Hey, look. I'm famous (or something)

This is a photo from the issue of ESPN Magazine that's about to come out (the link to the gallery is http://espn.go.com/espn/photos/gallery/_/id/8628940/image/9/the-celebration-aj-mccarron-1-minute-34-seconds -- and please go buy an issue), which focussed on the recent Alabama-LSU game.

That's AJ McCarron we're interviewing. The magazine had people seemingly everywhere, and I was fortunate to write a half-decent game story even though it was a super long day.

Otherwise, the last five weeks have been nothing short of brutal as we went through the meat of the schedule including three road trips. It's nice to be home for a while. Also, the Ultimate Football Database recently reached a couple of milestones, 1,000 pages created and 150,000+ hits, and I'm just getting started.

Nothing new on the book yet, but it seems to be doing pretty well. I plan to hit some stores and sign some copies before Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day!

Hello, please spend your money here ...

Book signing

I don't do a lot of them during the season (busy, you know?), but with the late kickoff against Ole Miss on Sept. 29th I'll be signing books at the Bryant Museum from 3-5 p.m.

For those who can't make it, or are just looking for a place to grab a copy, it should be at most major book stores but make sure you get the one with the gold "BCS Championships" logo on the front like these:

The book is also available on http://www.amazon.com/Things-Crimson-Should-Before-Things-Fans/dp/16007 ... and my understanding is that an electronic version should soon be available (especially if people keep requesting it).

Right place, right time ...

I can finally tell everyone ...

Walsh is double winner in FWAA writing contest September 2012 Vol. 50, No. 3

Christopher Walsh and Dave Matter were the big winners in the 20th annual 
FWAA Best Writing Contest.

Walsh, from BamaOnline.com, became a rare two-time first-place winner in 
the same year when he picked up top places in Game and Column categories. 
Matter, from the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune, placed first in Feature and was 
second in the Game category behind Walsh.

The other first-place winner was Joe Rexrode for his Enterprise story in the 
Lansing (Mich.) State Journal. Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com and Chris Tomasson 
of FOX Sports Florida are the other double placers. All the writers will 
be honored at the annual FWA Awards Breakfast Jan. 7 in South Florida.

GAME


First Place —Christopher Walsh, BamaOnline.com
Second Place — Dave Matter, Columbia Daily Tribune 
Third Place— Pete Thamel, New York Times 
Honorable Mention — Andy Staples, SI.com; Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com; Chris Tomasson, 
FOX Sports Florida

FEATURE


First Place — Dave Matter, Columbia Daily Tribune 
Second Place — Andrea Adelson, ESPN.com 
Third Place — Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune 
Honorable Mention — Brett McMurphy, CBSSports.com; Greg Barnes, InsideCarolina. 
com; Thayer Evans, FOXSports.com; Matt Fortuna, ESPN.com

COLUMN


First Place — Christopher Walsh, BamaOnline.com
Second Place —Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com 
Third Place —Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com 
Honorable Mention — Malcolm Moran , published in NY Times; Pat Forde, Yahoo! 
Sports; Brett McMurphy, CBSSports.com

ENTERPRISE 


First Place — Joe Rexrode, Lansing State Journal 
Second Place — Chris Tomasson, FOX Sports Florida 
Third Place — Michael Rothstein, WolverineNation 
Honorable Mention —Ryan McGee, ESPN.com; Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY; Don 
Kausler Jr., The Birmingham News/(Mobile) Press-Register/The Huntsville Times

Watch this space ...

Seriously ... watch this space. Unfortunately, that's the only hint you get.

Yep, it was a busy offseason

A welcome sight ...

I'll post a little more during the next couple of days, but I was happy to see my copies of the new book arrive today.

FYI, I only get 10 copies, which are already accounted for, but it's still a great feeling.

I know I've said it before, but it's essentially a completely different book. We didn't just add the two national championships, Mark Ingram winning the Heisman Trophy, and everything else that occurred since 2008, but the order was completely renumbered and a lot of entries rewritten.

The original version was 233 pages. The new edition is 281.

The old introduction was a letter I wrote to Paul W. "Bear" Bryant about how much he'd probably like the new coach, Nick Saban. Now it's about the tornado.

Previously, the back cover had a picture of Joe Namath. The update has Saban holding up a crystal football.

You get the idea.

It's out!

I don't care how many times I've had a new book coming out, whenever I see one for the first time it's special.

This one in particular was on the shelf in the sports section of the local Barnes & Noble, where they had a couple of copies of the old version as well.

The first thing that struck me is that it's a significantly bigger than the original edition. Looking through it I also got a good feel of the extensive changes we made.

It's almost a completely different book.

Thursday, I'll be promoting it when speaking with the Rotary Club in Birmingham, and it looks like I'll be doing some book signings for the university book store before home games.

Built by 'Bama, written by Walsh

The last of the preseason publications I contributed to is about to come out, UA's preview magazine that's done in the same style as the game programs.

I have to admit, I really like the way their graphics guys come up with stuff like this for a cover. I can only imagine what the players think of it.

I did a bunch of stories for the magazine, including a season preview, Nick Saban's process, a fan guide to the Cowboys Classic, and "Rebirth of a dynasty?"

Yes it's a good time to be a Crimson Tide fan.

Coming to a bookstore near you very, very soon.