The post about the Texas Special (awesome story, BTW) got me thinking about the best books on Coach Bryant and Alabama football.  I'd put The Junction Boys right up there.  It's a great read.  So is Turnaround, the story of Coach Bryant's first year at Alabama.  I think The Last Coach is the definitive work on Coach Bryant.  If you're only going to read one book on the man, that should be it. 

But my all-time favorite has got to be Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer.  It's funny, interesting and just really, really well-written.  I've read it three or four times.  It goes down best in June or July as it reminds you what's coming in a few short (long) months. 

Any good ones I'm forgetting or that you all like?  Any that you don't like.  I wasn't blown away by Career in Crisis. 

One last thing.  If you like RJYH and Warren St. John's style of writing, you should read some of Tony Horwitz's books, e.g. Confederates in the Attic (civil war reenactors), Blue Lattitudes (Captain Cook).  I like how both writers can be funny and point out the weird/sometimes unflattering things about their subjects without being mean-spirited or looking down their nose.  They also make you wish you were going along with them.

Improving from the dismal 5-7 performance of last season is an obvious goal, but his statement on Wednesday, “Understand this class is far below the standards we have here and what will be here in the future,” on Wednesday not sit well with the prospects and parents of 19 future who faxed in their national letters of intent.

Has this been mentioned already?  Good Lord, this is as bad or worse than anything he said about Urban Meyer.  How do you sell out your own guys like that?  Calling out Meyer was immature and ill-advised, but this is just really uncool to me. 

Hey all you brand new Vols, welcome to Tennessee football.  Yes, we've kissed your ass for the past several months, but now that the ink is dry, here's what I really think.

By the way, the above is a cut-and-paste.  It doesn't read like it should, but it's direct from Yahoo and I'm assuming the quote at least is legit. 

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=rivals-274899&prov=rivals&type=lgns

but I can't help but laugh at the post on Track 'Em Tigers entitled "The Beautiful Plains", an open letter to potential recruits.  I stumbled across this gem while checking out all the Willis-related posts.  It is unintentional comedy gold, at least if you have a sense of humor like mine and you're not an Auburn fan.  

I linked the post below, but to get to 75 words, I'll give my comments on some of the best parts.  Italics are the original, my smart@ss comments follow:

To the recruits out there, you really should greatly consider AU. When you become part of Auburn you're part of the family, not just a football player.

Just ask Chaz Ramsey or Clinton Durst.

If you're a big time receiver recruit, I cannot see how you couldn't want to go to Auburn. Trooper Taylor is there and his record speaks for itself. Plus, Auburn will put a new Wide Receiver to work right away.

Blocking.

Running Backs, this is Running Back University. We're going to run the football a lot, and it doesn't matter what kind of offense we run.

Information Tony Franklin could have used in December, 2007. 

I cannot see how you wouldn't want to come out to a beautiful place, a family atmosphere and a great set of facilities. Do not forget, there is also a new set of great position coaches that will have you ready for the next level and will help you learn important life lessons. Come out guys and see for yourselves. You won't regret coming out here.

I don't get the repeated references to Auburn as being "out here."  Is this 1820 and Lee County, Alabama is considered part of the frontier?  Perhaps these recruits need some assurances there will be no more Creek uprisings and there's sufficient food to last through the winter?

http://www.trackemtigers.com/2009/1/21/730189/the-beautiful-plains

No. 1 -- All year I heard Alabama's success attributed to one, having a senior/experienced quarterback and two, having an offensive line that was not only talented, but had logged several games together.  Caldwell in particular said the experience together as a unit made all the difference.  How much should the lack of both hurt us next year?  I think you can win with a green quarterback, provided he doesn't have to shoulder too much of the load.  I'm more worried about the line.  The guys we have coming in are talented, but inexperienced.  I think that inexperience will show up more on the o-line than any other area.  Thoughts?

No. 2 -- Has anyone else seen the commercial for the Snuggie?  It's the blanket with arms.  I'm completely creeped out by this thing because the people wearing them (especially the wine colored model) look just like those people in the Heaven's Gate cult.  Get a Snuggie and some black Nikes and you're ready to catch the next comet back to the mother ship.  I am legitimately scared of something called the Snuggie.  Am I the only person who sees this?

I thought of this in the shower this morning.  That probably means I'm thinking about football too much, but what can you do?  It's that time of year.  And the similarities are almost scary.

BOTH TEAMS were coached by "company men."  Both DuBose and Fulmer had their dream jobs at their alma maters and I doubt either really wanted to coach anywhere else.

BOTH COACHES had a liiittle bit of a weight problem.

BOTH TEAMS/COACHES had faced adversity on and off the field in recent years.  UA went 4-7 in DuBose's first year, 1997.  There was also the whole secretary thing.  Fulmer and UT suffered through a subpar 2005.  I also heard there may have been one or two football players arrested in Knoxville around that time. 

BOTH TEAMS/COACHES had seemingly righted the ship.  Alabama won the SEC in 1999 and was preseason #3 in 2000.  UT won the SEC East in 2007 and was ranked fairly high going into 2008.

BOTH TEAMS had a highly-anticipated season opener that they were favored to win easily.  Bama had UCLA in the Rose Bowl and for the Vols; what do you know, UCLA in the Rose Bowl.  Both teams lost to the Bruins.

BOTH TEAMS bounced back to win the next week.  Alabama beat Vandy, a team from Tennessee, in a game played at Legion Field.  Tennessee beat UAB, a team from Alabama whose home stadium is Legion Field.  (Freaked out yet?  There's more!)

BOTH TEAMS endured a quarterback controversy which was really beside the point as all four quarterbacks (Zow/Watts for 'Bama, Crompton/Stephens for UT) stunk.  NOTE: When I say Zow and Watts stunk, I'm talking about 2000 ONLY.  Both bounced back to have good careers and I have fond memories of both.  We all were horrible that season, me included, and I didn't even play.

BOTH TEAMS thought they had straightend things out before the Third Saturday (fourth this year I know) as each had dominated a team from Mississippi in the week leading up that game.  Alabama mudholed Ole Miss.  I don't remember the final score, but it was ugly.  Kecalf Bailey scored a touchdown.  UT, as you remember, beat Mississippi State badly this year as well.

BOTH TEAMS lost to their rival anyway.  UT beat 'Bama in 2000, Alabama beat UT in 2008.  Neither game was really close.  As I remember, we had a chance in 2000, but a fumble cost us at the end. 

BOTH TEAMS packed it in after the Third Saturday.  Alabama went on to lose to Central Florida.  Tennessee lost to Wyoming.  I know Tennessee still has games to play, but really, they seem to have called it a day. 

BOTH TEAMS had new head coaches on the field the following season. 

I think this is what John Lennon had in mind when he sang about  instant karma.  Phil Fulmer snitched on Mike DuBose and instead of being reincarnated as DuBose, he just turned into him over the course of six to eight years. 

And, as far as UT's coaching search goes, Dennis Franchione is available...

Better than Clemsom.  Better than UGa.  Better than UT. 

There was no way that was going to be easy.  But we had the guts to pull it out. 

Rashad and Julio, God bless you both. 

I've been driking since the second quarter.  I'm incredibly wasted right nwo.  It feels greate.   I'm going to go lay down now. 

I lvoe this team.  Roll Tide. 

(tries to post. fails)

YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE TELLING ME MY POST ISN'T 75 WORDS LONG AND ASKING IF I WANT TO CREATE A FAN SHOT INSTEAD. STUPID COMPUTEER THING.   WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?  iS THAT 75 WORSD?  cAN i GO TO SLEEP NOW?  FOR ANYONE WHO HAD A SUBSTTANTIVE POST THAT i BUMPED OFF THE PAGE, I'M SORRY. 

I don't think I'll be paritcularly proud of this post tomorrow.

All week, I heard and read about how UT was going to upset Alabama.  These predictions, it seems, came entirely from UT fans (e.g. Clay Travis, 3rd Sat. in Blogtober, etc., my UT friends, random dudes on talk radio) and contained very little in the way of matchups between the teams, strengths, weaknesses, trends or anything like that.  Several did point UT could run the ball with Cody out of the game, but that's about it.

No, the reasons for a UT upset were along these lines:  it's a circle the wagons game, it's a chance to ruin Alabama's season, UT's season comes down to this, the team will be incredibly fired up, they're honoring the 1998 national champions before the game (no one said UT would win because of this, of course, but I did see it mentioned).

And this is the UT fan's problem.  He's able to delude himself.  He gets such a warm, fuzzy feeling thinking about all the great times at Neyland that he (or she, of course) just can't think rationally.  He thinks the coaches and players feel the same way he does.  We'll win because we're Tennessee! 

I know.  I used to feel the same way about Alabama.  But Nick Saban set me free from all that.  And it feels great.  You might say I've bought in to the process - relative to committment to sustaining performance in my actions as a fan, aight?  I know what matters is the talent and ability we put on the field and whether that talent has been conditioned physically to sustain it's performance and mentally to avoid letdowns, mistakes and missed opportunities (hear anything about those last night?). 

It's a stretch to say UT "quit" in the second half, but it didn't matter.  I might not "quit" trying to stop a bus from rolling down a steep hill, but the result is the same.  Alabama just did what it wanted and UT couldn't stop it. 

And the UT fan knows all this, just like we did a few years ago.  They're knowledgable fans.  They can see the problems.  But it's not enough to keep them from thinking the magic will come back, on any given Saturday, if they just believe hard enough.  It's much harder on you than the Auburn fans I know dealing with their own disaster of a season.  Their ability to slip back into the role of the trodden upon is like their ability to ride a bicyle.  Once you learn how (from a great teacher like Coach Bryant in particular) you never forget.*  I don't think it kills them like it does you.  

I feel your pain Tennessee fan.  I mean, I don't really feel it, but I know what it's like.  And I'm glad it's you now and not me. 

*Oh, and keep that between us.  Even though I believe it, I don't want to broadcast that kind of thing until the streak is officially over.

I've read this blog for a few months now and really enjoy it.  Like me, you all have way too much of your self worth and outlook on the world tied to how Alabama does on Saturdays.  But, you also seem to realize this and are able to keep a healthy sense of perspective and humor about it. 

At least, that seems to be the case -- Alabama hasn't lost since I discovered this site, and if you're like me, you're just not yourself then.  I remember seeing Chuck Davis in the swarm of people leaving BDS after the 5 OT loss to UT in 2003 (I think it was UT - lots of losses that year) and yelling "Avenge me!" like Harry Dean Stanton in Red Dawn.  That was a proud moment.  Luckily, I don't think he heard me.   Or he was just ignoring me, and can you blame him?  Doesn't matter.  We're 6-0 now and that season seems like another lifetime or something I saw in a movie. 

I guess that can qualify as my first embarrassing admission.  I've got another one I'm saving for the Auburn game that is much, much worse.  But if it means a win over Auburn, I say tell it all brother, tell it all. 

Roll Tide everybody!

P.S.  What happened to Bocephus?