Friday, 08/04/06
Book may be a winner even if UT wasn't one
By MIKE ORGAN
Staff Writer
Darren Epps was unfazed by early criticism of his new book.
The first-time author paid little attention to the disparaging remarks that came from an e-mailer who was quick, perhaps a bit too quick, to condemn his effort.
It was, excuse the cliché, a case of judging a book by its cover, literally.
The day after Epps received his author's copy of "Big Orange Crushed, A Season on the Brink at America's Biggest Football School,'' meaning the book was several days from being available to the public, he received a brief e-mail from a 17-year-old Vols fan. Obviously the e-mailer had not read the book.
"People who just see the cover, I think, assume it's a big cheap shot at Tennessee, kind of kicking them while they're down,'' Epps said. "What I've been telling people is that it's not a 240-something-page rip job with a bunch of sarcastic comments, but it's not sugarcoating it either.''
In fact, what the sportswriter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press initially wanted was to write a book about the Vols' run to an SEC championship through the eyes of Coach Phillip Fulmer and running back Gerald Riggs Jr., a Chattanooga native.
Instead of ditching the project after the Vols got derailed and finished with a dismal 5-6 record, Epps switched his focus to an analysis of what went wrong.
"It was such an interesting season, and so much happened,'' Epps said. "It takes a hard look at how they got here and kind of the trends that maybe we all should have seen coming when it comes to Tennessee football; the lack of draft picks despite continued success recruiting; in 2004 when all the hype built (although) they won six games by six points or less; and I guess the big one was all the discipline and the off-the-field problems when they had all the arrests.''
Not surprisingly, Fulmer was not particularly thrilled when Epps told him he was recording the miserable season in book form.
"I pulled Coach Fulmer aside, and I had just heard him say he has been at Tennessee 30-something years and it was the only time he didn't enjoy it,'' Epps said. "And then to give him the bad news that the one season that he didn't enjoy was going to be chronicled in a book, was a little awkward.
"But he told me, facts are facts. He didn't look particularly pleased. I talked with him on the phone last week, and he didn't mention it, so I don't know if he's going to read it or not. That's an interesting question.''
So, how does Epps personally feel the Vols will react in the aftermath of last season's disaster?
"I think they will bounce back and have a good season,'' Epps said. "I don't know if the schedule will allow them to win the SEC East (Division), but I think Fulmer's a different man now. Instead of coddling these guys after they get arrested, he's blistering them in press releases. After talking with the players during the spring, this is in the book, about how he's tougher and meaner on the practice field. I think they all learned from last year. I picked them to finish second in the East.''
Epps' book is available in most bookstores.
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