Interview with 222-0 Book Author

kramer2727

kramer2727

Varsity Lurker
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
65
Tomorrow (October 7th) is the anniversary of the 222-0 game against Cumberland. In light of recent games, maybe it’s a great idea to remember one of the greatest games in our history. I was able to talk with Jim Paul, author of the book “You Dropped It, You Pick It Up” which is about the game.

We might win, but we won’t match the score of this game!

222-0: Heisman's Largest Victory
 
Thanks! Jim has incredible knowledge of the game. Most of what we know about 222-0 comes from information he and his dad got first hand.
 
I read this comment by a person on the Fox News website this morning. It was at the bottom of the link about the Cumberland game. No way to know if it's true or not but it was pretty cool.

"My father, who age-wise could have been my grandfather, played in that game for Ga. Tech where he played fullback. He told me that every time Tech scored a TD Cumberland chose to kick instead of receive. A newsman in the press office was asked if he was drunk when he reported the score at half time. In those days everyone played hurt since the equipment fell short of protecting the players. My dad broke all 4 limbs at different times. He dropped out of Tech to fight in WW 1."
 
It is true that most of the times Tech scored Cumberland would kick off. The rules were a little looser then and Cumberland couldn’t stop fumbling the ball on offense (remember the game a few years ago where we played Pitt? But worse.) So, the thought was- instead of giving them be ball deep in our territory, we’ll make them have to drive. It didn’t work. Despite all of Tech’s points, they never had a first down, that’s how quickly they would score.
And, I’m not sure they thought the writer was drunk, but they definitely didn’t believe him at first and sent someone else to the stadium to verify.
 
I'm going to get in trouble for bumping an old post, but today is the anniversary of the 222-0 game. If you haven't watched this interview with Jim Paul about the game, please do. His dad tape recorded interviews with the players from the game back in the 1950's and 60's. He has a wealth of knowledge about one of the more interesting moments in Tech football history!
 
I always thought that the book was written is such a way that it would make an excellent screen play.
 
You are correct. The book rights were bought by Martin Jurow (a fairly prolific film producer, he was finishing Terms of Endearment when he got the rights) and they worked on the script for a while. The draft I read is pretty good, it has some funny parts in it. They scouted locations for filming at Berry College, around 1983-84. Unfortunately, Martin Jurow had a fairly serious heart attack and retired from movies before they could start filming.

The next part IS what Jim told me, but Martin Jurow wanted Michael J Fox for the lead. Jim didn't know how serious the discussions got, however. If you look at the timeline, this would have been when MJF was on Family Ties, but before he made Back to the Future, so not completely out of the realm of possibility. Obviously, it never happened. But, wouldn't that have been something??
 
kramer2727 said:
You are correct. The book rights were bought by Martin Jurow (a fairly prolific film producer, he was finishing Terms of Endearment when he got the rights) and they worked on the script for a while. The draft I read is pretty good, it has some funny parts in it. They scouted locations for filming at Berry College, around 1983-84. Unfortunately, Martin Jurow had a fairly serious heart attack and retired from movies before they could start filming.

The next part IS what Jim told me, but Martin Jurow wanted Michael J Fox for the lead. Jim didn't know how serious the discussions got, however. If you look at the timeline, this would have been when MJF was on Family Ties, but before he made Back to the Future, so not completely out of the realm of possibility. Obviously, it never happened. But, wouldn't that have been something??
Click to expand...

high quality 65th post.

Thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top