My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football

by Paul Finebaum, Gene Wojciechowski

Overview

An all-access pass into the powerhouse teams and passionate fanbases of the legendary Southeastern Conference, from one of the most influential men in college football: ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

Proud owner of 14 prestigious college football programs, producing seven consecutive national championships, twelve NFL first round draft choices, and a budget that crushes the GDP of Samoa, the Southeastern Conference collects the most coveted ratings, rankings, and revenue of any conference in college football. With its pantheon of illustrious alumni like Bear Bryant, Herschel Walker, Peyton Manning, and Nick Saban, the SEC is the altar at which millions of Americans worship every Saturday, from Texas to Kentucky to Florida.

If the SEC is a religion, its deity is radio talk-show host Paul Finebaum. In My Conference Can Beat Your Conference, Finebaum, chronicles the rise of the SEC and his own unlikely path to college football fame. Finebaum offers his blunt wisdom on everything from Joe Paterno and the Penn State scandal to the relevancy of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron’s girlfriend, and chronicles the best of his beloved callers, and the worst of his haters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062297426
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/25/2015
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	601,477
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.65(d)

About the Author

Paul Finebaum is a college football analyst for ESPN and host of a daily national radio show heard on ESPN and SiriusXM and simulcast on the SEC Network.

Gene Wojciechowski is a columnist for ESPN.com, and a regular contributor to ESPN's College GameDay and ESPN's golf majors telecasts. He has authored or coauthored nine other books.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 We're Number 1! (Even When We're Not) 3

Chapter 2 This Isn't Live, Is It? 19

Chapter 3 The SEC and Me-a Love Story 27

Chapter 4 If Only Johnny Football Would Call the Show 51

Chapter 5 Aggies, Yellers and Collies 73

Chapter 6 Roll Call 85

Chapter 7 I Don't Want to Name-Drop, but It Was Like Drake Was Saying to Me the Other Day … 97

Chapter 8 Radio Is a Sound Salvation. Radio Is Cleaning Up the Nation 105

Chapter 9 Urban and Paul = BFFs 119

Chapter 10 On Second Thought… 129

Chapter 11 The Little Acorn That Becomes the Oak 143

Chapter 12 Masters of the Universe 153

Chapter 13 A Small Rant 163

Chapter 14 Saint Nick 169

Chapter 15 The Prayer 187

Chapter 16 War Eagle, Roll Tide 193

Chapter 17 In Gus We Trust 215

Chapter 18 The Aftermath 233

Chapter 19 A Worthy Ending to a Worthy Season 247

Epilogue 261

Acknowledgments 269

Editorial Reviews

2014-07-02
A pedal-to-the-metal survey of SEC football.Radio and TV sports personality Finebaum is known as the"Mouth of the South," and for the first few pages, his local boosterism andsheer windbaggery will make readers understand why his title comes with capitalletters: "The SEC is college football's version of Rome, the center of thefootball universe. Long may it rule." Given the past 10-plus years in collegefootball, it may be hard to argue with him on that note. When he comes out with"the most meaningful traditions," readers may have already had enough, but thenanother note creeps in—"the most decadent football stadiums…the most obsceneoperating budgets…the kind of personal scandals that give TMZ a reason tolive…the most obnoxiously large marching bands"—and you realize that the Mouthhas a Tongue that is at least partly in Cheek. Wade through the logorrhea, andplenty of worthy football nuggets and insights become evident. Finebaumpresents a sharp profile of Texas A&M and many chromatic vignettes of otherfootball towns. The author also picks coaches apart. Of legendary Alabama coachBear Bryant, he writes, "I couldn't understand a word he said. It was as if hewere speaking in tongues." And former Florida and current Ohio State coachUrban Meyer: "a good and decent person underneath the steely demeanor. Don'tmisunderstand me: I wouldn't want to go on an Alaskan cruise with him." For allFinebaum's ego and opinions, there is plenty of false modesty. As a TVcommentator, he writes, "I was born with the facial elasticity of an IRSauditor." The author is always well-informed and plenty happy to deliverjudgment: "Clemson is always good for at least one inexplicable letdown perseason."Finebaum is articulate and knows his football, though thisbook is just more candy for his admirers and grist for the mills of his detractors.

Kirkus Reviews