We Want Bama
We Want Bama

Author: Joseph Goodman

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2021-11-09

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1538716283

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A lively chronicle of how the 2020 Crimson Tide became Nick Saban’s “ultimate team.” Was Alabama’s Crimson Tide in 2020 the greatest team of all time? The squad went 13-0 in a pandemic year, scored a combined 107 points against SEC powerhouses LSU and Florida, crushed Ohio State in a National Championship Game 52-24 in a contest that wasn’t even that close, and followed it up with another top-rated signing class. Nick Saban called his boys the “ultimate team,” but it wasn’t just because they kicked the ever-living hell out of everyone on the football field. It was because the team leveraged a power and influence born of Southern pride to push back against a hateful legacy of racism that a populist president was exploiting to divide the nation. At a time when Americans needed real leaders in the face of so much hate, the sports world answered the call and fought back for the soul of the country. In the summer of 2020, the Tide players left their training facility and, led by their celebrated coach, marched to a campus doorway made infamous sixty years earlier by another political demagogue and showed what people can accomplish when they fight together for a just cause in the name of unity. The most powerful force in a state crazy for college football had chosen to make a stand and replace George Wallace’s “Segregation forever!” with a different message, written by one of the players: “All lives can’t matter until Black lives matter.” ​ There have been some great football teams through the years, and they all deserve respect. But here’s what we know for sure: They all would have been appreciative of what this Alabama team represented, and proud of what it accomplished. The Crimson Tide in 2020 captured something special that moved it beyond the conversation of best ever, and into the place reserved for most important of all time.

We Want Bama
We Want Bama

Author: Joseph Goodman

Publisher:

Published: 2022-11-08

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9781538716274

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A lively chronicle of how the 2020 Crimson Tide became Nick Saban's "ultimate team." Was Alabama's Crimson Tide in 2020 the greatest team of all time? The squad went 13-0 in a pandemic year, scored a combined 107 points against SEC powerhouses LSU and Florida, crushed Ohio State in a National Championship Game 52-24 in a contest that wasn't even that close, and followed it up with another top-rated signing class. Nick Saban called his boys the "ultimate team," but it wasn't just because they kicked the ever-living hell out of everyone on the football field. It was because the team leveraged a power and influence born of Southern pride to push back against a hateful legacy of racism that a populist president was exploiting to divide the nation. At a time when Americans needed real leaders in the face of so much hate, the sports world answered the call and fought back for the soul of the country. In the summer of 2020, the Tide players left their training facility and, led by their celebrated coach, marched to a campus doorway made infamous sixty years earlier by another political demagogue and showed what people can accomplish when they fight together for a just cause in the name of unity. The most powerful force in a state crazy for college football had chosen to make a stand and replace George Wallace's "Segregation forever!" with a different message, written by one of the players: "All lives can't matter until Black lives matter." ​ There have been some great football teams through the years, and they all deserve respect. But here's what we know for sure: They all would have been appreciative of what this Alabama team represented, and proud of what it accomplished. The Crimson Tide in 2020 captured something special that moved it beyond the conversation of best ever, and into the place reserved for most important of all time.

Pros and Cons
Pros and Cons

Author: Jeff Benedict

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 1999-10-01

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 0446930059

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Discloses the names of the convicted criminals in the NFL, the stunning severity of their crimes, & why they're still playing.

4th and Goal Every Day
4th and Goal Every Day

Author: Phil Savage

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2017-08-29

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1250130816

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4th and Goal Every day tells the improbable story of how Alabama won 5 national titles in 9 seasons. Fans want to know, “How does Alabama do it?” With a Preface by Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban and a Foreword by ESPN's College Gameday Host Rece Davis. Phil Savage first worked with Nick Saban when they both joined the Cleveland Browns’ coaching staff in 1991. They were reunited in 2009 when Savage became part of the Crimson Tide Sports Network as the radio color analyst. Since then, Savage has enjoyed an up-close view of the Alabama program’s dedication to recruiting, its commitment to practice, and devotion to fundamentals. Now comes his 360-degree perspective on Alabama football and Coach Nick Saban’s unique coaching style, a style that has led the Crimson Tide to five Southeastern Conference titles, three consecutive College Football Playoff appearances and four national championships. Savage details Coach Saban’s year-round preparation, his willingness to adjust and his belief in “complimentary football.” The book offers a close look at their player development and practice habits and gives a glimpse of the Crimson Tide’s approach of playing every single down like it’s 4th and goal. You won’t find another person who can intelligently discuss Alabama football in public better than Phil Savage. Together with Ray Glier, this in-depth story chronicles how the Crimson Tide re-emerged as one of the true superpowers in college football.

The Forgotten First
The Forgotten First

Author: Keyshawn Johnson

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2021-09-21

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1538705478

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The unknown story of the Black pioneers who collectively changed the face of the NFL in 1946. THE FORGOTTEN FIRST chronicles the lives of four incredible men, the racism they experienced as Black players entering a segregated sport, the burden of expectation they carried, and their many achievements, which would go on to affect football for generations to come. More than a year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, there was another seismic moment in pro sports history. On March 21,1946, former UCLA star running back Kenny Washington—a teammate of Robinson's in college—signed a contract with the Los Angeles Rams. This ended one of the most shameful periods in NFL history, when African-American players were banned from league play. Washington would not be alone in serving as a pioneer for NFL integration. Just months after he joined the Rams, thanks to a concerted effort by influential Los Angeles political and civic leaders, the team signed Woody Strode, who played with both Washington and Robinson at UCLA in one of the most celebrated backfields in college sports history. And that same year, a little-known coach named Paul Brown of the fledgling Cleveland Browns signed running back Marion Motley and defensive lineman Bill Willis, thereby integrating a startup league that would eventually merge with the NFL. THE FORGOTTEN FIRST tells the story of one of the most significant cultural shifts in pro football history, as four men opened the door to opportunity and changed the sport forever.

The Road to Bama
The Road to Bama

Author: Andrew Bone

Publisher: Triumph Books

Published: 2020-09-29

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1641255021

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The University of Alabama boasts one of the nation's most storied football programs, and the recruiting acumen of coaches like Bear Bryant and Nick Saban plays a major role in that. The Road to Bama is a wild ride into the competitive world of college football recruiting, revealing how many Crimson Tide players found their way to Tuscaloosa.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer

Author: Warren St. John

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2005-05-31

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0609807137

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What is it about sports that turns otherwise sane people into raving lunatics? Why does winning compel people to tear down goal posts, and losing, to drown themselves in bad keg beer? In short, why do fans care? In search of answers, Warren St. John seeks out the roving community of RVers who follow the Alabama Crimson Tide from game to game. A movable feast of Weber grills and Igloo coolers, these are hard-core football fans who arrive on Wednesday for Saturday’s game: The Reeses, who skipped their own daughter’s wedding because it coincided with a Bama game; Ray Pradat, the Episcopal minister who watches the games on a television beside his altar while performing weddings; and John Ed, the wheeling and dealing ticket scalper whose access to good seats gives him power on par with the governor. In no time at all, St. John buys an RV (a $5,500 beater named The Hawg) and joins the caravan for a full football season, chronicling the world of the extreme fan and learning that in the shadow of the stadium, it can all begin to seem strangely normal. Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer is not only a hilarious travel story, but a cultural anthropology of fans that goes a long way toward demystifying the universal urge to take sides and to win.

Rising Tide
Rising Tide

Author: Randy Roberts

Publisher: Twelve

Published: 2013-08-20

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 1455526347

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The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime. During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath-two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports-changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different men-Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals that threatened his career, and Namath a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town in Pennsylvania-led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965-from the Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965 Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation. Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions-football and Dixie-collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will to win, Rising Tide captures a singular time in America. More than a history of college football, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen.

Chasing the Bear
Chasing the Bear

Author: Lars Anderson

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2019-09-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1538716496

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A dual biography of two coaching legends -- Bear Bryant and Nick Saban -- who built the Alabama Crimson Tide into a true football dynasty. Both Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are undeniable kings of college football, two coaches at Alabama who have each won more national championships -- six apiece -- than anyone else in the history of the game. Chasing the Bear examines how they did it, revealing along the way their similarities in style, background, football philosophy, and recruiting methods, while providing readers a rare inside look at two of the greatest leaders in the history of sports. Bear Bryant and Nick Saban never met, but they have more in common than either of them realize. Both grew up in small towns -- Bryant in Moro Bottom, Arkansas, a dot on the map, and Saban from Monongah, West Virginia, population five hundred. As a child, Saban pumped gas at his father's service station, washing and waxing cars and doing anything he could to help the business. Bryant's father suffered from multiple physical ailments, which forced Bryant to work to keep the family farm going. Both men knew the value of hard work from the time they were young boys, and both understood that there were no shortcuts to success. But both dreamed of escaping their hometowns, and both used football as the means to do so. Separated by two generations, Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are mythic figures linked by a school, a town, and a barroom debate centering on one question: Which is the greatest college coach of all time?

Inside Out & Back Again
Inside Out & Back Again

Author: Thanhha Lai

Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 0702251178

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Moving to America turns H&à's life inside out. For all the 10 years of her life, H&à has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H&à and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H&à discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.