A War in Dixie: Alabama V. Auburn (Hardcover)

by Ivan Maisel (Author), Kelly Whiteside (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The 110-year-old football rivalry between the state university and the land grant college exerts a powerful gravitational pull on Alabama's deep-seated football culture, requiring most state residents to choose sides at birth (as "Tide" or tiger fans) and to demonstrate their loyalty every November. The rivalry these two Sports Illustrated writers describe outdoes other cross-state competition like the one in Michigan, overflowing the common-sense limits of even Southern fandom. As the two Alabama powers drift toward each other in their Southeast Conference orbits, Maisel and Whiteside recount the seven-day countdown to Iron Bowl 2000 from deep inside the coaching offices Maisel in Tuscaloosa, Whiteside in Birmingham. Though recent Iron Bowls have been newsworthy football, this runup to last year's ground-out Auburn victory isn't as dramatic as Maisel and Whiteside want it to be. Apparently their credentials from SI (Whiteside has gone on to USA Today's football page) gave them complete access, but Maisel, especially, might have done better in the company of a native guide who could provide some color commentary. Even the short intro by Ken Stabler seems like an admission that the secret Southern football society remains impenetrable to the authors. Presenting players' bland gridiron sentiment, training table details and family trivia is no substitute for reporting or sports writing: the game itself is described in nine pages, and by that point its significance in the tradition of Alabama football is awash in background. For local fans only. B&w photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Among the great college football rivalries--Army versus Navy, USC versus UCLA, Michigan versus Ohio State--Alabama versus Auburn stands out as perhaps the most intense. This in-depth look at the series, called the Iron Bowl, focuses on the week before the 2000 game, with Maisel, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, covering Alabama, and Whiteside, college football reporter for USA Today, taking Auburn. They present the game from the perspective of coaches, players, team managers, and fans; along with a detailed look at pregame preparation, the writers fold in anecdote-rich accounts of previous games and great moments throughout the series. With virtually unlimited access provided by the teams' coaches, the authors are able to dig far beneath the surface. The result is the history of a rivalry; an account of one game in that rivalry; and a fascinating analysis of the far-reaching effect the games have had on the participants. An entertaining, informative peek inside an athletic maelstrom. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (September 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060198001
• ISBN-13: 978-0060198008
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,619,298 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Make Me Relive That Awful Y2K?, October 7, 2005

By	Maestroh "A.A., A.A.S.,B.M.E.,Th.M." (Dallas Theological Cemetery) - See all my reviews

On the first day of 2000, the Alabama Crimson Tide completed a very successful 1999 campaign against the Michigan Wolverines on the floor of the Orange Bowl in Miami. Michigan, led by future Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, prevailed in overtime when Alabama's Ryan Pflugner missed a PAT that would have forced a second overtime. But from that moment, Alabama was poised for a run at the national championship in 2000. They started the year at number three.

To call what followed a nightmare is the understatement of the century. It was more like a prison sentence with no hope of parole.

"War In Dixie" is clearly one of those books put together in about one week's time right after the Iron Bowl. It contains a number of factual errors and is mostly a story about the final week before the 2000 Iron Bowl. It should hardly surprise anybody that Auburn, who won the SEC West that year, beat Alabama who was 3-8. The game encapsulated the entire season in one sixty minute synopsis.

Alabama started the 2000 season against UCLA in the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. Ranked number three in the country, the Tide was routed and the tone was set. Alabama won all of three games in 2000, beating perennial doormat Vanderbilt, 28-10, in a game that wasn't over until the final four minutes, South Carolina, and Ole Miss when they had two weeks to prepare. Losing to Auburn was no big thing; losing to Central Florida cost Mike DuBose his job.

Let me say that the stories told are well, but they are not Iron Bowl histories for the most part. It is a tale of the final week and the tragedy that was the final week of Mike DuBose's horrendous reign in Tuscaloosa. He took one of the best teams of the early 1990s and ran them into the ground (and onto probation).

It was a pretty good book. But no Alabama fan in his right mind wants to relive 2000. We'd rather relive 1984, the first losing season since 1957, than go back to 2000.

3.0 out of 5 stars Only Auburn fans need apply..., July 1, 2004

By	Jeff W Traylor (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A War in Dixie: Alabama v. Auburn (Paperback)

Rather than covering the history of the Iron Bowl, this book deals exclusively with the 2000 Alabama/ Auburn game. The story is interesting given that Mike Dubose, the Alabama coach, was going to be fired at the end of the season and knew it going into the game. But the gloom surrounding the Alabama program, coaches and players puts a damper on the game and subsequently the book. Turning the pages, I almost felt that I was "going thru the motions" trying to get to the end the book just as Alabama was "going thru the motions" trying to get to the end of the season. I am sure Auburn fans will really enjoy the book while the Crimson Tide faithful will probably want to avoid reliving the awful 2000 season. For the average college football fan, there are probably a number of books you could turn to before looking here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Inside Look, November 8, 2001

By A Customer

What a great idea-- go inside both teams as they prepare for the greatest college football rivilary in the nation-- Auburn v. Alabama (or Alabama v. Auburn, whichever you prefer). It offers great insight of the workings of the coaching staffs as they get ready for the big game.