Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania

I should preface this review by saying that I am not a sports fan and not a football fan, and I was not looking forward to reading this book, which was recommended to me. So with all that in mind, no one is more shocked than I am by how much I loved this book.The book is essentially an Alabamian-turned-New Yorker's experience taking a leave of absence from his job to follow the Alabama Crimson Tide football team in an RV. It is a funny and sometimes surprisingly poignant account of his time at home and away games. He introduces us to the people he met along the way, many of whom start out as comical caricatures and then surprise us with their complexity. Somewhat critical to the story is the fact that, even though the author is from Alabama and grew up following the Tide, he is almost universally viewed as an outsider because he lives in New York and introduces himself as a reporter, which affects many of his interactions.If you do not like reading accounts of sporting events with mind-numbing detail about fumbles and touchdowns and interceptions (I do not), you will actually be OK with this book. The discussion of what actually happened in the games was limited to a few pages at most per game, and for the most part, you can skip ahead to find out whether the team won or lost without missing anything. The book is about southern football culture (which is basically a religion), and the games themselves are not actually all that relevant to the broader story.A couple of things I do feel inclined to mention. First, the author can be a little bit sexist, occasionally expressing shock when good-looking college women are drunk or screaming profanities at the games. He is young enough to know that being obnoxious is not the exclusive provenance of 20-something frat boys, and I found these passages annoying.Also, the author does occasionally touch on issues of racism among the fans, and while the book is obviously meant to be a mostly lighthearted account of his experience, he could've broached this subject with a little more introspection. He does talk about the incongruous logic of the racist fan, but he doesn't ever really touch on the exploitative nature of college sports or the deeply entrenched racism at some of the institutions featured in this book. I don't think this type of book demands an in-depth study of the issue, but I felt distinctly as though he was intentionally giving a very big issue only the most perfunctory mention.

I'm not a Crimson Tide fan (go Irish!), but I don't think an Auburn fan could read Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer without nodding along. St. John's picture of intense fandom is gorgeous and accurate -- not least because he succumbs to it, going so far as to buy his own RV -- but he doesn't use the novel preach about Bama being the best there is. Or, more accurately, this book wasn't written specifically for Bama fans. It was written for sports fans, and Bama was the lens St. John chose. So there might be some preaching, but it's forgivable... and besides, it's really easy to substitute your own team name into his sentences.Really, though, this book should be required reading for all souls unlucky enough to have latched on to a sports team. It's funny, and touching, and validating. And reading it made me hungry for football.

I am not an Alabama fan. My fondest memory of Alabama was in October 1982 when Tennessee beat the Bear in his final year and I was part of the crowd that paraded the goal posts down the strip following the game! Nine months later, I graduated from UT and began my life after college as a lonely college football fan in New Jersey!That being said, this was the best book to read as I await the beginning of the 2022 college football season. The author does an excellent job of bringing the passion and craziness of being a college football fan to life. HIs descriptions of game day and all the pregame preparation’s and fun ring true personal experiences over the years. His deep dives into the psychology of being a fan provide interesting context to an illness that I have suffered for the past 50+ years. I’m glad to know I am far from the only one even if my wardrobe color is different than his.Enjoy! I certainly did.VFL

I got this book for my daughter who has a professional interest in the history of sports. But I read it before I sent it to her, since I am an LSU fan and love SEC football. There are some good stories here, and the narrator is really likeable. But I was hoping for more. After all, this is Bama we are talking about - the Rose Bowl champs, the Bear's team, etc,, etc.I wanted to hear great stuff. By the way, Amazon has provided me with fun reading about BAma. The Professor by Robert Bailey is a novel about people involved in Alabama football who have gone on to be detectives. A good read with some sense of the hollow ground that I like.

I just purchased this Kindle book so I could read "Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer" again. Hilarity never read so well...over and over again! I bought the hardcover book when it was first published and for the next several days, every free hour I had was spent absorbing every word of this book. Warren St. John share's his story in the written word as easy as if he was sitting next to you telling you about his adventures with RVers dedicated to the Alabama Crimson Tide. SEC football is unlike any other football conference, and each University has it's own qwerky traditions that make outsiders scratch their heads.It doesn't matter if you are a diehard Alabama fan who wants to relive the 1999 season or if you are not an Alabama fan, but you love football and reading stories about others who love is as much and maybe even more than you do. Or maybe you don't like football, but you're interested in Southern culture, especially Alabama, reading this book will give you insight into one of the best parts of Southern culture that often encompasses the other parts.If you want to laugh out loud and smile without stopping from front cover to back, then this is a book you have to read!

Liked the way he tried to get into the RV fan scene. It shows a different side of the sport.