Southeastern Conference Books

I have to admit, living in the Midwest has made it difficult to catch LSU sports. I have actually become an SEC sympathizer. I'll watch any team in the conference. Enter this book. A really good history about the programs of the SEC. All of the folklore about Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings, Vince Dooley and the "evil" genius. I read this book from cover to cover and really understood some of the fierce rivalries in the SEC. You also begin to understand the rich tradition that is SEC football and why it is important to alumni. I'm still a devout LSU fan, but will follow the SEC in any contest!

This book is great for anybody claiming to be a SEC Fan.
I love the thoroughness of it and the recipes are yummy for the tummy. Buy it. You won't be sorry.

Do you know the history of your alma mater? I am a Georgia Bulldog and I had no idea I knew so little about the Dawgs and the rest of the SEC. Learn about it all here. The tailgating recipes are great too. A perfect gift idea for the SEC Football crazed fan in your life. I have considerably boosted my water cooler bragging rights with this book.

This book is really something if you are an avid southern football fan. If you are an SEC alumni, it is a must-have. In addition to a history of college football in the South, all of the unique histories and traditions of the schools are there...along with some very tasty Cajun tailgating recipes named after each team. Great bowl games are mentioned and each of the alma maters and fight songs are listed as well. This is one of the best sports books to come around in quite some time. Purchase your copy of "A Tailgater's Guide To SEC Football." It has something for everyone and it will not disappoint. An engaging read.

Well written and informative, Warner's book is a great reference source for any SEC football fan. Each chapter covers the important players and coaches from each school. However, if you are looking for anything deeper, go elsewhere. None of the big issues, i.e. segregation/integration or cheating/NCAA violations are covered. The book does a great job of accomplishing Warner's goals. I only wish he'd have been a bit more ambitious and tackled questions tougher than, "who was the best QB in Florida history?"

This is the perfect book for any SEC fan. I couldn't put it down and I plan to give it as a gift to all of my friends.

Written by Sam King
Advocate Sportswriter
10/29/2002

GOOD READ: "SEC Sports Quotes," a book of quotes compiled by Chris Warner, is a good read for sports fans in general and LSU fans in particular. LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman, often quoted in the book, might say it would also be a good book in Starkville -- if it was all pictures. Bertman, who joked about Starkville and Mississippi State in his years as a baseball coach, is quoted often in the book. A couple: "Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park. "In Starkville, there is only one beauty parlor and they only give estimates." Present Tigers baseball coach Smoke Laval gets in his shot. "Who's the loneliest man in Starkville? The Tooth Fairy." Actually, Bertman loves Starkville and may soon have LSU fans parking their motor homes there and being bused to games in Tiger Stadium. - Sam King, The Advocate

Written by Greg Langley
Book Editor, Baton Rouge Advocate
02/12/2003

Sports zingers Sports fans may enjoy local author Chris Warner's latest effort, a compilation of quotes from Southeastern Conference sports notables, SEC Sports Quotes (CEW Enterprises, [$$$]paperback). The book is a reminder that some of the best wits in America have been, and are, coaches and players. Take LSU athletic director Skip Bertman's observations on Starkville, Miss., the hometown of rival Mississippi State. "In Starkville there is only one beauty parlor, and they only give estimates," Bertman zings. And: "Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park." And: "NASA is moving the space program to Starkville because it has no atmosphere." Current LSU baseball coach Smoke Laval pokes a little fun at Mississippi State too: "Who's the loneliest man in Starkville? The Tooth Fairy." Of course the current master of the one-liner is South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, who said, "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it." He also said, "The only time you can start at the top is when you're digging a hole." But the one man most associated with football in the Southeast was Bear Bryant, former Alabama head football coach. There are plenty of gems from Bryant in this collection, but none more revealing than "Be good, or be gone." This is an enjoyable collection that will provide fodder for many an after-dinner speaker. Some of these quotes may even end up in Sunday sermons, but most of them will be repeated on Saturdays in football season. Greg Langley, The Baton Rouge Advocate, 2002

Written by Greg Langley
Book Editor, Baton Rouge Advocate

Sports zingers - Sports fans may enjoy Baton Rouge author Chris Warner's latest effort, a compilation of quotes from Southeastern Conference sports notables, SEC Sports Quotes (CEW Enterprises, $...paperback). The book is a reminder that some of the best wits in America have been, and are, coaches and players. Take LSU athletic director Skip Bertman's observations on Starkville, Miss., the hometown of rival Mississippi State. "In Starkville there is only one beauty parlor, and they only give estimates," Bertman zings. And: "Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park." And: "NASA is moving the space program to Starkville because it has no atmosphere." Current LSU baseball coach Smoke Laval pokes a little fun at Mississippi State too: "Who's the loneliest man in Starkville? The Tooth Fairy." Of course the current master of the one-liner is South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, who said, "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it." He also said, "The only time you can start at the top is when you're digging a hole." But the one man most associated with football in the Southeast was Bear Bryant, former Alabama head football coach. There are plenty of gems from Bryant in this collection, but none more revealing than "Be good, or be gone." This is an enjoyable collection that will provide fodder for many an after-dinner speaker. Some of these quotes may even end up in Sunday sermons, but most of them will be repeated on Saturdays in football season. Greg Langley, The Baton Rouge Advocate, 2002

I am a big SEC fan but I never knew that some of this stuff was said. Skip Bertman is really hard on Starkville in this book, but it's a real entertaining and easy read, especially if you are on a trip. I bought it in an airport bookstore and I finished it on a flight from Atlanta to New Orleans. This book should be a must-have for any SEC fan. I HIGHLY recommend it as a coffee table gift.

Chris Warner has compiled the most comprehensive collection of SEC Sports History ever. If you know a die-hard SEC fan surprise them with this set for their next birthday. They will love you forever for it. The collector's box is really neat and you do get a 20% cost savings by burying the set. Highly recommended is this one.

I have the set and loveit!

This book is a valuable reference for researchers and Ph.D. students who want to stay on top of today's cutting edge frontiers in applied bioinformatics.

This packet will be very useful on our journey on the AT. The maps are waterproof and very detailed with shelters, mileage, and altitude. The book itself contains everything we needed to know about each section of the trail and allowed us to choose which sections we deemed most inviting.

If you like this classic, check out "A Tailgater's Guide To SEC Football" by Chris Warner. It rocks.

I graduated from an SEC school, the University of Arkansas. That is why I read the book. While Travis gave an idea of an in-person game day experience at each SEC school, most of anecdotes about his friends should have been edited from the book because they got in the way of the book's main objective.

Referring to the University of Arkansas, he was on target with most of his statements. When he mentioned that the women there, as a whole, should try to be themselves and quit trying to be like Carrie Bradshaw, he nailed the Greek versus non-Greek social clash at the U of A. I remembered dealing with snobs who had nothing to be snobs about while there. I agreed with the problem of Jefferson Pilot telecasts.

I never heard of LSU fans smelling like corn dogs. It seemed that there were items included in the book to try to get a cheap laugh that distracted a reader of the book. The could have benn more serious because there is enough humor to be found in mentioning Toomer's Corner, calling the hogs or visiting The Grove, along with other SEC traditions.

I'm always searching through Amazon looking for the latest sports book. I bought this one based on some solid reviews I had read for it. I wasn't prepared for how much this book made me laugh. One time, I had to put the book down and walk away from because I couldn't control how hard I was laughing (one of those where you have trouble catching your breath). You can't have thin skin and read this, much like a South Park episode everything is fair game to be goofed on. But this author does everything in a smart and creative way, so I had no problem laughing along even when he made of the Big 10 (I'm a PSU grad).
It's one of the best sports I've ever read, and no book, sports related or otherwise, has ever made me laugh more.

his book is a wonderful adventure through the various stadiums of the SEC Conference. One man, who is a passionate University of Tennessee fan travels across the South to visit every stadium. He takes part in all the festivities like the tailgate party, the after party, and any particular tradition that the home team has. He is a superb writer as the narrative flows with ever easiness and comical breath. This man who is a Vanderbilt law school graduate invites friends, family, and his wife along for the adventure. He logs hundreds of miles throughout the South in his search for college football. If you love college football, and especially the SEC this book is a joy to read. As I love going to Knoxville to watch the Vols, as I survey the field before the stadium fills, and as I hit the hands of the players on the Vol walk, I love as Clay Travis loves, the college football experience.

I loved this book alot. It really made me miss home and my alma mater, the Vols. Hits all the right notes in looking at fandom in the SEC from both the critical light, while still being written by a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the greatest conference in the NCAA.

Loved the tour of the SEC-something I would love to do -think it's funny he dissed the Gators so bad the year they won the National Championship-the guy can't judge talent but he knows how to party! Go GATORS!!!!

Chris Dortch is a terrific basketball writer who regularly covers the SEC and helps put together the Blue Ribbon Basketball guide each year. He has written an excellent book that covers all 12 SEC programs, discusses their histories, and focuses on a 10 year period during the early 1990's until the early 2000's, a period when the SEC was at the top of the college basketball world.

The book features detailed accounts of each program's successes, terrific recruiting stories, insights into the various coaching personalities, and helps put a lot of the wins and losses into context. A terrific read for any SEC basketball fan.

This is the book for the hard-to-buy-for-Dad- an easy to read, interesting look at SEC basketball- I will make two Dads happy with this one!

While the writing tends to be more of a reporter's style and doesn't deviate much from a recitation of the facts and events, it is still a very interesting read about the development and trials of the basketball programs around the SEC. Dortch knows this topic as well as anyone and does great job of covering the league.

Highly recommend this book for any fan of the SEC

What a disgrace to the country's finest football conference. Ernsberger may as well be cheeseburger...Calling Kevin Faulk "Marshall" doesn't give this book much credibility. Besides, it reads like a TN alum wrote it. If you're into the SEC like I am try "A Tailgater's Guide To SEC Football". It's a good read on the entire SEC. Again, Ernsbeger should be drawn and quartered for this sacrilege. Go Gamecocks!

I cannot believe the typos and errors in this waste of time book. The writer apparently can`t distinguish Ole Miss from Mississippi State and I still wonder how he flew in and out of "Hartsville Airport". Hartsville, SC is a rather small town in Eastern SC and during my last trip through I failed to notice an International Airport.I have been attending SEC football games since the 50`s and find the lack of research that went into this nonwork very offensive. Readers would do better to spend their time reading "Southern Fried Football".

If you're already a fan of SEC football, most of what you read will not come as particularly insightful; although it is interesting to read passages regarding Alabama's recruitment of Albert Means, which may have played a part in the NCAA's investigation. There are some factual discrepancies here and there, but if you're looking for an introduction to SEC football, this is a great place to start...for those of you that are already big fans, there may not be much here for you.

To the guy in Bradenton: Before you start ranting about the author's lack of geographic knowledge, you might want to do some fact finding of your own. Hartsfield (not Hartsville) is the name of Atlanta's (international) airport.

Ernsberger might as well have written about women's volleyball in the SEC since he's got at the very least 10 factual errors that I uncovered. Calling Kevin Faulk "Marshall" Faulk twice and Nick Saban "Lou" is unforgivable and that is why he gets a big NEGATIVE from me. I am a big Bama supporter as well and I found his commentary regarding the Capstone to be orange-biased.
Maybe Mr. Ernsberger should be wearing convict orange on the cover? Don't bother folks. Save the $ for tickets.

The author, and many others, will argue that the SEC is *the* conference for college football. It is a conference of strong rivalries and tough attitude. It's also, as Ernsberger looks at, a conference of athletes who happen to be students, rather than the collegiate student-athlete. He brings up the warts - problems with recruiting, low graduation rates, questionable ethics with athletic departments overseeing athlete tutoring. But these are more of a bookend to the story - a story of rivalry, of politics, of winning above everything else. This is where the heart of the book is, and where Ernsberger comes across as the privelaged observer, rather than someone with an axe to grind. He's not in awe of everything, but he's not out to rip back the veneer of college football either.

Arguably, the book does have it's leanings. Only about half the conference is really explored with many of the schools getting the short shrift and barely a mention. But if you have never been to a big SEC rivalry game, he tries to capture the mood both inside and outside the stadium. You see the lead up to the Auburn-Alabama game (though strangely, he never seems to refer to it by it's common moniker of the Iron Bowl), and the Cocktail Party (Georgia vs. Florida). One of the strengths of the book is that he spends time with all level of participants in this spectacle - the players themselves, the caching staff, the boosters, the administration, the fans and the alumni. The picture drawn shows that everyone is partially to blame for the state the conference is in.

As a passive spectator of the SEC especially after moving to Atlanta, Ernsberger drew together a lot of what swirls around into a coherent package. Everything you need to know? No. A damning expose? No. An interesting overview - yes. This is why you want to read the book.

for history and tradition on the schools try "A Tailgater's Guide To SEC Football" by Chris Warner.