With the calendar turning to August, that means college football season will soon be upon us. To get ready for this season, I picked up a book that is about a game played at the end of the season, the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. Excellent book on one of the sport’s fiercest rivalries.
Title/Author: “Iron in the Blood: How the Alabama vs Auburn Rivalry Shaped the Soul of the South” by Jay Busbee
Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review: College football has many legendary rivalries, some of which are quite fierce and quite old - Michigan-Ohio State, California-Stanford, Minnesota-Wisconsin and Oklahoma-Texas to name a few. One of the best is an intrastate rivalry in the Southeast Conference, Alabama vs Auburn. This book by Jay Busbee takes a deep dive into the history of these two schools in the Yellowhammer State.
Both schools get equal amounts of coverage in the book, something that is refreshing when one considers the storied history of Alabama Crimson Tide football and their overall success which is much greater than Auburn. Coaches for both the Tide and the Auburn Tigers are portrayed here. Especially the legendary names at both schools - Shug Jordan for Auburn, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Nick Sabin for Alabama are the most notable names among the coaches. Players such as Bo Jackson (Auburn) and Joe Namath (Alabama) also have much text dedicated in the book. Busbee does a great job of telling how the contributions of these men, plus others, have helped shape this rivalry into one of the best in college football.
His accounts of some of the more memorable games in this series, such as the 2013 “Kick Six” game, the 1972 “Punt, Bama, Punt” game and the 2023 Gravedigger game. Each one of those chapters allowed the reader to relive those extraordinary games with enough details and storylines to give a complete picture of the intensity of the rivalry.
But what makes this book so good are the stories away from the football field and how anyone living in Alabama will be chanting either “Roll Tide” or “War Eagles” depending on their loyalty. One of the best stories in the book was already known by many football fans even if they don’t have a rooting interest in this rivalry. An Alabama fan named Harvey Updyke poisoned two oak trees at Toomer’s Corner in Auburn. Those trees were covered in toilet paper when Auburn would win the Iron Bowl and Updyke wanted that to end after the Tigers won in 2010. He eventually pled guilty to the crime. While there have been other publications and stories about this, Busbee’s detailed and complete account of this is great reading and just one example of how he brings the deep seated passion of these rivals to life.
Even if a reader doesn’t take sides in Iron Bowl matchups, they will be informed and entertained by reading this book. Any college football fan of any team will want to add this one to their bookshelf.
I wish to thank Ben Bella Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley, The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
Link:https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Blood-Alabama-Auburn-Rivalry-ebook/dp/B0DL7D7ZP6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
