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Shug: The Life and Times of Auburns Ralph 'Shug' Jordan
This hardback book "Shug" is preowned but is in like new condition. It is 1993 1st edition. The dust cover has shelf wear. I do not see markings in the book but I did not look at each page.
319 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1993
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June 25, 2021
Auburn has been “my team” since I attended my first AU football game in November 1979. (They wore orange jerseys that day and beat Mississippi State 14-3). Ralph “Shug” Jordan (1911-1980) has always loomed over the football program as a beloved figure. So, I was excited to read Rich Donnell’s 1993 biography Shug.
The book does a good job of detailing Coach Jordan’s public life. Jordan’s 25 seasons as Auburn’s coach are unlikely to be equaled. Shug does a good job of explaining the challenges Jordan faced during his many years at Auburn. He also explains who the movers and shakers were in Auburn football at different times.
Shug details what was happening with Jordan’s career at each phase, even the years before he became Auburn’s head coach. I was particularly interested to learn the Jordan landed in Normandy on D-Day and received a Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound he got while on the beach.
Unfortunately, Donnell doesn’t do as well when it comes to telling the reader what was beneath Jordan’s surface. What made him tick? What was he like when he was not working? Donnell conducted many interviews while writing Shug, but has little to say about Jordan’s family life. Donnell interviewed Shug’s son (Ralph, Jr.), but the reader would have learned more if Donnell had also talked to Shug’s widow Evelyn and his two daughters.
With the passing of so many of Shug’s contemporaries, Shug probably will be the best Jordan biography we’ll ever get. And it’s pretty good. But I did walk away wishing for more.
The book does a good job of detailing Coach Jordan’s public life. Jordan’s 25 seasons as Auburn’s coach are unlikely to be equaled. Shug does a good job of explaining the challenges Jordan faced during his many years at Auburn. He also explains who the movers and shakers were in Auburn football at different times.
Shug details what was happening with Jordan’s career at each phase, even the years before he became Auburn’s head coach. I was particularly interested to learn the Jordan landed in Normandy on D-Day and received a Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound he got while on the beach.
Unfortunately, Donnell doesn’t do as well when it comes to telling the reader what was beneath Jordan’s surface. What made him tick? What was he like when he was not working? Donnell conducted many interviews while writing Shug, but has little to say about Jordan’s family life. Donnell interviewed Shug’s son (Ralph, Jr.), but the reader would have learned more if Donnell had also talked to Shug’s widow Evelyn and his two daughters.
With the passing of so many of Shug’s contemporaries, Shug probably will be the best Jordan biography we’ll ever get. And it’s pretty good. But I did walk away wishing for more.
Displaying 1 of 1 review