All-Time Greatest Alabama Sports Stories

by Marshall, Benny; Givens, Wendell

• ISBN13: 9780817350529
• ISBN10: 0817350527
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Fire Ant Books

Summary

This collection presents 26 accounts of memorable victories and bittersweet failures marking the most significant sports events in Alabama's history, from 1899 through 1994. The stories capture the excitement of native son Willie Mays's heroic backfield catch in 1954, Joe Namath's shining defeat in the Orange Bowl, Auburn's stunning basketball win over Kentucky, and Alabama's unforgettable Rose Bowl victory. The stories cover several arenas of sportfootball, basketball, golf, baseball, tennis, auto racingand are sprinkled with the glories of both notables and relative unknowns. "Prelude to a Grand Slam" describes how a young Bobby Jones won the Birmingham golf tournament on his way to the national crown, while "Grand Champion" is the story of blind golfer Charley Boswell. We learn about the "night Hank Aaron out-homered Babe Ruth" and how the father-son duo of Bobby and Davey Allison shone at Daytona Speedway. There are pieces on high school football heroics and Dixie Series baseball and one on the historic football rivalry between Auburn University and The University of Alabama. Sixteen of the stories were written by Benny Marshall and appeared in his book Twenty Grand, published in 1968. Additional stories were contributed by sportswriters Clyde Bolton, Jim Martin, Wayne Martin, Phillip Marshall, and Wendell Givens. Collectively, they offer a panoply of highlights that will delight sports fans everywhere, especially in Alabama, where sport is nigh to obsession.

Author Biography

Wendell O. Givens is a retired editor of the Birmingham News

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Wendell Givens
By Benny Marshall
September Memory	1	(9)
Tiger Trap	10	(7)
Howell to Hutson to History	17	(7)
Once Upon a Mountaintop	24	(7)
The Rocket Eight	31	(8)
Third Down, Glory to Go	39	(7)
What Comebacks Are Made Of	46	(7)
Improbable Hero	53	(8)
A Time to Panic	61	(7)
When Is an Upset?	68	(8)
Prelude to a Grand Slam	76	(7)
Paid in Full	83	(8)
7-7, Favor Howard	91	(7)
The Great Robbery	98	(7)
A Day for Believers	105	(6)
Grand Champion	111	(8)
By Benny's Friends
A Father-Son Day at Daytona	119	(9)
Clyde Bolton
An Open Gate for Jerry Pate	128	(9)
Jim Martin
The Night Hank Aaron Outhomered Babe Ruth	137	(10)
Wayne Martin
Golf's Toughest Day . . . and Under a Gun!	147	(8)
Jim Martin
Heisman Double for Auburn	155	(10)
Phillip Marshall
Alabama's Compleat Tennist	165	(9)
Wendell Givens
Iron Man in the Making	174	(7)
Wendell Givens
The ``Marne Football Battles''	181	(12)
Wendell Givens
The Punt That Wouldn't Come Down	193	(4)
Wendell Givens
Alabama Knocks Off Miami, Wins National Championship	197	(10)
Jimmy Bryan
Writer's Gallery	207	(4)
Index	211