Book Review: Sidelines and Bloodlines by Ryan McGee

Ryan McGee is one of my favorite sports personalities. I love watching him on "Marty and McGee" during college football season, I love listening to him talking about NASCAR, and I love reading the "Bottom 10" every week, especially when we get a Pillow Fight of the Week of the Decade of the Century, or when FI(not A)U plays FA(not I)U.

With college football season upon us once again (Hallelujah!), I figured it would be a good time to crack open McGee's book about his father, a longtime college football official. The book chronicle's his dad's life from growing up in rural North Carolina to becoming a referee for intramural football games in college to joining up with crews officiating high school games. Eventually, Jerry McGee caught the attention of college officials, and worked his way through 1-AA games to the ACC to the Big East, then back to the ACC, and ended his officiating career in the National Championship game.

Along the way, Jerry started a family and had two sons, Ryan and Sam, both of whom grew to love football through their dad's officiating, but in very different ways. Jerry simultaneously earned his doctorate and worked his way through college administration jobs, culminating in assignment as president of Wingate university - all while slipping out during weekends to officiate games and have drunk fans call him a "dumb ref".

While Ryan structures the book, both Jerry and Sam chime in to offer their perspectives on different situations and incidents. It takes a while to get used to, but it proves beneficial when discussing points that drive more to the heart, like when Sam talks about how stressed he felt as a child when one of Jerry's games were on TV, or when Jerry discusses distracting himself with constant work when his wife (and Ryan and Sam's mother) died of a sudden aneurysm.

Along the way there are also nuggets from people Ryan has interviewed, like Lou Holtz, Frank Beamer, and Ray Lewis. There is also an explanation of how officiating works, what Jerry's role on the crew was, and how he was able to perform at such a high level. There are also ruminations on why college coaches are more cantankerous towards officials then they've ever been, and why Jerry thinks instant replay was a great idea that has slowly become worse and worse for the game (in one funny story, Jerry has a story from before instant replay came back where the officials huddled up to make a call and Jerry said "Okay boys, you pretend you're talking to me and I'll watch the scoreboard video to see what happened.").

The way the book is structured could sometimes make it feel a bit jumbled, but all in all this is a worthy read for college football fans. Recommended - seven out of ten hot dogs!