By By Chandler Myers
The last few weeks I have been enthralled in a book that I recently purchased, thanks in part to the eyes of my girlfriend Jordan, at Barnes &Noble at the Eastern Shore Center in Spanish Fort.
The book is titled “Dixieland Delight: A football season on the road in the Southeastern Conference” and is written by lawyer and CBSSports.com columnist Clay Travis.
Travis took his road trip in 2006 to all 12 SEC stadiums and the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. With him on his road trip are several different people including friends he graduated with as well as his wife and parents.
All along the way he judges the schools based on their tailgating, stadiums, crowd participation and apperance and the girls that attend the games.
This is probably my new favorite book and one of the best sports books ever written.
Usually books with a lot of details get boring and repetitive over time, but Travis manages to keep his book fresh in every single chapter.
He gives a great look into the insights of college football in the South. His details are so clearly stated that you can almost see in your mind exactly what he is talking about. Being that I attended the University of Alabama I related well to his experiences from when he visited Tuscaloosa.
Another great thing about his book is the humorous things he finds at each campus.
For example, on his visit to Auburn, Travis notices a lot of guys with bangs that swoosh down over their faces and dubs them “Bama Bangs.” From that point on he notices that cultural impact of the bangs and what all schools have them.
He never drags too much on a subject, but if he needs to he will bring it back into the story to relate it somewhere that is relevant.
One of the strongest aspects of the book is how he relates all his experiences on the road trip to previous times in his life.
Travis also gives a great look into the debate between the SEC and the Big 10 about which is better. He lists out five arguments for each that had me laughing aloud because I could agree with all of them.
This book gives a dymanic look into the life of an SEC fan, and I never wanted to put it down.
I would suggest it to any football fan especially those that follow teams in the SEC.
Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or by e-mail at sports@atmoreadvance.com