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Tuesday, September aB, aoio | The Rbd a Black
8
BOOK: Novel takes
new angle on coach
> From Pag* 1
promote their collaboration —a book signing for
“Called To Coach,” Schlabach’s newest book delving
into the life and thoughts of Bowden.
“It was a huge undertaking because I had about
two weeks to interview him down in Tallahassee and I
think we had about five weeks to write the book," said
Schlabach, a 1996 Georgia alumnus and Grady College
graduate. “They wanted the manuscript by March 1
so it could be published before football season. I think
it turned out pretty good, we’ve got a great response
on it.”
Schlabach, now a national football columnist for
ESPN, has found success with his sixth book on col
lege football, an in-depth perspective of former
Florida State head coach Bowden.
Bowden was a 2006 inductee of the College Football
Hall of Fame and is the second-winningest college
football coach of all time, even winning the 1993 and
1999 national titles.
But despite Bowden’s immense national populari
ty, the angle of the book did not come as easy to its
author as might be expected.
In fact, the attention the coach received in his 57
years of coaching challenged Schlabach to And anew
angle for his story.
“The biggest challenge was that other books have
been written about him. and obviously he's a guy that
has coached for more than 50 years and had coached
a ton of ball games so there was a lot written on
him,” Schlabach said. “The challenge was coming up
with something new and 1 think this is the first book
he fully collaborated on and I think it’s the first book
that really explored his faith and how that was the
steering wheel throughout his career.”
“Called To Coach,” which has been a mainstay on
the New York Times Best Seller list since its release,
has been widely accepted around the country at each
book signing the two have attended, and received the
stamp of approval from the subject of the book him
self.
Bowden has attended signings up and down the
East Coast, with the large portion of the events pre
dictably located in the Southeast, and each one has
been just as successful as the last. The signings have
also given Bowden the coveted opportunity to reach
out and embrace his life's second calling public
speaking.
“[The feedback on the book] has been good. If you
go by signings, which I have been to signings in
Atlanta, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa,
Tallahassee. Orlando. New York it ■
has gone real good,” said Bowden. Wj/
who finished his career at Florida 1*
State in January with 377 career wins If
to his name. “Everywhere I have been I 1 "8
it has sold out there, you know? If we f ..Jpg'! m
have 400 books, we sign 400 books. If
they have 1,000 books, we sign 1,000
books. On that part, it has been good.
And I’ve enjoyed speaking. You know, BOWDEN
I’ve retired from football, which is
something I did for 57 years. So that’s
the way it’s been since I retired, speaking all the
time.”
Due to the candid and honest nature Bowden dis
played while in the collegiate sports limelight, the
depth of "Called To Coach” is evident when speaking
with either of the two men.
There is an underlying power and an emotional ele
ment present even a sense of vulnerability in the
book's subject.
“I think it's been somewhat therapeutic for him,
really. I think his biggest fear about retirement was
that, well, he had two big fears," Schlabach said. “The
first big fear was that once he retired there was only
one big event left, and that was dying. He grew up
idolizing [Alabama head coach] Bear Bryant, and saw
how quickly Coach Bryant died after retirement. And
Coach Bowden’s own father retired and his health
went south, and shortly thereafter he passed away.
And I think Bobby always felt that if he wasn't coach
ing, it wasn’t going to be too long before he wasn’t
with us anymore. And I think the second thing was
that he feared that if he retired, people wouldn’t want
to listen to him anymore, and he still feels like he has
an important lesson to teach young people.”
With the opportunity to attend book signings and
continue to spread his message, Bowden is content
with his newfound place in the public eye. For, as he is
sure to point out, he still has that same drive to affect
people’s lives.
“It is the first time in 57 years I haven’t had a job or
had to get up and go to work,” Bowden said. “But I
make up for it ... I’ve retired from football, but not
from life.”
Both men will be available to meet and sign auto
graphs today at Borders book store on Alps Road
from 3 to 5 p.m.
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Tennis
takes
two
titles
Freshman
wins singles
When many freshman
athletes start their colle
giate playing careers there
are growing pains and
learning curves that usual
ly go along with it.
Hemus Pieters does not
seem to be one of those
aforementioned athletes.
One of the newest
members of the Georgia
men’s tennis team took
home both the singles and
doubles titles in the
Southern Collegiates, a
tournament hosted by
Georgia at the Dan Magill
Tennis Center on Monday.
In singles, Pieters
defeated Alex Zotov of
Vanderbilt, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to
win the Division II singles
crown, becoming the fifth
Bulldog in six years to
capture the prestigious
title. Pieters then teamed
up with senior Javier
Garrapiz to win the dou
bles crown, beating
Georgia Tech’s Juan Spir
and Kevin King 7-6 (4),
6-3.
“The match was hard
those guys are good and
both have huge serves,"
Garrapiz, who won his sec
ond Southern Collegiates
title in the process after
taking co-champion hon
ors in singles last season,
told Georgia Sports
Communications. “We
played unbelievable and
like we know how to play.
It was our first time play
ing together and we’re
glad we won.”
Pieters and Garrapiz
were not the only Bulldog
duo in the final four
teams.
Garrapiz came close to
joining Pieters in pulling
off the singles and doubles
titles in the tournament,
but fell in the Division I
finals to fellow Spaniard
Guillermo Gomez of
Georgia Tech 6-3, 7-5.
Given their success, it
was no surprise that head
coach Manuel Diaz was
pleased how much “grow
ing up” his team did dur
ing the tournament.
Administrators no different than agents
Right now, the only thing foot
ball fans want to discuss is
Georgia's 1-3 record and
Mark Richt’s uncertain future with
the program.
That’s fine.
But there is another nuyor issue
that we cannot ignore threatening
the future of university-level sports
across America.
There is rot at the core of big
time sports —and I have had trou
ble finding victims among sleazy
agents, disobedient athletes and
athletic and university administra
tors.
Agents try to score prospects
early by dangling illegal incentives.
Athletes strive for money and
improper benefits and an early
boost to their professional lifestyle.
Administrators sit back and make
money off both, feigning innocence
when the NCAA comes knocking at
their mahogany front doors.
Agents and athletes rightfully
have faced much criticism in recent
weeks over investigations into major
institutions like North Carolina,
Georgia and Southern California.
But very little criticism has been
directed at those proprietors of ath
letics and education.
USA Today, in fact, In a recent
editorial, basically gave a pass to
school and league officials (“Reggie
Bush case highlights lack of enforce
ment against sleazy agents,” Sept.
20). Speaking of corrupt agents, the
paper argued that officials should
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TENNIS NOTEBOOK
“We feel good and I
thought we made a lot of
progress, especially in
doubles during the tour
nament," he said. “Overall,
today was another great
day. It was a great day for
Hemus winning both
titles.”
Former player returns
Former Georgia tennis
player Jamie Hunt
returned to Athens for the
tournament in different
uniform colors.
Hunt, who was hired as
an assistant coach at
Vanderbilt in August,
returned to Athens as his
new SEC school compet
ed.
Coaching against his
college coach and mentor,
Diaz, Hunt helped lead his
Commodores to 19 total
wins between singles and
doubles play.
Ryan Black
come down harder “on the greedy
adults who take advantage of the
college kids.”
But what about school and
league administrators who make
millions of dollars each year from
the product these college kids pro
duce on the football field or basket
ball court? Television contracts,
concessions, tickets, memorabilia
each line the pockets of these adults
and their institutions because of
physical talent young adults happen
to possess.
And these are the same men and
women who chastise agents for tak
ing advantage of young, impression
able athletes. The only difference
between the agents and administra
tors is that agents do not try to pre
tend they are something they aren’t.
One solution to this inequity
athletes getting nothing while oth
ers prosper from their hard work
is to pay college athletes a modest
stipend for their contributions to
league and university.
The argument is made that
schools already pay athletes with
—
PHOTOS BY MEGHAN PITTMAN | Tnlutßua
▲ Freshman Hemus Pieters, a native of South
Africa, took the Division II singles title at the
prestigious Southern Collegiates tournament.
hefty scholarships. Scholarships
award opportunities to many indi
viduals who wouldn’t otherwise
have them.
But when you consider the SIOO
million or more many athletic
departments gross each year, a
$50,000 scholarship is just pocket
change.
Athletes may be grateful for their
scholarships. But they nonetheless
are not allowed to earn money for
themselves.
Getting a part-time Job is out of
the question. Between football and
school, athletes are left with very lit
tle time to earn money of their own.
Football is their job.
It’s no wonder they take it when
a seemingly innocent opportunity to
sell a jersey that they own comes
along —as did Georgia wide receiv
er A.J. Green.
Let me be clear: college athletes
are not professionals. They do not
deserve professional salaries, and
paying them at all is a first step
down a dangerous path.
But each year they help pay the
immense salaries of these older men
and women.
And if we aren’t going to provide
the athletes with a cut of the profit,
let’s at least not pretend school and
league officials are any different
from those sleazy agents.
They aren’t.
David Mitchell is a sports writer
for The Red <6 Black