Noah.Dreams
08-29-2005, 04:27 PM
17-19. THE MAGNIFICENT THREE
The Magnolia State is so used to ranking at or near the bottom of state-by-state comparisons that Ray Mabus' successful 1987 gubernatorial campaign featured the slogan "Mississippi will never be last again." But Mississippi takes a back seat to nobody when it comes to producing football players. It ranks at or near the top each year in NFL players per capita, and what state can top Mississippi's three-candidate ticket for best running back, receiver and quarterback of all time?
Jerry Rice, a bricklayer's son from Crawford, starred at Mississippi Valley State and went on to catch more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than any other player in NFL history.
Walter Payton, from Columbia, set an NCAA record by scoring 464 points for Jackson State (68 of them as a kicker). But the record people remember is the one he used to hold for career rushing yards in the NFL, 16,726.
Brett Favre, from Kiln, was the late bloomer of the three. He barely got a scholarship to Southern Miss, didn't get picked until the second round of the 1991 draft and got traded a year later. Now he has started 210 consecutive games and become the only player to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards.
--- Mike Knobler
20. DREAMLAND BBQ
Oh, you can find other things on the menu, things like barbecue pork sandwiches, chicken, baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw. But make no mistake about it, the majority of people who come to Dreamland BBQ come for the ribs.
You order them one of two ways --- a plate or a slab --- and each order comes with a half-loaf of Sunbeam bread with which to soak up the excess barbecue sauce (you'll not want to waste any). Sweet tea or Bud is the recommended complement. It's a lot of ribs, so the challenge is to clean your plate.
That simple formula made John "Big Daddy" Bishop into a wealthy man and made his catchphrase --- "Ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere" --- part of Southern football vernacular. At first a local secret, the legend of Dreamland spread throughout the South almost entirely by word of mouth. It became a must-eat among visiting teams coming into Tuscaloosa and, likewise, it caught on with fans.
Today, there are Dreamland locations in Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery. But the real home is 5535 15th Ave. in Tuscaloosa. There, at the top of a hill in an aged residential area known as Jerusalem Heights, sits the original Dreamland Cafe. It's built in the style and decor that most barbecue joints used to be. There is a small dining room with unbalanced tables and unmatched chairs, a big bar, beer signs hanging from oak beams and pictures of Bear Bryant and other Alabama greats on the wall.
The only thing missing is Big Daddy himself, who used to sit in a chair at the end of the bar, pipe clenched in teeth, and greet every patron who came through.
--- Chip Towers
21. THE MIAMI MYSTIQUE
Take one of the most hedonistic cities in the world. Drop it into one of the ripest football regions in the Union. Throw in one of the oldest stadiums in the land --- the Orange Bowl turns 68 this year --- and fill it with 70,000 loons who expect the University of Miami not just to win but win big. Add rum and bake in the afternoon tropic sun for four hours.
That hardly approaches the game day feel at UM games, but it's a start. The Hurricanes' following is school-wide, city-wide and multi-cultural. Think Mardi Gras, with a pause every 40 seconds for the next snap. And if there is a palpable sense of manifest destiny here, it has grown naturally. It is one of the toughest home fields the game has seen.
Since the 'Canes first got into the national championship business in 1983, UM has since won it all five times, a remarkable ride over 21 seasons. The program once went nine years between Orange Bowl losses, a 58-game win streak (1985-94) that might never be broken.
In the minds of many 'Canes faithful, it never has.
--- Thomas Stinson
22. REGIONAL RIVALRIES
I'll give you, the bar wasn't set real high. When you attend Long Beach State and the annual big game against Fullerton draws 6,000 fans in Anaheim Stadium, you're not used to being wrapped in tradition. But coming from the West Coast, I can attest that the biggest game, USC-UCLA, qualifies as just another week in the SEC.
The West has some fine scenes: boats tailgating in Seattle for Washington games; the panoramic view of Berkeley in Cal's Memorial Stadium; the great town of Eugene, Ore., home to the Oregon Ducks, and more important, where "Animal House" was filmed.
But UCLA-USC has more of a pro feel in L.A. Up north, Stanford-Cal, the so called "Big Game," is often lampooned because both teams are so bad. Only in this region do you get college town vs. college town, and sometimes state vs. state.
I first discovered this 16 years ago on a Sunday MARTA ride home from the airport. I picked up on three or four conversations --- not on a Georgia or Tech game, but on Tennessee and Florida and Alabama and Florida State.
I've been in L.A. on a Sunday. Nobody's talking about Oregon-Oregon State. Or Long Beach-Fullerton.
--- Jeff Schultz
23. THE PIONEER
Sylvester Croom, the first black head football coach in SEC history, would like to be known for something else. Florida fans might know him as the man who got Ron Zook fired, an event that happened two days after Croom's Mississippi State team stunned Zook's Gators last season 38-31. Alabama fans might come to know him as the alumnus their school should have hired instead of Mike Shula. First, though, Croom needs to be known as the man who led State to its first winning season since 2000. The SEC's only black head coach went 3-8 in his debut.
--- Mike Knobler
24-25. DEATH VALLEY(S)
The AJC's Tony Barnhart, who has spent many a Saturday at Clemson's Death Valley and LSU's Death Valley, sizes up the two houses of horrors:
> Crowd noise
Edge: LSU
If the game is played during the day, it's mighty close. But on a Louisiana Saturday night, with a crowd that started the party Thursday, there's no contest.
> Ambiance
Edge: Clemson
If your juices don't flow when you start seeing the orange Tiger paws on the road into Clemson, then brother, you'd better check your pulse.
> Tradition
Edge: LSU
Night football. White jerseys. Mike the Tiger. Chinese Bandits. Billy Cannon's 89-yard punt return on Halloween night 1959. The place is just dripping with tradition.
> Tailgaiting
Edge: Clemson
Clemson gets a slight edge over the Cajun fare at Baton Rouge because of basics: fried chicken, barbecued ribs, potato salad and a low-country boil that makes angels weep. > Overall atmosphere
Edge: LSU
As my former colleague Ed Hinton used to say, when the LSU band belts out the first four notes of "Hold That Tiger," it will make the hair stand up on a dead man's chest.
The Magnolia State is so used to ranking at or near the bottom of state-by-state comparisons that Ray Mabus' successful 1987 gubernatorial campaign featured the slogan "Mississippi will never be last again." But Mississippi takes a back seat to nobody when it comes to producing football players. It ranks at or near the top each year in NFL players per capita, and what state can top Mississippi's three-candidate ticket for best running back, receiver and quarterback of all time?
Jerry Rice, a bricklayer's son from Crawford, starred at Mississippi Valley State and went on to catch more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than any other player in NFL history.
Walter Payton, from Columbia, set an NCAA record by scoring 464 points for Jackson State (68 of them as a kicker). But the record people remember is the one he used to hold for career rushing yards in the NFL, 16,726.
Brett Favre, from Kiln, was the late bloomer of the three. He barely got a scholarship to Southern Miss, didn't get picked until the second round of the 1991 draft and got traded a year later. Now he has started 210 consecutive games and become the only player to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards.
--- Mike Knobler
20. DREAMLAND BBQ
Oh, you can find other things on the menu, things like barbecue pork sandwiches, chicken, baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw. But make no mistake about it, the majority of people who come to Dreamland BBQ come for the ribs.
You order them one of two ways --- a plate or a slab --- and each order comes with a half-loaf of Sunbeam bread with which to soak up the excess barbecue sauce (you'll not want to waste any). Sweet tea or Bud is the recommended complement. It's a lot of ribs, so the challenge is to clean your plate.
That simple formula made John "Big Daddy" Bishop into a wealthy man and made his catchphrase --- "Ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere" --- part of Southern football vernacular. At first a local secret, the legend of Dreamland spread throughout the South almost entirely by word of mouth. It became a must-eat among visiting teams coming into Tuscaloosa and, likewise, it caught on with fans.
Today, there are Dreamland locations in Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery. But the real home is 5535 15th Ave. in Tuscaloosa. There, at the top of a hill in an aged residential area known as Jerusalem Heights, sits the original Dreamland Cafe. It's built in the style and decor that most barbecue joints used to be. There is a small dining room with unbalanced tables and unmatched chairs, a big bar, beer signs hanging from oak beams and pictures of Bear Bryant and other Alabama greats on the wall.
The only thing missing is Big Daddy himself, who used to sit in a chair at the end of the bar, pipe clenched in teeth, and greet every patron who came through.
--- Chip Towers
21. THE MIAMI MYSTIQUE
Take one of the most hedonistic cities in the world. Drop it into one of the ripest football regions in the Union. Throw in one of the oldest stadiums in the land --- the Orange Bowl turns 68 this year --- and fill it with 70,000 loons who expect the University of Miami not just to win but win big. Add rum and bake in the afternoon tropic sun for four hours.
That hardly approaches the game day feel at UM games, but it's a start. The Hurricanes' following is school-wide, city-wide and multi-cultural. Think Mardi Gras, with a pause every 40 seconds for the next snap. And if there is a palpable sense of manifest destiny here, it has grown naturally. It is one of the toughest home fields the game has seen.
Since the 'Canes first got into the national championship business in 1983, UM has since won it all five times, a remarkable ride over 21 seasons. The program once went nine years between Orange Bowl losses, a 58-game win streak (1985-94) that might never be broken.
In the minds of many 'Canes faithful, it never has.
--- Thomas Stinson
22. REGIONAL RIVALRIES
I'll give you, the bar wasn't set real high. When you attend Long Beach State and the annual big game against Fullerton draws 6,000 fans in Anaheim Stadium, you're not used to being wrapped in tradition. But coming from the West Coast, I can attest that the biggest game, USC-UCLA, qualifies as just another week in the SEC.
The West has some fine scenes: boats tailgating in Seattle for Washington games; the panoramic view of Berkeley in Cal's Memorial Stadium; the great town of Eugene, Ore., home to the Oregon Ducks, and more important, where "Animal House" was filmed.
But UCLA-USC has more of a pro feel in L.A. Up north, Stanford-Cal, the so called "Big Game," is often lampooned because both teams are so bad. Only in this region do you get college town vs. college town, and sometimes state vs. state.
I first discovered this 16 years ago on a Sunday MARTA ride home from the airport. I picked up on three or four conversations --- not on a Georgia or Tech game, but on Tennessee and Florida and Alabama and Florida State.
I've been in L.A. on a Sunday. Nobody's talking about Oregon-Oregon State. Or Long Beach-Fullerton.
--- Jeff Schultz
23. THE PIONEER
Sylvester Croom, the first black head football coach in SEC history, would like to be known for something else. Florida fans might know him as the man who got Ron Zook fired, an event that happened two days after Croom's Mississippi State team stunned Zook's Gators last season 38-31. Alabama fans might come to know him as the alumnus their school should have hired instead of Mike Shula. First, though, Croom needs to be known as the man who led State to its first winning season since 2000. The SEC's only black head coach went 3-8 in his debut.
--- Mike Knobler
24-25. DEATH VALLEY(S)
The AJC's Tony Barnhart, who has spent many a Saturday at Clemson's Death Valley and LSU's Death Valley, sizes up the two houses of horrors:
> Crowd noise
Edge: LSU
If the game is played during the day, it's mighty close. But on a Louisiana Saturday night, with a crowd that started the party Thursday, there's no contest.
> Ambiance
Edge: Clemson
If your juices don't flow when you start seeing the orange Tiger paws on the road into Clemson, then brother, you'd better check your pulse.
> Tradition
Edge: LSU
Night football. White jerseys. Mike the Tiger. Chinese Bandits. Billy Cannon's 89-yard punt return on Halloween night 1959. The place is just dripping with tradition.
> Tailgaiting
Edge: Clemson
Clemson gets a slight edge over the Cajun fare at Baton Rouge because of basics: fried chicken, barbecued ribs, potato salad and a low-country boil that makes angels weep. > Overall atmosphere
Edge: LSU
As my former colleague Ed Hinton used to say, when the LSU band belts out the first four notes of "Hold That Tiger," it will make the hair stand up on a dead man's chest.