funny thing was, Ohio State didn't place first in any individual category, but finished No. 1 overall.

Considering how consistent the Buckeyes have been of late, it makes sense.

TOP 25

Team Points Prv.
1. Ohio State 182.5 3
2. Southern California 165 1
3. Michigan 164.5 2
(tie) Notre Dame 164.5 4
5. Oklahoma 157.25 6
6. Alabama 154 7t
7. Georgia 148.6 12
8. Tennessee 143.5 5
9. Texas 132 9
10. Penn State 128.5 10
11. Florida 124 7t
11. LSU 119 13
13. Nebraska 113 11
14. Miami 108.5 16
15. Florida State 106.5 15
16. Auburn 79.6 14
17. Texas A&M 50.6 23
18. Army 48 17
19. Minnesota 42 25
20. Navy 41 18t
21. Clemson 40.1 NR
22. Stanford 35.5 24
23. Boston College 34.5 NR
(tie) UCLA 34.5 NR
25. California 33.5 21

Dropping out
Wisconsin 18t
Georgia Tech 20
Arkansas 22

Also accumulating points: Georgia Tech 29.5, Pittsburgh 29.5, BYU 27.6, Virginia Tech 28, Wisconsin 25, Duke 22.5, Rutgers 22.5, Arkansas 22, Missouri 22, Yale 22, Air Force 21, Arizona State 21, West Virginia 20, Rice 20, Princeton 19.5, Kansas 19, Colorado 18.6, Michigan State 18.6, Chicago 17, Northwestern 17, Ole Miss 17, Washington 15.5, Penn 15, Vanderbilt 14.5, Miami (Ohio) 13.5, South Carolina 13.25, Carlisle 13, Maryland 12.1, Texas Tech 12, Wake Forest 11.5, TCU 11.1, Cornell 11, Illinois 10.5, Harvard 10.5, Kentucky 10, Oregon 10, Cincinnati 9, Syracuse 8.1, Hawaii 7, Purdue 6.5, Southern Miss 6, Iowa 5.5, Memphis 4.5, Louisville 3.5, North Carolina 3.5, Boise State 1.5, Oregon State 1, North Carolina State .25, Virginia .25.

Just as a reminder, these rankings are based on 10 categories, five all-time and five from the past year. Here's the story if interested: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080614/NEWS/770709386/0/FRONTPAGE

I always really liked this photo. ... Pete Johnson scores a touchdown for Ohio State, which won 42-21 in second of three straight Rose Bowl meetings against Southern California. The Buckeyes (10-0-1) finished second in the final Associated Press poll. Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses archives.