Author Ron Lang discusses gameday trips to all 14 SEC schools

Key notes from Ron Lang interview

• Even though I'm a Kentucky guy, I always was a football guy before basketball, and I always wondered if that is what made me attracted to the SEC. You have to be attracted to Kentucky basketball as a Wildcat, but football has always had my heart. Sadly, the football program hasn't been nearly as successful as basketball, but we love all sports in the SEC either way.
   
• My book is on Amazon, and you can look up my name or the book name, "A Season of Homecomings." I learned a lot from this book, as well. There were a lot of things that I didn't even know. When I get comments from LSU fans that tell me they learned a lot about their university from the book, that is a huge compliment to me. I just want people to learn as much as they can about the conference we all know and love.
   
• When I started writing books, I knew I wanted to do this. A lot of books about the SEC are about women and partying, so I wanted it to be a much more mature version. I heard last year that the SEC season in 2019 was going to be 14 weeks long, which allowed me to have a year of going to all 14 universities in a single season, so I set out for my own season of homecomings. It was hard to figure out the schedule, but I can't complain about getting to go to an SEC game a week.
   
• I spent a week at each location and each campus. One thing I didn't plan on doing was not writing at all while I was on the campuses. I was surprised I didn't write at all, and the reason I did that was that there was so much information. I didn't want it to get confused with other schools. I wanted to talk about the area as much as the school. There is so much that makes each school unique, and I did not want my brain to take over and write what I wanted to. I wanted the culture to speak for itself. I wanted the fans to be able to live it through the book and have pride over what they are reading.
   
• The title of the 13th chapter is "There's a Spirit Can Ne'er Be Told" because that is what is written on the entrance at the Bonfire Memorial. That is the main reason I chose A&M's weekend to be at the end of the season was that it was the 20-year remembrance of the Bonfire collapse. I wanted to pay my respects and capture the story of the bonfire memorial in the book. That is a part of Texas A&M that the conference needs to know about. It is such a particular part of Texas A&M and helps to make the culture of Texas A&M come alive.
   
• Without a doubt, you can feel the Aggie spirit when you're on campus. I was around A&M three times last year, and we fell in love with it over the summer. On campus, I wrote in the book about a lady that had some money that blew out of her backpack, and another gentleman grabbed it and chased her down to get it back to her. You don't just see that anywhere you go.
   
• One of my favorite things about the campus was just how many references there were to the SEC. Everything I saw said, "This is SEC Country." The pride of the conference runs deep at A&M, and I loved to see that. I was waiting for a school from Texas to get into the SEC, and A&M was a perfect fit for this conference.
   
• Outside of A&M, I loved LSU. Every time I've been there, it has been fantastic, and most of the people there are nice. They love their team. I loved Georgia as well, but the one I didn't think I would've loved so much was Tennessee. The people were loyal. They love their traditions, and they have a great game day atmosphere. I honestly wasn't expecting any of it. They are a neat, tight-knit community, and they were loyal to their team even when they were going through a rough season at the start.
   
• Outside of Texas A&M, I would say the most beautiful campuses are Alabama and Kentucky. I think for me when you hear about a beautiful school, the one you would want on a magazine would be Alabama. I think Auburn was the nicest fanbase, and they have told me they think A&M reminds them the most of their university, so they love Texas A&M and are glad to have y'all in the conference. There was a lot I was thrilled to experience across the conference.
   
• I think the Aggie spirit was one of my favorite things to experience. All of us in the conference are happy to have A&M in the conference. We consider y'all family and want A&M fans to know that if they didn't already. I wanted everyone to understand A&M. There is a spirit there. The people are helpful, wonderful, and when you talk about wanting to be around better people, you look at Texas A&M. That's why I put more than just learning about the conference. I wanted to make people love the rest of the conference as well.