Decade of Dominance

So I let the book blog go for way too long, my apologies, but this is what happens when you decide to start your own website. A quick update ... 

1) In 2018 I created BamaCentral, signed an agreement with Maven, which became the Arena Group when it secured the digital rights to Sports Illustrated, we became part of FanNation until Sports Illustrated moved to Minute Media, and now we're Alabama Crimson Tide On SI. 

Everyone got all that? We still call ourselves BamaCentral, but only pretty informally. I'm also the publisher of three other sites:

• Boston College On SI
• Missouri On SI 
• Vanderbilt On SI

Please come by and check us out. We have a great group of writers and I occasionally post something as well. 

While this did put some book projects on the back burner as a whole ... 

2) I did another book called Decade of Dominance, which was published in 2019 by Hilltop30 Publishing Group.  

Of course, Nick Saban won another national championship during the covid year, when the Crimson Tide just simply dominated. And then Saban stepped down at the end of the 2023 season. 

3) We're doing an update on Nick Saban vs. College Football, which was initially written something like 12 years ago (wow). Actually, the initial update is already done, but Triumph Books bumped it back a year so I'm taking advantage of it by adding more things including his looming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. So it will be out before the start of the 2026 college football season. 

I'm hoping they change the cover somehow to make it obvious that it's a new edition. I promise to post whatever they decide to do. 

More soon, I promise!

Championship Fever

It's only been a few days, but so far the reaction to Bama Dynasty has been really good. I've done a bunch of radio-show interviews including The Paul Finebaum Show and in the morning I'm scheduled to be on The Opening Drive on Jox-FM in Birmingham. 


It turned out it only took five days to get the first books in stores. I had asked for anyone to let me know if they saw them, and sure enough it was someone I knew: Radio Goddess Kaitlin @Cali_K8 at Barnes & Noble in T-town.

I also heard from a friend that they were selling at Costco in Mobile that same day. 

With each passing day I hear some more, like they're now for sale at CVS and Rite Aid stores. Plus, on this past Saturday the championship parade and celebration attracted a ton of people. 

Here's hoping a lot of them picked up a copy on their way out of town.

Time to revive the book blog ...

So I took a year off from doing any books to do a more personal project, keep a diary so our daughter Evelyn would have an idea of what our lives were like the year she was born. 

I'm happy to say that I successfully did it, while reading every day from The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists. One of these days I'm going to go back and edit it, and then store it away. 

Meanwhile, the possibility of doing another book came up when Alabama made yet another national championship run.

Once again, I've teamed up with Triumph Books to do a Crimson Tide title keepsake, which should start hitting stores in a couple of days. A lot of the stories in it are from what I wrote for SEC Country this season, so huge thanks to them for letting me do this. 

I had a version just like this ready to go last year, and you all know how that worked out, so I'm glad everyone gets to see this one considering all the work that went into it. My initial idea for the title was 17 in 17, but the dynasty emphasis sort took over as we wanted to do a little more than just a one-season book. We wanted a little perspective.

Of course, we had no idea that the championship game was going to be so incredible, but there's lots of photos from it and a whole lot more. We hope that we've done a remembrance that you'll all love. 

FYI, this was my 25th book. Hard to believe.

It never gets old

A couple of days ago, I received a notice from UPS that it had a box for me at its local distribution center, but couldn't deliver it to my new address because I had recently moved.

This made absolutely no sense to me, but went and got it anyway yesterday.

The good news was that it was full of my copies of the latest update to 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. The bad news was that when I got back to the car and turned it on the warning icon for the electrical system was lit up in bright yellow.

The owner's manual only had one suggestion, call your nearest authorized service center immediately, which for me was in Birmingham, and their best suggestion was to either have it towed or not turn the car off and drive it straight there -- which I did, through a thunderstorm, and with very little acceleration. Fun.

So after a very big detour, opening this box was the highlight of my day, and it's only now I'm able to post this.

This is the second update of the book, and even though it still has the No. 12 on the helmet (which Alabama used to do because it was the program's most recognizable number due to the famous quarterbacks who wore it, long before it started counting national titles that way), I'm really glad that there's otherwise a totally new cover.

It's my fifth, and last, new book of 2016, and 24th overall. I actually don't have No. 25 planned yet, but that's cool with me as last year almost killed me getting them all done. Here's hoping everyone likes and it and we all get to enjoy a terrific 2016-17 season. Hopefully I'll have my car back before it starts.

Offseason?

So I have to apologize for not doing any updates for a while, but things have been hectic. The wife and I promised ourselves that we would try and get into a new house before the start of the season, and we've done just that.

Short version: We found a house that we were really interested in, put ours on the market, ended up selling it, made an offer, couldn't come to terms, quickly looked around some more, found a house that had a very similar floor plan to the one that we almost once bought in Florida, got it, jumped through all the necessary hoops, did the Hokey Pokey and turned ourselves around, closed and finally moved (not necessarily in that order).

We love the new house and are still getting settled in, but all that on top of all the book stuff and work and you have the very definition of the word hectic.

So, here's the latest:

Sweet 16: Alabama's Historic 2015 Championship Season has been out now for a while, and I think it can be purchased in all formats. I just happened to notice that it's now available at Sam's Club in Tuscaloosa (photo at bottom), so thank you for that.

The new editions to the Triviology series, on the Cubs, Mets and Red Sox, are now out as well (photo above). I you can't find a copy in a bookstore you may want to try where you do all of your other shopping, Amazon.com.

Finally, the updated version of 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die,  which will include the 2015 season, is finished and should be out sometime around the season opener. When I get a copy of the new cover, which I believe is going to be a bit different from the earlier editions, I'll make sure to post it.

Meanwhile, I'll be unpacking, knowing that SEC media days is about, what, 6-7 weeks away?

Have a terrific holiday weekend, everyone!

Back for more ... again

So I have one final thing to announce regarding the 2015-16 college football season, we're going to be doing yet another update of 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know & Do Before You Die.

Fortunately for me I didn't have another deadline like Sweet 16: Alabama's Historic 2015 Championship Season, which was hours after the National Championship Game as the book went to the printer the next morning.

Actually, I spent a recent weekend making the final changes as we had to include both the 2012 and 2015 national championships, and players like Amari Cooper and Derrick Henry.

Plus the whole thing had to be re-orderd. For example, Derrick Thomas had to move up after being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, plus both Mal Moore and Kenny Stabler passed away since the last edition.

The biggest complaint about the earlier editions of the book was that there was no "To Do" list anywhere so we've added one at the end—but I still suggest that fans use the book to make up their own.

It'll be out in stores for the start of the 2016 season. So yes, with the three baseball Triviology books I'll have at least five releases this year and we're still talking about other possibilities. Regardless, I'm going to put all book projects down for a month and enjoy a little offseason down time while I can.

Sweet 16: Alabama's Historic 2015 Championship Season

First off, sorry for the delay on this as sometimes coming out of a season can be like a ship in your favorite science-fiction TV/movie re-emering from hyperspace.

That's normal. For me the end of the 2015-16 season has been like coming out of ludicrous speed and I'm still seeing plaid.

(For those who don't know, that's a Spaceballs reference.)

So as I previous mentioned I was working on a book on Alabama's 2015 season if it won the national championship, and it's now out in stores. It started to be available just four days after the game, which I can't seem to get over because the folks at Triumph Books did an amazing job finishing and getting it out.

As for how we did it nearly the entire manuscript was put together in December after Alabama won the SEC Championship Game. Basically I had to assume Alabama won the national title in putting all the stories together and then everything was edited during the days leading up to the Cotton Bowl.

Once Alabama despatched Michigan State and I wrote what was needed from that game all of the pages minus the national championship were laid out and proofed. After the game I wrote for Bleacher Report and then cranked out the two final stories for the book, which were turned in by about 3:30 a.m. (CT). While I stayed up all night because I had an early flight home the Triumph folks did as well, editing and putting the final touches on the book that went to the printer in the morning.

That was Tuesday (January 12th). By Friday copies started hitting stores. Pretty impressive.

If you haven't seen the book yet it can be found at Walgreens and Wal-Mart stores in the region, as well as Barnes & Noble, Sam's Club, Costco and a number of independent stores (MovieStop, drugstores, hospital gift shops...). With each passing day it'll be out in more stores. Other options include amazon.com and ordering directly from Triumph Books.

Thanks!

Hey, who's the tired-looking guy on the right?

Four books in four months?

First off, Happy New Year everyone!

Megan and I spent the holiday with a football blitz (I worked, she drove and hopefully had a little fun) as I covered Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on Thursday night and then the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans the next day.

So some of you already know about the three trivia books I have coming out on the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox. It looks like you'll start seeing them around Opening Day, or shortly thereafter. I'll post more on that as we get closer to the official release.

Like last year, Triumph Books has asked me to put together a national championship book should Alabama win it all. That book is already completely done (well, my part is) except for the stories that will be added hours after the game. It'll then go to the printer the next morning and be distributed as quickly as possible.

Just to stress it again that's ONLY if Alabama beats Clemson. If Clemson wins there's no book.

So yes, I could have four books coming out the first four months of 2016.

Next up: A trip to Phoenix followed by lots of rest.

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 ...