This ain't your ordinary football book! But then, "ordinary" never described Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.
Bear Revelations provides a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the football legend through the eyes of a green college student. This true story follows the "gofer" and the Coach through the turbulent early 70's as Americans agonized over drugs, the war in Vietnam, and the corruption of a President.
"What are the students sayin'?" the Man would ask, and he shared his own opinions through the 1972 season with its "Punt, Bama! Punt" bout against Auburn, the epic National Championship year of 1973 and its "game of history," the perfect fall of '74 as Alabama fought for another title and struggled with a bowl jinx, and 1975 when the Crimson Tide evolved from first-game losers to Sugar Bowl contenders.
Steve Clark's story of his four years of service to the "world's greatest football coach" gives us an insider's magic-carpet ride loaded with bags of cash, laughs, and unforgettable memories.
Reviews for Bear Revelations
"Steve Clark's Bear Revelations weaves a history of early 1970s Alabama football around the man - make that The Man, as Clark does - who made it happen. Clark was a student assistant in the athletics department and has a vivid memory of the minutiae. His memories paint a Paul Bryant unlike the famed coach known to most."
--Kirk McNair, Editor, 'BAMA Magazine
"I really enjoyed this book. From the trenches, we (players) had one view of the Coach. This story gives us a different perspective. But it talks about work and that's Coach Bryant. A few years after graduation, I went to watch the team practice on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. The Coach came down from the tower and greeted me and asked, "What are you doing now?" I answered, and he responded "Why are you not at work?" The book brings to life so many good memories of Coach Bryant and those years. The big picture it shows us is great."
--Johnny Sharpless, member of the 1973 National Championship Crimson Tide.
From Chapter 1 Bear Revelations
Summer 1972 University of Alabama
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
Coach Bryant looked out his office window at the happening on the wide Memorial Coliseum steps. Longhaired freaks, button-downed frat boys, tie-dyed girls, and what appeared to be a fair number of middle-aged parents sweltered in the late June heat, grooving to rock music while they waited in line. Electric anticipation shone on every face. The crowd of about a thousand appeared to be having a blast.
Stepping into his big office, I swung around the desk for the day’s outgoing mail.
“Afternoon, Coach. Anything special?”
The Man cut his eyes at me then returned to his surveillance. The party held his attention.
“They were sleeping on the steps when I got here this morning, and the crowd’s been building all day,” Coach Bryant said to the window. “What’re they waiting for, Steve?”
“The Rolling Stones are playing tonight, Coach. It’s supposed to be a big concert, or so the radio says. It’s first-come seating."
“The rolling stone gathers no moss,” he said on an exhaled cloud of smoke. “Well, I’ll tell you, they must be good, them Rolling Stones, because folks don’t sleep on the steps if you ain’t good.”
“I don’t know about good,” Sam Bailey said as he walked through the side door. “But the show’s a sell-out. About 16,000 tickets and they ain’t through yet. It’ll be the biggest crowd the Coliseum’s ever had. Bigger than Elvis, basketball or any of those other bands.”
“Bigger than Elvis,” the Man howled. “What’s the ticket price?”
“They’ll make six-plus a head, with the concessions,” Bailey answered, flopping down on the couch.
The Man’s face contorted as he sat behind the desk. “Damn, that’s about a hundred thousand.” The figure lingered in the air as his powerful frame sank deeper into the depths of the high-back leather chair.
“Yep, a big gate, and they’re playing more than 40 concerts on this tour. They do it almost every year,” Bailey said casually.
“A hundred thousand here, times forty; that’s four million dollars!” The Coach’s piercing eyes suddenly pinned me. “What do them boys play?”
“Rock and roll, Coach,” I said without thinking. “They’re the English rock band. The best rock and rollers in the world since the Beatles split up. They do, I can’t get no satisfaction, no, no, no.”
“I heard that.” The Man launched into a croak, deeper than his usual base. “I can’t get no sat..tis..faction. Hell, sounds like my life story!”
