My column from the Bowden/Saban banquet

BIRMINGHAM _ We all get phone calls that are impossible to forget.

Too often they're associated with great tragedy, and not enough with the exact opposite. University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban remembers one in particular back in 1973, shortly after his father died when he was a graduate assistant at Kent State.

"This is Bobby Bowden," said the voice talking from West Virginia University, located roughly 25 minutes away from where Saban had grown up. The head football coach had known Saban's father, knew that his mother was having a bit of a tough time and offered more than just condolences.

"If you need to come home, if you want to be a coach, I'll create a graduate assistant position for you so you can do what you need to and be around your mother," Saban recalled Bowden saying.

He's told that story numerous times lately, and again Sunday, which was a special night for Birmingham. Not only had one of its proud sons returned home to be honored when the Over the Mountain Touchdown Club's inaugural coach of the year award was named in Bowden's honor, but the first recipient was that kid he called nearly 37 years ago.

"His rise in coaching is just unsurpassed," Bowden said before a packed room at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center. "This is a no-brainer who this should go to. Nick I think you ran into the same problem I did with the Bear Bryant Award. You come in second?

"We won the national championship in '93 and I went down there for the Bear Bryant Award which I never got, and some guy named Terry Bowden got it. I can't stand him."

The laughter aside, it's difficult not to see the parallels between the man who is a college football legend, arguably one of the top five coaches in the sport's history, and the one who is currently solidifying his legacy at the Capstone. Besides the obvious tie to West Virginia, both have won two national championships and soon Saban too will have a statue of him standing in front of his home stadium.

It also wouldn't be surprising to see Bowden in Bryant-Denny next season, maybe when Joe Paterno and Penn State come calling (how fitting would that be?). The former quarterback at Woodlawn High, who initially enrolled at Alabama and dreamed of playing for the Crimson Tide still holds these parts close to his heart and frequently visits.

"There's nothing you can do better to me than to have your hometown name an award after you," Bowden said. "I've very thankful, appreciative for that."

Although he won't be on the Florida State sideline for the first time in 35 years, where Saban protégé Jimbo Fisher has taken over, that doesn't mean Bowden plans to slow down in retirement. He flew in for the banquet from Baton Rouge, where he was speaking at the Louisiana High School Coaches Association. Last week the 80-year-old was reportedly in Rio de Janeiro talking to insurance salesmen, and before that Hawaii. He joked about recently playing golf with Florida's Urban Meyer and not knowing what was going on with any spring practices. That's why, in part, Bowden meant it when he said he's not missing coaching and all that went into it.

"I tell you, everything's changed so much from when I started, we had nothing," he said about first arriving at Florida State in 1976, the Seminoles nothing like the program that would make the top five final rankings in an unprecedented 14 consecutive seasons. At the time, it was $500,000 in debt, fans weren't attending games and he had to sell FSU football to everyone.

In addition to recruits, Bowden set up a speaking tour throughout the state of Florida to raise money and continually worked the media. In contrast, and perhaps a perfect testament to how the game really has changed, Saban arrived to Sunday's banquet in a helicopter.

"There could be no greater award for me to receive than one that has Coach Bowden's name on it, because of not only his accomplishments, it's not always what you did it's more important how you are," Saban said. "There's no one our profession, or anyone I know as a person, I have more respect for than Bobby Bowden."

He then left the banquet a little early to attend a team meeting with players reporting back from spring break, while Bowden returned to the podium. Before Saban could get out the door, though, a fan yelled out: "We'll see you here again next year, coach."

He stopped and grinned, "I heard that."

(Here's the link: http://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1065931)

Back from what was supposed to be a short break

Well, what I hoped would be a retreat to the beach to look over and work on the novel didn't quite work out the way I had hoped in terms of work, but it was still nice to get away for a couple of days.

Funny, whenever I go to Destin I'm reminded of all the things I liked about living in Florida (ok, the beach) and it brings back a lot of memories and feelings.

But it was a good trip. Good company. Good food. Good shopping at the outlets. Hopefully I'll soon have a little more to tell you all about the novel.

P.S. Nice shot with my iphone, huh?

Still the one ...

I received the Huddle Up sales figures for July 1-Dec. 31, 2009, and they were pretty much what I expected in terms of rankings:

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. New York Giants
4. Ohio State
5. Michigan
6. Notre Dame
7. Oklahoma
8. Tennessee

For total sales, which began before July, 1 the rankings change a little.

1. New York Giants
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Texas
5. Michigan
6. Oklahoma
7. Notre Dame
8. Tennessee

So the total rankings of all books (not including sales of the Taylor Trade books from the second half of last year):

1. 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die
2. Where Football is King: A History of the SEC
3. Huddle Up: New York Giants
4. Huddle Up: Alabama
5. Huddle Up: Ohio State
6. Huddle Up: Texas
7. Huddle Up: Michigan
8. Crimson Storm Surge: Alabama Football Then and Now
9. Huddle Up: Oklahoma
10. Huddle Up: Notre Dame
11. Who's No. 1? 100-Plus Years of Controversial Champions in College Football
12. Huddle Up: Tennessee
13. No Time Outs: What It's Really Like to be a Sportswriter Today
NA Return to Glory: The Story of Alabama's 2008 Season

A night with Neil Gaiman

Last night I had the honor and pleasure of not only attending a Neil Gaiman lecture and reading, but I also got a chance to shake hands and briefly meet him.

For those of you who don't know who Neil Gaiman is ("Stardust," "American Gods" and "Coraline"), get to a book store right now and pick up some of his stuff. The book to the right here may be my favorite of his.

During our short discussion we talked about his living just outside of the Twin Cities, Douglas Adams and that the last lecture-type event I had attended was for Graham Chapman before he died way back when I was in college. I also made sure to thank him for making the trip.

During the Q&A part of the night at the Bama Theater he let on that there will be two more Stardust-related stories in the future, he does color-coordinate his wardrobe (all black) and is advice to aspiring writers is to do just that, write.

Incredibly nice guy. Very annoying (yes, that's a joke).

Now this hurts ...

If you don't live in Tuscaloosa you'll probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but I've been told that Strip Teas & Coffee on The Strip will be closing this weekend.

This news was almost as upsetting to me as the way my Vikings lost to the Saints on Sunday (FYI, I'm very happy for Roman Harper and Darren Sharper, though).

Basically, ST&C is where I wrote all of my daily practice reports, a lot of my features, and well, a significant part of my books. When I used to work for another organization in town I affectionately called this both the Downtown Bureau, and my "hiding spot."

I love everything about it, including the atmosphere, coffee and food (but not the parking - that's been awful). So this week I'll be saying goodbye to old friend, and some of you will probably be doing the same.

The perils of covering a championship run

It's been roughly a week since I returned from Pasadena, and I still have yet to recover. Not only was it one of most exhausting experiences of my life, but things haven't let up yet (coaching comings and goings, etc.) and there have been some extremely late nights to revamp and update all the software on my computers.

Yeah, that upgrade software for Windows 7 worked so well I had to buy the total package version for roughly $200. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

So while Alabama is holding its championship celebration at Bryant-Denny Stadium today, I have another example of how seriously people in the South take college football: While the rest of the nation was focused and horrified by the Haiti earthquake this week, everyone I know has been talking almost non-stop about Lane Kiffin leaving Tennessee and what a *expletive* he is.

On the hopefully good news front, I'll be having some interesting discussions next week about the potential future of the Huddle Up series. Yes, it still has a pulse.

As the sun sets on yet another year ...

I am sad to report that the Huddle Up series might be fading as well. I'm talking to some people about options and maybe taking a new direction, but this year might have been it for the series. We'll see.

The thing I keep reminding myself is that if so it means I take a pretty major step toward having a bit of a normal life (what's that?) and can work on my novel.

But first I have to get through the national championship. Pretty cool way to start the new year.

Meanwhile, 2009 was an amazing year for me.

- Bought a house
- Made a major move in my career (and also turned down a great job offer)
- Went to Brazil
- Continued to date a phenomenal woman
- Got a new car (with seat warmers)
- Cut my debt in half
- Discovered 15-year-old scotch
- Had a book series

Not too bad. Happy New Year everyone.

Moving right along ...

So there was Atlanta for the SEC Championship ...
New York for the Hesiman Trophy announcement ...
Some family stuff in Minnesota ...
Then more family stuff in Fort Morgan, which is past Gulf Shores, which is past Foley, which is past Mobile.

Today, I'm home and it feels weird.
I'm also exhausted.

Every time I've returned home it's only been hours until I headed out again.

This time I get five whole days. I might sleep through three of them.

(Oh, and the photo is from the Mall of America).

Heading from one coast to the other ...

It’s already time to say “So Long” to the East Coast, and start turning my attention to the other one. It was a pretty amazing trip, even if the weather was beyond lousy the past couple of days.

You may not have known this, but when the Heisman Trophy was conceived it was called the DAC Trophy after the Downtown Athletic Club to recognize the best college football player east of the Mississippi River. When Jay Berwanger of Chicago won, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Now? Yeah right.

I’ve been hearing from friends around the country who were blown away by not only his win, but acceptance speech and the way Ingram has handled himself through this whole thing.

The photos you may have seen of Mark doing the press conference after the announcement Saturday were from the Marriott Marquis, in what’s normally a large bar/restaurant overlooking Times Square, adjacent to another lavish bar/restaurant. I think it was when Colt McCoy was at the podium you could rear the road from Ingram walking into the area.

As for me, I’m still trying to put it all into perspective of just how unlikely this all was. Although the closest voting in history was 1985, when only 45 votes separated Auburn running back Bo Jackson from the runner-up Chuck Long of Iowa, a better comparison was the highly controversial 1956 decision when Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung became the only Heisman winner from a losing team.

Among those he beat out were Johnny Majors of Tennessee, Tom McDonald of Oklahoma, Jerry Tubbs of Oklahoma, Jim Brown of Syracuse, Ron Kramer of Michigan and John Brodie of Stanford. Hornung’s margin of victory was just 72 points.

The big difference from that vote was that I have absolutely no doubt that Ingram deserved to win.

[This was a postcard I posted on BamaOnline]

Heisman Times They Are A-Changin

NEW YORK _ The collection of writers and critics surrounding him was nearly as surreal as the spacious suite itself. Located on the 44th floor of the Marriott Marquis in the heart of Times Square, University of Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram was a little wide-eyed but otherwise at ease as the various parts of his life were all represented on the eve of the Heisman Trophy announcement.

There was the television reporter from his hometown of Flint, Mich., who interviewed Ingram the day he signed with the Crimson Tide and recalled the prospect predicting he could someday win the Heisman Trophy at Alabama.

"I don't remember that," Ingram said.

There were others from Austin, Texas, who will get to know him better at next month's BCS Championship Game in Pasadena, asking what Ingram thought of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.

"Down to earth," he said.

Among the New York and national correspondents, more than one inquired about Ingram's father, who is waiting to be sentenced for bank fraud and money laundering charges at the nearby Queens Private Correctional Facility, where the son probably won't get a chance to visit on this trip.

"He's proud of me, he's excited," Ingram said. "He told me to enjoy the moment. Enjoy the time.

"He's sharing it with me, he's there in spirit. I love him to death and he loves me too. He's there in my heart and that's all that matters."

It's been a whirlwind couple of days for Ingram, who along with the other four Heisman finalists woke up in Orlando after participating in Thursday's Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show and reconvened in the Big Apple. They signed autographs, got to know each other a little while being shuttled around and occasionally heard someone yell "Hey look, that's Tim Tebow!" regarding the well-known Florida quarterback in their ranks.

It would have been fitting if they had also run into a Bob Dylan impersonator singing: "The Times They Are A-Changin.'

This wasn't supposed to happen. Not for Ingram, not for Alabama which has never had anyone finish better than third in 74 years of Heisman voting. Yet here he was in elite company Friday, with most of those along for the ride believing the Tide's epic shutout is about to end.

"I think it's a coin toss and some people think I'm going to win, some people think ... it's going to be real close race all five are deserving," Ingram said. "I'm going to support whoever wins.

"Whatever happens, happens."

Although Ingram is considered the favorite, this year's Heisman vote will be remembered for one other thing in particular, timing, and how one day forever changed the way the award will be decided.

That day, of course, was last Saturday, Dec. 5, when Alabama squashed Tebow's bid while simultaneously reestablishing Ingram's thanks to his 189-yard, three-touchdown performance in the SEC Championship Game.

Something similar occurred in the Big 12 title game, where McCoy's frontrunner status sank like stone under nine sacks and Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh suddenly became the hot candidate.

In years past, those performances probably wouldn't have heavily influenced the Heisman voting, which traditionally begins in mid-November with many ballots submitted early. However, this season marked the first time the entire process was done exclusively online and with the race so close the vast majority waited until the last day to make a decision.

That's why when asked who he thought would win Stanford running back Toby Gerhart paused and then respectively said, "Probably Ingram. He has a lot of momentum from the SEC Championship Game."

Gerhart's own Heisman bid was greatly aided by timing too. He didn't emerge as a serious contender until the last month, with the whispers first being heard after his 178 rushing yards and three touchdowns at Southern California on Nov. 14.

The senior believed he was out of the running after the subsequent 34-28 loss to Cal, but made a lasting impression, 29 carries for 205 yards and three more touchdowns against Notre Dame in Charlie Weis' finale.

"If I had a vote? Toby's great last game was incredible," Suh said. "To watch him run through people, especially on that winning drive, that's crazy.

"I would have loved to have played against him."

Suh's game against McCoy last week was also on his mind Friday, especially the final play when he was pressuring and the quarterback nearly threw away Texas' shot at the national title. Suh has to live with the unbelievable thought that had he been a little slower McCoy might not have discarded the ball in time.

"I'm not necessarily beating myself up, I just wish it would have happened in a different way," Suh said. "He was watching the clock and that's what we were talking about on the bus, he had to throw it away and get it out of his hands in fast-enough time and that's what he did and had a chance to kick a field goal to win."

When Ingram was asked about Suh, he gave him the Crimson Tide's uber compliment for an outstanding defensive player this season, "beast."

Then the questions continued, covering everything from what he'll wear (he's going all out to dress up) and if he wrote a speech (no), to which Heisman Trophy winners he wants to meet.

"All of them," he said.

Saturday, Ingram may incredibly become one of them.

[Note: This is a column I wrote last week for BamaOnline. The link is http://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1027775.]