Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania by fellow blogger Warren St. John was book #44 of my 2005 reading list.

In 1999 St. John, a life-long Bama fan, decided to take some time off from his job working as a reporter in New York (where he would later become the first American reporter to write about the metrosexual craze) to join a group of RVers who travel from city to city to follow the Alabama football team. The book chronicles St. John's experiences on the road with these die hard fans and examines what it means to be so devoted to a team that you would take cheering them on to such an extreme level. Much like Nick Hornby did in Fever Pitch, St. John is able to poke fun at our infatuation with a seemingly meanlingess game without sounding judgemental because he's such a big fan himself.

If you want an insight into just how important football is to Southern culture this book is a great place to start. The book was recently selected by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the Top 10 books ever written about college sports. The book is well-written, funny, and unfortunately did a good job of prepping me for the whuppin' that the Alabama Crimson Tide put on my beloved Gators this weekend. Sigh.

Excerpts from the book can be found here and on NPR's site.

Review blurbs are available here.

An interview with St. John can be found on Gothamist.